I had been planning on visiting this National Park since around October or November. Prior to that, I had considered visiting this place several times, owing to my instincts and whatever I had read, not having had any great tiger sightings before that. Online permits are required for the safaris, whether single seat shared jeep or full jeep safari. Safaris are done in the evenings and mornings. There are also few permits for full day safari. I chose the normal single seat shared jeep safari option while booking my permits. Finally, in January, when all bookings and arrangements were more or less done, it was mostly a matter of reconciling my anticipation and alacrity with the wait.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK
These forest parts used to be the private hunting grounds of the Maharaja of Rewa and tigers used to be killed here by the hundreds. The Maharajas had a sudden change of heart / government took over and turned this into a national park in 1968. Initially, only an area of 105 square km with a tiger density of 1 per 5 square km, it has grown to a sizable national park with a core area of 716 square km and a buffer area of 820 square km. It no longer holds the record for the highest tiger density, but still is arguably the best or one of the very best places to sight tigers in the wild.
The core area is divided into 3 man-made zones - Tala, Magadhi and Khitouli. Other than that there is also a big buffer area comprising of Panpatha, Dhamokhar, Pachpedi and Johila, located closer to human settlements.
The vegetation here is a mélange, ranging from dry deciduous to mixed deciduous on higher altitudes sometimes with rocky terrain, sal and bamboo forests in the lowlands some vast grasslands and some very arid sections. There are plenty of caves here as well. Some caves were even homes to some tigers and some had ancient inscriptions engraved in them.
There is a fort in Tala, which used to belong to the maharaja of Rewa. It is believed the fort was originally gifted by Lord Rama to Lakshmana to watch over Lanka. Hence it is rightly called "Brother's Fort" - Bandhavgarh. In earlier times, trekking used to be allowed up to the fort.
About the wildlife, the notable absentees are wild elephants and crocodiles - the main attraction clearly being tigers. It also has a good population of leopards, sloth bears and several parakeets among other birds unique to the place. The barking deer is found here, which is sort of unique to Central India. I think one of the interesting things here is the vast variety of Canidae family here - jackals, foxes, wolves, dhole and hyenas (unless you classify hyenas separately).
Conveyance can be a bit better. The 3 ways to travel there are:
1) Drive to the National Park from some nearby city;
2) Find a way to get to Katni station by train and then to Umaria station;
3) Or get to Jabalpur airport by plane and somehow get to Bandhavgarh by car / taxi.
MY EXPERIENCE
DAY 1:
One day in May 2018, I set off by plane to Jabalpur and then took a taxi / car to Bandhavgarh. Having set off early morning, I reached Bandhavgarh in the evening. On the way, I saw some monkeys, a jackal and deer. Apparently there was also a sloth bear at a certain place along the way, although I was drowsy and could only vaguely make out something walking into the forest.
There I was put up at a place / hotel, not far from the office where the safari proceedings would commence. The premises also had a stray dog, who was quite friendly with me and functioned like a self proclaimed guard dog there. Jokingly, the staff and I nicknamed her "Premi Kutiya". :) I had been practising photography and rising early, precisely for this occasion and it was time to put it all to the test.
I had planned for 6 safaris, spanning the 3 main zones with the main objective of having good tiger sightings across all zones. I had also factored in the stats, season, the contemporary tigers / names and their territories to provide myself with better chances of a sighting. Just as a hobby, I had studied a lot about the history of tigers there, which had given me a reasonable idea about all this. The next day would be my first safari.
I learnt that safari in Magadhi zone was closed since 2 weeks owing to a forest fire and small parts of Tala and Khitouli had also been burnt. The damage in Magadhi was unknown. That was something I certainly hadn't planned for. The good news was Magadhi safaris would resume from the next day and I had a booking the day after that.
DAY 2:
I rose early and briefly considered doing an impromptu safari. But instead deemed it better to just acclimatize and practice photography in these new environs. I had brought along an extra battery to avoid any cruel surprises in the middle of a safari. It ultimately proved to be a good decision on 2 occasions.
