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The Silk Cotton trees make a wonderful backdrop at this time of year

Seems like I’m constantly playing catch up these days! Since my second visit to Kaziranga in late March 2013, I’ve since returned in late February 2014 for a third sojourn into the forest. This entry will combine the two visits!

Kaziranga's forests and grasslands

When we last left off, we were wrapping up a short but beautiful stay at Nameri National Park in Assam. As we were leaving, we got word from the incredibly helpful Manju at Wild Grass Resort in Kaziranga National Park that the forest department had just decided it must do the annual rhino census! On the last weekend of the regular season of the park!!! Yeesh! Two choices here: be really upset about the meticulous and time-involved planning, not to mention the cost involved to make this trip to Kaziranga; or… make the best of it and have a fantabulous time! Guess which one I did? OK… I’m not a saint; I was pretty upset for a few hours. But, in the end it reinforced my desire to revisit in 2014 and provided unexpected and wonderful adventures I wouldn’t have experienced without this hiccup.

We left early in the morning for the rather short drive to Kaziranga, arriving in time to fit in 1 of the 3 drives we ultimately did (out of the planned for 9 drives).

Wild Grass Resort

When I first made a rather simple query to Wild Grass, the very hands-on owner, Mr. Manju Barua, replied with such incredibly helpful detail, I was able to plan not only that trip to Kaziranga, but also the Manas, Nameri and Hoolock Gibbon Sanctuary excursions, all aided by the information and contact numbers he provided. Thus far, with my many travels and help from loads of wonderful people, he wins the award for providing the most informative exchange I’ve ever experienced… by a large margin.

Anyway… I digress… quite a lot! My first, brief taste of Kaziranga was in 2010 and Wild Grass – the oldest and highly-rated resort was full. Even still, they arranged my safaris and stay at the more ‘upscale’ Iora Resort. I far preferred Wild Grass to Iora (should note Iora is nice and I could not find fault with it), but Wild Grass is a relaxed, comfortable, old-world resort set in sprawling gardens with Colonial-styled buildings and cottages – much more my personal style. The property is well-run and hugely popular, but despite the steady stream of guests, you somehow never seem rushed or treated impersonally. Many of the buildings are older, which adds to the charm for me, but things do breakdown. No worries, just let someone from the helpful staff know and they’ll be there to solve your problem as quick as possible.

On the first trip, we opted for the more removed, and very affordable. Only caveat, that though you have your own bathroom, it’s in a separate stand-alone adjacent building. I was in the larger cottage, and it was large! You could easily sleep 8 people (2 king size and 6 singles), with loads of outlets for camera batteries, phone batteries, laptop batteries… Quite fun, and very quiet, and although there was no air-conditioning, the fans were absolutely sufficient in late March 2013, even under mosquito netting (which was available in one of the cupboards). This large cottage was in need of some repair. The rains had started and the roof leaked in some areas, but the beds were set up to avoid the leaks. If you are eight people it might have been more difficult to avoid.

My friend and long-suffering wildlife guide, CV Singh, was booked into another single cottage-room, but it was not as nice. Quite dark and small, although super affordable if you don’t mind this.

A wonderful entrance into the park, with a hog deer to greet us!

For our return visit at the end of February 2014, I was bringing along a lovely Norwegian woman, on her first Indian Safari! This time we stayed in the regular rooms in one of the two accommodation buildings. Very comfortable rooms with twin beds and loads of windows. Higher in price but correspondingly more value and still super reasonable stay. Assam is very affordable compared with other wildlife destinations in India.

I awoke to a big ruckus outside my room window at about 5am. Three Oriental Pied Hornbills having a serious discussion!

To top it all off, the food was great – far better than reviews had led us to believe! Nothing gourmet, but still good, plentiful and very reasonable. We opted for an a la carte stay, which suited us fine since the portions are very large, you really only needed 1 or 2 dishes. The staff is very good about informing you of the procedure as you must order your meal well before your selected dining time, so make sure you do! There are no frills here and no wastage, so order your lunch after you return from morning safari and order your dinner after lunch. For a personal choice, I don’t think I’d go elsewhere in this part of the country.

Indian wild elephant teenager

Safari Info

There is currently no restriction on the number of vehicles allowed into Kaziranga, so getting safaris last minute are much easier than in Central India. Jeeps with drivers can be hired at the gate, a few minutes before the park opens. The park is large and traffic resultantly minimal so you do not come across others very often. I say that, but… 2013 saw a new situation in the park.

One of the park’s notoriously shy and hard to spot tigers was becoming not so shy or hard to spot. Sightings were becoming so regular that as we were driving in that zone, enjoying what we were there to see – birds, rhinos, swamp deer, hog deer, monkeys… a jeep drove up and a woman loudly stood up and shouted ‘tiger?’ Very strange, a bit off-putting, and I think, a bit worrying. This was reinforced in the 2014 visit, when we actually had a brief glimpse of a tiger, amidst rushing and crowding to spot a tiger. If the bad behaviour continues there is bound to be more restrictions put in place, spoiling in a small degree, the experiences you can currently have as a responsible wildlife-loving citizen in the park.

Oh dear.... tiger tiger tiger...

The park has three tourist zones for jeep safaris: the western (Bagori Range); the eastern (Agartoli Range); and the central (Kaziranga Range). There is a 4th range (Burapahar Range) but no-one seems to go there, which means I must check it out next time. Jeep costs are based on how far away the zone is, due to the extra mileage travelled, the eastern being the furthest. The central range seems to be the most popular, due in no small part to the aforementioned tiger activity, followed by the western range, which is particularly good for rhino and water buffalo sightings. The eastern range has large water bodies and is very good for birding.

Classic Kaziranga grasslands, with rhino, swamp deer and hog deer grazing

Since you are theoretically not chasing the big cats in this park, safaris start much later in the morning, though it is possible to pre-book one of two elephant safaris before the drives start. They last one hour, the first starting at sunrise. You sit astride the elephant here, unlike other platform ‘saddles’ where you sit sideways (a style found in most other areas of India). I find I actually prefer it, but would not the best for people with hip or flexibility issues.

We arranged our drives with Wild Grass, to ensure that we got a very good and knowledgeable guide, well-versed in driving photography buffs. As of 2014 the resort has updated their jeeps away from the side-bench vehicles to front-facing, which is a big improvement in comfort and visibility.

Flaming trees and golden fields... Sublime!

The Park

Kaziranga National Park was designated a Unesco World Heritage park in 1985 and covers 430 square kilometres. As one of the last areas in east India (at least easily travelled east India) that offers wide tracts of non-human-inhabited land, the park supports the largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses and Indian elephants in the world, as well as (apparently) the highest density of tigers. The park lies in a flood plain covered with beautiful wide grasslands, and a quintessential jungle-like tropical forest. Intensely green with swathes of fern, vines, orchids and trees.

So many ranger stations in the park, with fairly well armed rangers who are allowed to shoot first if coming across poachers in the park after hours.

Not only a home to the endangered rhino, it also supports other threatened mammals, including my new favourite the capped langur, my new new favourite the hoolock gibbon, sloth bear, Ganges dolphin, otter and wild buffalo. Also an array of wonderful birds, both endemic and migratory populations.

I find them strangely beautiful...

