Post a brief hiatus from my jungle trips, I went back to the drawing board, feeling the need to rework on my plans to visit the most peaceful place of them all – the jungle. From the discussion with my friends, I gathered that I was limiting myself only to the wild landscapes of the south. The memories my friends recollected visiting places like Ranthambore, Kanha, Pench and Bandhavgarh during our conversations further strengthened my decision to head into the unexplored jungles.

With lady luck not favouring me much during my visit to Ranthambore, I happily agreed to join them when plans were drawn to visit Bandhavgarh. After months of speculation and numerous discussions, we were all set to visit Bandhavgarh in the first week of November 2015. We travelled to Nagpur from Bangalore by air and hired a vehicle to transport us to our target location, Bandhavgarh National Park. As we drove through Pench and Kanha to reach our destination, we went down the memory lane recollecting our previous journeys together. We reached our destination in the late evening just in time for some much needed rest before we begin our jungle expedition for the next 5 days.

Bandhavgarh National Park is located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Bandhavgarh was declared a national park in 1968, with an area of 105 Sq km. The four main zones of the national park are Tala, Magdhi, Khitauli, and Panpatta. This park has a large biodiversity and density of tiger population at Bandhavgarh is one of the highest known in India.

With the park having a reputation of being the promised land of tiger sightings, we set out in two groups in different directions to encounter the ever elusive beast. My photographer friend and I began our jungle drive into the Magdhi zone on day 1. During our safari, we were lucky to spot some pug marks and as we drove tracking the trail, we heard loud alarm calls from the spotted deer. The promise soon turned into disappointment with lady luck not favouring us as yet. We returned to our hotel to share the experiences the two groups had in different zones. Although we returned empty handed, we were truly happy to see the pictures taken by our friends, who visited the Tala zone on day 1.

We set out the next morning with reassured hope as we drove into Tala zone. The bio diversity in Bandhavgarh is evident with difference we observed between Magdhi and Tala zone. Tala zone encompasses plateau and rocky terrains amid a rich forest whereas Magdhi is more similar to the jungles of south India. On our trail of the tiger, we did sight some red neck vultures, which was promise of a kill nearby. While we warmed up our shutters with some pictures of the vultures, we heard a loud roar of a mother calling out to her cubs. We patiently tracked the trails and followed the signs only to end day 2 in despair.

Day 3 began with no expectations from my friend and I, as we drove into the Magdhi zone. While driving through the forest, our guide spotted something in the shrub by the roadside, merely a 100 meters from us. We sprang up from our seats and much to our surprise, there she was, a tigress sub-adult. She sat there calmly with her beautiful eyes staring right into our lens. Her presence so close was intimidating yet magnificent. As shutters fired, I had a small smile on my face and felt a sense of accomplishment. After ten minutes, she gracefully rose to walk deep into the jungle. We drove back gratified yet expecting more on our ensuing safaris.

Although the tigers eluded us in the following days, we had numerous sightings of the Brown fish owl, Indian scops owl, Lesser adjutant stork, jackal, Pied hornbills and a rare sight of Alexander parakeets in courtship. My experiences in Bandhavgarh have been truly rich in learning the art of photography from amazing people I travelled with.

As I reflect now, I feel the need to thank the Almighty for using his colourful palette in creating these ever-enchanting jungles, which will continue to be my home away from home.

Love Life Live Life!!

#Tigress #BandhavgarhNationalPark