Yet another day break in jungle

Kanha trip was my most successful jungle trip ever.

On the last day, while saying goodbye to this jungle, I shot this picture at sunrise.

Somehow to me, this picture need not be of the sunrise as tries to paint the setting sun also. More than that it has captured the frozen time. The time that you savour forever.

Smoky waters

The smoke you see here is not the product of a fire.

Nor Kanha is a home for hot springs.

I shot this picture at 6.30 in the morning when the lakes try to bask in the morning sun shrugging off the freezing cold of the nights.

Dil Maange More..

The first time we saw the big cat it was for about 15-20 minutes. Then you get addicted so we naturally wanted more.

And the jungle god decided to be kind to us. So the second time we had the rendezvous with this Ms Tiger, it was for about 45-50 minutes. Ms Tiger walked about 2 kilometers in the grass parallel to the road, roaring for pleasure, scaring the shit out of deers, monkeys etc. Then she crossed the road where atleast 25 jeepful of people were thanking their luck. Reaching the other side Ms Tiger again wandred randomly before disappearing into the woods.

Thank you Her Royal Highness Tiger of bengal. (We were in MP, but this species is called Royal Bengal Tiger anywhere it is found.)

Sunset

The road that you see here had the most perfect curve. Perhaps the sunset we saw from here was the most enchanting. The green grass shining with the golden tinge never looked so beatiful.

Maybe the whole affair was not as good. But we were yet to recover from the ecstasy of experiencing the tiger and we were overwhelmed by the supreme presence by that Royal Bengal Tiger.

Yahooooooooo

No. I am not such a great admirer of brand Yahoo.

But after about 6 safaris when I finally finally saw the big royal cat I was extremely happy. Of course the tigress was some half a kilometer away my poor man's camera does not have great zoom. But this picture is not to be flaunted for the great aesthetics or composition of the frame. The black stripes that you see amongst the green, painted on the yellow-brown rich fur that shines golden in the sun is the living proof of I saw the TIGER!!!

And trust me, it's such a pleasure to watch a tiger in his own habitat!

The Jackal

I know it's a bad shot. Mr Jackal was running towards our jeep which itself was at good speed. I spotted him at quite some distance but my calculation on when would the two objects in motion travelling towards each other would meet went wrong and I still regret of having missed of what could have been a great capture.

By the way, after three jungle trips, I can authoritatively say that it is quite likely that you will miss so called great shots quite a few times. But always keep in mind that jungle is about the feel and the experience hence no regrets for not having captured something that I very well witnessed with my naked eyes.

What ya looking at, punk?

This member of the deer family we met while we were passing one of the jungle roads with some tall grass and short trees on the uneven surface on both sides. This dude was grazing on one rock with 'do-I-look-like-I-care-who-you-are' looks on his otherwise unemotional face.

On second thoughts, yeah, we were in his territory, wandering on random roads, messing up the whole of the peace in the area we were passing by. That one look of his made me realize it.

Housing Colony Ltd.

Termites aka white ants are sure hardworking fellas. These usual ant sized white ants build at times such 6-8 feet tall houses made of earth.

And it sure is some interesting piece of engineering. These houses are weather and temprature controlled. Hence white ants are seen seen waterproofing their houses before monsoon. Also, while the jungle is exposed to the scorching summer heat, termites are enjoy the coolness inside their house. Needless to say the houses are warm inside during winters.

Rules of the jungle

Now that I mentioned rules in my last post, let me share the actual rules of the jungle with you.

And read the last rule carefully so that you would believe me that unlike in the city traffic where every vehicle tries to overtake the vehicle next to it, in jungle you have to let the animals pass first. In case you are planning a trip to the jungle, please unlearn some of your habits!

Fox tales

The best part of the jungle is that it is full of surprises. When you accept the fact that things don’t work here according to our own wishes, the jungle pops a surprise for you.

We were wandering in one of the safaris with no luck apart from the usual spotted deers, sambhars, monkeys and a bunch of birds. We crossed a turn and this fox was standing in middle of the road. Unfazed by the approaching jeep, he made us stop our car. Rule of the jungle – you cannot disturb the natural course of its inhabitants. So waiting well beyond a couple of minutes, foxy started walking on the road to disappear into tress and only then we could move on.