The Wildlife Moments

Late March, you are quite close to the area's rainy season. In 2013 that was certainly the case for us as we had a lot of overcast days and quite a few showers. Late February 2014 was drier in Kaziranga, though we did come from the unseasonably wet Manas that year, so really, who knows these days! Late Feb does have a larger population of migratory birds still hanging around than we experienced in March.

So much rain on this trip in later March, even the macaques were in bliss with a few rays of sunshine!

Finally some sun breaks through

Our first drive was wonderful, and quite exciting as a male rhino charged our jeep, coming up remarkably fast behind us, but that was to be nothing compared with our encounter on the last drive! Note: foreshadowing!!

Hello!

Hoolock Gibbon Sanctuary Sidetrip

In the dark forest, against the bright sky, the silhouette of the gibbons often looked like a strange man as they swung easily through the trees.

After that first drive we had 3 days to kill! We joined a couple of Canadians and a US doctor on a day excursion to the Hoolock (Hollongapar) Gibbon Sanctuary, where we were lucky enough to watch a small family for some time and had fun tramping through the forests. You visit this small sanctuary near Jorhat on foot, hiking along mostly good trails.

One of the more easy trails in the Gibbon Sanctuary

Dad, checking us out!

Apes of another kind, watching their arboreal cousins in awe

Beware though; there are leeches in this forest, especially after rains. CV was even bitten through his sock! I was attacked while my intrepid guide led me off the trail into the forest to get a better angle of the gibbons. Leeches in this part of the world, while not my favourite creature, are not dangerous, don’t hurt and don’t carry any disease, so don’t let it put you off, these apes are fabulous and worth a shot at seeing any time you are here. So fabulous that we decided to go back and spend a night at the Sanctuary.

Wonderfully dew-laden plant in the forest

Surrounded by tea estates, the Hoollongabar Sanctuary (also spelled Hollongabar) is a quite small, isolated reserve at just over 8 square miles (2098 ha). For such a small forest it supports a surprising number of primates – including the gibbon, stump-tailed macaque, pig-tailed macaque, eastern Assamese macaque and the Bengal slow loris. We were also lucky enough to see the pig-tailed macacque.

Pig-tailed Macacque coming for a visit

Fearsome teeth!

The Sanctuary had a Forest Rest House with two, very very basic rooms. Perfectly fine rooms though not for the non-nature-enthusiast as the rooms are far from air-tight or luxurious. Construction was underway in 2013 for a new rooms complex – looked to be maybe 4-6 rooms coming up. I was happy to have CV there, not only for company and language issues, but because as a single woman traveller you are pretty isolated. Never actually felt unsafe, but might not have been as comfortable on my own here, and it turned out to be such a highlight. That trip we were with several construction workers, a very accommodating forest ranger, and a cook. Only the forest ranger spoke any English and it was minimal.

As we sat out in the evening (bring your mosquito repellant!) we were treated to an incredible display of fireflies that filled the clearing, drifting out of the trees and amongst the buildings.

The large and wonderfully noisy Tokay Gecko living behind a sign on our resthouse.

Next morning saw us up early to see if we could find our gibbon family. And luck was with us again! We came across our friends as they were munching, swinging and playing across one of the pathways. Really is a matter of timing because once they’re into the forest, you’re out of luck. We were treated to a wonderful serenade from the gibbons in the morning as well. Family groups calling to each other across the forest. Almost as loud as the howler monkeys in the Amazon!

Mum and babe. The babes are born grey but quickly change to black. Then at 6-7 years, they change again if female to the warm brown coat, and staying the same black colour if male.

The Hoolock Gibbon is the only ape in India and has two species, the western and eastern. The gibbons in the Gibbon Sanctuary are Western Hoolock Gibbons and are listed by the WWF as one of the most 25 endangered primates in the world; the eastern gibbon is listed as ‘vulnerable’. They are wonderfully expressive and remarkably agile in the trees. Their long arms can travel six metres in one swing! In fact, they are rarely on the ground, eating fruits, leaves, flowers and shoots, all found high in the canopy. The males are very dark, with fantastic white eyebrows, and the females a golden tan colour. They have one baby every two-to-three years, and the youngsters live with the family for seven-to-ten years. Our youngster was quite young, but not sure how old that was.

Safe with mum

Boat Trip on the Brahmaputra… source of Kaziranga’s Life and Endangerment

The other side trips we took was a boat ride on the Brahmaputra, which was nice, but not much to see in late March, mid-day. Could have been interesting though with the right guide, as this is a major source of the Kaziranga flood plains trouble.

During the rains, water enters the park through tributaries and this is a normal and necessary eco-cycle flooding, but when the banks overflow, the situation for the park and its animals becomes devastating, as well as for nearby villages.

This is happening at a frighteningly high level recently. These issues are occurring due to the eroding banks of the Brahmaputra; increased use and erosion of land by an ever increasing population; as well as changing river patterns and river management, not the least of which are the hydro dams added to the Brahmaputra River recently. As a state with one of the lowest GDPs in India, and a history of unrest and insurgencies, the focus on much needed infrastructure improvement and increasing development has been marching forward. This needs to happen, but as everywhere in the world, it seems to march forward with little regard or study on avoiding the ecological impact. All of this adds up to a very uncertain future for this unique and precious place on our planet.

Dry season!

Tea Garden Visit

Huge organic tea gardens with black pepper vines growing up the shade trees. The ditches that run through the tea bushes for water run-off during monsoon.

Also possible is a walk through a large organic tea garden near the resort. Good birding opportunities and a pleasant way to spend an afternoon if it’s not too hot. Don’t miss the retail store, in particular their organic black pepper, which grows off vines on the trees planted to shade the tea – it’s a wonderful, aromatic pepper!

Only the top bud and one or two leaves are picked, by hand, from the tea bush. Picking is typically done twice a year.

Back to the Kaziranga Drives

Pretty used to people and usually calm. They have terrible eyesight, so trouble can come if you surprise them.

Finally the census was over, but the rhinos were pretty stirred up. One had charged an elephant causing a census worker to fall and break his collar bone! So with that news, we were off to take our final two drives.

We were happily driving along our track, when we came across a mating pair in the distance. We stopped briefly, but since they were a fair distance away, we started to slowly drive off. Seems Mr. Rhino was having none of that! And he charged full-bore for us! Our driver was unable to get into a high-enough gear to move fast enough to elude this shockingly fast prehistoric animal! Before we knew it, it was running along side us, and eyeing the best place to toss us over. He was so close and so loud, I was staring straight into his eye! Our guard tried the usual methods of shouting and banging on the side of the jeep to scare him off but it wasn’t working this time, so he had to quickly fire a shot over the ear the enraged beast (guards carry blanks in their guns on safari). That at last caused him to veer away. It was a close call, since they can easily tip a vehicle if they ram it side-on.

Last shot I took, before the rhino swerved to run beside our jeep! You can see the jeep railing on the bottom right of the photo. I dropped my camera shortly after this to hang on for dear life!!!

Although I had rather fearfully (or intelligently?) given up the chance of getting a shot, CV had the presence of mind to video it! at least to the point it came up to us. In the following footage he shot, you can see how incredibly quickly it moves! After we made our escape, nervous laughter filled the jeep and CV had to wipe rhino snot from his camera lens… yuck! It seemed even for the more usually jaded guard and driver, this was an uncommon experience – thankfully!

Other Photo Moments from Kaziranga

Wonderful forest!

The Birds...

Indian Darter or Snakebird, sunning among the Silk Cotton Tree flowers

Fish Eagle Miss! Doh!!