[SAFARI 1]
In the evening, it was finally time. I had reported at the ticket counter early for paperwork formalities. A guide I knew was kind enough to drop me at the counter. It was a seat basis booking safari and there would be a Bengali family of 3 with me on this safari. The zone was Tala.
As we set off, I got to know this was their last safari. They had sighted Spotty (T41) and her cubs from a distance the day before along with a brief sighting of Mangu (T9), the most dominant male tiger in Bandhavgarh.
Our guide and driver first led us through the Sita Mandap route, traversing the rocky terrain in order to have more chances of sighting the relatively shy Banbehi tigress (T32) or her cubs. He reckoned while others would flock to sight Spotty, we had an outside chance of spotting this tigress in the absence of others. But it wasn't to be. We noticed that on 1 side of a hill, even parts of Tala were burning. The guide mentioned the officials were working to douse the fire in those parts.
We sighted several sambars and wild boars from a distance, plenty cheetals, langurs and monkeys. Barely any peacocks though. Eventually we reached Damnar water hole - popular haunt of tigress Spotty and her cubs. There were 2 sub-adult cubs of Spotty here. One was in the water whilst the other was sleeping on the banks. There were around 10 jeeps around. We went to the foremost location, near the sleeping tigress and halted. The tigresses were around 20 ft. from us.
After some waiting, the one in the waters tip-toed out onto the banks and crossed the road with little ado, pausing to take care of restroom business before attempting climbing a tree. She then ventured into the forest on the other side. The other one also woke up eventually after several lazy yawns, walked straight towards us, urinating on trees as she did so. The last tree was closest to me and in the process, I came face to face with this tigress. Just 4-5 feet away. A moment to cherish. She eventually also disappeared into the other side of the forest. We were watching the 2 for around an hour or so.
2-3 jeeps had also sighted a tigress in the Chakradhara area briefly who had disappeared into the bushes. There were pugmarks near the waterhole. We noticed a couple of langurs drinking from a puddle and a beautiful sunset before making our way back from the safari.
DAY 3:
[SAFARI 2]
My second safari was also in Tala next morning. By 5 A.M., I had reported at the counter. This time a person from Raipur and 2 friends from Delhi would accompany me.
This time we started in Chakradhara hoping to sight the tigress, seen the day before by some. But no sign of her. Just some pugmarks. We then tried our luck with the Banbehi tigress again. But she would prove to be elusive too. We glimpsed a beautiful sunrise there though.
Eventually, we came across a section of the forest, where some had sighted Spotty and her cubs in the distance near the intersection of the hills with the lowlands. While we waited, we suddenly made out a tigress walking down the hill. She quietly made her way through the foliage and crossed the road right in front of us, near a stream. 10-15 ft. away. It was one of the female sub-adult cubs of Mirchaini / Damnar tigress (Spotty). The dominant male, Mangu had been spotted near the stream, 2 days back.
As the sub-adult crossed over to the Manpur buffer area, we waited on the road for Spotty and her other cub to do likewise. They were behind the trees maybe around 100 ft. away and we occasionally could make them out in the distance sporadically for a period of 2-3 seconds. From what we could make out, a third sub-adult female came and joined them and left subsequently. The remaining cub fought with the mother over something. Then, there was silence. They were not going to come out.
After waiting there for more than an hour, we proceeded forwarded to a tourist "centre point", where we had a snacks break. Shortly afterwards, we reached Damnar waterhole. This is where the 3rd sub-adult had gone. She was fast asleep, around 55 ft. away. Occasionally, she awakened and watched us, before dozing off again. There were a plethora of langurs, cheetals and peacocks on the other side of the bridge.
On our way back, I also sighted a monitor lizard which crossed the road and entered a tree trunk. Other sightings included sambars from close distance, cheetals, few peacocks, some gaur, birds and monkeys.
