What have you heard about the Sundarbans? I’ve heard all kinds of things. Most of the tigers are man-eaters.People who step out hope not to see a tiger because if they do, they probably won’t come back.Like any other water safari, you don’t really see animals because you’re in the water, and why would animals […]
Pench 2025
Pench is magical. I’ve been there five times now, and each time, I come back refreshed because the forest is so breathtakingly beautiful. There’s Venuban (Bamboo Forest), a canopy of bamboos, full of secrets. That’s where we saw paradise flycatchers in the past, and Malabar Pied Hornbills this time. There’s Jannat Point, where we saw […]
Kadbanwadi Grasslands
Ever since grassland safaris were launched several months (years?) ago, we’ve been meaning to go. Although we’ve been on countless safaris in the forest, the grasslands were new to us, and the idea of seeing a whole range of birds, in addition to the possibility of hyenas, foxes and wolves was exciting! Finally, last week, […]
Burrapahar, Kaziranga
You know how in the buffer zone, they keep telling you that anything can happen? You know how all guides have stories about sightings of big animals on the main road? It never happens to me. I keep hoping, but no. Nothing on the main road. Until Kaziranga. All around us, like a wispy cushion on […]
Agaratoli, Kaziranga
The eastern zone of Kaziranga is much more forested, not primarily grassland. It was joyous being in there, looking at the crazy trees and ferns. Some trees look like they’ve set up hanging gardens of their own, with leaves of different kinds growing out of their trunks. I couldn’t stop marvelling at them. Bright green leaves […]
Bagori, Kaziranga
Pelicans! The safari in Mihimukh showed me not just the Lesser Adjutant Stork and the Woolly Necked Stork, but also the Open-Billed Stork, Bar-Headed Geese — and pelicans! When Bakul first pointed them out, I didn’t quite believe him. Then I saw those incredible pouchy beaks. I stared, filling my eyes with them. I found myself […]
Turtles, Ducks and Elephants, Kaziranga
Bakul identified the turtles for us. I did not understand at all, not even enough to figure out for myself later. Himalayan Box Turtle? Perhaps. That was a name I discovered. But I know nothing about turtles. Can anyone help? Ducks – we saw hundreds of them. A beautiful orangish red duck was everywhere. “Radisson […]
Rhinoceros Unicornis, Kaziranga
“Haan, rhino hai, udhar,” said Bakul. “Rhino?” I repeated. I had to have misheard. He could not be so calm. He could not tonelessly say ‘rhino hai udhar’ and leave it at that. In my head, though, I was saying, Rhino! Oo, rhino! Rhino! Where’s the rhino? I want to see … And there it was. Across […]
Mihimukh, Kaziranga
How different Kaziranga is from the other reserves I’ve visited! For one, you can get off the jeep in several places. In each zone, there’s a watch tower which you can climb to look at the world around you. And the zones don’t have complicated, circuitous routes. There’s no decision to make about what path to take, where to […]
Back from Kaziranga
Elephant grass. Anything could be hiding there. (A rhino, perhaps?) Huge birds that made me think of pterodactyls. (Wasn’t it enough that the word ‘rhinoceros’ tempted me to say ‘rhino-saurus’? Hog deer. (My auto response, by the way, said I was away looking at/for rhinoceroses.) Swamp deer. (I wonder … Why don’t we use the […]
Back from Tadoba
We were famous, the talk of the town. Everyone knew us; the official at the gate wrote my name down each morning and each afternoon without having to consult the safari ticket. He grinned at us, exchanged a few words, and wished us luck. “Now at least, you must …” At the end of each […]
Leopard II
It was nearing the time to leave the forest, but we headed back towards the rest house in old Nagzira. The guide needed to use the washroom. There are lots of deer and monkeys near the rest house, so tourists invariably stand around taking photographs. On that day, there were people standing in their jeeps, looking fixedly […]
Starry, Starry Night
“There’s nothing in new Nagzira.” “Why don’t you go to Koka?” “It’s about 35 km from here.” “Anyway, Nagzira is closed on Thursdays.” “You could go to Koka on Thursday.” “Maybe you’ll see a sloth bear.” “Or bison.” We didn’t agree that there was nothing in new Nagzira. There were fewer animals; we did not […]
Nagzira
Ten days away from the city. No internet. Phone connectivity for about an hour a day. Eleven safaris into the beautiful jungle. Three leopards. A leopard making a kill: whose side are you on? The leopard’s or the fawn’s? Wild dogs in the distance. A herd of bison. Flycatchers, thrushes, drongos, night-jars, parakeets, hoopoes. A […]
Wild Dog Hunt
No one will ever believe that it’s not very easy to see wild dogs in the jungle if you spot them three times during the course of the same safari. At first, we saw five. Then we heard wild fowl crying out to one another – alarmed that the dogs were nearby. We then saw […]
Back from the Wild – Again
Green forests. Dense. Tall grass. Just a few metres away, a tiger could be hiding and we wouldn’t even know. Anticipation is thrilling. Spider webs glinting in the sunshine. A huge black spider poised on her web eats a grasshopper. The black ibis with its red hood and impressive beak pecks away in the grass. […]
Chestnut-Headed Bee-Eater
Before going to Tadoba, we talked about the fact that sometimes, we see no animals at all. Two of us had been to wildlife sanctuaries before, and wanted everyone to be prepared for an experience that might prove to be disappointing if you only want to see a tiger. Just being in the forest has […]
Detective!
From the time I was about seven, I wanted a mystery to solve every vacation. It was not fair that only Enid Blyton people (for me, they were people, not characters) got to solve such convenient mysteries, with the additional advantage of barely getting older each time around. When our guide Vishwas started telling us […]
Surviving in the Jungle
Eight safaris with the same guide ensured that we became friends of sorts, and once he realised that three people out of five in the jeep understood Marathi, he opened up fifteen long years of experience to us. One fascinating safari was devoted to attacks by different animals, and how to save yourself. “If a […]
Nagarahole
It was not the first time we were going to a wildlife sanctuary. We had been to Kanha and we loved it. The idea of going into the jungle once more was thrilling. Safaris in jeeps, the quiet anticipation of a tiger’s approach and the sudden sight of a wild boar or a peacock hiding […]