Jungle is where I get my peace of mind. So whenever I get an opportunity, I grab it. The same thing happened this summer as well. Shubhada, my childhood friend very well knows this. She called me and said, " Arohi, I am going to Taboda with a group of photography enthusiast. But my friend has canceled her trip to Tadoba. So I am asking you as I am sure you would be interested." My first reaction was yes but I had to think about Aabha as well, my 2-year-old daughter. So I told her that I would confirm after talking to Rojo. He was quite sure that he would manage. So finally I called Shubhada and told her that I would join you. I was excited to go back to jungle.
Our journey began on 27th may from Pune to Nagpur. As soon as I stepped out, I could feel the heat wave, as it was already 43 degree. This was the first time I was in Nagpur in summer.
From Nagpur we traveled by road to Navegaon. We had our booking in hotel “Tiger Heaven Resort”. I was very excited for our first safari. We started at 2 PM to enter from Navegaon side. The gates of the reserve open at 3PM. Excitement to see tiger made me bear with scorching heat as well.
With Shubhada: morning safari day 2
Maya tigress and her three 10-month-old cubs were our sure hopes. Our guide and one of the organizing member Ashish told us that today morning she had left cubs in the hiding and had gone for hunting. Tigress needs to keep her cubs safe until they turn 3 years old, because they have threat from stranger tigers, wild dogs and other animals including human. She has chosen Pandhrpauni water hole or more commonly known as the no 2. This water hole in her territory is a perfect site as it is surrounded by dense vegetation. On the east side there is dense vegetation like big tamarind tree and tall grass. On the north side it has again tall grass, small trees and bushes. On this side there is a “Machaan”. On the west, there is again tall grass and few bushes. All the jeeps wait on the south side as it gives the clear view of the water hole. This water hole also has an island like spot. During the monsoon this island would be surrounded by water. But in the summer, water is dried and only a small amount is remaining.
When we reached the waterhole the day Safari jeep had already secured vantage position. They told us that the Cubs are hiding in the bushes near the big tamarind tree and Maya has not returned from the hunt.
The effort to spot a tiger in the hiding is difficult to put in words. As in the jungle you can't give exact directions and like all big cats, tigers camouflage perfectly. I started screening the place in the told direction. After putting lot of efforts I could finally spot one of the Cub, lying idyllic under a tamarind tree.
Once I could spot the first one finding the second was not a big task. However, the third one was nowhere to be seen. Now, we were sure that the Cubs will come out at least once to drink water; our job was just to wait patiently.
As Maya was away, the water hole was a busy sight. First came the barking deer to quench his thirst, followed by Sambar deer. Asian paradise flycatcher is my favourite bird. The male has black head and white body and long white tail. He was flying around the water hole flaunting his long slender white tail. His favorite sport was to dive down to catch a fly.
Asian Paradise flycatcher: male
Bee-eater amused us when we were waiting for the tiger cubs. This bird was seating on the branch near our jeep and was giving good poses to our photography enthusiast. This bird catches bees while flying and for that he keeps his bill wide open. We also spotted juvenile of bee-eater and could also capture bee-eater feeding its juvenile.
By now we were joined by jeeps entering the park from Moharli and Navegaon. Suddenly, I could hear that one of the cub has moved. He started to climb down. I was so thrilled to see a tiger cub in the jungle and felt that this is a pure "paisa wasool" movement. Every one was busy catching the movement. All you could hear was clicking sound of cameras.
one of the male cub of Maya
The cub walked to the water and looked at us, calmly sat in water. Tigers need to reduce the body heat and for that they choose to be in water or in the mud. Soon his brother followed him. It was almost dusk and we were hoping that Maya would come soon as we could hear the calls of the tiger movement. The surest call is of the Sambar deer as it is the tiger's favorite food. We waited long, but the calls soon died out. Maya was not sighted anywhere that evening. Soon the Cubs moved out of the water hole to their earlier hiding place, hopefully where their sister was also resting. It was now 6.30 and we had to move out towards our hotel.
