Hunting the tigers of Central India

Wildlife safari is an addiction. The more you do, the more you get hooked into it. This was our 3^rd wildlife safari tour in the past one year. After covering Pench and Tadoba, two major tiger reserves in Central India, third one on radar was the mother of all, Kanha Tiger Reserve. Kanha comprises of around 940 sq km core area and 1140 sq.km buffer zone spreading across Mandla and Balaghat districts in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

12289 Mumbai Nagpur Duronto at Igatpuri

One needs to do prior safari bookings 60 days in advance. Chances of getting current safari bookings are negligible hence it is always advisable to book it beforehand. The same can be done online or through travel agents specialised in wildlife packages. We were booked on Mumbai Nagpur Duronto Express for both the journeys. Well, to talk about this train, its one crack superfast covering a distance of 835 kms between the two cities in just 11 hours. The best part about this train is that, it has minimalistic halt structure. So there is no disturbance of passengers alighting and boarding all through your journey. This makes the journey more peaceful and enjoyable.

All 4 of us got RAC tickets which meant that we had to share our berth. The up side was the berth we got was a side lower. My favourite when it comes to train journeys. It is fun to watch through the huge windows of LHB AC coach while the train passes through small country side stations at top speed. It is hard to sleep with the vibrations, jerks, honking and the clattery sound of the tracks, but we had to manage some sleep as the next day was going to be long and hectic.

Route map from Nagpur to Kanha

We pulled into Nagpur station at 7.30 am late by 10 minutes. Well a delay of 10 min is negligible on IR. Our ride to Kanha was waiting outside the platform. We rushed into the car and in a few minutes were on our way to the land of tigers. We halted at MHKS highway plaza for breakfast at 8.55 am soon after joining NH 44 on the outskirts of Nagpur. This is a decent place to have food and has clean washrooms. A quick breakfast and we were back on the road by 9.25 am. We had a long 4 hour journey ahead. The distance between Nagpur and Kanha is around 253 km and takes approximately 5.5 hrs. The route from Nagpur to MH border is undergoing upgradation. So there are multiple diversions which puts a brake on the speed. Few newly laid patches are butter smooth where you can easily ride over 100 kmph. The road from Manegaon tek to Kurai (around 30 km) is a 2 laned highway with uneven surfaces. The road beyond Kurai to Seoni is again a well laid 4 laned highway. Some traffic bottlenecks can be observed as one needs to pass through Seoni town. Post that, it is a well laid 2 laned state highway right upto Kanha. Once the road contruction get completed, it would be a butter smooth drive to Kanha and would bring down the travel time by a significant amount.

Khatia gate: Our entry point to the park

We had already informed our driver that we had to make up for our afternoon safari which was supposed to start at 2.30 pm. Our driver was a nice chap who managed to take us to our hotel by 1.30 pm. So we had an hour’s time to check in and get freshen up for the safari. After a good meal we sat in our assigned gypsy by 2.30 pm. Though the gates open at 3.00 pm for the afternoon safari, you need to be present at least 30 min prior at the verification counter. Here they check your bookings, verify ID proof and assign you a forest guide. It is mandatory to have a guide and driver for the jungle safari. Everything is done manually on a FCFS basis. So always plan to be among the first 5 vehicles to enter the forest when the gates open. The probability of sighting some rare animal is higher if you enter the forest first. The logic is quite simple. The core zones are deprived of any human activity during the non-safari hours. So all the wild animals roam freely without any human disturbance. The forest is untouched before the safari and hence there are high chances that you may find a tiger or a leopard walking down the pathways in front of you. Once the animals feel the disturbance of the vehicles and voices, they quickly move deep inside the dense vegetation and hence become difficult to spot.

