First day in Tadoba was a great experience!! It says 'the more you have, the more you want'. I realized the truthfulness of the statement with myself. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, I had never seen a tiger in the wild earlier, however, now I am wishing that I see one more today.
We started early, by 5 am, for the Moharli gate so that we can be the first jeep to start. The safari started exactly at 6 am with all of us alert with anticipation for the treat that is waiting for us today. We again saw a peacock flying by, however, it was too fast for us to capture in the camera. We first went to the Telia dam, however, though we waited for sometime, we couldn't see any tiger. Our guide gave us the offer to take a tour of the rest of the jungle in search of leopard and other animals. The group was in consensus with the offer and so we headed out for a tour.
We first saw a group of Gaud (Indian bison). You can identify their difference from a regular bison by looking at their feet which seems like they are wearing white socks. The group posed for us while we clicked pictures from all different angles. It was fun to watch a duck following the troop right at the heels of one of the biggest one.
Then we spotted several deer - a Sambar drinking water and a fawn (scared seeing us). We also saw a wild dog which ran away very fast, making it impossible for the camera to capture. However, a wild boar danced for us in the woods.
We went till the Tadoba lake and saw variety of birds, eagles and owls on our way. The only miss in this safari was the chance to see a tiger cub again. Soon, it was time for our safari to end and we headed back to our guest house. We learned that a cub was actually spotted at the Telia dam some time after we left. We were little sad, on one hand, as we didn't wait patiently, however, happy that we saw other animals and birds. Our guide Mangesh promised to show us at least one more tiger during the afternoon safari - fingers crossed. We rested for a while, had lunch and got ready for the afternoon safari.
The afternoon safari started at 3 pm with a Nilgai welcoming us to the jungle. Then our guide spotted a sloth bear at a distance and our driver started driving fast to get closer only to see a couple of jeeps standing on the way. We realized soon that a cub idly sitting on the roadside. He yawned continuously, licked her paws, scratched herself, but did not feel disturbed by the row of vehicles in front of her. All of us kept clicking pictures of this cub and our excitement could not be contained. The cub was adorable!!
After about 30 mins, the cub got bored and hot, crossed our vehicles and decided to submerge herself in the water. We moved ahead and drove to the other side of the dam to see the cub enjoying its dip in the water. Though it was quite a distance from the road, we could see its body moving with its breathing and the ripples it was creating in the water.
All the sadness of the morning was forgotten by now as the cub gave us more than an hour to enjoy her beauty and like I mentioned in my last post, I felt like watching my private Animal Planet show. The entire group was super excited and all of us got up on the seats to capture every moment of the cub. After about an hour, the cub got up from the water and crossed the road in front of us, allowing the earlier vehicle to move and give her way.
During the wait, our guide told us that all the tigers that we saw since yesterday are the cubs of the two big ones (mamma and daddy) who are the biggest tigers in this jungle. These cubs are hardly couple of years old and sometimes tourists have been lucky to see the family together.
It was hardly another 45 min left for our safari to end, so we decided to take a final round of the jungle. Suddenly, some guys in an elephant safari came out of the jungle wildly signalling to us that there are tigers ahead, and we drove in the direction they indicated. After some time, we couldn't see anything, so our guide decided to wait at the same spot. Within a few minutes, two huge tigers emerged out of the jungle (the mamma and the big daddy) - OMG! We have managed to see the complete family (if not together). The big daddy quickly crossed the road and disappeared before we managed to click his shot. However, the mamma walked a little slowly and I managed to click her somehow from the back. Seeing the size of these two, we realized that what the guide said was true - these two are massive, compared to their babies.
Our day couldn't have ended on a better note. It says "bhagwan jab deta hai, chappar phad ke deta hai". Today seemed to be that day when we got everything we wanted and more. Though the other group got to see the tiger killing its prey, I have no regret. My dreams have been fulfilled and I will treasure this memory forever. Even though I do not get to visit another wildlife sanctuary and I don't see another tiger, I will not regret.
Tadoba was truly a life changing experience - an experience to be treasured forever!!
We started early, by 5 am, for the Moharli gate so that we can be the first jeep to start. The safari started exactly at 6 am with all of us alert with anticipation for the treat that is waiting for us today. We again saw a peacock flying by, however, it was too fast for us to capture in the camera. We first went to the Telia dam, however, though we waited for sometime, we couldn't see any tiger. Our guide gave us the offer to take a tour of the rest of the jungle in search of leopard and other animals. The group was in consensus with the offer and so we headed out for a tour.
We first saw a group of Gaud (Indian bison). You can identify their difference from a regular bison by looking at their feet which seems like they are wearing white socks. The group posed for us while we clicked pictures from all different angles. It was fun to watch a duck following the troop right at the heels of one of the biggest one.
Then we spotted several deer - a Sambar drinking water and a fawn (scared seeing us). We also saw a wild dog which ran away very fast, making it impossible for the camera to capture. However, a wild boar danced for us in the woods.
We went till the Tadoba lake and saw variety of birds, eagles and owls on our way. The only miss in this safari was the chance to see a tiger cub again. Soon, it was time for our safari to end and we headed back to our guest house. We learned that a cub was actually spotted at the Telia dam some time after we left. We were little sad, on one hand, as we didn't wait patiently, however, happy that we saw other animals and birds. Our guide Mangesh promised to show us at least one more tiger during the afternoon safari - fingers crossed. We rested for a while, had lunch and got ready for the afternoon safari.
 |
| Mangesh - Our guide,turned out to be our lucky charm |
After about 30 mins, the cub got bored and hot, crossed our vehicles and decided to submerge herself in the water. We moved ahead and drove to the other side of the dam to see the cub enjoying its dip in the water. Though it was quite a distance from the road, we could see its body moving with its breathing and the ripples it was creating in the water.
All the sadness of the morning was forgotten by now as the cub gave us more than an hour to enjoy her beauty and like I mentioned in my last post, I felt like watching my private Animal Planet show. The entire group was super excited and all of us got up on the seats to capture every moment of the cub. After about an hour, the cub got up from the water and crossed the road in front of us, allowing the earlier vehicle to move and give her way.
During the wait, our guide told us that all the tigers that we saw since yesterday are the cubs of the two big ones (mamma and daddy) who are the biggest tigers in this jungle. These cubs are hardly couple of years old and sometimes tourists have been lucky to see the family together.
It was hardly another 45 min left for our safari to end, so we decided to take a final round of the jungle. Suddenly, some guys in an elephant safari came out of the jungle wildly signalling to us that there are tigers ahead, and we drove in the direction they indicated. After some time, we couldn't see anything, so our guide decided to wait at the same spot. Within a few minutes, two huge tigers emerged out of the jungle (the mamma and the big daddy) - OMG! We have managed to see the complete family (if not together). The big daddy quickly crossed the road and disappeared before we managed to click his shot. However, the mamma walked a little slowly and I managed to click her somehow from the back. Seeing the size of these two, we realized that what the guide said was true - these two are massive, compared to their babies.
Our day couldn't have ended on a better note. It says "bhagwan jab deta hai, chappar phad ke deta hai". Today seemed to be that day when we got everything we wanted and more. Though the other group got to see the tiger killing its prey, I have no regret. My dreams have been fulfilled and I will treasure this memory forever. Even though I do not get to visit another wildlife sanctuary and I don't see another tiger, I will not regret.
Tadoba was truly a life changing experience - an experience to be treasured forever!!
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