Kanha
A grand welcome
‘I have seen five deers’ – My daughter triumphantly announced as soon as I came out of the reception of Baghira Log Huts at Kisli after completion of checking-in formalities. ‘Deer? From the hotel? You must be joking’. She surely was joking!! As soon as we moved in our room, we saw not five but maybe fifteen of them outside our room. Have you seen a beauty pageant of deers? That is what gradually unfolded in front – pristine beauties strutted from one side to the other in front of us. A few peacocks joined them occasionally. What a place to stay!! And what a welcome!!!
After a long journey to Kisli, Kanha we were late for the evening safari. If only the train was not late by an hour! A quick stroll around the hotel ensured that even it had something even for those who did not want to go for safaris. A decent amount of wildlife viewing could be done sitting here. Deers, monkeys and peacocks roam inside the hotel premises or around the virtual periphery of the hotel all the time. A small watering hole within attracts a lot of animals – recently a group of bisons have been visiting it in the evenings almost regularly. In the early hours of the night the deep roar of an animal was heard for around 5 mins. Is it the tiger? Need to confirm it the next morning…
The Jungle Safari
Peacock
In the meantime, while enjoying the surroundings, arrangements were done for the safari the next morning. The jeep will come at 5:45 AM and we would be sharing it another group staying in the same hotel. The morning was exceptionally cold and left us shivering and wearing not only one but a couple of shirts. I had no idea that it would be this cold and we were caught unawares without any warm clothing. Within a few minutes of entering the Kisli gate, we were on one of the dirt tracks. Our guide said that there were fresh bear foot marks on the ground – most probably a bear was nearby. For us, there could not have been a better start. We were tense and silent and within a minute a big sloth bear was viewed – some distance away under a mahua tree, busy relishing the fruits of the mahua tree. Barely had we seen enough of the bear, the guide signaled us to move on. He could hear the alarm calls of deer, indicating that a tiger could be in the vicinity. Our jeep moved on and about 50m ahead, we were stopped by the vehicle in front of us. A leopard had run beside their car, crossed the road and raced into the forest!!! Wow, that’s luck!!
We had a very rich experience for the remaining part of the safari. We saw herds of bison (gaur), barasingha deer, sambar deer and of course spotted deer. Its the default at Kanha – with around 21,000 of them. A tiger was spotted just around 30m off the road. It was resting in the shade beside a small pool of water. We waited for about an hour for it to make any movement, but it just lazily remained there, enjoying the water and the shade. The evening safari was equally enjoyable, although the duration was less.
Tigress
Another two safaris the next day – we saw wild boar, barking deer, the barasingha from very near and a variety of birds. With the nearing of the mating season, the guides taught us the difference between the alarm call and mating call of the spotted deer. We were lucky to see two tigers and a leopard on this day. Both the tigers that we were able to view had been tracked by the elephants and a short elephant ride was required to go near the tigers. The first one hid itself among the long and dry grasses, but the second tiger was sitting just a couple of feet away from us. It remained calm and was not at all bothered by the elephants moving in its vicinity. Seeing the tiger from a distance of 2 ft was quite an experience.
Sunset
A leopard was viewed in the evening – perched on top of a tree trunk. I felt the need of a good zoom lens, something which I did not have. And I felt jealous of the people around me who were carrying lenses like machine guns and capturing the leopard as if sitting 1ft away. Again a patient wait for an hour for it to move was futile – as it decided to maintain status quo, at least till we left. Our wait was not in vain – we were rewarded by a beautiful sunset with the sky flaring up in shades of red. A big herd of bisons had visited the watering hole adjacent to our hotel, but when we returned from the safari, only two of them were still there.
After spending three wonderful nights at Kisli, it was time to move towards Bandhavgarh. There are two Nature Trails from the Khatia gate – one 3 Km and another 8 Km. I had planned to do the 8Km trail on the morning of our departure. Unfortunately the car which was supposed to come in the early hours of the morning arrived late and we could not go to Khatia, which was 3.5 Km from Baghira Log Huts. May be next time….