If you could somehow zoom into this picture, you would notice those cunnings eyes.

Lake Placid

This sight was certainly pretty but there was nothing particularly breathtaking about it. But one thing was sure, undisturbed calmness. We were passing over a bridge when we saw this lake. The noise of the jeep too sounded too cruel to disturb the serenity of this spot.

We promptly stopped our noisy vehicle here and just absorbed the calmness into our nerves.

Spotted deer

Deers are pretty. And you will find lots of them in Kanha. But we sure had spotted more of them in Pench. But then Kanha’s spread is way more so deers would get wider areas to quickly disappear into.

As the noise of the safari jeep approaches, the herd of deers lingering easily on the road jumps into the trees or grass within fraction of a second.

Kanha museum

Madhya Pradesh forest department is too good to be a government entity. Trust me!

What you see here is the Kanha museum situated at a center point of the jungle. Originally a rest house, this nice museum houses several things, models of the prime animals (I wonder if they were made of the real bones), information on the jungle flora & fauna, statistical information on the tigers on Madhya Pradesh, dictionary of the birds and animals found in Kanha. Also, this museum is unbelievably clean to be run by a government entity.

I would an important tip here, when you reach this place around eight in the morning when it’s still freezing cold, don’t miss the superb chai and steamy hot snacks!

Rendezvous with a leopard

The title and the picture won’t really tell you the entire story.

We did spot a leopard while crossing one of the ravines but if you were expecting that the leopard would take a quick stop, pose for us till we got a good shot and all, it doesn’t really happen that way in the jungle. We got a clear but very short glimpse of this leopard while he vanished into the trees. He was probably on a kill as we could hear multiple alert calls, from monkeys and deer as the guide explained us.

So I decided to share the picture of the leopard I shot in the museum but just that it happens to be a post-life one!

Birds and more birds

You would find over hundred species of birds in Kanha. I am a total non-expert in Ornithology and hence preferred to admire the birdies sitting pretty in trees, walking on the roads or flying all over.

Capturing these birds through a poor lense that I had was a big headache. But even if I had a much more powerful lense, this experience explains that wild life photography is not a joke.

Daybreak in jungle

I am sure in love with the jungles. You would also be if you can admire the abundant beauty spread over acres and acres.

I shot this picture at around six in the morning and trust me it was COLD. Later we were told it was less than three degrees centigrade. My fingers were frozen and I really tried hard to capture this heavenly backdrop.

Mr. Bison

This bison walked straight towards our jeep and apart from trying capture this huge thing in my capture I also prayed to god that he should shower mercy over us in case the bison decided to charge.

This ‘in-your-face’ glare of the bison is intimidating and makes you realize why would even tigers avoid this dude for a dinner, unless unavoidable. Especially while in group, bison would be unbeatable for tigers. And now most amazing fact, bisons are vegetarians!!! If eating grass would develop such muscles, I would change my diet right away.

If there ever was any Mr Bison competition, this dude would sure win.

The divine setup

In the first safari in Kanha, tigers ditched us but few other families played like gracious hosts and almost posed for us.

On the way back to the resort we spotted this bison walking in the field close to the safari trail. The evening sun, chilly air and the wholesome freshness of the jungle made the whole mystical. And this bison looks almost divine here!

Tiger Trail!

In this jungle visit, our agenda was very clear, to spot the tiger. All those who have seen tiger only in the zoo, I mind you that spotting the tiger in the jungle is not at all easy. Nobody really cares about your wish and all you need to do is to try your luck.

Since we were all heart-broken after our visit to Pench last year, when we spotted the fresh foot prints of a male tiger in our very first safari in Kanha, we decided to control our joys till we would see owner of that foot print. But as luck would have it, the owners had decided against our wishes in that first safari.

The sea blue skies!

Do you ever try making sense out of the random clouds in the sky? I sure have that weird habit. So let me know if you too notice the Batman sign here.

While you are in a jungle, you feel fresh, miss all kinds of pollution and can’t help but admire the wide, clear and crystal blue sky!