Tadoba: The Land of Tigers

The sound of screeching tires and brakes brought me to reality. I glanced at my mobile and realized that I dozed off for almost an hour. My wife and daughter were still sleeping beside me in that hot summer afternoon taxi ride to Nagpur. I realized that we were already nearing the village Jaahm. The beautiful scenes of jungle are still fresh on our minds and I was gazing out wondering where those bamboos and water holes are. Honking of passing vehicles kept bringing me to reality that we are now heading back home and our four days endeavor with wilderness has already ended.

It all started with a quick plan of visiting Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) during our Raipur visit last February for a family function. I discussed the possibility with my wife Shraddha and she agreed readily. All the planning was done in next couple of days and things started to fall in place. I contacted Atul Dhamankar (an avid wildlife researcher, bird watcher and nature photographer from Chandrapur) and soon all bookings are done and we were all set to be on our first ever safari. We planned for three nights stay at TATR, which allowed us to do six safaris in all. As the park enjoys weekly holiday on Tuesdays, we decided to spend that day in Nagpur with my friend Ishan's parents. This proved to be a fantastic decision as not only it allowed us to meet them but also provided a much needed break from our hectic two days journey. 

Flameback Woodpecker

I had already conveyed our Nagpur address to Atul and he promptly sent me the taxi details on Tuesday itself. We were all set to go to Tadoba on Wednesday morning. The plan was to reach there around lunch time and do the afternoon safari on Wednesday itself. Our stay with Ishan’s parents went as expected with lot of eating and rest. 

The next morning taxi turned up on time and we were on the way to Tadoba via Chandrapur. The Nagpur to Chandrapur was about 150 kms and Tadoba was further 35 odd kms from there. We started around 9:30am and were hopeful to make it there before 1:00pm. The road till Jaahm (a small village) was a good four lane highway with excellent tar surface. This route is part of Nagpur- Vardha highway. We stopped there for a five minutes and then took the road to Chandrapur. This was now a single lane road for to and fro traffic with a decent tar surface. In this patch of road we saw alarmingly high number toppled trucks, collided vehicles with shattered glass and other small accidents. However we arrived safely at our destination. We also happen to pass through many open mines on the way to Tadoba from Chandrapur. These neighboring mines are real big threat for Tadoba and its surrounding habitat.

Samber

We arrived at the MTDC resort at Moharli. Atul and his younger brother Ashish were already there waiting for us. We were meeting for the first time, so after a brief introduction we chatted over a cup of tea while our check in formalities were completed. Atul showed us a terrific video clip of a tiger cub stalking a distant sambar, which he shot couple of days earlier. He has already ordered our lunch and informed us that he will pick us at 2:45pm for the evening safari. This gave us little over an hour for relaxing. Soon after a good lunch we were in our room only to realize that there is no power supply. A waiter told us that there was thunderstorm last night and the supply line is broken. But he assured us that there will be generator backed power by evening.

Finally the clock showed 2:45pm and it was time to move on. That one hour appeared like a decade. We got on open gypsy along with Atul and his brother (who actually drove it) and arrived at the Moharli range main entrance of the park. There were many other vehicles already lined up and waiting for the gate to be opened. The forest authorities at the park allow two safaris a day. The first one is in the morning 6:00am to 11:00am and the second one from 3:00pm to 7:00pm. It is mandatory that a forest guide must accompany every vehicle entering the park. Our entry pass, guide fee, camera fee was already arranged so no formalities to be done at gate. Finally the gate was opened and slowly one by one vehicle started entering the park. 

Muntjac or Barking Deer

The tar road from the entrance run through the forest and leads to the guest house near Tadoba Lake. By this time I was also ready with both the cameras with appropriate lenses mounted on them. Our gypsy slowly started crawling on the tar road and we crossed the first watch tower on our left. Mostly these are used for watching forest fires. Few forest officials were seen relaxing in shade near that watch tower.

Atul was constant source of information, be it conservation initiatives at park or wildlife and their behavior. The forest was now getting dense on both the sides, which was mostly bamboo jungle and dry deciduous forest with Sal trees. Atul informed us that we will be covering only Moharli range this evening. The TATR is primarily has three ranges namely Kolsa, Moharli and the Tadoba. Each range has its own peculiarity in terms of vegetation and terrains. Soon we crossed few artificial waterholes along the road side and turned left towards Jamunzora. We arrived at Jamunzora after making our way through dense bamboo. It was one the few natural waterholes left with some water in side park. We waited there for some time and moved towards Yenbodi waterhole. After visiting these spots we decided to settle down at tank no 3 along the tar road. Few Langoors were playing and enjoying the afternoon on the tree just above us. We waited there for almost an hour and then decided to checkout Yenbodi and kolsa line again. In the mean while we hardly had any sightings apart from parakeets and Langoors. But this time we spotted few Gaurs, a wild boar and a male Spotted Deer which brought all of us to life. I had been to Kanha NP ealier but I was not so keen about wildlife and photography that time. The primary aim of our Tadoba visit was of course tigers but we were equally  happy to see any other wildlife.