On the way back we sighted Indian roller yet another beautiful blue bird. This bird has different blue shades in other parts of India. We also saw few neelgais and a herd of Indian Gaur. The dominant male in the herd challenged a young male. We could see some tussle between them. All of them were moving towards the watering hole. The male has dark brown color while females and calf are paler.
We returned quiet satisfied, as we were lucky to spot two tiger cubs. Next day we started at 6 am and reached the same spot. By this time we were told that Maya has returned successfully from the hunt. My hopes to spot her increased. Tigers by nature are nocturnal and remain inactive during the day. We waited at the same spot for nearly two long hours hoping that Maya would come down from the clutter and give us sighting. However, there was absolutely no movement. She remained there idle along with her three Cubs. By 9.30 we returned back to our hotel slightly disappointed. We still had two more safaris left before we return to Pune.
All of us decided that we should start sharp at 2 PM to grab the vantage position. When we reached the same position we were not sure whether she has moved or she is still there near the water hole. We waited almost half an hour. I was unsure whether we should move or stay there. But all of us decided to try our luck. More and more animals were coming to the hole. First came a langoor. He screened the place, drank water and climbed up the trees where we had spotted the Cubs yesterday. He was followed by his troop of 10 to 12 langoor. By this time one of the jeep had spotted a male cub. He was lying in the bushes some 15 meters from our jeep. Our patience was paid off. Now, we were sure that she should be near by. After waiting for almost half an hour, the cub came out of bushes and moved towards the island in the waterhole. His sister then followed him and both disappeared in the tall grass of the island. I was just hoping that they should come out of hiding, so that at least once I would catch glimpse of Maya.
Again there was a movement, one of the male cub came out from the island, however, this time on the opposite side and moved towards north ( Machan Side). His brother and sister soon followed him. After almost 15-20 minutes, all the tree tiger cubs again came and sat near water edge. But we could not see them as there was big rock. Soon there was silence. My hopes to see Maya dwindled.
More and more animals were coming to the water hole but Maya was nowhere to be seen. On the North side, I could see forest guard along with his fellow mate, on a two-wheeler. They stopped near the Machaan, his fellow rider climbed up and spotted tigers and started riding towards our waiting side. The guards move inside the core area and keep track of the tiger movements.
Along came a Sambar deer, walked silently toward the water screened the place and started to drink water. I was puzzled as how she could not feel the presence of the three tiger cubs and at that same movement she looked up again and could sense tiger scent. She looked up where the Cubs were seating and got alert. The first reaction was to give the call. She moved away from the water lifted her tail, barked and stomped her right front foot. This she repeated twice and moved away from the water hole.
Soon one of the male cubs moved towards water. His brother then followed him. But Maya and female cub were nowhere to be seen. We were waiting at the same spot for more than 2 hours now and something strange happened. The forest guard on the duty started asking the tourists to leave. It was already 5.30PM. Our initial thought was that he was asking the jeeps from Moharli to move. But he asked one of our jeeps also to back out. Obviously none of them were interested to move. So the jeep drivers were lingering. Every one was taking their sweet time to move. Still Maya had not moved. Then it was our turn to back out. Obviously our driver was not ready to move and so were we. Our driver stated to back out, and at that very movement, Maya and her female cub moved towards water and started drinking water. Oh my god, look how big Maya is compared to her 10-month-old female, was my first reaction. There was a remarkable difference in their size. I was totally mesmerized to see that. However, The guard was held bend to move us away. His job was at stake as some higher rank officer was on visit, and he wanted to see tiger.
Maya at the water hole
Earlier after our morning safari, I was reading article about the forest guard in Tadoba. So I felt that I had seen his photo in that article. I don’t know what stuck me, and I suddenly asked him "Sir, I think I have seen you in one of the magazine". Not only the guard but also my friends in the jeep were shocked to listen to my question. "Kahi pan Kay madam. Mala mahiti padala asata na maza photo ala ahe magazine madhye." replied the awestruck guard in local Marathi dialect. My friends started to laugh, but all I could tell them to shut up, and keep clicking photos.
