I'm not much of a traveler. It takes a lot for me to leave my home because it's not just me who has to leave—it's the whole family! As a woman, my job is to get everything and everyone ready, then finally myself and my things. By the time I've finished all of this, I often wish there was never a travel plan at all.
But a travel plan arranged by someone else is truly a blissful experience. If you can choose from your family and take only one of your bundles of joy, leaving the rest behind, it means half your worries are left at home.
So yes, ladies and gentlemen, I embarked on a jungle trip with my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and my youngest son Ethan. Now, why a jungle safari? Earning my own stripes has been on my bucket list for quite some time now. However, I'm not the type who can just go on a backpacking trip by myself or even with strangers. Having a family member who is an avid wildlife enthusiast really helps. To date, my brother-in-law has been on over 95 safaris!
So, with a family accustomed to such trips, my son and I tagged along on our very first wildlife journey to the heart of our nation, 'Hindustan Ka Dil – Madhya Pradesh.' Our schedule was packed with wildlife encounters, even during the hottest days of summer. It included visiting two forests: Panna, with three safaris, and Bandhavgarh, with four safaris.
Our first visit was to the Panna forest during the evening slot from 15:00 to 19:00. People rush to be first at the gate, not necessarily to be the first to spot a predator, but to avoid the dust kicked up by the jeep ahead of them. In these safaris, you have a driver and a guide, and you travel in an open jeep or canter—yes, completely open! Don't worry, the animals are least interested in you. The rule is strict: do not step out of the jeep because predators see the entire jeep as one unit. As long as you're inside, you're safe.
As soon as you enter the forest gates, the guide and driver check for three things in unison:
They look for pug marks, if any. Pug marks help the guide determine the direction of movement, freshness, sex of the tiger, and more.
They listen for distress calls from deer, especially sambar and barking deer.
They rely on alarm calls from Hanuman langurs.
Typically, the guide, driver, and experienced tourists depend on one of these cues for a successful sighting of a wild cat. The guide also sees spotting a wild boar at the start of the safari as a good luck charm, while my sister considers seeing a mongoose as a sign of luck for spotting a wild cat.
The evening and the following morning safaris (5:30-10:30) passed without a single sighting of a predator. However, in a random sequence and varying numbers, we encountered langurs, spotted deer, Indian bison, sambar, chinkara, chau singha, peacocks and hens. We also spotted numerous exotic birds such as the Indian robin, tickles blue, common and small blue kingfisher, oriental magpie, sirkeer malkoha, macaw, laughing dove, parakeet, golden oriole, and more... [You'll have to google these to see what my eyes saw.]
Our final safari in Panna was truly memorable. We heard alarm calls from sambar and monkeys alike and waited beside a water body, hoping to spot a tiger. Suddenly, from right next to our jeep, a leopard darted off, chasing a troop of monkeys as they climbed onto a branch, but catching none. On our way out, we also saw another leopard and a sloth bear. So, the visit to Panna was truly 'paisa vasool' (worth the money).
In our next 4 safaris at Bandhavgarh forest, we saw not one, not two, but ten tigers! Let's call it beginner's luck. Despite our hectic schedule, the trip was completely worthwhile. Even my 6-year-old thoroughly enjoyed it and started identifying birds for us with their correct names. While we saw many more animals, merely listing them down wouldn't do justice to the experience.
This trip is a complete do-it-yourself adventure. Plan a visit soon as it could be a life-changing experience, as it certainly was for me.
A few tips:
Wear clothes in dull colors to blend in.
Carry sunglasses, scarves, a mask, cap, sunscreen, binoculars, a camera with a great zoom lens, water, and dry snacks.
-SuVi
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