Pelican Sky

Open-billed stork, about to catch his favourite meal of escargot!

Pelican in a tree? Can't be a comfortable perch!

Spot-billed Pelican

Wonderfully decorative Kalij Pheasant in the dark forest

Energetic Red-breasted Parakeet couple

Sunbathing Beauty

Wonderful slender-billed vuture about to take off

Fantastic wings!

Pied Kingfisher catches the evening's appetizer

Black-necked Stork resting as the day comes to a close

Can Never Get Enough of the Ellies!

Soulful Eyes

Breaking the forest cover, we were being thoroughly checked out before allowing the babe to move forward. Thankfully we were at a respectful distance!

Lovely family came to visit

Mum and babe, covered in mud and dirt - excellent sunscreen!

Sending us an unnecessary warning! We don't get too close to the ellies!

Other Wonderful Citizens of the Forest

Fun times watching an Indian Smooth Coated Otter family across the river

Wonder what the silk-cotton tree flowers taste like? Looks good!

Assam Roofed Turtles, all in a row!

Interesting and large red bug -- if anyone knows what its name is, let me know!

Hog Deer Hello!

Even the wild buffalo use the mud as sunscreen!

Curious hog deer fawn

Dragonfly Beauty

And of Course, More Rhinos!

Egret and his meal-ticket!

Rhino's poop in a communal loo! This fellow came up to illustrate that to us - lucky us!!

Mum and babe!

Next Up… the seven-hour drive to the Khassi Hills in Cherrapunjee, where, I walked 6000 stairs!!!

Wild buffalo heading across the river as the sun sets

A waterfall of orchids hanging from the trees in mid-March.

I had been to Assam only once before. In April of 2010 I'd had a brief a 3-day visit to Kaziranga and although I enjoyed that trip, nothing prepared me for the wonder we experienced in this longer visit; which might just be the best overall wildlife trip I’ve taken, among so many remarkable ones. Manas in particular seemed somehow more ‘wild’, and so wonderfully tranquil.

This northeast state, known to the west primarily for its tea, is such a wonderful state, and relatively less-traveled when compared with many other wildlife spots in India. That alone makes it a nice respite from the frenetic tiger chasing of many parks in central India. For the wildlife traveller, it is also a much more affordable trip than other wildlife destinations – accommodation and food being often far more reasonable. The people you find here were without exception super-helpful in planning the trip, although the ability to use your credit card is even more rare here than India in general. This makes it a bit more challenging to plan without a local representative to help you, or expensive money transfers from overseas… unless you enjoy carrying a suitcase full of cash with you!

When I started planning this trip, a simple accommodation query to the venerable Wildgrass Resort in Kaziranga resulted in an email chock-full of information to help my planning – not just for Kaziranga, but for of the entire itinerary! Similarly, a query to the Field Director in Manas resulted in a response that was so welcoming and helpful for booking the remote lodge we stayed at.

Onto the Adventures in Manas National Park!

But first, a brief description of this massive Park (over 2,600 sq. km), situated along the border of Bhutan. Designated a Unesco Site, the park’s wildlife and landscape are incredibly diverse. Rolling grasslands; dense, tangled forests with massive Silk Cotton trees; and, tumbling rivers winding their way from the Himalaya foothills. Most of the animals found in the more famous Kaziranga can be found here, plus many many more. The only caveat to that is that they are much harder to see. For me this is somehow more rewarding and special when you have an encounter.

Manas has seen a lot of turmoil and many people are still worried about travelling there. I had heard of devastating poaching and forest destruction stemming from the violence between the indigenous Bodo people and immigrating Bengali Muslims in the 80s and 90s. Problems do still arise, but it is mostly calm these days. Not knowing how empty the forest might be, we decided to visit for only a couple of days. We want more! There was much more wildlife activity here than either of us expected, and staying in the Mathanguri Lodge is the only place to stay! At least as far as I’m concerned.

River border between Bhutan and India.

We arrived by flight from Delhi to Guwahati on March 17 and stayed overnight at the affordable, clean and efficient Hotel Rialto, planning to head out before dawn to Manas the next day. The Rialto was a great bargain at 1200 a night and though the rooms were small, they were comfy, decently clean, and had AC that worked, albeit at arctic levels. The real surprise was the Hotel’s restaurant food. We had a hot and sour chicken soup that was to die for! Not like many I’ve had before – so much chicken! not very sour, and a good handful of cilantro – yummy!!! The Hakka chicken noodles were really good too, and the tandoor chicken (starting to cluck now) was good, if not great. I’d go there for that soup alone!
We met our driver Siraz the night we arrived as he popped in to arrange our departure time the next morning. What a lovely man he is! Professional, helpful and kind – it quickly became apparent that he was to be one of my favourite, of many, drivers in India. Barpeta Rd., which is the town at the entrance to Manas (and a rail station head), is about a 3-hour drive from Guwahati, through a rich and bountiful farmland. We passed incredible crops of vegetables and countless carts on their way to the marketplace.

Masses of veggies heading to market on our way to Manas.

... and more veggies

Arriving at the forest office near the gate to Manas (we mistakenly carried on there instead of pre-clearing at the forest office in town), there was a bit of scrambling, but the Forest Officer was kind and wrote up an entrance ticket for us after phoning the Field Director. Then, walked across the road to the Immigration/Foreign Registers Office! I had to explain to the customs officer, set up at a wooden desk on a ramshackle porch that I wished to enter Manas for wildlife, and not for any nefarious Bhutanese activities! The border to Bhutan runs through the forest itself, and trucks of goods, and people cross over quite regularly.

Paperwork taken care of, and all documents appropriately stamped, we were off for the 1.5 hour drive to the Mathanguri Lodge. The drive to the Forest Lodge is a safari in itself. We stopped to watch dust-bathing elephants, trumpeting a warning (or “Hello”?) to us. Wild buffalo and Hog Deer popped out of the greenery to see what we were up to. What a spectacular place to spend my birthday this year!

Peek-a-boo with a Hog Deer

A rather large Welcome to Manas from an Asian Elephant!

Arriving at the lodge, our rooms were set up on a rock ledge, overlooking Bhutan with the Benki River running between us. Topped off by the beautiful soaring Himalayan foothills as a backdrop. The government-run lodge itself was much nicer than I expected. Spacious, but basic rooms, complete with mosquito-netted beds; a massive, relatively effective bathroom (though no hot water); and, a startling evening alarm call from what was described to us, as the Gecko Gecko – a large, shy reptile that lived in the buildings. We stayed in Rooms 4 & 5 but next time might try for the second floor rooms for the extra view. There is no fan, or AC, but it was still cool enough at night, though wouldn’t bet on it much further on in the season, at least for us foreigner’s averse to heat. We had a very strong wind storm our first night. Wonderful howling to fall asleep to.

The view from our forest home, looking into Bhutan.

Colourful beetle at Mathanguri Lodge

Food no longer has to be pre-arranged and carried in to Mathanguri. They now have organized this themselves. It’s à la carte, and very tasty and fresh, but basic, fare. Plus, you get the extra added bonus of semi-feral kitty company at mealtimes! I miss my cat when I travel, so this is a good thing for me... cats being more popular here than many places in India. Power is only turned on for a couple of hours in the evening, which made the place even more fabulous to me, but be aware, can be tricky to charge all the gadgets we tend to carry these days. It is widely advertised to be on from dusk to 9:30pm, but was in reality turned off about 8. Kerosene lamps are provided in the evening, but I prefer to turn them off because of the smell. There’s no power in the morning before the dawn drive, so bring a good light with you.

