You may have not spotted a tiger, but at least four of them were watching you today.’
Tigers may have been elusive, but just to have gone deep in the ferocious, yet magnificent big cat’s home was an unforgettable experience, says Shubir Rishi/Rediff.com after a road trip to the Pench-Kanha-Tadoba national parks.
The Navegaon male makes his displeasure known with a deep growl as Chhoti Tara (collared) looks away indifferently in the Tadoba National Park. Photograph: Sanjay Thampi
When I was first told that I was to take the Pench-Kanha-Tadoba trail for a whole week, I was dumbstruck. After all, this is where Rudyard Kipling based his Jungle Book that we all grew up to; still occasionally breaking into the unforgettable Jungle jungle baat chali hai...
A month later and there I was, waiting at the lobby for my co-participants to trickle in. At 8:30 in the morning, Nagpur (our starting point), the air was a bit nippy but not freezing as we were warned it would be. The 7-day-long trip was organised by Mahindra Adventures, who have been organising such trips since 2011, most notable of them being one to the Everest Base Camp, a Tri-Nation Escape, and a Monastery Escape.
Soon it became clear (to my horror; I can’t drive) that the participants would be assigned their own vehicles -- a Mahindra XUV W10 4WD in our case, and it would require considerable skill to cover long distances and some rough terrain.
But to my relief, one look at me and my fellow media participant Sujith from Kerala, who runs an off-roading event company, suggested wisely, “No, no no, you don’t worry about the driving, we are all there, no?”
A month later and there I was, waiting at the lobby for my co-participants to trickle in. At 8:30 in the morning, Nagpur (our starting point), the air was a bit nippy but not freezing as we were warned it would be. The 7-day-long trip was organised by Mahindra Adventures, who have been organising such trips since 2011, most notable of them being one to the Everest Base Camp, a Tri-Nation Escape, and a Monastery Escape.
Soon it became clear (to my horror; I can’t drive) that the participants would be assigned their own vehicles -- a Mahindra XUV W10 4WD in our case, and it would require considerable skill to cover long distances and some rough terrain.
But to my relief, one look at me and my fellow media participant Sujith from Kerala, who runs an off-roading event company, suggested wisely, “No, no no, you don’t worry about the driving, we are all there, no?”
Man, was I relieved to hear that!
So that gave me a reasonable excuse to click many photographs, and that’s exactly what I did. (But so did everyone else, for that matter!)
And as the participants took to their own vehicles after the obligatory photo sessions, marketing strategist K S Venkatesh offered cheerfully, “Now, get lost!”, and the journey started.
Day 1
So that gave me a reasonable excuse to click many photographs, and that’s exactly what I did. (But so did everyone else, for that matter!)
And as the participants took to their own vehicles after the obligatory photo sessions, marketing strategist K S Venkatesh offered cheerfully, “Now, get lost!”, and the journey started.
Day 1
A rare occasion when the convoy was in formation and looked majestic and impressive. Participants would sometimes get impatient and would only fall in line after chastised by the lead vehicle. Photograph: Shubir Rishi/Rediff.com
The 170-odd km drive from Nagpur to the Pench National Park is a rather comfortable one -- for it involves mostly smooth, well-maintained (and paid for by us!) wide highways and easy-to-find eateries (which we did not bother about much, as we had plenty of grub). One piece of sage advice (which I ignored, ruefully, and throughout the journey amid jabs from my colleagues), is to have enough cash on you for the duration that you are away from civilisation as you know it -- the lack of ATMs after you leave Pench will have you cursing yourself throughout the course of the journey.
After around 60-odd km, we reach the outskirts of Ramtek, and this is where the route starts to get a little bumpy (that is, if you are not in a 4WD) and rural. We stop by at a pre-determined hotel, refresh ourselves with some tea and coffee and start again, the terrain now getting a bitjunglee.
A langur couple watches the convoy as it drives by. Langurs are the most common sightings in and out of the national parks. They are a shy bunch, and normally do not approach humans for mischief unlike the macaques. Photograph: Shubir Rishi/Rediff.com
We are a diverse group of about 50 people -- doctors, wildlife experts, marine engineers, IT professionals, automobile geniuses -- somewhat like a self-sustaining village. Divided into some 25 vehicles, mostly made up of XUVs and Thars, it is indeed an impressive sight when we roll on, to the onlookers.
“PM ja raha hai kya? (Is the PM on the move)” asked a visibly impressed cyclist when we stopped to take pictures of the convoy.
“It is not easy, boss,” informs Gulshan, an automobile expert and one of the organisers, shifting from one leg to another, and impossibly sucking from a near-dead cigarette. “It is a real pain maintaining a convoy. Every participant has a mind of his own and everyone wants to be in the lead. Besides, we don’t yet know their driving skills yet,” he flashes a toothy grin, hops into his car and off he goes, leaving me in a cloud of dust.
“It is not easy, boss,” informs Gulshan, an automobile expert and one of the organisers, shifting from one leg to another, and impossibly sucking from a near-dead cigarette. “It is a real pain maintaining a convoy. Every participant has a mind of his own and everyone wants to be in the lead. Besides, we don’t yet know their driving skills yet,” he flashes a toothy grin, hops into his car and off he goes, leaving me in a cloud of dust.
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