We took a car and along with a couple of cousins from Raipur and after a uneventful four hour ride were into Kanha. In tourist terminology, this is part of Kipling country in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh: these are the hills where The Jungle Book was set.
Kanha has a major advantage over some of its better known rivals. This is of course, is the abundance of tigers. Along with Badhavgarh, Kanha has the largest concentration of the big cat. An Indian government survey had reported that, with 90 tigers, it is one of only two reserves in India that still has a sustainable population. Such a large tiger population, of course, requires an abundant supply of food, and the hills teem with different species of prey: chital, sambhar, barking deer, nilgai, the very rare barasingha, or swamp deer, which Kanha saved from extinction
We had booked to stay in one of the quaint colonial era guest houses, complete with high ceilings and uniformed help, with food cooked over a wood fire. A welcome change over the synthetic tourist resorts that one gets used to.
We reached there at 5pm, got a guide, jumped in the jeep and hit the pothole-ridden track leading into the jungle.. We were soon into deep in the sal and bamboo forests of Kanha Before long we were lying in wait for the tigress and watching the sun slide beneath the tree line. Several jeeps bounced past bearing cramped passengers. 'Perhaps she waits for the last jeep of the day,' suggested one of my companions. However there was no sign of tigers, or any other kind of a any big animal. The first drive, as far as tigers are concerned, draws a blank. There were numerous different types of deer and birds, too many deer as a matter of fact. And some monkeys. That’s it. It was feeling like a jaunt to the neighborhood Deer Park in Delhi, rather than a visit to a wildlife resort.
That seemed to mark the end of the mission. We swung by the rangers' lodge to share more bidis and yarns. One of the gamekeepers explained that the distant din we could hear was one of his cohorts crashing through the trees on an elephant, searching for poachers. 'She gets a bit frisky and charges the jeep, but hey, we'll have a few beers, it'll be fun.' We could have been any bunch of guys in the world, just drinking and chewing the fat, except our topic of conversation rarely deviated from the subject of tigers. As we drained the last of the Royal Stag, the naturalist said, 'This behavior might seem bizarre to you, but I spend most of my life doing things other people find strange.'
The next morning expectations were low: fog hung heavy on the park, even the peacocks seemed dismally grey in the dawn mist. But no more than half a mile into the reserve the jeep turns a corner and there sitting nonchalantly on the track in front is a Bison. The bison ambles off casually just like a cow would do in a city street. Soon we were able to see why Kanha was so highly recommended. There was a she-leopard with a cub, numerous different types of deer and birds, a jackal and a four-horned antelope.
Soon we hit the lottery. There was a considerable commotion with several jeeps running in a particular direction, our guide informed us that there was going to be a tiger spotting, Soon we saw a the magnificent animal walking out of a clump of a grass, It was a bit of circus like atmosphere with several jeeps jockeying around for a vantage position, so it was not an ideal experience. However it was a memorable experience to see the king walk like he owned the world
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