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!