If you are squeamish about critters (you are in the middle of the jungle) and/or want more luxury in your wildlife, there is the more expensive, full-service lodge (Bansbari Lodge) by the main gate.

The only downside we encountered here was the quality of the jeeps (loud and smelly) and drivers available to hire for your safari. We ended up using our own driver from Kaziranga for a few of the drives, taking the mini-van out instead. This isn’t ideal, but, was in reality a better experience overall. I’m sure there are people that are good, but will have to investigate further on a future trip, but with the park not hugely travelled, it might be difficult. Our forest ranger was young and inexperienced but completely accommodating and helpful. This wasn’t a big problem for me, since I had brought my own naturalist/guide along again on this trip, and CV spent as much time helping me get the shot, as training the ranger, who to his credit was eager to learn.

Fantastic trees, with loads of ficus (fig family) fruit for the creatures of the forest

We only had two nights here and I want more! In fact, I hope to revisit Assam in the spring of 2014 so if you are interested in joining me, drop me a line!

The Capped Langur checking out what we were up to - a first sighting for me, in a trip of new primates.

On to the safaris and what they brought us!

One of the most wonderful creatures in this part of the world are the charismatic water buffalo. Listed as an endangered species, the buffalo in Manas are considered to possibly be the only pure strain of the species left today, all others diluted by cross-breeding with domestic buffalos. Their horns are quite distinct and impressive, creating a bit of a challenge walking through the brush, perhaps that's why they walk in such a posh and distinctive way, with their heads thrown back and nose in the air.

The wild water buffalo, walking in the peculiar way they do, nose in the air!

Time for a good nose-hair trimming!

The bird-life here was quite fantastic as well and I was able to add many new birds to my 'list.' When we came across a pair of very large owls in the distance we had a bit of a laugh. Our 'naturalist' and our forest guide insisting they weren't owls! Now, I'm no vast expert on the avian varieties, but I think I can be relied upon to tell if a bird is an owl! We pulled out our bird book and identified the two, rare and impressive owls as spot-bellied eagle owls and showed our intrepid guides. Who then had a brief conversation and announced that they called them something different in that part of the world!

Jeuvenile (right) and adult spot-bellied eagle owls (or are they...). Very far off in the trees.

Great Indian Hornbill. These massive birds made an awesome sound when they flew, their wings displacing so much air.

Outstretched, almost translucent, wings of the Great Indian Hornbill.

Scarlet Minivet... going, going, gone!

Asian Fairy Bird

Always stunning, though rarely posing so nicely, Red Jungle Fowl!

One of the creatures we really wanted to see was the beautiful and endangered Golden Langur, but when we arrived we were told that they resided on the Bhutan side of Manas Wildlife Sanctuary. Sometimes, we were told, you could see them across the river. Quite sad we were, till someone came to our aid. After waiting on the road to Bhutan for a bit, and numerous, high-level, walkie-talkie conversations, it was announced I could visit to quickly photograph them! So, smuggled down to a boat, under cover of darkness.... no, not really :-) But they did row me briefly over to Bhutan in a rowboat, then a short hike up to the trees where we were able to photograph a troop for 10 minutes. Such fun!

The beautiful, and aptly named, Golden Langur.

What's so funny? Do I have banana on my face?

Another benefit of staying at Mathanguri Lodge was the ability to stay out past sunset! This forest was pretty magical at night as it lit up with a veritable swarm of fireflies. Little fairies dancing in the darkening wood. We also had another spectacular Moment -- sighting a black leopard! The sun had already set and there was little light left, when CV spotted the cat run across the road in front of our jeep's lights. I saw the shape run into the scrub beside us, where it froze for a couple of minutes, feeling safely out of our line of sight. Elated I still tried to snap a photo. Dialing up the ISO and opening my shutter, I took a few shots with different focal lengths and managed one clear shot of its back. Now, I know to y'all this shot is probably nothing special, being about as record as a record shot can be... but, for us - Wow!!!

the back-end of the our leopard!

Another denizen of this forest was the capped langur. It was another first for me, and one of my favourite creatures. I loved the perpetually startled look they seem to have - eyes wide open and hair going all Enstein. Although it was the most commonly sighted primate for our Assam trip, this langur is listed as threatened, due mostly to habitat loss.

The Capped Langur

Malayan or Black Giant Squirrel is listed as Near-threatened, due mostly to hunting for food - slightly smaller, and not as red a coat as the Malabar Giant Squirrel.

Massive old silk-cotton trees throughout this fabulous forest. Look closely and you'll see my intrepid guides spanning the trunk.

Nameri National Park

Beautiful Nameri with its imposing elephants

After saying goodbye to Manas, we were off for brief stop at Nameri before heading down to Kaziranga. The drive was about 7 hours long, and made longer by an unexpected stop. On our way we came up to a road block. There apparently had been demonstration in a Bodo village and the authorities were taking no chances. So, we were idling away in a line of traffic, waiting for our army escort to return and take us through the village. When we finally got going again, in the army escorted convoy, it was an eerie feeling as we made our way through the village. Not a soul could be seen. If you’ve ever traveled to India before, you’ll know how strange this is, in a country teeming with life.

Still, it was an uneventful drive after all, and we arrived safe and sound to Nameri Eco Camp, a wonderful collection of permanent tents and cottages. A large British Birding group was encamped, so we were put up in a bungalow designed for visiting scientists, naturalists, etc. Was perfect – two rooms on either side of a central kitchenette area. Can’t speak to the regular accommodation, but this worked well for us. Our hosts here were extremely accommodating and helpful, as we’d come to expect from our travels in Assam. A troop of capped langurs was seen in the camp throughout the day, and the resident puppy became a constant companion once it was discovered I carried dog biscuits with me! No, I’m sure it was because of my personality! Uh huh!!

Curious George? Capped langurs in our camp.

Fabulous male Great Indian Hornbill, part of a nesting pair in a large tree at the Eco Camp. The female seals herself into a nest that is hollowed out of a tree until her chicks are ready to leave. The male makes trips back to feed her through the small hole left open.

Pigmy Hog, an endangered small wild pig, in the conservation centre in Nameri

Located in the eastern foothills of Himalayas it is quite close to Kaziranga (couple of hours drive), the nearest city being Tezpur. The Assamese portion is quite small (200 km sq) and wonderfully, you investigate the park by boat, or on foot. The forest is an excellent habitat for wild elephants, as well as host to many endemic and migrating birds. Apparently hikers have also come across the odd tiger! That would be a bit scary I’d imagine, though you are escorted by an armed forest guard, primarily for the elephant danger. We had a wonderful hike through the lush green forest, led by a young local boy with pretty impressive bird skills, arranged for us by the camp.

Hey! It's a Sensitive Plant! growing naturally all over the forest. Who remembers having these as a kid? Mimosa ~ called locally the 'Do Not Touch plant.'

Verditer Flycatcher on wing.

Loads of Wreathed Hornbills flying over the park. Our only sightings of these fellows.

Our boat ride was lovely, though we went in the afternoon and was a bit warm for a lot of life. Still saw a lot of birds and people fishing on the Jai Bharali River. Was nice to be heading down the river on a raft too. So much quieter than the usual diesel-chugging tourist boats. The river has quite a few rapids to bump over, though at this time there wasn’t that much white water.