The afternoon safari starts at 3.00 pm and ends at 5.30 pm. There are 4 core zones at Kanha viz Kanha, Kisli, Mukki and Sarhi. If you are booked at Khatia gate, you can access all 4 zones. For us, it was Kanha zone. The forest appeared without any movement for the first 30 mins except a few spotted deers and Sambars crossing our way. Most of the activity inside a forest happens during the golden hours. Kanha is blessed with huge meadows. Being there makes you feel magical. Vast expanse of yellow grass with kaccha road tracks cutting through it, herds of Chitals and Sambars grazing at a distance, gives a unique hue to the overall landscape.

Photo by Mihir A

By the time we came back from the safari, it was almost dark. So, we decided to have an early dinner and call off for the day since every one of us had a considerable amount of travel fatigue. The morning safari starts at 6.30 am. So we had to be at the verification desk before 6 in order to be among the first 5. As the night advances, the mercury takes a plunge. We slept with a triple layer of clothing and a thick blanket to cover us. Everyone woke up a little before 5.30 am. Brushing teeth on the chilled morning seemed like a herculean task. But no one had any complains. We were here to experience the extreme. We left the comforts of our warm room a little before 6 well equipped with our photography gear. Took a parcel of packed breakfast from the reception and waited in queue for our turn. Being a Sunday, the number of vehicles to enter the gate was the highest. We had to cover Mukki zone for this safari. Our guide told us that different tigers can be seen in different zones as every tiger has its set territory and it seldom crosses into a different territory. Tigers here have their local names. Munna, Chota Munna, Dhamangaon male, Neelam, Dhavazhandi female, Bajrang are few of the regularly seen tigers. The guides and drivers are so trained that they can identify a tiger just by taking a glance at it.

Kanha meadows. Photo by Mihir A

Spotted deer

Barasingha or Swamp Deer

The hunt for the tiger continued throughout the safari but we had to settle down watching Chitals, Barasingha, Barking deers, Peafowls, Jackals and a couple of birds. Barasingha or the Swamp Deer is a species unique to this reserve. Once upon a time only a handful of these species were left when the government rated them under schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. Since then, a separate fenced area was reserved for them devoid of any predators where a strict breeding and conservation efforts were carried out which led to an increase in their numbers. Today over 500 Barasinghas live in the safe monitored environment of Kanha. During our third safari, we could hear strong calls of Chital, Sambar and Langur. It continued to come from a densely covered hill area. Multiple gypsies patiently waited there with a hope of sighting a predator. The forest fauna behave in a specific pattern. It is essential to understand this behaviour to be able to read the forest. Whenever a predator is around, all the animals of the lower part of the food chain start giving alarm calls. Each animal has its own unique alarm call. The frequency and time interval of these calls enables you to predict the location of the predator around. For example, whenever the herbivores see a tiger in motion they start giving calls to alert their species that there’s a danger around. On the other hand, if a tiger is sitting at a particular place, you would hear no alarm calls since they know that the predator is not in any mood to attack.

Tiger pugmark

Star gazing

Bay backed Shrike

Jackal

The next evening we had a friend come over to our room to share his experiences in the forest. He works as a Naturalist at a resort nearby. It was fun to listen to him, some of the instances shared gave us goose bumps. It made our cravings to see the ultimate predator more intense. Our friend agreed to accompany us in the next morning Safari to Kanha zone. The rest of the night was spent experimenting long exposure shots to capture the stars. We could overcome the extreme weather just because the thrill of getting to see a tiger in its natural environment was very high. An hour into our next safari and suddenly we saw an animal with black stripes on a golden yellow coat. It didn’t take over a second to realise it’s a tiger walking in front of us. There were a couple of gypsies with us who were lucky this time to spot Munna or T17, a dominant adult male. The grace of this animal is so intense that you just fall in love with it. To us it appeared as if this guy was on a morning walk marking his territory with urine spray and occasional scrapes on tree barks. We got to see this majestic animal in different poses. 

T17 aka 'Munna'

Munna

Our guide told us that he has been seeing this particular male for the past 8 years and mentioned that he has taken over many male tigers in territorial fights. Everyone present there were awestruck. We clicked as many pictures as we could of this national animal of our country. After following Munna for some 15 mins and observing his acts in detail, now it was time to say good bye to this big cat and continue with our safari. The rest of the safari was uneventful but we had those exact moments rolling in front of our eyes for the next few hours.

