All our discussions & plans had finally come to fruition. We boarded the PA Bilaspur Express which runs from Pune to Bilaspur in the evening at 5:30 pm.
Our destination was Gondia, a city which is about 45 Kms. from the Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary. According to our plan, we were to arrive at Gondia and meet up with Abhijit Awalaskar and his family (who were arriving from Mumbai) at the Gondia Railway Station, from here we would hire cabs to drop us at the sanctuary.We left from Pune station at 5:40 pm.
23rd February (Day 2):
We reached Gondia around 11:30 am. and met up with Abhijit and his family; his mother, wife (Dhanashri) and son (Sanskar) at the station. Immediately we had lunch in a restaurant in Gondia, and left for Nagzira at around 1 pm.We reached Nagzira at 2:30 pm but had to wait as the park opens the outer gates at 3 pm. We had some sugarcane juice, and at 3 pm we entered the sanctuary.
We had booked the Log Huts through the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC). The main advantage of this is the that you can stay inside the sanctuary!
There were two open jeeps we had hired for exploring the park; Me, my elder brother Parth, his wife Himangi, and my cousin Aditya were in one jeep while Abhijit and his family were in another. On the first safari our jeep had a few sightings of chittal, sambars, and a small variety of birds like the Treepie and Peafowl, while the other jeep had a sighting of a tigress at a waterhole at Tiger Trail..
We returned back to the Enquiry Check post which also has a few accommodations. There is a dormitory, a canteen and about 10 small rooms here. This area is also the place where you have to register before going to any safari. The timings of the safari are from 6 AM to 11:30 am and from 3 pm to 6:30 pm.
The MTDC Registration office is also here, but the log hut in which we were going to stay is a 2 minutes drive from this place. We completed the registration formalities and went to the log hut. We reached just in time because about 15 minutes after we had reached it started to rain heavily and continued for almost 2 hours.
The main problem we faced was that the dinner was going to be served in the canteen only. So after much deliberation Dada and Abhijit went to the canteen and brought the dinner packed to the log hut.We had our dinner and slept since we had to be up early for the morning safari.
24th February (Day 3):
Since the morning safari began at 6 o' clock, we had to be up by 5. Today we had shuffled the arrangement of the jeeps. Abhijit, Sanskar, Dada & Himangi were in our original jeep; while Me, Aditya & Dhanashri & mother were in their jeep. The first sighting we had was of a Crested Serpent Eagle sun bathing majestically on a branch. The bird was camouflaged so brilliantly that we could not even see it until it was pointed out to us by Abhijit's mother. After taking a few (read many!) photos. we started moving ahead.The next mentionable sighting was of an Oriental Honey Buzzard. The other sightings on this safari were of a herd of Chittal crossing the road, a wild dog, some sambars, etc.
The safari ended at around 11 am and we returned to base for some rest and lunch.
After having a scrumptious lunch and catching forty winks, we left for our second safari of the day (overall 3rd safari). The route of this safari was simply amazing! Dense forest on each side of the road, coupled with the sunlight filtering through the trees presented a beautiful and pleasing sight. However, we did not have any sightings for a very long time until we finally saw a White-Eyed Buzzard on a tree not far away from the road. Around 6 O' clock we also saw a peacock displaying his plumage to impress a peahen.
25th February (Day 4):
As the day before, we got up at 5 am and left for our fourth safari by 6:30 am. Today we were going to roam in the B zone, and by this time we were getting desperate to spot a tiger. After sometime, we crossed a stream and went through a patch of thick green forest. Just after this patch there was a small tree overlooking the road on which we sighted a small owlet which was surprisingly basking in the sun. We were there clicking & recording away for almost 20-25 minutes, while watching the owlet move its head back and forth every time it heard a camera click!
Soon afterwards Abhijit spotted a Coppersmith Barbet giving calls while sitting on the topmost branch of a tree followed by a Common Hoopoe, which we saw again on the ride back. We returned back to base by 12 noon for lunch.
We had decided that we were going to try our best to spot a tiger on this safari. For the last two days, a tiger had been spotted in zone B by some jeeps in the evening, so we requested the person in charge to let us go in the same zone B which we had already been in the morning, in the hope that we could finally find a tiger. We went through Gaur Galli where we saw a Changeable Hawk Eagle cooling down in a waterhole. Continuing along the road past the Tiger Trail, we saw herds of Sambars and Chittals (including a juvenile male). With all these herbivorous here there was no chance that the tiger was anywhere near this place, so we went to another area in zone B to try our luck.
Like you may have guessed, we did not see a tiger that evening, but we did see a small herd of Gaurs or Indian Bisons crossing the road, as well as a couple of wild boars in the bush beside the road. It was almost 6:15 pm, when we saw a Sloth Bear which was going to cross the road but changed its mind when it saw our jeep and started walking along the road until it finally went back in to the jungle. This was the most amazing sighting in our trip yet!
We returned to base at around 6:30 pm, had dinner and packed our bags as we were going to leave for Pune after the morning safari.
26th February (Day 5):
As usual we got up at 5 am and left at 6 am. Today, we had to get back to the log hut by 10:30 am because we had to leave for Gondia to catch our train. Our route on this day was the same one which we had traveled on our first safari. We saw a Crested Serpent Eagle once more, followed by a sloth bear and a Hariyal. Along this route we also saw an Oriole, a White-Eyed Buzzard and another unidentified Bird of Prey which resembled a Shikra.