By now, Maya had moved towards her two Cubs, and I could see all four in the same frame. I simply cannot put my joy in words.
The guard was exasperated; he started to squabble with our driver. Finally we moved away.
Our driver started to speed the jeep, as he wanted to give us the final glimpse of the tigress. Since this was a one-way route, we had to take a round to reach the same spot. While speeding back to the same spot we could see a sloth bear crossing the road. This bear was there in the bushes right behind us, but we could not feel his presence. Nonchalantly the bear moved inside the jungle. Our driver sped back to the same spot.
Within those 5 minutes cubs were out of water, and Maya was seating near the island. When we reached there, female cub was trying to climb up the tree on the edge of the island. One of the male cubs was walking in the direction of Machan, his brother followed him and Maya was still seating near water. After a while, she also started to walk back.
We followed them and were waiting at the T junction, where one road was going towards the Machaan side and other towards Navegoan. We were hopeful that the family would cross at this very junction. But, it was almost dusk, so our driver said that we should hurry back before the gate closes.
All of us were very happy and chit chatting and was not paying attention on the road. Even our driver and the guide were discussing that we were lucky to spot the tigress even though guard had asked us to move. From the distance we could see the Navegoan check naka. This check naka has a small water body where three days ago Ashish had told us that he had spotted leopard. The driver was speeding and suddenly Suvarana shouted and asked us to look for leopard. The jeep braked and we could see the leopard running away. Definitely, it was our day. I can say that this was the most successful safari.
All of us were elated. Everyone was talking about the safari. Tired from the day’s exertion, I went to bed early.
Next day Moring we started sharp at 5AM. We went to the same spot again. Ours was first jeep to reach there. I screened the place, looked for all the spots were we had earlier spotted her, but Maya was not there. Other jeeps had joined us. One guide spotted her. She was seating near the Machaan. Due to dense grass, it was very difficult for us to spot from our jeep. But some how I could manage to spot her. She was seating on a rock, basking in the sun. After almost half an hour, she moved towards the water hole. Again, all you could hear was clicking sound of camera. She moved towards the right side of the water hole, relentlessly quenched her thirst, and then walked towards the tamarind tree. This was the last time we saw Maya.
Next day Moring we started sharp at 5AM. We went to the same spot again. Ours was first jeep to reach there. I screened the place, looked for all the spots were we had earlier spotted her, but Maya was not there. Other jeeps had joined us. One guide spotted her. She was seating near the Machaan. Due to dense grass, it was very difficult for us to spot from our jeep. But some how I could manage to spot her. She was seating on a rock, basking in the sun. After almost half an hour, she moved towards the water hole. Again, all you could hear was clicking sound of camera. She moved towards the right side of the water hole, relentlessly quenched her thirst, and then walked towards the tamarind tree. This was the last time we saw Maya.
Tadoba Andhari Tiger Resort is almost 650 Sq.Kms. Only 20 % of the park is open for the tourist. The park has a beautiful Tadoba lake. This lake is also part of the Maya’s Territory, so when she is alone, she is usually spotted near this lake. Tadoba also has wide variety of birds. Just near the lake, we saw juvenile of Honey buzzard. After clicking many photos, we took a break at resting area. All of us wanted to see a male tiger. So we wanted to try our luck to spot Gabbar; the male tiger. His territory was far away from where we were. On the way, however, we could spot Bagdogh, the male tiger, or rather I would say I could see only glimpse of this tiger. But the jeeps behind us could see him crossing the road.
On the way back, we saw orange-headed thrush, Tickles blue flycatcher and two sloth bear. Unexpected is only expected in the jungle. In few of the safaris you can’t see anything or in single safari you can see so many things. But satisfaction is guaranteed.
Front Row from Left: Preeti, Shilpa, Ashish; Second row: Sumeet, Suvarana, Shubhada, Arohi; Third row: Kedar and Ravi
