Visit to Tadoba...

Soon after Kolleru, we decided to visit the Tadoba tiger reserve the very next weekend. Tadoba was the original new year plan but did not work out, as the park was closed on New Years (for tigers to celebrate the deficit of humans :)).

This was a long pending trip we wanted to do after The Sunderbans.

We had been warned that it was incredibly cold in Tadoba. Near 5-6 deg centigrade. We started off Friday evening by road and reached Tadoba past mid-night after a few stops on the way for dinner and hot beverages. We put up at a place and were ushered up at 5 AM to go to the reserve. An over enthusiastic friend, who incidentally was also the organizer, didn't realize until we reached the forest reserve that the gates would open only at 7!! So we had no option but to try and arrange some hot ginger tea while standing out in the cold, shivering and cursing that we lost an extra hour of sleep after the long journey. It was still dark and very foggy. Never-the-less, the tea revived us and we got on to the top open jeep and headed into the forest at 7. Shivering from the cold but enjoying the impeccable beauty of the jungle.

As is normal, we headed into the direction where tigers were expected to be spotted. As our jeep slowly proceeded along the muddy tracks, we spotted tiny pug marks along the side and at one point where a small water enclosure could be seen, there were several pug marks in the sand. The tigers had been around, probably a mother and her cubs. We continued to circle the area crossing jeeps of other tourists, some times asking if anyone had seen any signs of the tiger. Overall, one was expected to be quiet, to hear and enjoy the sounds of the jungle, to smell the sweet fragrance in the air, and spot any beautiful creatures that crossed our paths.

While driving along, our forest guide in the jeep suddenly said 'Tiger' pointing in the direction in front of us. By the time I stood up, our driver had gotten too excited and tried to get close to the tiger that had been walking towards us in the front. As expected the tiger decided to avoid us as he was in no mood to be stalked today. He disappeared into the bushes while maintaining his pace and we lost sight of the yellow and black stripes in a jiffy. He disappeared into the thicket where it was impossible to distinguish between his stripes and yellow grasses and shadows. After trying to spot him, and waiting for him to appear again with no success, we decided to move on. The tiger we spotted was the large territorial male. We had been lucky.

The rest of the safari time was spent looking at birds, shivering in the cold, spotting and sambhar deer, and a very beautiful lake with fog very close to the water. My fingers were numb in spite of the woolens I had on, and only after 9 AM, did i start feeling some sensation in them. The sun, though out, had taken a long time to warm us up.

We went back for lunch and came back for the afternoon safari. It was a different feeling in the afternoon, the forest was beautiful. we drive through several beautiful creeks, spotted a crocodile lazing in the banks and a few wary sambhar deer. In the evening we had a good get together with friends who had come along and some fun with a yellow frog who was found in the bathroom. Tomorrow would be another day and we would go for the morning safari before heading back in the evening.