Fishing for the wonderful Golden Mahseer used to be a popular pastime here but has been banned for some time. Sadly, as in many other instances, once the tourism-driven anglers dissappeared, so did the fish. With nobody watching, it’s amazing how quickly poaching can decimate a species. At the eco-camp, they’ve started a fish hatchery and hopefully repopulation will be successful, along with a return to controlled and regulated sport fishing.

Fishing on the river with pretty cool-looking nets.

Heron Silhouette

Brahminy Ducks or Ruddy Shelducks, depending on which edition of the bird book you have.

All in all, well worth the stop, especially if you are a birder. To be able to walk through the forest and to raft was a treat!

Massive Agenor Mormon male butterfly posing nicely at our camp!

Kanha is the best for streaming sunlight! The trees are so tall, creating amazing filters for the early morning rays.

Kanha National Park

Had a brief trip to India last fall, so of course had to fit in some wildlife. Before I get out my final Turkey Blog instalment, thought it time to update some wildlife adventures! I had had such a great time in Kanha in April 2012, I decided to head back in November. This park is lovely and so large there seems endless places to explore. This time, we tried out Muba Resorts, a wonderful, natural spot at the Mukki Gate of Kanha. (I really should check out the Kisli Gate side one day!) Muba is set in an extensive and mostly natural property of trees and grasslands. The accommodation is large, comfortable and clean (though no air-conditioning, which might affect your comfort in the summer). A great value, the cottages are easily accessible yet remote enough that it is delightfully quiet at night. Except when the resident langur troop decides to have a party on your roof! The food was very good here and the staff incredibly responsive. While our safari driver was responsible and responsive his wildlife knowledge was not terribly strong. This would be the only thing lacking here for the serious wildlifer, but then again, this not unusual.

The head langur of the troop that jumped around on our cottage rooms

Kanha in November is very cold at night and I can only imagine how cold it gets as winter really sets in! The moist air, hot afternoons and cold nights actually created rather magical mornings. When I left my cottage in the dawn hours there was so much dew falling from the trees around us that it sounded like it was raining. Dewdrops were lying on everything in the forest, sparkling in the dawning light.

Fields of Glass

We had some really good tiger sightings this trip, far better than the summer visit, which only goes to show you the vagaries of tiger spotting. We had a fun sighting with a mum and her two adolescent cubs, who were so shy. One darted across the road to his calling mum, while the other paced in the jungle gathering his courage before making a run for it down the road from us. Much more shy in Kanha but more rewarding somehow. We came across the same mother early in the morning of our 6th drive as well. This time she was having some alone time. Sitting on the side of the road, happily grooming herself, before she stretched, got up and sauntered down the road. We literally stumbled upon her, my friend exclaiming in a loud whisper… tiger, tiger, tiger. That’s when I realized, spotting a tiger is never a single utterance. It invariably comes in three’s. Not sure why. Any other spotting seems to be a single utterance… “Leopard”, “bear”, “grey hypocolious” (yes, really!), but, not the regal tiger. Tis always an excited and loud whisper “tiger, tiger, tiger”

She looks just like my cat!

We’d had a few slow drives in the park, though still lovely for birds and deer, but when we took off for our 8th afternoon drive, that changed! The first few hours of the drive were also very quiet, so for the last 1/2 hour of our drive we decided to head to an area where a male leopard had been spotted near his kill the day before. We parked on the darkening track and sat quietly. Hard to do sometimes with others in the jeep, but we are old hands at it. Was lovely. The light was slowly dimming as the sun set, casting wonderful shadows on the tall forest and bamboo around us. Suddenly, we were startled by a peacock sticking his head out from the brush. He was seemingly just as startled, and let out a loud warning honk before disappearing back into the undergrowth. We started to laugh at the poor peacock’s alarm, stumbling across us, when we realized our error! Something else had startled the bird. A huge battle was taking place in the bamboo as something was chasing the poor peacock. He was running back and forth in the bush, honking his alarms as what we presumed to be a leopard, was in hot pursuit. After a few tense moments, it got very quiet, and then a sudden, even louder commotion arose and the peacock was caught. We were standing in our jeep and peering vainly into the bush, when our driver whispered loudly, “leopard!”

Classic pose

A large, magnificent male leopard sauntered out of the forest on the opposite side. I’m sure I held my breath, because my experience with leopards has always been for them to see me, and then quickly melt away. This boy was not so timid and very curious about the drama we had been witnessing across the road. Who would possibly have the nerve to come into his territory? Let alone hunt? He posed in the middle of the road, staring into the bamboo before turning and walking along the forest edge, right toward us!!!! I could not believe it. He came quite close, before finally entering the thicket. Then there was a brief snarling confrontation, and the intruder made a rapid exit. Maybe a female? Wow! Such excitement!! But we couldn’t linger, as we were already pushing it for making it out the gate, so filled with the Moment, we drove off. Such a Moment!

Coming straight toward us! Seemingly unphased by our awed presence.

We also had good bear sighting this trip, both on our first drive, and later on our penultimate drive. The latter being a really good one, rounding the corner, and there was a lovely ambling sloth bear, walking along the road, without a care in the world. So lovely.

Final sloth bear we were lucky enough to see in Kanha this trip.

We had a wonderful 10 drives and some fantastic encounters with our four-legged and feathered friends!

Barasingha caught mid-munch!

Oriental Scops Owls, resting for the day.

Had a wonderful time with this Grey Headed Fish Eagle, posing nicely, lah!

... and then taking a drive-by for fish.

The mustard fields, and brilliant blue-painted village houses were wonderful.

Butterfly in back of my cottage.

Who's the King of the Castle?

Lonely baby sambar who was very interested in us, crossing the road, back and forth. Unusual to see without adults.

Frolicking jackel pair. Hadn't seen this behaviour before. They were very affectionate, grooming each other and playing in the flower-filled field.

Thousands of tiny dew drops lining the web, as well as the spider in the early morning.

Tough night? Jungle owlets.

Fun frog on my door.

The landscape surrounding the Barasingha was a field of colour!

Barnwapara Wildlife Sanctuary

Beautiful mustard seed fields and interestingly shaped hay stacks!

And then we were off for the 5 hour (more like 6) drive to Barnwapara Wildlife Sanctuary in Chhattisgarh. We were staying at a sister property, Muba’s Machaan. Just 2 nights we had there. The Machaan’s are cottages set up on stilts and made entirely of wood. They’re set in a low forest and scrub property, with a lot of birds, which again was quite natural. Barnwapara was a bit warmer than Kanha, which would likely be a problem in the warmer months but it was quite comfortable at the end of November. The Machaan’s are also good for families, with each one having a large bed as well as a set of bunk beds. They are set quite far from each other though, so bring a good flashlight for night.

Purple-rumped Sunbird after his bath

Barnwapara is a beautiful but rather sad forest, with a wide variety of habitats and good water. The forest reminded me a lot like Pench Tiger Reserve in MP, but, sadly, the amount of poaching that has occurred here is tremendous. The government is apparently serious about protecting the forest and bringing it back, but right now it’s a bit sad. We did see a large herd of gaur, wonderfully crossing the road and posing for us. Also saw a Nilgai, that barked continued alarm calls upon seeing us. We heard the alarm call of a sambar as well, but that was about it. Even birds were more of a rarity than I’m used to in the parks. It’s amazing how man can strip the resources of a place so thoroughly. The forest is beautiful though, so am hopeful they will be successful at reviving the wildlife of the area.