Our happy faces after head on with Munna

Completely satisfied, we packed our bags this time with sweet memories and promised to come back to this beautiful land of tigers after a short city break. The journey back to Nagpur was again long before we could board Duronto back to Mumbai.

VT-EVB "Velha Goa"

Being a toddler I always used to admire the big double-decker plane flying over my head with 4 powerful roaring engines. As I grew up, I came to know that this flying creature is called as a jumbo jet or a Boeing 747. Since then I wanted to experience how it feels like to actually fly in this aircraft. Over the years many new airliners joined commercial aviation but my love for this particular species never diminished.

Her massive size, turbo charged looks and a hump on the head gives her a unique feel. One can easily distinguish a 747 from any other aircraft by looking at the twin decks. Since her inception, she has been the undisputed queen of the skies.  As demand for air travel increased in the late 1960s, there was a need to build bigger airplanes with more seats. The jet engine evolution made it possible for Boeing to build larger planes. A 747 usually fits around 400 passengers in a three class layout.

In India, only Air India currently uses a fleet of B747. They were delivered to the airline in early 90s. AI used to operate the jumbos on the long and ultra long haul routes to the US and Europe. Over the years, the fleet got old and it became economically difficult to operate these mammoth sized fuel guzzlers. Plus more energy efficient and greener alternatives became available in the market. Naturally, their usage drastically reduced in this millennium. Currently AI has a fleet of only 4 Boeing 747 aircrafts which they plan to retire sometime next year.

The idea of taking a ride in this aircraft was getting strong in my mind before it disappeared permanently. I began to keep a track of the routes on which they operate. After a small research, I short listed two routes BOM-HYD and BOM-DEL. Without wasting much time, I booked myself on AI965 to Hyderabad departing March 5th at 1500 hrs.

Terminal 2 interiors

I reached the airport a good 2 hours before the scheduled departure. After completing the check ins and security, I took a walk inside the beautifully built CSIA new terminal. The terminal design is so attractive that one cannot stop giving a second look. 

Terminal 2 interiors

After taking a few pictures of the terminal, I proceeded to my assigned gate 66. Boarding had already begun by the time I reached there. Excitement filled in when I got a first-hand look of this beauty; VT-EVB named “Velha Goa” waiting at the gates shining in the bright afternoon sunlight. This aircraft has been with Air India since Nov 1996. A small walk through the aerobridge and I put my foot in a 747 for the first time. The crew guided me to my seat 33A located in the front half of the plane. From my seat, I could see the 2 huge engines charging up for the flight. Once we received the mandatory clearances, we did a push back a little after 15.10 and sat on the tarmac for a quick engine check up run.

First look of my ride VT-EVB "Velha Goa" at Gate 66 of CSIA T2.

After a swift round of briefing and safety procedures, we lined up on runway 27 for departure. This aircraft had refurbished interiors with IFE fitted. Though it looked old, the cabin was clean and well maintained. Being a domestic sector, the flight entertainment wasn’t accessible. Just 15 mins into the flight, the crew started their meal service. This time it included 2 butterscotch cookies, a cheese sandwich and mango juice. Now here I was disappointed a bit. They could have atleast come up with a vegetable sandwich. But it was just a cheese slice wrapped between two sheets of white bread. A big let-down, would give 2 on 5 for the food.

Snacks served soon after take off. AI is known for its food but this time it was a let down.

Post finishing the meal, I took a round of the economy class cabin. Economy has a seating capacity of 385 and is spread across the lower deck behind the business class. The rear half of the plane was sparsely filled with less than 50% occupancy. On my way back had a word with the crew who were more than happy to allow me to take pictures of the cabin. This young lady asked me to climb the upper deck where she introduced me to one of her colleague. Even she was impressed to know I was travelling on this plane just to get a feel of it and asked me to email the pictures that I click for their training purpose.  

