Pench is one of my favorite jungles of Central India. Though the proximity to Nagpur means that there is a crowding during a confirmed sighting time frame. What draws me to this jungle is the beauty of the landscape, the Sal trees and the very big and dominant tigers that roam these forests. The Sal here belong to the dry deciduous category – they shed leaves between February to April. And once they leaf out, the trees look greener with the forest floors covered in the reddish and orange hues of the dried and fallen leaves.
Additionally, the diversity of carnivores that include a healthy population such as Dholes or the Indian Wild Dogs, Jackals and the birding options make this a wholesome package.
Drive
While most tourists do the game drives from the Touria gate, closer to Nagpur and located on the National Highway 44 (the old NH-7), I prefer the Karmajhiri gate, at least a 2-hour drive from Touria via the NH 44 and which is at the other end of the park.
Karmajhiri is around 700Kms from Hyderabad, and the drive is pleasant for most of the time; you will be greeted with good roads. The drive from the Maharashtra side of Pench cuts through the Pench jungle. Earlier, it was a single lane road and the current road widening works have robbed the pristineness of the jungle drive.
Unlike Touria, Karmajhiri is very remote (even the approach is very confusing, and one of the routes where google maps will surely fail you). The village is very sparsely populated, and there is hardly any cellular signal. To catch a signal, I had to drive down to the nearest village of Bhondki, at least 7-8 Kms from Karmajhiri, every day; one of the advantages of self-driving to these jungles.
Stay
The stay option at Karmajhiri is limited to either the forest rest house or the homestay just outside the gate. I prefer the homestay that belongs to this lady known as Shantabai, owing to the hospitality and the homecooked food. On a clear summer night, the sky presents a great option to click some fantastic astro-photos; light pollution is virtually absent, though I haven’t tried this option to date, despite the numerous visits to this place. I carried a carton of water bottles along with me for the supplies at these remote places are generally limited.
Game drives
The gate has an entry for three regular Gypsys. This time, due to a dropout in the last minute, there were only two guys in our Gypsy, Ramudu and I. Karmajhiri has always been unfair to me in terms of Tiger sighting. Of course, the first time was ruined by a rain and the next trip was a very short stop-gap drive. Our guide Bhanwari and driver Hansraj tried their level best to sight the tiger for us right from the first game drive.
We however had some amazing time with two jackals fending off one another and feeding off the carrion of a spotted deer killed by wild dogs. Later a wild boar and then a pack of them would feed off the remains. Wild boars like their domestic counterparts, the pigs, are omnivorous. And their digestive system is so good that if a pig feeds on a carcass, it can clean up everything to the last bit of bone and flesh.
On another occasion, we saw a wild boar hunted by a pack of Dholes. The wild boar dashed to the water to save itself. The inexperienced Dhole pack had nothing to do but retreat. The next day morning, we saw the same wild Dhole pack trying to hunt a group of Sambhar deer. Again, it was a failed scenario. I was informed that this water hole falls under the territory of a huge male tiger. When the tiger is around, the Dholes avoid the waterhole, and when the tiger’s not there, the Dholes cool themselves here.
Four drives and we haven’t seen the elusive tiger yet. Impatience crept in and then it so happened in the fifth drive that a couple of cubs were sighted at a hillock. As we reached the spot, there was a cavalcade of Gypsys waiting for sighting the tiger. The tiger cubs obliged to give us a sighting albeit for a couple of seconds, that too behind some vegetation.
The sixth and the last drive also didn’t have much to offer, and I have already resigned to the fate and fact that we got some wonderful shots of Jackal, Peacock and Dholes. Not a bad trip, compared to my previous experiences at Pench Karmajhiri. I packed the cameras and it was time that we were about to leave.
Close to 6:35 PM (the park closing time is 6:45 PM), at 1Km from the Karmajhiri gate, as our Gypsy was slowly exiting, the guide who was sitting next to me suddenly screamed ‘Tiger’. Took a while to recover from the sudden surge of adrenaline before fear instilled my mind. The huge male tiger, known as Raiyyakassa was standing next to me. With a huge head and an imposing anatomy, he was easily one of the biggest tigers I’ve ever seen. My fear was hence justified. Tigers are magnificent animals, and are the epitome of raw power. We may be safe inside the Gypsy, but that doesn’t mean that we meddle with them.
Raiyyakassa posed for a minute before he started to walk along the road and then cross it into the cave formations on the other side. The light was already failing and the tiger being at a closer distance, I could only manage a few shots with my Fuji camera (blame the unpreparedness too). This easily is one of the most unforgettable sightings for me. Our guide Bhanwari predicted that we should see him the next day morning too, and so we spot booked another safari, but didn’t meet with success.
Hence ended the Pench trip. I learnt that the success of every trip doesn’t depend on a tiger sighting alone and even if a tiger is sighted, experiencing and cherishing the moment holds much more meaning than photographing that moment.