Huge heard of gaur making their way through the forest.

Tadoba Anhari Tiger Reserve

A rest in the grass

Our final destination was to Tadoba. I had previously been there in the extremely hot weather of May 2011, so was curious to see the differences. But first we had to get there! The drive should have been relatively straightforward as a major highway went from Raipur to Nagpur. Yeah, that’s the story at least. An estimated 6 hour drive took us 12.5 hours! as our driver, in an extremely small and unsuitable-for-the-side-roads car, took a short-cut! Sigh… Lordy help me for shortcuts! There we were, after dark, trying to see on my Google Maps how the heck we were going to get where we needed to be, calling the helpful and concerned people at the Royal Tiger Resort. After stopping in a small village to get some village men to tear off a part of the car that was dragging into the wheel well, we bumped our way to get permission at a park gate to travel the last leg of our journey, through the actual reserve. If that had been denied, we'd likely have been another 4 hours. Assuming to additional shortcuts were applied that is. Actually turned out to be good timing, cause we came across a Russell’s Viper crossing the road… exciting!

Lovely pair of Yellow-footed Green Pigeons.

We finally arrived, and thankfully the resort’s rooms were large, comfortable and had loads of hot water, warmed on the roof during the day’s heat, which was very welcome after that drive! Royal Tiger is located at the Moharli Gate right next to the jungle. We each had a deluxe room, which, for the price was exceedingly good value. The rooms were clean, spacious and as previous mentioned, loads of hot water. The food here was also very good, homely fare, and a similar good value. The folks running the resort were very helpful and accommodating as well. The only negative I’d have with the resort, was the incredible amount of bright lighting, everywhere. We tried to turn off as much as we could around us, but this was light pollution in the extreme. Unnecessary and really quite un-eco-friendly, especially when it’s set up right next to the park proper.

Lovely time with some Green Bee-eaters in a fabulous grasslands. Our only non-tiger-chasing drive. Loads of bird activity here.

Little bushchat stopping still for a second.

Beautiful Red Avadavat.

We opted for our own arrangements for safaris, although I hear the resort’s arrangements are good. Following a detailed recommendation from a fellow Trip Advisor reviewer, we contacted Ishmail, a forest guide, who along with his driver brother Mubarak made our safaris quite seamless in a not-easy-to-organize park. Only thing to note for anyone interested in using their services is, their English is not fantastic, so would be tough to arrange unless someone in your party speaks Hindi/Marathi. Would be happy to recommend and pass on their contact information if anyone is interested.

Sambar in the lake

Tadoba is actually fairly small, with the long main road running straight through it. After the Supreme Court ruling in October, this meant many of the smaller, side trails were closed to meet the percentage requirements of the core areas open to tourism. Other routes over the hill that I loved so much from last trip were also closed. Sadly it seemed to mean there was even more of a focus on tiger chasing, though happily, the majority of the travellers to the park seem to be far better mannered and more respectful of the wildlife than other tiger spots I’m used to. Good distances are kept when sightings are made, and there is no pushing or aggressive behaviour, that I witnessed in these 8 drives at least. Also unusual, foreigners pay the same as Indians for access to the park. Our guides told us, this increase in Indian fares cut down on the weekend partiers that would previously come from Nagpur and had increased the better behaviour we witnessed. Interesting if it can be verified. Certainly anecdotally I’d agree.

Long night! Tigress in the wee hours of the morning.

Tadoba is one of the best parks for chances of tiger spotting that I've been to in India. And this trip did not disappoint. In fact, even during the monsoon, sightings are apparently very good. Being able to go into a park during monsoon is an unusual plus and I hope to experience it some day. Our first drive brought us upon a lovely female, part of a mating pair, as she relaxed in the grasses, then checked out the smells, and wandered around the jeeps. Even though people parked well back from her, she was completely unphased by jeep loads of people, and spent a long time wandering around, often very close to us, before sauntering back into the forest.

Now that smells interesting?

Hanuman Langur waiting for nightfall.

Green Bee-eater in profile.

A young family was very active in one area a - mum and 3 fairly old cubs. We came across the three bold cubs, even with a forest ranger on foot directing the jeeps to allow photos for all. The unconcerned behaviour was very like the lions of Gujurat. All 3 of the cubs came out at one point, and then in another, 2 of the them wonderfully took turns sharpening their claws on a slanting tree, before climbing into it for a bit.

3 adolescents taking a stroll.

Young tiger, not even looking at his fans.

That feels good!

"You guys still here?

Again on our last drive, this time wonderfully away from the masses and at the end of the drive, we came across one of the cubs on a small track. He was alone and had been cooling off in a pond before heading back to his family we rounded a corner and almost ran into him. We had to keep backing up down the road as he kept coming straight at us, until we were able to pull over and allow him to walk off. A future King of the jungle!

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Bye bye lovely tiger!

Thinking our drives were over, we were happily surprised by an offer to take us for a morning drive in the Buffer Zone. The forest department is developing it to allow more drives and variety of landscapes in the park. They're also creating some overnight rest-houses, set up in concrete stilts for another experience. This could be very good indeed! W woke up our forest guide from a local village and then set out. In October/November in many forests of India, you find masses of giant wood spiders, always in my past experience, high in the trees. Well, turns out they're high in the trees, because people clear paths through them at the lower levels! This drive, they were everywhere!!! Ishmail grabbed a big branch to clear (most of) them from coming directly into my face as we drove. Mostly it meant breaking the webs, but during the course of the drive, the branch ended up with a lot of spiders! And though most were caught, I still concentrated on dodging and weaving the stray web/spider, heading straight for me! Lynnie, for once, am glad you weren't there!

Counted over 20 babies on the branch after one drive down a route.

The beautiful giant tree spiders, not high in the trees after all!

Purple Swamphen as we were leaving on our final day.

Not sure what they mean with a gate like this? Ouch!! In the buffer zone.

Too soon it was over and we were driving back to Nagpur for our overnight train to Delhi, dreaming of “tiger tiger tiger.”

Village before dawn, waiting for our guide to enter the buffer zone.

Sunset on Kumarakom Lake

Kerala Easter Break

Always seem to be playing catch-up this trip! Next up I’m heading to Bandhavgarh for a week with my friend Yugdeep, so more wildlife photos will be coming! Getting tired of them yet?

Indian Pond Heron in breeding plumage

When last I left off, it was approaching the Easter weekend, so, with a long weekend free, weary expats were looking for some rest and relaxation. Off Lynn, Paul, Simon & I went for said RnR to Kerala.

Little Girl and her kitten in Kochi

Quick flight to Kochi and then 2-hour drive to our resort, which was fabulous. Our Villa's deck opened out onto a long pool that wound its way in a meandering path through the resort. Ours was at the end, which also overlooked Kumarakom Lake, which the resort was named for.

Perfectly relaxing time for over-worked embassy folk! We swam, drank, ate and of course being in the birthplace of Ayurveda, took advantage of the spa. I had a lovely 4-hand Ayurvedic massage. Very relaxing, but a tad different from what my western-friends and family might be used to. You get to wear wonderfully flattering little disposable underwear, and then get massaged all over. And I mean all over! Really nice once you get used to it...

