As 2017 came to a close and the winter holidays came near, we decided to take a short 7 day trip to various tiger reserves in central India. We planned to first go to Satpura tiger reserve then Pench (Madhya Pradesh) and finally to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve.
We landed in Nagpur on the 23rd of December from Bangalore at around 7:30am. The flight was a short 1hrs 20mins flight and was smooth with no hiccups. The lodge was a good 7hrs drive even though the lodge, Denwa Backwater Escape, was about 325km from the airport. In Satpura, the gate to the forest is across the river from the hotel areas so we have to take a boat from the hotel side. The Denwa Backwater Escape is nicely positioned as being close to the boating point but still isolated which gave it a jungle feel.
We arrived at the hotel at 3 o'clock, so we missed lunch. Luckily we had food at this dhaba called Hotel the Onion. At 4 o'clock we went for our first safari which was a boat safari. In the boat safari, we were very lucky as we managed to see huge number of birds including a lifer for us which was the river lapwing. In addition, we saw multiple gaur herds, samber deer, crocs, kingfishers and a very good sighting of a great headed fish eagle feedings it's juvenile.
I was very unfortunate while viewing the fish eagle. It was about to fly and I took my eyes off it. When I did, it took off with the fish and I missed the shoot :(.
Overall we were very happy with this safari as we managed to see significant number of species birds.
The next day we woke around 5am and left for our first safari. Our first safari was slightly eventful where we saw a hidden sloth bear. The most action occured when we heard alarm calls for 2 leopards in the area. Unfortunately, the leopard did not come out. We did see a few birds and a baby elephant from the forest guard.
We ate breakfast at the the forest entrance, where we saw coopersmith barbets, terns, alexander parakeets and cormorants.
The evening safari was very quite. The highlights were the following birds Haswell as two distant grey headed fish eagles.
The next day we ate breakfast and left straight ton Pench tiger reserve where we stayed at Pench Tree lodge.We reached by 12, had lunch and left for the safari at 2pm. Little did we know that this safari would become one of the most memorable safaris in our lives. We managed to see three tigers ( collar wali female and 2 of her 3 cubs), 1 leopard and 5 wild dos (2 in the forest and 3 on the way back). So we entered the forest and the guide and driver took us straight to Madhav ghaat. They took us here because they knew the female tiger and her cubs were resting here for a few days. All 10 vehicle from Karamajhiri and Jamatara gates arrived when the mother decided to take a stroll across the road at about 4:30.
Once the female crossed, we took a small round and came back as cars are not allowed to stop more then 15mins in one spot. When we came back other vehicles spotted the other two cubs laying in the bush . We had a distant, but good sighting of them. Our guide realised that the cubs were not going to cross the road and follow the mother as she had gone for a hunt. Realising this, our guide decided to check elsewhere and head to the gate. Just 15 mins of driving later, our guide sighted a leopard sitting like a king on a rock. We had a very good sighting for 15 mins where we were the only jeep. Another jeep also came and saw the leopard but when the 3rd came, the leopard ran in.
These were the only things we focused on during this safari as this safari was just 2.5hrs long. While going back to the lodge we sighting a pack of 3 wild dogs on the road. This was an incredible christmas gift.
The next day our guide told us that the previous day was a true anomaly. As mentioned all 10 cars from the Karamajhiri and Jamatara gates the collar wali tiger and her cubs and there were no tigers from the 3rd gate, Turi which allows 35 jeeps. The guide found out the 35 other cars saw another tigress with 3 cubs. out of the 45 jeeps, 42 saw tigers. This was a real anomaly as very rarely do nearly all cars see tigers.
We did three more safaris in Pench and most of them were blanks with no tigers. We did manage to see a pack of 8 wild dogs and many birds.
On the 27th we left to TATR and did two safaris the next day and one the day after. We managed to see 3 tigers with a kill on the first safari, but no pictures and the mother was too skittish. Also we saw a leopard out of the blue on the 2nd safari and a gigantic male gaur on the 3rd safari.