[SAFARI 3]
Evening safari was in Magadhi. I was surprised to find I was clubbed with the same 2 people from Delhi and another person from Indore.
This was my first sighting of Magadhi after the forest fire. It appeared quite a bit of Arharia saucer, T37, a dominant tiger's area was burnt in the fire. He was the last remaining son of the former dominant ruling tiger, Bamera in Bandhavgarh core area. Some other parts were burnt too. But most parts seemed intact. The new person with us had sighted tiger T39 in the morning and after unsuccessfully trying our luck sighting other tigers, we tried the same. But T39 was in no mood to show up in the evening.
None near Mahaman area dam or in Patiha as well. We were hoping the Mahaman area tigress would show up with her cubs, as she also crosses to this region from Khitouli. But in vain. I took my first picture of a barking deer while waiting for the Patiha tigress to appear. We saw plenty of birds on this safari. Loads of peacocks, Eurasian Thick-knee and some others. Soon, the evening safari was over.
We sighted the cubs of a late Magadhi tigress Kankatti & T37, being raised in an enclosure, ever since Kankatti passed away since they were very young. It is unknown if they'd be released in the wild. Apparently, they are taught to kill on their own.
DAY 4:
[SAFARI 4]
This time, a family from Indore would do the safari with me in Magadhi. Not far from the gate, we found pug marks of a tiger. The guide suspected it was T37, or T22 (Bheem), another dominant tiger who crosses over from Khitouli to Mahaman area in Magadhi.
But the pug marks trailed off soon after and we proceeded further into Magadhi. We noticed 2 peacocks dancing near Sukhi Talaab, from a distance. This is the 4th instance I'd noticed a peacock dance on this trip. Upon reaching Sukhi Talaab area, we learnt Mahaman male tiger T39 had been sighted by 3-4 jeeps in the talaab and while heading back to his caves 4 minutes ago.
After briefly surveying another tigress's area, we entered Patiha area to hopefully sight Patiha tigress, T5. We found tiger tracks in 2 areas. The guide was having doubts as to, if it was T5 or 1 of her 2 cubs - 1 male and female, who were sub-adults now. It was expected the female sub-adult would be pushing her mother for this territory. T5 had already lost part of her territory to tigress T533, part of her previous litter.
After waiting for a bit, we decided to head back. That was when it happened. Suddenly, a tigress appeared from the forest area on the right. It was around 30 ft. in front of us. It was T5's female sub-adult cub. It turned its head at us before heading into the short foliage area ahead of it. I prepared my camera to capture pics when it appeared on the left from the forest cover. It did eventually and I took some good pics. It was heading diagonally away now, towards some river. Another jeep had appeared shortly before it was about to descend down towards a river. By the time, a 3rd jeep had arrived, it was gone. Great sighting, of more than a minute. No alarm calls. Quite sudden.
We spent some time at beautiful Sehra meadows, where tigress T34 had been sighted earlier. There was a lot of interesting animal activity with some wild boar and cheetals scampering and what not. But no sign of T34.
We stopped briefly at "Centre Point" for morning snacks. Apparently, our sighting and T39 had been the only sightings in the morning.
We saw plenty of peacocks, a buzzard, other birds and 2 jackals at a distance. Also, a barking deer. I took some pics of the burnt parts of Magadhi. Towards the end of the safari, I saw a group of langurs and monkeys sitting together. Took some pictures before closure of the safari.
[SAFARI 5]
The following evening, it was a bit overcast. This time I was doing the safari with 2 guys from Rajasthan and a couple from Madhya Pradesh. Zone was Magadhi.
Mahaman dam and Arharia areas appeared to be empty. We also tried our best to sight some others like Spotty's sister T17 (Dotty), Patiha tigress T5 and T39. But there was no sign of them. It had also started drizzling.