Economy class cabin. Seating 3-4-3

This way leads to the upper deck where the First class is seated

My seat 33A. Economy had an excellent legroom suitable for a long haul flight.

and this is how it looks when you climb up.

Upper deck first class cabin.

Business class cabin

Business class cabin

I was asked to come back after the flight to take seat facing shots. By the time I returned to my seat, we had already begun our descent into Hyderabad. After a series of turns we finally lined up for the runway and did a smooth landing at 16.28. Once all the passengers deboarded, I headed back to the business class cabin for the second session of photographs. The stewards there offered to click my pictures posing inside the business class cabin. It was a warm gesture from the crew. Their area of work is to take care of the passengers on the flight. But when some crazy nerd asks for a favour this is something that wins them brownie points. Overwhelmed by their hospitality, I deboarded the aircraft happy and completely satisfied.

My ratings for some key aspects on the flight:

Aircraft – 4/5

Punctuality – 5/5

Crew – 4.5/5

Food – 2/5

A view of our neighbourhood from the otherside.

For the love of mountains...

I would like to be a cave man if life offers me such views every morning

A trek is always a stress buster for me. A week long fatigue vanishes in a single day of hiking. A trek to me is like a fight with the mountain. A fight to conquer something very huge, giant and massive. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment. It is a proof that I have fought and won a huge obstacle. Well that is why I trek. But apart from that trekking gives me adrenaline rush. I feel very much alive when I am on a trek. I get a chance to be one with mother nature. It is an opportunity to find your roots.

All said, it becomes very difficult to practically implement the pleasure of being one with nature in today's urban set up. But whenever possible, I plan out a trek with my buddies. This time it was Harihar. This trek aroused my interest when I first saw its pictures posted by a friend on Instagram. The pics looked intimidating. Steps carved between huge vertical rock surface leading to the fort entrance. The moment I saw that pic, this trek was on to my to-do list.

As usual, I did my quick homework about Harihar trek- the topography, location, mode of transport, terrain, things to carry and so on. These days it doesn’t take much effort on my part to plan for a single day trek. It is just like picking up my bag and taking a small city tour. So I managed to gather a group of four for this trek. All set, I was awaiting for the weekend to come. But there’s no excitement if everything goes as planned. The night before the trek, I received the first rejection. So now only 3 are left for the day. We planned to take the 7.08 am Kasara fast local from Dadar. It is 6.15 am in the morning and the second guy just refuses to pick up his phone. All 12-15 calls go waste. By 6.45 am, it was pretty much certain that this guy will not turn up. Me and my friend are the only two members for the trek.

We board the local but are uncertain whether we should do this trek. Reason being, the remoteness of it. We were not sure about the mode of transport to be taken after reaching Kasara. I was almost sure that there was no direct public transport available from Kasara to take us to the base village of Nirgudpada. So on our way to Kasara, we were trying to find out any other treks nearby which can be easily managed. We reached Kasara at 9.15 am. There were several share cabs outside the station but all were bound for Nasik. We were told that there are no ST buses to Nirgudpada from Kasara. Now, the only option with us was to hire a private jeep and that was a big deal.

A jeep for two would cost us over Rs.2000. After a few unsuccessful rounds of bargain, we were on the verge of giving up the idea of Harihar. Instead, my friend, Mihir found out a small trek called Tringalwadi somewhere near Igatpuri. So we were about the check for the mode of reaching there when a cab driver approached us for Rs 1800. We immediately realised that if we push him a little further, he may reduce more as both of us were in no mood to let this trek go.

As expected, we cracked the deal for Rs1600 from Kasara to Nirgudpada and back. Finally we left at 10.00 am with an expected arrival of 12.00 pm. The route takes you via Khodala through the edges of Vaitarna reservoir. With rains just moved out, the sky being clear with little clouds, the green coat shined in the mid-morning sun with a yellow hue. It was very scenic. We halted at a couple of points for few selfies and reached our base village Nirgudpada at 11.45 am.

