Tigers and the Ganges (3 of 4): Tiger Safari

After leaving all that saucy stuff in Khajuraho we made the long drive to Bandhavgarh National Park and settled in for the night at the 'Mogli Lodge'. I say settled but it took a while to get used to the Scarab Beetles and assorted bugs that wanted to share my room. Once I'd banished them everything was fine, besides I had a friendly Gecko on my wall to gobble up any interlopers.

The next day we awoke at dawn and headed out by Jeep into the park. The world's Tiger population is decreasing at an alarming rate. Some experts believe that extinction may occur in the near future. With this in mind, if you want to see a Tiger in the wild then Bandhavgarh is probably the best place to do it. It's thought that there may be around 50 or so of the big cats in the park, feeding on a plentiful supply of Deer.

Fingers crossed and half expecting not to get a sighting, we enjoyed the early morning sunlight shining through the forests and on the grassy plains. Deer and Monkeys were watching us which meant that there were no Tigers or elusive Leopards nearby.

Suddenly our driver got a call and we headed off in a different direction. Soon we were in a line of parked Jeeps, peering at 3 Tigers, one on one side of the trail and two on the other. It was a real 'wow' moment but better was yet to come. After a quick packed breakfast, we drove out to look again. This time we had the opportunity to climb onto the back of an Elephant, enabling us to get through the trees and up close. It was an amazing experience as the Elephant, controlled by his Mahout (handler), took us through the forest, pulling down branches that were in the way with his trunk. Soon, there it was, a magnificent looking Tiger, just down below us in a dry stream bed. Our sure-footed Elephant moved closer down the slope until we got a perfect view.

The Tiger seemed a little pissed off at being disturbed so I was quite happy when we started to head back to the Jeep. A magical few minutes that I luckily captured on film.

Bandhavgarh National Park Tiger Safari 'Elephant-Cam'
Thinking back now, great as the day was, it did seem a bit like a circus with lots of tourists dashing around by Jeep and potentially driving the Tigers away. Still, money is brought into the park for conservation purposes and I'm sure that the people that run it know what they are doing. The bottom line is that without tourists there would be no park and without the park there would be no Tigers.

On the day following our 'safari' we visited a nearby tribal village and the people welcomed us into their homes. After a chapatti making demonstration and a sample (with mega hot chili Lime pickle!) we were taken to a local school. The kids there were charming and the younger ones seemed quite thrilled when we gave them a few exercise books and pens. This only cost a few Rupees and I felt that we'd all have been happy to donate more.

After two days at Bandhavgarh it was time to leave and take a train to the holiest of Hindu cities, ancient Varanasi.