Purple Heron

Keralan Houseboat in a lake filled with water hyacinths

We also took a lovely lunchtime houseboat trip around the lakes, with all kinds of fascinating sights.

Boat o'wood

The larger houseboats don’t get down the more beautiful canals that we’d canoed through on my previous trip to the backwaters, but was still a nice way to spend the afternoon.

Wacky palm in Kerala

Keralan Gent

Wildlife Roadtrip Extraordinaire!

Tadoba Tiger

After Easter, I hit the road for a 10-day, spectacular wildlife trip, to three parks that had been on my ‘list’ for some time. My friend, and naturalist extraordinaire, CV Singh, also came with, so I was once again able to fully take advantage of the parks, in particular the wonderful birds of the area.

Satpura National Park

Gaur in Satpura Landscape

Our first stop was to Satpura National Park, and a lodge that is a wildlifer’s dream – Forsyth Lodge. Ecologically aware, and designed for people who love wildlife, the lodge also has, what I’ve not come to expect, excellent naturalists. David Raju was our naturalist for the visit, and he was exceptional. Showing us not only the beauty of the park’s creatures, both large and small, but sharing his obvious love for this special and unique spot with us.

Wacky trees

Lonely camera

Satpura covers an area of 524 km² and joins up with the Bori and Panchmarhi Sanctuaries to become part of a larger Central Indian park area of 1427 km². The park is reached by boat across a river and strictly limits the number of vehicles allowed to enter each day, which is a wonderful thing both for the forest and for the experience of the people allowed in. The terrain is stunning, with beautiful forests, meandering streams, massive boulders, rocky gorges and grasslands.

Dawn in Satpura

Famous for the density and sightings of sloth bear and wild dogs, we of course saw none of these! But as I have often experienced in India’s parks, I tend to not see what I’m told I will, where I’m told I will, so I’ve come to expect the unexpected with my sightings.

Giant Malabar or Indian Squirrel

Satpura had some wonderfully different animals. Isolated populations of creatures far from the normal ranges they're experienced normally, like the Giant Malabar Squirrel. They’re the largest squirrel in the world, measuring over 3 feet long, including the tail, and are really beautiful.

Changeable Hawk Eagle we watched hunting. He was so intent, scanning the forest for movement and likely lunch!

We also visited a tusser silk worm breeding farm. Was fascinating and the cocoons and moths so large.

Pench National Park

Pench pond filled with wildlife

After Satpura, we were off to Pench National Park, part of the forest system Rudyard Kipling wandered as he wrote about Mowgli, Sher Khan and Baloo. We stayed at Tiger N Woods in lovely rustic raised wooden rooms called Machaans. The setting was lovely, but the park experience not so great. Tiger chasing is not what I go to the parks for, and although we repeatedly said this, we unfortunately did a lot of tiger chasing. I’d give the park another chance, because I’ve heard good things from other wildlife-focused people and the landscape looked lovely, but probably wouldn’t make a special trip.

Langur on a vine

Learned a good lesson here though. After schlepping shampoo around when I travel, only to use supplied products at the various hotels, I didn’t bother this trip. At Tiger n Woods we were supplied with lovely little packets of Black and Shiny shampoo!!! Yup! And it was actually black! I quickly lathered up and rinsed at super speed! Not being too certain about the listed products that promised to make my hair black and shiny! You know you’re off the typical foreigner tourist trail when…

Jackal mid leap

Had a really lovely time on our last afternoon when we met up with an old friend, Dharma, from Kings Lodge in Bandhavgarh. He drove us around some buffer areas and villages surrounding Pench, which provided us with proportially larger photo oppurtunities for this stop. And all of the new bird sightings (referred to as lifers apparently) for me.

Indian Courser

Tadoba Tiger Reserve

Paradise Flycatcher diving for a drink

Our final park was Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. And what a fantastic park it was! This park is not typically on the non-Indian tourist list, and is not very well serviced. This makes it doubly useful to have a local guide to help, especially if you don't speak Hindi. The place we stayed at is one of the only full-service lodges in the park and was pretty great. Tiger Trails is also focussed on wildlife people and set out in massive grounds with look-outs, water holes and machaans to explore, many of the waterholes set up with motion-tripped cameras that operate at night as well as the day. Unfortunately for us, it was so friggin hot, we would retire to our rooms in between drives, where I would plant myself directly in front of my full-blast AC.

Sambar chorus line

Large male in Tadoba

Fortunately for us, it was so friggin hot! giving us amazing sightings from animals frequenting the refreshing waterholes. Each drive brought us something new, along with at least one tiger sighting. A mother with 3 cubs was spotting a few times -- with cubs and without. A wonderful extended sighting of a massive young male tiger, coming out and sprawling in a water hole to cool off his bits.

Young male paradise flycatcher

The birds were spectacular, in particular the paradise flycatchers, which were new for me and so showy. They were also super-fast, so hard to capture, but we tried a lot. I think our driver thought we a bit crazy with our bird-focus -- he'd have a lot in common with my friend Lynn! Probably half my photos must have been of these lovely birds.

Young Langur playing at sliding down the roof

Crested Serpent Eagle

On our last drive, CV spotted a mating pair of sloth bears. They were too far for good photos, but not too far for a good and interesting sighting as they played, chasing around a tree before realizing we were watching and melting into the grasses.

Langur mum on mum's day

We came across an Indian nightjar that we spooked by stopping to photograph it. The poor thing flew straight into a clump of bamboo, getting stuck! It then just hung there and froze, in an attempt to do the usual and be camouflaged. Pretty funny! When we returned on the circuit it was sitting on a tree branch, nicely extricated.

Indian Nightjar stuck in some bamboo

Tadoba is now on my list to return to and check out during the cooler months. See it in different seasons, which are all apparently good for tiger sightings, though maybe not as frequent.

Indian Pitta, saw one, at the start of their migration to the park, then they were everywhere!

Knock-kneed Barking Deer

Heading into this trip I thought it would be really long – 10 days of early mornings continuous jungle drives. It went so fast! Faster than the usual week of such trips. Freaky how fast time flies these days!

Indian Roller taking a dust bath

Ananda Spa Decadence

Overlooking Rishikesh from our balcony at Ananda Spa

And now, just back from pampering ourselves. Lynn and I went up to Ananda Spa, set high in the foothills of the Himalayas, above Rishikesh and the Ganges. I’d been here once before with Christa, and it doesn’t lose anything the second time around. Had a wonderful time in the clean mountain air getting wonderful spa treatments. Pretty sure I must look at least 10 years younger now!

Himalayan Bulbul from the balcony

On the way back down the mountain, we passed all sorts of cautionary signs on the curvy, steep roads. One struck me “life is full of fun, don’t end it now,” which was particularly interesting given a vedantic book I’d scanned at the spa about reaching my potential and spiritual growth. It was mostly quite interesting and a had a fair bit of good advse, but in one section it said, and I’m paraphrasing here, ‘playing toys as child is expected; as an adult is disgusting’; and ‘passion in a young man is normal, passion in an older man is disgusting.’ Hmmmm.... Pretty sure I’ll not achieve said enlightenment... and pretty sure I don’t mind all that much. I've discovered my chosen path in life is not so much Eat, Pray, Love as it is Eat, Play Love!

Happy trails! Off to the park tomorrow and then moving into the High Commissioner’s House, cause Lynn is their dog-sitter!