We landed in Nagpur on the 23rd of December from Bangalore at around 7:30am. The flight was a short 1hrs 20mins flight and was smooth with no hiccups. The lodge was a good 7hrs drive even though the lodge, Denwa Backwater Escape, was about 325km from the airport. In Satpura, the gate to the forest is across the river from the hotel areas so we have to take a boat from the hotel side. The Denwa Backwater Escape is nicely positioned as being close to the boating point but still isolated which gave it a jungle feel.
We arrived at the hotel at 3 o'clock, so we missed lunch. Luckily we had food at this dhaba called Hotel the Onion. At 4 o'clock we went for our first safari which was a boat safari. In the boat safari, we were very lucky as we managed to see huge number of birds including a lifer for us which was the river lapwing. In addition, we saw multiple gaur herds, samber deer, crocs, kingfishers and a very good sighting of a great headed fish eagle feedings it's juvenile.
I was very unfortunate while viewing the fish eagle. It was about to fly and I took my eyes off it. When I did, it took off with the fish and I missed the shoot :(.
Overall we were very happy with this safari as we managed to see significant number of species birds.
The next day we woke around 5am and left for our first safari. Our first safari was slightly eventful where we saw a hidden sloth bear. The most action occured when we heard alarm calls for 2 leopards in the area. Unfortunately, the leopard did not come out. We did see a few birds and a baby elephant from the forest guard.
We ate breakfast at the the forest entrance, where we saw coopersmith barbets, terns, alexander parakeets and cormorants.
The evening safari was very quite. The highlights were the following birds Haswell as two distant grey headed fish eagles.
The next day we ate breakfast and left straight ton Pench tiger reserve where we stayed at Pench Tree lodge.We reached by 12, had lunch and left for the safari at 2pm. Little did we know that this safari would become one of the most memorable safaris in our lives. We managed to see three tigers ( collar wali female and 2 of her 3 cubs), 1 leopard and 5 wild dos (2 in the forest and 3 on the way back). So we entered the forest and the guide and driver took us straight to Madhav ghaat. They took us here because they knew the female tiger and her cubs were resting here for a few days. All 10 vehicle from Karamajhiri and Jamatara gates arrived when the mother decided to take a stroll across the road at about 4:30.
Once the female crossed, we took a small round and came back as cars are not allowed to stop more then 15mins in one spot. When we came back other vehicles spotted the other two cubs laying in the bush . We had a distant, but good sighting of them. Our guide realised that the cubs were not going to cross the road and follow the mother as she had gone for a hunt. Realising this, our guide decided to check elsewhere and head to the gate. Just 15 mins of driving later, our guide sighted a leopard sitting like a king on a rock. We had a very good sighting for 15 mins where we were the only jeep. Another jeep also came and saw the leopard but when the 3rd came, the leopard ran in.
These were the only things we focused on during this safari as this safari was just 2.5hrs long. While going back to the lodge we sighting a pack of 3 wild dogs on the road. This was an incredible christmas gift.
The next day our guide told us that the previous day was a true anomaly. As mentioned all 10 cars from the Karamajhiri and Jamatara gates the collar wali tiger and her cubs and there were no tigers from the 3rd gate, Turi which allows 35 jeeps. The guide found out the 35 other cars saw another tigress with 3 cubs. out of the 45 jeeps, 42 saw tigers. This was a real anomaly as very rarely do nearly all cars see tigers.
We did three more safaris in Pench and most of them were blanks with no tigers. We did manage to see a pack of 8 wild dogs and many birds.
On the 27th we left to TATR and did two safaris the next day and one the day after. We managed to see 3 tigers with a kill on the first safari, but no pictures and the mother was too skittish. Also we saw a leopard out of the blue on the 2nd safari and a gigantic male gaur on the 3rd safari.
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