It's International Tiger Day today and here I am writing about a very sudden and fun trip to the Bandhavgarh National Park which lies in the heart of India, Madhya Pradesh.
It was the March of 2017, the cold winters were almost at their end, weather was quite pleasant and I was at home with my brother and one evening he said "Let's go to Bandhavgarh". To this abrupt trip proposal, I just said "Yeah why not!"
The next moment we were busy checking the train reservation to Burhar where our Uncle lives, we told the family that we are going to Burhar for 2-3 days and then we will go to Bandhavgarh as well. We also informed our elder brother who lives in Burhar that we are coming and we want to go to the national park also, he was very chill about it and agreed to take us.
We boarded the train the next evening from Rewa and reached Burhar in the dawn and my brother was there to pick us up and took us home. The plan was to leave for Bandhavgarh the next morning via road. Burhar is close to Bandhavgarh, just 115 kms so it was a 3-4 hours drive but due to some issues we left a bit late and it got dark reaching there.
It was just a single lane road leading through the jungle, the signs of human habitation were nowhere to be seen, no street lights and not even passing by traffic. It was like we were driving in the middle of nowhere in pitch darkness, we could see the glowing eyes of Chitals (spotted deer) and Sambar deer wandering in the jungle. To be honest it was scary being there and my brother decided to halt for a minute just to observe the surroundings and the silence, the only sounds were of those deer which were looking us from some distance.
I told my brother to get going because if a tiger pounces on us right now we will die and I had no intentions of dying that day. (On a side note, I had already closed the back windows just to be safe. Fear can make you do stupid things). Finally, we entered the park where hotels and restaurants were available.
The plan was so impromptu that we had not booked any hotel or even the Jungle Safari, so we started looking for an affordable hotel to stay the night and after some searching we found one. These kind of places sleep early so if you are looking for food at 9 PM, you are very well late and same thing happened to us but thankfully we found a small eatery and the guy there was willing to cook us some food. We ate and headed back to the hotel to get whatever 4-5 hours of sleep available to us because next morning we had to get up super early and do some "Jugad" and score the tickets to the safari.
The alarms rang and I got straight up in the bed and banged my head to the slowly moving fan and thankfully no injuries were there. My brothers laughed at me and I went straight to the washroom to get ready rubbing my head. I got ready and walked outside the room to get some air but within minutes I was back inside shivering. Yes! We had underestimated the weather by not bringing any sweaters and now I was searching for an additional t-shirt in my bag.
We headed out and it was still dark and got into car and went directly to the ticketing stand. My brother found out a guy and some jugad got us those precious safari tickets, of course we had to shell out some extra bucks but no other option was available.
The driver came to pick us up in his dark green Maruti Gypsy and we hopped on it, he drove to the Tala gate where after a short wait we finally entered into the very majestic Bandhavgarh National Park. We were 7 people in the car, one driver, one guide and a couple which seemed to be lost in their own world and then 3 Pandey brothers. The guide said "Keep your eyes and ears open."
I was so excited with the prospects of spotting a tiger which I had never seen out in the open, the safari began and the all wheel drive Gypsy started making it's way through the uneven terrains of the jungle.
I remember standing up through the entire safari aiming my camera everywhere and clicking pictures, we spotted many chitals, sambar deer, nilgai and some monkeys along the way but still the Big Cat was missing. The celebrity was not going to make it's appearance that easily and with that gloom looming over me the guide said that many people do not even spot the tiger after 3-4 safaris and discouraged me a lot, I had clicked a picture of an information board before entering the park and that picture was now the center of my thoughts.
We were listening to the guide's and driver's conversations about tiger making it's kill there, they were showing us the foot marks of the tigers which may have passed from there a while ago and all that was disheartening me but my eldest brother was pretty confident that we will spot one for sure and he was spot on. After an hour and half of driving in the cold and dense jungle, the sunlight started paving it's way through the dense canopies of the trees and finally we spotted the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking in all its glory and her name was Spotty the tigress.
A nearby flock of Gypsy ferrying other tourists also came to that spot and everyone was busy clicking pictures of Spotty, a group of foreigners were busy clicking pictures and shooting videos in their expensive cameras, I got a little jealous but that thought left my mind quickly.
She was walking like a true queen without a care in the world, proud, confident and extremely deadly and gorgeous. I was so awestruck that I stopped looking at her through my viewfinder, kept my camera down and just gazed at her in amazement. After a proper cat walk, she decided it was enough and leapt into a bush and disappeared for a minute but the driver drove to other side of the road and we saw her for a final time wandering in her kingdom. She truly enchanted me maybe that's why I could not get a good picture of her as I had put my camera down.
After that we drove to a central point where all the drivers stop for refreshments and breaks, we had a cup of tea, I strolled along the shops selling t-shirts and other stuff, clicked some pictures and it was time to make our way back.
It was after spotting that beautiful tigress, the jungle of Bandhavgarh enamored me, the huge trees, small flowing streams and sounds of the jungle started making sense. My camera was out again and I was in a clicking frenzy, I inquired about Shesh Shaiya, there is a giant statue of Vishnu in lying position and is said to be a beautiful place but the guide told us that it remains closed and opens during Janmashtmi only.
The driver stopped at a place where we could see vast plains and a distant hill, as no one is allowed to get off the vehicle, I had to click pictures from the car only, the sky was blue,air was clean and I was content.
Some vultures were patrolling from their posts protecting their humble abode, they did not care about us looking and admiring them. Some were feasting on a carcass which may have been left by a tiger for them. After a short halt, the driver revved the engine and started heading out of the park.
One thing I realized when we were entering in the jungle and specially when I saw Spotty was that "We do not belong here at all, it is not our place, it is the Land of many Tigers who live there like kings." They are the most majestic creatures ever walked on the Earth.
Finally, the exit gate was visible and this exciting safari had came to an end. Our agenda was fulfilled so we were quite happy with the trip. The driver dropped us off to our car and there we bid adieu to this beautiful national park.
If you ever get a chance, please do visit Bandhavgarh, you will not regret it!
Ciao!
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