The evening was drawing closer and we decided to move to tank no 3 again. As soon as we got on to main road, I couldn't believe my eyes. A huge tiger was standing on the waterhole and there were no vehicles around it. Ashish quickly settled the gypsy into a good position across the road and I opened up my camera gun even before it came to stand still. All of us were aghast at his size and the magic he had on all of us. Oh boy, he is magnificent I thought, while firing away my camera. The tiger settled down to drink and I framed him in my mind and in my camera. Just then an Indica stopped right in front of him on the road. I guess that was too much for the big male. He got up on his feet in a flash and vanished in to the bamboo thickets behind him. All this happened with the speed of thoughts. It all appeared like a dream. He was right in front of us and then within moments he vanished. We felt like waking up from a beautiful dream.

The King

By then other vehicles turned up but the king disappeared long back. The atmosphere around tank no 3 was still tense. All the vehicles are lined up for king's glimpses. Then suddenly we heard alarm call of a barking deer suggesting that the king is on prowl now. With this, vehicles started to move toward a near by fire line hoping to see him crossing it. We also did the same but soon got back to our earlier position. Few vehicles also settled around us. The sun was almost set and the tension all around was very much apparent. After some time a barking deer started calling again but this time with lot more desperation. Everybody was almost holding their breath, waiting for the king to come out of thickets. And soon he appeared on the road, between us and the fire line and electrified the whole atmosphere. We saw him crossing the road. The vehicles started to move in that direction, but it was too late, he walked into the bamboo jungle with the grace of a king. We watched him all the way from our position. I just cant explain the aura he created in a short time. It was an out of the world experience for us. 

That is how our first safari ended. And what a day it turned out for us. Sighting and photographing a big male tiger for the first time that too on very first safari was an amazing experience. We saw lot of other wild life in our subsequent safaris but no more tigers.  

Crested Serpent Eagle

Brown Fish Owl

Over the next three days we did five more safaris, which I call it as mixed bag. We moved around places, waited in one spot for hours but we could not spot tiger again. But over all it turned out an awesome trip. I did manage to click Indian Gaurs, Spotted Deers, Wild Boars, Sambars, Muntjac, Blue Bulls, Indian Hare, Jungle Cat along with lot of birds including Indian Peafowl, Grey Headed Fish Eagle and Grey Jungle Fowl. The presence of multiple water bodies like Erai dam, Telia dam and Tadoba lake also brings in rich avifuna to the park. Over two hundred bird species can be sighted in the TATR during peak birding season. In terms of birding, we commonly saw Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Tickells Blue Flycatcher, Orange Headed Thrush, CSE, OHB, Treepie, various Parakeets, Drongos and woodpeckers. The Golden Back woodpecker is among the commoners at TATR. I would encourage all of you to go through the 'Field Guide to Birds and Mammals of TATR' by Atul Dhamankar for a detailed listing with pictures.

Due to time constraints we could not visit Kolsa range but I really liked the Tadoba range due to its open meadows and rocky terrain. This offers some terrific photographic opportunities. The katejhari area in this range is an evergreen patch with dense foliage and high trees. A Brown Fish Owl can be spotted most of the time sunbathing in one of those trees. Luckily we saw one sitting on relatively lower branch, which offered us good pictures. Similarly the Jamunbodi presents open meadows and grasslands. I did get some beautiful pictures of Oriental Honney Buzard (OHB) and Sambars grazing in the evening light there. One the way from Katezari to Kala-Amba we also spotted a Crested Serpent Eagle (CSE) basking on a tree top. So in way  we had our sightings and pictures but we could not see Leopards, Sloth-Bears and Dholes which are other top predators of the park. Hopefully we will be able to see them in our next visits.

Tiger walking back into Bamboo: This was taken by my daughter, Nupur

TATR is a rocking place for sighting tigers from close quarters. It did became a wildlife hot spot last summer primarily due to the tigress of Moharli and her four cubs. They presented once in a life time opportunity to many people for watching and photographing 5 tigers together from close quarters. Hopefully we will keep witnessing such wonders of nature in years to come by.

Amit Kalele
September 2010