The banks of Vaitarna reservoir 

At Nirgudpada- Harihar killa in the background

Nirgudpada is a small sleepy hamlet with some 15-20 huts. A well-marked trail moves towards the fort soon after the village. Initial climb is through some over growth which provides adequate shade from the afternoon sun. I had bought a small plastic bag with me and while climbing I converted it into an eco-bag by putting whatever trash I found on the trail. It mainly included plastic wrappers and bottles. It was my bit to help clean the surroundings. After an hour of climb, we realised that it should take a little over an hour to reach the top. So we set a target time of 2 pm. The climb is just like any other trek till you reach the vertical rock patch that leads to the fort door. Just before that we found a local villager at a stall. We refreshed ourselves with lemon juice and proceeded towards the rock patch. I had read and seen many pictures about this one which appeared to be a little scary. So I kept my wallet and phone in my bag pack and tied my shoe laces tight just to gear up for the ascent.

Loved the way all minute details are captured in this macro shot.

Few more steps to enter the fort

The patch is around 150 feet high with steep steps carved in the rock. Adequate grip points are created to help trekkers climb with ease. Only important thing is to be careful while releasing your hand or leg to catch the next step. The total climb can be split up into two parts, the first 80 feet climb will take you till the entrance and the remaining 70 will take you to the top. After crossing this point the watch tower is about 20 mins away. Before the watch tower, there is a small Hanuman temple besides a fresh water pond. We relaxed here for a while before moving towards the watch tower. This spot is an excellent place for photography. The clam cold water of the pond offers spectacular reflection shots. After spending some time at the pond, we decided to eat lunch at the watch tower. Like any other summit, the view from the tower is spectacular. One can see the huge expanse of the Vaitarna reservoir from here.

That pristine lake to capture perfect reflection shots

This is the feeling I was talking about...

Reaching the summit gives me a feeling of victory. It makes me feel that I have fought the battle with the huge mountain and survived to tell the story. It is a different high to be on the top most point of a mountain and see the world beneath you. There are birds who sing the song of victory and the wind provides necessary background score. I never feel refreshed anywhere else as I do on the mountain top. My eyes continuously capture the beautiful frames of the wilderness around me.

Coming back to reality, it was time to head back to the base. We started our descend at 4.00 pm aiming to reach Nirgudpada by 6.00 pm. The descent is always fast and one can manage to come down in almost half time. The only tricky patch is the steps, which needs to be carefully covered. Once through we stop for one or two breaks just to click pictures or take a splash near the stream. As we near the village, we could see dozens of cattles moving back to their barns, farmers finishing off their days work and returning to their houses and kids playing around and singing songs.

This is how we ended that beautiful day

Our driver Yogesh was waiting for us at the exact same location where he had dropped us in the morning. A little tired and fully refreshed, we leave Nirgudpada just before sunset to head towards Kasara station. The return route took us right from the middle of Vaitarna reservoir. It was fantastic to see our vehicle moving on the road surrounded by huge expanse of water filled to the brim and the sun setting in the background. The cold winds made us close the windows but the dim light outside was heart-warming. Our jeep joined the Mumbai-Agra highway at Ghoti and within next 45 minute we were at Kasara railway platform taking a fast local to Dadar.

Trek after a long break

After a break of nearly one and a half year we finally planned for a trek, this time it was Siddhagad. One day because of time contrainst that we city dwellers always have. Neeraj(aka Raja), Santosh(aka Santy), Himanshu( aka Joshi) and myself were the members for this trek.

Siddhagad is hill fort situated in Thane district and one hour drive from Murbad. It is surrounded by Gorakhgad and Bhimashankar and lies in Bhimashankar wildlife reserve. So be sure the trek moves through dense vegetation and overgrowth.