We returned to base where we packed the last minute things and left the log hut. On the way out we were lucky enough to have a last sighting of a Neelgai, which is a very timid animal. We reached outside the sanctuary in about 10-15 minutes and settled our accounts of our guides, said our goodbyes and finally left for Gondia at around 11:30 am.
We reached Gondia at around 12:45 pm and had lunch at a restaurant, after which we did a quick summary of our expenses up till now and left for Gondia Railway Station.
We boarded our train till Nagpur (Vidarbha Express) and reached Nagpur at 5:30 pm. This was where Abhijit and us parted ways as our reservation was from Nagpur by the Garib Rath train (which left at 6:30).
We had some snacks at a restaurant in the station and boarded our train for Pune. We reached Pune the next day at around 9:45 am.
You can see the videos below!
The main problem we faced was that the dinner was going to be served in the canteen only. So after much deliberation Dada and Abhijit went to the canteen and brought the dinner packed to the log hut.We had our dinner and slept since we had to be up early for the morning safari.
24th February (Day 3):
Since the morning safari began at 6 o' clock, we had to be up by 5. Today we had shuffled the arrangement of the jeeps. Abhijit, Sanskar, Dada & Himangi were in our original jeep; while Me, Aditya & Dhanashri & mother were in their jeep. The first sighting we had was of a Crested Serpent Eagle sun bathing majestically on a branch. The bird was camouflaged so brilliantly that we could not even see it until it was pointed out to us by Abhijit's mother. After taking a few (read many!) photos. we started moving ahead.The next mentionable sighting was of an Oriental Honey Buzzard. The other sightings on this safari were of a herd of Chittal crossing the road, a wild dog, some sambars, etc.
The safari ended at around 11 am and we returned to base for some rest and lunch.
After having a scrumptious lunch and catching forty winks, we left for our second safari of the day (overall 3rd safari). The route of this safari was simply amazing! Dense forest on each side of the road, coupled with the sunlight filtering through the trees presented a beautiful and pleasing sight. However, we did not have any sightings for a very long time until we finally saw a White-Eyed Buzzard on a tree not far away from the road. Around 6 O' clock we also saw a peacock displaying his plumage to impress a peahen.
25th February (Day 4):
As the day before, we got up at 5 am and left for our fourth safari by 6:30 am. Today we were going to roam in the B zone, and by this time we were getting desperate to spot a tiger. After sometime, we crossed a stream and went through a patch of thick green forest. Just after this patch there was a small tree overlooking the road on which we sighted a small owlet which was surprisingly basking in the sun. We were there clicking & recording away for almost 20-25 minutes, while watching the owlet move its head back and forth every time it heard a camera click!
Soon afterwards Abhijit spotted a Coppersmith Barbet giving calls while sitting on the topmost branch of a tree followed by a Common Hoopoe, which we saw again on the ride back. We returned back to base by 12 noon for lunch.
We had decided that we were going to try our best to spot a tiger on this safari. For the last two days, a tiger had been spotted in zone B by some jeeps in the evening, so we requested the person in charge to let us go in the same zone B which we had already been in the morning, in the hope that we could finally find a tiger. We went through Gaur Galli where we saw a Changeable Hawk Eagle cooling down in a waterhole. Continuing along the road past the Tiger Trail, we saw herds of Sambars and Chittals (including a juvenile male). With all these herbivorous here there was no chance that the tiger was anywhere near this place, so we went to another area in zone B to try our luck.
Like you may have guessed, we did not see a tiger that evening, but we did see a small herd of Gaurs or Indian Bisons crossing the road, as well as a couple of wild boars in the bush beside the road. It was almost 6:15 pm, when we saw a Sloth Bear which was going to cross the road but changed its mind when it saw our jeep and started walking along the road until it finally went back in to the jungle. This was the most amazing sighting in our trip yet!
We returned to base at around 6:30 pm, had dinner and packed our bags as we were going to leave for Pune after the morning safari.
26th February (Day 5):
As usual we got up at 5 am and left at 6 am. Today, we had to get back to the log hut by 10:30 am because we had to leave for Gondia to catch our train. Our route on this day was the same one which we had traveled on our first safari. We saw a Crested Serpent Eagle once more, followed by a sloth bear and a Hariyal. Along this route we also saw an Oriole, a White-Eyed Buzzard and another unidentified Bird of Prey which resembled a Shikra.
We returned to base where we packed the last minute things and left the log hut. On the way out we were lucky enough to have a last sighting of a Neelgai, which is a very timid animal. We reached outside the sanctuary in about 10-15 minutes and settled our accounts of our guides, said our goodbyes and finally left for Gondia at around 11:30 am.
We reached Gondia at around 12:45 pm and had lunch at a restaurant, after which we did a quick summary of our expenses up till now and left for Gondia Railway Station.
We boarded our train till Nagpur (Vidarbha Express) and reached Nagpur at 5:30 pm. This was where Abhijit and us parted ways as our reservation was from Nagpur by the Garib Rath train (which left at 6:30).
We had some snacks at a restaurant in the station and boarded our train for Pune. We reached Pune the next day at around 9:45 am.
You can see the videos below!
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing such a detailed write-up! I recalled my own trip to Nagzira many years ago. We did not see the tiger, but did hear its shattering roar. Again, there is so much more to this jungle than the striped cat. And the chitals are so beautiful.
Alaka
such a beautiful pictures. plan your Nagzira wildlife safari with Nature's Sprout we offers Nagzira Safari booking. Enjoy Exclusive deals on top Nagzira hotels with Natures Sprout.
Post a Comment