Tiger Safari_Trips 7 & 8_Turia and Khawasa Gates_Pench_16 March 2024

Driver Lalit picked us up from the hotel for our second trip in Pench, which was through the Turia Gate. Our guide, Ankush, joined us at the gate. Turia gate was bustling with activity at 5.45 in the morning. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of Ankush and Lalit. With all the trees around, it was hard to get a good view of the sunrise. We drove around aimlessly for a while but then news got around that one of the gypsies had seen tigress Bijamatta (it means a tree on a hill) pass by and a few of her cubs had been spotted. We rushed to the site of activity which was packed with many vehicles already, each jostling for a good view. But even though Ankush said: "There is the tiger", I struggled to see any. However, the photos that I clicked revealed the face of one of the cubs. Ankush and Lalit then drove to the opposite side of the grassy patch. Even though we reached the other side before anyone else had got there, Ankush and Lalit did not select a proper spot to park the vehicle which upset all of us greatly, even more so because he appeared to be a bit arrogant. We nudged our way to another part of the road but the tourists in the gypsy adjacent to ours blocked a good part of our view and the guys did not seem to care about that. Patience is a great virtue which Ankush and Lalit demonstrated in ample measure as we waited for some of the other cubs to appear. Sure enough, after a good 20-30 minutes, cub #2 appeared on the scene though largely hidden by the tall grasses. But slowly it moved nearer to our spot and we managed to get a good view of the little one; coming to think of it, not so little really! The cub retreated after some time. We patiently waited for more cubs to appear. One more was obliging. I took a chance and recorded a video as well. The mild roar of the cub was also captured in the video. It sounded more like a "mew" compared to Chota Matka's deafening roar. What started out as a rather aimless start to trip #7, suddenly came alive and we were happy to see three of the cubs of Bijamatta. Wish we could see Bijamatta also! Ankush also showed us two owls on a tree. I struggled to see these but clicked nonetheless. I think the owls had their back towards us but their shapes are discernible in the photo. See if you can spot the owls. Or may be I am just imagining that those are the two owls!

The last of the three trips in Pench (afternoon of 16 March). Entry was through Khawasa Gate. Satish Daharwal was the guide and Vinesh Hinge the driver. We mentioned to Satish and Vinesh that we have not seen any bear in this trip. They half heartedly said they will try but bears are difficult to spot. And, in any case, their focus -- as also most tourists' -- is on tigers. Pench allows mobile phones and the guides constantly speak to one another to share potential leads. However, things seemed to be rather dreary that afternoon, and all we spotted were animals that we had seen many times before. The landscape was pretty, however. All of a sudden there was a buzz about a tiger and the driver made a dash, breaking all rules of speed limit within the forest area. A tiger was indeed spotted and if you are ready to believe me, you can get a glimpse of it in the attached photo (left of the dark brown tree trunk). The name of the tiger/tigress was not known to any of the guides. Thus ended our memorable tiger safari, albeit on a somewhat anti-climactic note. And we returned to our pretty hotel (the Riverwood Forest Retreat) for a final night's stay there. There was a plan to celebrate with a bottle of the local mahua drink which did not materialize.