The route to the base village 

We met at Dadar station(CR) pf.4 at 07.15 am and took Badlapur Fast to Kalyan. Being a long weekend and a Saturday, the train was comparatively less crowded. It took us to Kalyan by 8.25 am. After alighting there, we proceeded to a restaurant to have a quick breakfast. I had Idli chutney while the other three had Missal Pav. Kalyan ST depot is just outside the railway station on the west side. We were lucky this time that we got a Murbad bound ST bus. Again very sparsely crowded. There are frequent buses available for Murbad. So the waiting time is very less at Kalyan depot. It takes exactly an hour to reach Murbad depot. We reached there at 10.30 am. Now, there are two options available to reach Narivali, the base village. One is the ST shuttle service to Narivali-Dehri and the other is share taxi/ jeep. We were told that the bus to Narivali will leave only after 11 am, so we opted for the share taxi. These guys take you to Mhasa, around 12 km from Murbad. From there a second share cab to Narivali( ~5 km). They charge you around 15-20 bucks per seat. Around 18 people are squeezed into that vehicle for a bumpy ride. It takes further 45 min to 1 hr from Murbad to reach Narivali.

Siddhagad head on

Just ask any local for your heading and you will be on your path to Siddhagad. To the left you can see Gorakhgad mountain and to your right is Siddhagad. The initial path moves between these two peaks for about 2 kms after which it starts climbing after crossing a village. Again just ask for directions just to make sure you are on the right path. There is a very less chance of meeting any local after crossing the village, so need to be careful with the path. There are multiple trails which split and join you. So it is easy to lose track, which exactly happened to us. Around 30 mins into the trek we found ourselves at a small stream soon realising that this cannot be the way up. So after cooling ourselves at the waters we again retraced the route to a cross road. Moving forward for another half an hour we were at the centre of a dried up water path. Though we knew this wasn’t the way up, it was a very pleasant spot to relax. So we decided to have our lunch here. Our lunch included chutney sandwich, cucumber, khichdi and chakli. There we met a lone trekker who was also looking for the right path like us. The place was so relaxing that few of us were in no mood to proceed further. After debating on that for a while, we decided to keep searching for the right trail and move further. So retracing back a little, we soon found a cross road and a arrow guiding this way up!

(L-R) Neeraj, Joshi, Santy and yours truely

On the way to Siddhagad machi

The arrow is always a welcome sign. Infact the route is well guided with arrows. So if you don’t see one, be sure that you have missed out something. From here, it was an hour climb to the ancient fort door. The walk is well routed but very exhausting. The old structure offers you a good background for some selfies. Himanshu was too tired to move further to the village of Siddhagad machi. His constant blabbers were completely ignored by us. So he didn’t have much of an option but to keep walking :P

The entrance door

It is a 15 min plain walk to the village of Siddhagad machi from the darwaja. This was our pitstop for today. We must have reached there by 4 pm, refilled our water bottles and after a small chit chat with the local boys again started our return jouney. They say an hour or so of rock climbing from Siddhagad machi leads to the fort. But looking at the huge mountain behind we didn’t think it was a good idea to take that climb, may be next time if we come.

The decent is pretty fast as the probability of losing track is almost nil. The total descend time must be around one and a half hour with occasional ‘selfie’ halts. We crossed the base village around 6.15 pm. It was almost dark by then. So we decided to have a small snack break in one of the small dry paddy field enroute. From there it was an uneventful 30 min walk in the dark to the access road. At the bus stop, we got a direct service to Murbad and from there to Kalyan. Took 9.08 CST fast and concluded our one day trek at Dadar, completely exhausted and fully refreshed.

                                             Here are some snaps...

Time line for the trek.

Dadar stn 07.15

Kalyan 08.25

Left for Murbad 09.30

Reached Murbad 10.30

Share jeep to Narivali via Mhasa 11.40

Crossed base village 12.15

Lost our way 1^st time at 13.00

Retraced back to the dry water stream 14.00

Lunch and rest till 14.45

Got back on the route by 15.00

Reached Siddhagad machi 16.00

Descend started 16.30

Crossed base village 18.05

Snack break till 18.30

Bus stop 19.00

Murbad 20.00

Kalyan 21.00

Dadar 22.00

Home 22.15

--The End--