There was a freak accident of sorts. A sizable tree branch / branches appeared to be lying on the road. Our jeep tyres hit it at an angle such that the branch was launched upwards to directly hit my nose and my spectacles. There was bleeding, although superficial. There was some pain, but no bone injury, just some bruising. This was one occasion, my spectacles saved me from further injury. Luckily, the guys sitting next to me had some cotton to block the bleeding. I used it. The pain receded quickly in the following days.
We saw some sambar at close range and Sehra meadows only had some gaur, which indicated tigers were not nearby, as the gaur are generally pretty cautious about their presence. We were hopeful about sighting T22 or T24 on our way back in Mahaman dam area. But no sign of them. We found some huge tiger scratch marks on a tree or 2.
Soon, the evening safari was over.
DAY 5:
[SAFARI 6]
I was hopeful to sight tigers in all 3 zones. I had already done so in Tala and Magadhi. 5 different tigresses sighted so far. Next morning, my safari was in Khitouli, the remaining core zone. Home of the biggest tiger in Bandhavgarh - Bheem / T22. I had failed to sight him in his other haunt - Mahaman area in Magadhi. This time, a Gujrati family and an advocate / photographer from Mumbai was doing the safari with me.
Not far from the entry gate, we came upon an open field with dense foliage at the edge and a stream nearby. We didn't know at the time, that this site would prove to be significant. We noticed a couple of stags with horns locked for battle and a peacock.
We went deeper into Khitouli, to various water holes where Bheem or some other tigresses were believed to be in the area. But they weren't there. We went to Chataipati Talaab, where we saw some very nervous cheetal, drinking water cautiously. They were disturbed by the slightest warning call by nearby peacocks or apes. This was Pannalal tiger's area. But he was absent.
We found some tracks of a Muda Tara tigress, who had been sighted a lot off late, leading to a path, closed to tourism. After waiting a while there, we moved on to the water hole she is often sighted. While we waited, I zoomed in on the trees, for any possibility of leopards. Khitouli is famous for its leopards too. But there was no sign of the big cats.
Eventually, we decided to make our way back. We spotted 3 monitor lizards, 1 Nilgai, a wild boar and peacocks along the way, along with deer. We stopped for a snacks break at "Centre Point" where I had some pakodi and tea.
It was around 10 a.m. and although not a probable time for tiger sightings, I was still hopeful as I had read about the occasional late morning sightings in Bandhavgarh. Some driver we met along the way mentioned T24, Mahaman tigress had been sighted by some going up the hills, with her cubs. We surged forward, hopeful. As we neared the field where we had witnessed male deer locking horns at the start, we saw a crowd of jeeps waiting for something. As we reached the location, we could faintly make out a mix of orange and stripes in the distance. It appeared to be around 70 ft. away, in the shade, near a stream, beside some bushes, adjacent to the field with cheetals frolicking around. I zoomed in, to get some images. It appeared to be very much like Mahaman tigress, T24, but from the angle I took the pics, her distinguishing feature didn't seem too evident.
The tigress was in no mood to budge. Her cubs were probably, somewhere up in the hills. After spending a half hour or so there, we pushed off eventually. We had had a tiger sighting, post 10 A.M. Not a very likely occurrence. With that sighting, I also completed sightings in all 3 core zones.
We saw some monkeys and deer before the safari came to a close. I spent the rest of the day of the day packing and just idling about. It had been a busy, entertaining and memorable 5 days in Bandhavgarh. I finished any pending payments and thanked relevant people for the fruitful stay.
DAY 6:
Next morning, at 6 A.M., I was off by car to Jabalpur Airport. Then, it was back to Bangalore by plane. I reached Bangalore, late in the evening. My trip cost came to around Rs. 44.5 k, but it was largely due to the plane fare, close to Rs. 19.5 k. Other things were reasonably priced.
To conclude: It was a memorable experience, which I will cherish for many reasons. There were tiger sightings in 4 out of 6 safaris and 6 different tigresses were spotted in the wild, during the course of these safaris. It had undoubtedly proven to be one of the best wildlife experiences I'd ever had.
