Day-7| 10-June-2011 | Bandhavgarh National Park-Jabalpur | 179.1 Kms | 2040.6 Kms

Mobile alarm was supposed to ring at 4:15 AM but my mind alarm rang much before at 3:45 AM only to peep below the bed & confirm all is well! Got ready early & was waiting for the Gypsy to arrive. By then room boy knocked the door asking for a cup of tea. Thought better to sip it than to wait doing nothing. Soon after a cup of masala tea, Gypsy driver came,

“Sir! Chale???”

“Chalo. Mukesh nahi aaye kya??”

“Unki tabiyat karaab hain! Woh nahi aayenge…” driver said.

We three (me, driver & gypsy) along with some others whom driver picked up on the way, reached the gate & our gypsy was third in line. It was just 5:00 AM by then but sun was about to set out. After all the formalities for guide & driver, they both came together & the Jungle Safari begins now. Wow!!! Finally, the moment has comeJ.

Waiting in line...

Do's & Dont's

Tala gate...

Guide introduced himself as Shiv Shankar & driver as Ram Bahouri Yadav!

“Aap akele aaye ho??”

“Ha… Akela hoon!”

“Kitna safari hain aapki???”

“Ek hi hain!”

After few more chit chats,

“Kaunsa route mila hain hame??” I asked him.

“Route to badiya mila hain! D aur B”

“Iss main sighting hone ka chance hain???”

“D main bahut chance hain! Par jungle hain toh kuch bhi ho sakta hain..”

With the chit chats on, we were on to the jungle. We took the route B first & there were couple of pug marks belonging to Sher Khan!

“Ye dekiye! Sher ke panje ki mark hain…” Guide showed the pug marks pointing to them on the mud.

Pug marks of the legend!!!

Was quite happy hpoing to sight Tiger ahead, I asked him,

“Yeh kab ki marks hain??”

“Kareeb teen ya char baji ki hain!!!”

We followed the pug marks in search of Tiger but after a while, there were pug marks of going ahead & coming back as well. At some water crossing the pug marks were disappeared. Guide confirmed that tiger has gone away. Damn! Who told it to go away??? I wanted to ask but whom shall I ask was the second immediate question my mind popped.

“Yeh! Kalkati tigress ka mark hain! Uska territory B route main hain! Usko saade teen saal hogaya hain!” told the guide giving me few more details.

We continued in the B route ahead & were riding in the border of Jungle premises. On the way we did spot some deer’s & while I could capture them, guide told not to worry as we will find them in plenty later on & first we will try for tiger.

“Zaroor!” was my response.

Some birds show now...

Forgot it's name!

Another one...

Ah! Beauty...

It was charming!

Jungle...

Another view of the same

After a while at the Jungle border, we did find another pug mark & guide told it belongs to B2.

“Kareeb barah saal hain uska ab! Thoda budda hogaya hain!” & guess what???

Right outside the Jungle border, there were village houses. With lot of questions in mind, I asked Shankar,

“Sher gaav ki itni paas se guzar gaya hain! Sirf ek fencing aur compound hain beech main bus! Woh kabhi bahar nahi jaata hain kya??”

“Ha! Itni nazdeek se gaya hain! Toh aap hi sochlo jungle kaisa hain! Bahar jata hain na!!! Bahar jaake gai, bais sub kata hain gaav walon ki! Abhi kuch din pehle ek sher bahar jaake gaav main do logo ko maar diya tha..”

What??? What the heck is this? Shankar spoke little more on that issue. After several round abouts in our route, we did spot some Deer’s, Langur’s & Peacock’s. Also some rare bird sightings were done.  But the much needed Sher Khan was not to be seen at all. I had a close watch on the time & it was ticking pretty fast. With a slight disappointment I asked Shankar,

“Abhi chance hain kya sher dekne ka??”

“Jab tak Jungle main hain, tab tak chance hain!!!”

While we were on our hunt for king, other tourists too were eager to spot one. The guides of each gypsy had talk on their status as they passed through each other. Shankar did tell Ram to stop the gypsy for some time at some place & wait for the call! Now these calls were made by either Langur’s or Deer’s & it’s about alerting their peers on tiger’s arrival for danger.

“Langur ki aakhen tez hoti hain aur deer ki sukne ki shakti!!! Tiger zyada se zyada 60 se 70 kms tezi se daudta hain! Uski umar pandra se bees saal hoti hain…”

After our wait going in vein, we moved for some other route & did wait there for a while. In no time, other gypsy’s came to the spot & they told us that Mirjaani cud has just crossed the road & it might come here. I got alerted as if it has attacked meJ. After peeping here & there, at last got to see the legend walking at a distance. What a glorious attitude he poses! Man, it’s just worth it. Shankar said it’s Mirjaani Male cub & it’s around 2 + yrs now. Clicked him as much as I can till he went invisible again!

Once again pug marks!!!

Howz that???

Time pass shot

Caught him while trying to escape

Alas... The legend spotted!!!

Walking with glory!!!

Another shot...

And he escapes...

Shankar told ram to move near the water crossing & he might come there. After waiting for a while, he dint turn up & we had to leave hopes of seeing the legend again.

The sun had already started to pour his strong rays on us & the heat was irresistible. Shankar did ask about my visit here & my journey. After talking for a while on related topics, I told him I dint had proper sleep since some snake had come in to my room & showed him the photo. He explained the snake in very simple terms!

“Aap bahut lucky ho! Pehla yeh hain ki yeh saap bahut rare hain! Jungle main hi nahi milta he par aapko room main mila itna achha dekne ke liye! Doosra yeh hain ki yeh saap aapki room mein aaya aur bina kaate nikal gaya. Iska matlab hain aapko doosri zindagi mili hain! Agar aapko yeh kaata ho ta toh sirf bhagvan bacha sakte the. Bahut zahreela saap hain yeh…”

Damn! I had no comments for his words. On the way back on our route, he did show me the fort, a cave & we did spot some Samba’s & wild Boars. With all these, it was 9:15 AM when we were out of the gate. Hurray! My first jungle safari paid me off.

Legend's terittory marking on the tree!

Fort inside Bandhavgarh

Some caves on the way!!!

Rooms inside the cave

Bird shooting...

Samba!!!!

He got alert!

Poser Deer...

Little close up

Wild boar with family

Walking out

Ram dropped me to the room & walked out with 1600 bux (1400 for gypsy hire & 200 for guide). Had 2 aloo parantha’s & crashed in bed for more than an hour! Lack of sleep from yesterday had taken a hit on me. Woke up by 11:30 AM, got fresh, had lunch & checked out from Kolkata Kutir settling the bill. Met Mukesh at his shop, thanked him for the help he did & rode back to Jabalpur with only butt break & no photo break. At a break, did fix the wiring issue in the horn because of which bike’s horn had gone non-functional from yesterday.

Got back to the same Sidharth Lodge & cleaned the bike as it had gone too dusty. After getting fresh, straight away to internet so that I can post the blog for few days!

“Woh aap teh kya motor cycle main lambi safari pe???” cyber café owner asked curiously. Boy! How did he come to know on that??? Some questions come suddenly without any answer.

After updating the blog, wanted to taste some chats & had Papdi chat at a bakery. The chat alone wasn’t enough for my hungry stomach & had Masala Dosa as well. Got back to lodge, packed my stuff & called it a day.