Long Christmas weekend and no plans! Every plan of stretching out the joy by doing something Chrismassy like having a Christmas tree in our window or planning a get-together really sounded too domesticated! I felt bored, like never before! But, like always, as my partner-in-crime and I sat for a hot cuppa coffee after office, boredom fizzled away, we brewed a plan, one that could never go wrong! Long Christmas weekend was our another safari excuse and what better way to spend the Christmas than with Baghira in the Kipling territory in real.
We flew from Pune to Nagpur and then drove to the famous and legendary, Pench (Turia Gate) in 2.5 hours, precisely. We reached our destination in the afternoon when the sun was high yet far from hot. Welcome winter!
The location of Pench Jungle Camp had us thrilled more than anything else; it was just 2 kilometers from the Turia safari gate. The property was huge yet cozy – housing a combination of deluxe A/C tents and self-serving bungalows, each with their own old-world charm. The bed in the tent invited peaceful sleep, however I was a little apprehensive about sleeping on those fluffy pillows but I sank gratefully into them every night, having been lost and snug under its comfy layers!
Each tent had its own private deck where we soaked in the winter sun, parked ourselves lazily on the chairs in the evenings, listened to birds chirping like there was no tomorrow! The first evening when we sipped our ginger tea sitting comfortably at the deck, a disconnect filled the air – a disconnect from the rest of the world. We were inaudible to ourselves. No Wi-Fi could replace such connection that just grew in like magic between us and the surroundings, barring all other nuances of worldly desires! Recipe of peace!
The resort had an eco-park of its own - we explored the area early morning, spotted a Malabar Pied Hornbill and in the evening, a swiftly moving Jungle Cat.
Next day, the safari started at 6 in the morning when all the jeeps lined up in front the Turia gate to get the permit, our fingers crossed as we were praying to get route 1. And hell yes, it was route 1 for us. We were behind three jeeps which meant a lot for the chances of sighting. Our guide Ganga was a man of few words. He asserted as we began our safari, “Sir, 6:30 to 9 is tiger time, pehle tiger dekh lete hain, baki sab baad mein!”
It was still inky, ‘no sun until 7’, Ganga said. Around us loomed the half-stripped jungle and sandstone scarps. Except the Pench River, all other water bodies were devoid of any water. The jeep ran straight towards the rising sun and the carroty horizon – my lips, nose and eyes were fighting the piercing cold wind while even four layers of woolens felt not-enough-warm. Pench was gently unwrapping its morning glory – ‘magical’, my husband exclaimed! And then the first screech of the wheel – we got wild dogs overcrowding the track – and how we wanted such traffic every day! Low light and frozen hands did not stop us from clicking and recording its movements from every possible slant. They were 6 in total and were in all-play mood.
The jeep moved on as soon as they fled into the thickets and soon enough we got a sambar alarm call. We sped up, dust swirled behind the wheels, the rustling and crushing of leaves echoed in the air and in the blink of an eye, we were up close and personal with the famous ‘langdi’ walking just a feet ahead of us. She seemed to be in no hurry, majestically basking in the 7:30 AM sunshine streaming and shining through the trees – our shutter never stopped, jeep standstill and jaw, like always, dropped! Sometimes, the pictures or the videos cannot capture what your eyes and soul can! Like every aftermath of such phenomenal tiger sighting, I did not know how to articulate my feelings in writing – one needs to experience this once to feel what I feel, to know what I know!
After 3 hours at a stretch, we halted at a girded plain field within the forest for refreshment. Some spotted deers and langurs accompanied us with other jeeps and tourists at a distance while we had a wholesome breakfast.
The sighting of the Golden Jackal family happened much later, when we were on our way back. Three layers of woolen down, we were enjoying breeze rushing through our hair, fingers, stirring our excitement right within. Clearly, Langdi stole the show in this safari but the Jackal family was a crowning stroke in terms of light and shadow composition by Sony Alpha 68.
And we drew a close to our Pench safari with sightings of a Crested Serpent Eagle and two baby owlets together. Heavy dew glazed the leaves, the jungle looked like a goldmine turning everything yellow – shining golden yellow!
That same evening, we had another special plan - to see the sunset at Kohka River. As our driver drove us down a dusty track through the small tribal hamlets, we found mud-walled houses, villagers’ cattle wandering down the narrow lanes. Farmers raised machaans in their plot where bottle-gourd and other trees were seen aplenty.
The daylight slowly became faint after 5:30, the chill in the air became evident again. We roped up the blanket provided by our resort. The gorgeous Indian Roller and the Purple Sunbird kept accompanying us on our 8 kilometers drive to Kokhka river.
It was 6 when we got off the jeep and walked across the river's silvery sandbank. Disturbed by our approach, a team of Ruddy Shelduck waded across the opposite bank. I held his hand tightly and looked ahead, thickly forested hills stood still in front. It became darker by the time we got back to our jeep again, 'we should be heading back before it is all dark' the anxious husband said.
But guess what...we both were taken by surprise to realize that we were not heading back to the resort until we enjoy the lovely bonfire with wine, as the driver said, 'enjoy the cold, sir' - we saw the table was laid on the bank of Kohka, Chardonnay was ready to be served, hurricanes lit up sitting area – our driver humbly asked us if we wished to get the moment captured. Of course, we did! An unforgettable moment of bliss it was when the partner-in-crime embraced me from behind and said, “Here is the camera, ek accha sa photo lijiye!” All smiles!!