Peacock starting to take a break from a long, fruitless, female-enticing dance. Poor fellow.

Back in Toronto and freezing my a$$ off!! I’m happy to be home and hanging out with family and friends but missing India, and hanging out with friends. Why can’t we have everything all the time? If anyone hears about a job, that’ll need me in India every few months, that would be good too!

Brahminy Starlings

So, onto the bloggy stuff! When last I left you, I was heading off to Panna National Park. The people at Ken River Lodge are among my favs in India, as is the park. It was one of the first places I visited on my first trip to India and many of these people have become good friends.

Chinkara couple

I hadn’t arranged for a car to pick me up this trip. Feeling rather cocky and seasoned, I decided I’d just pick up a cab at the airport. Not the best idea in Khajuraho as it turns out! First the displayed government set rates were as expensive as the arranged nice car from the lodge, and the airport is rather removed from the city, so you can’t really walk outside the airport to get one off the street. The cab I ‘luckily’ ended up with was a decrepit old Ambassador that looked like it rolled off the assembly line during the British Raj. It almost managed a rocking 20km per hour too! As we approached the temples that I had assured my driver’s ‘manager?’(also riding along in the cab) repeatedly I wasn’t interested in visiting (a 4th time), I asked if the car had a hyper-drive or would we arrive at Panna the next morning. No problem Madame, I was switching to a new car! Huh… The new car was, I think, the buddy of the ‘manager’. We transferred to this ‘new’ car, but, the drivers were very concerned with the front tire, which I gather had a slow leak. A detour to add some air into it, and we were off again. Periodically stopping, allowing the driver to get out and inspect the tire a few times.

Nilgai Antelope and Rufous Treepie

We finally reached the turn-off for Ken River Lodge, or rather reached about 10 yard from the turn-off, when it was decided the tire must be changed after all! Had a fun time with some kids, in the growing crowd of people coming along to watch this interesting affair, and we were back off to the lodge again. I was never so happy to arrive somewhere! Went up to see everyone and have a drink, when the driver followed me up to give me his card… so I could call him to return to the airport when I was done! Yep, kept that card!!

Baby sambar with leopard wound on its shoulder

Wagtail chasing frogs out of the way

Happily this visit reunited me with Jennifer Buxton, a wonderful woman from England that I met last March. For those who haven’t already heard me talking about her, Jennifer is a wonderful artist (www.tigertigerburningbright.com) who has been coming to Ken River and Kings Lodge in Bandhavgarh for over 7 years, and who, together with Bhavana (who owns the lodge with her husband), have started a school in Panna that now has 150 students. Most of the work they do here stems from the idea that if the benefits coming from tourism actually make it to the village level, the locals will have a vested interest in keeping the forests healthy (and thereby the tigers).

Indian Vultures

Many of these villagers were displaced by the government following a western-style idea of keeping all people out of the forest. Not necessarily a good thing, because these people, who had previously lived well and harmoniously in the forest, had to eek out a living in very poor conditions and in a way completely unfamiliar to them. It is a tremendously complex situation that only seems to be more complex the more you start to understand it, but Jennifer, Bhavana, Vinnie, Shakhar et. al. still work to try and make a difference and are very inspiring.

Sambar deer

The park itself was remarkably green this trip given the lack of monsoon rains in the summer. However, even though the plants were so lush, the water levels were incredibly low – lower than I’ve seen, even during April visits. I think the animals are going to have a tough time this summer.

Shikra

Plum-headed Parakeet

Had some wonderful sightings and some unusual ones. On the way back from one drive we saw a rusty spotted cat dashing across the road from brush to brush. A very shy nocturnal cat and the smallest in India. There were of course tons of parakeets making sure they’re noticed (loud little buggers!) – both rose-ringed and plum headed. Saw a black-shouldered kite in a death spiral with an Indian roller. Loads of white-eyed buzzards and massive crocs basking in the warmth of the sun. One croc was showing off teeth so bright and white, he could vie for a Crest Whitestrips commercial!

Toothy Croc on the Ken River, vying for Crest White-strips commercial

Small Indian Mongoose

One afternoon we went into the nala (valley) behind the lodge to track a large snake the boys had cornered. It was a 5-6 foot checkered keelback snake. Beautiful and really fast. It was hiding in the brush and Trigun flushed it out with a large stick. It came speeding through the brush, causing everyone to jump so quickly out of its way I was sure it must be poisonous, but nope. Good to know the big brave nature boys jump like a city girl when startled too! You’d have thought it was Lynn spotting a spider on her tent! Didn’t get a shot, but pretty exciting. Did get a picture of a tiny little worm snake though. Maybe 8-10 inches with no visible eyes. Its forked tongue was so cute and tiny.

Worm Snake

Red, Orange and Blue ~ so many dragonflies here this trip, they often filled the sky in the park.

My flight back to Delhi was 3 hours late, and the airline sent SMS updates to my phone. Yay – extra time! Off we went in the canoe and got some beautiful bird pictures. Including a nesting Eurasion Eagle Owl and elegant open billed storks. Couldn’t put it off any longer and 5 days and 8 drives later and I was too rapidly heading back to Delhi.

Eurasion Eagle Owl on its nest

Wedding time in Jaipur! Friday evening after I had returned to Delhi, I got a call from Yugdeep to let me know the wedding was back on. However, because of the unexpected death of his father’s elder brother, the ceremonies were scaled back and most of his immediate and all of his father’s family were unable to attend. So I booked a car and was off to Jaipur Sunday morning. I had found out from friends that wearing colours other than yellow or red-based is considered inauspicious for weddings. Although these days people are more apt to wear all colours, given the sensitive nature surrounding this wedding, I left my blue sari at home and raided Lynn’s collection for a red one.

Garima getting Yugdeep ready

I arrived at 1:30 and met Yugdeep and his lovely and super-capable sister Garima. We followed them to the Forest Training Centre, where we were all to stay, and where all the preparations for the groom’s side were now to be held. I was sharing a room with Vibha, a school friend of Yugdeep’s and together with a few other friends, and a couple of maternal uncles, we were the only people there from Yugdeep’s side. Sadly even his parents could not attend. The shortage of people though did allow me to see and be a part of the preparations far more than I would have been able to if the whole family had been present. Although not what they had hoped for, the wedding was still beautiful and lovely… and long!

Vibha and Garima getting Abhilasha ready

Yugdeep’s sister ran the show, and boy was it a lot of work. Not only was she organizing and helping Yugdeep, but since the bride was not from Jaipur and unfamiliar with the style of dress, she prepared her. Everyone was wonderfully explaining what was happening as the ceremonies progressed, and I’ll try to describe them here. Any mistakes I make here are mine, and do not reflect what my hosts told me. The whole preparation started at about 4pm with a ritual cleansing of the groom and puja performed by the priest. His outfit included a wonderful coat; tight fitting churidar pants; thick gold ankle bracelet; and a gold belt to carry his family sword, which was 250 years old. An uncle came to wrap his saffron-coloured turban, which was then decked out with all sorts of pins and sparkle.

Wedding Trousseau

Looking fab and like a Rajput prince, Yugdeep proceeded to a room where more pujas were performed and the reading of the family names. The Barat Nikasi, or departure of the groom was to have seen him depart on an elephant, but that was changed and the men left in SUVs for the wedding venue. We then left for the bride’s place with a huge trunk filled with the trousseau, or palla dastoor – saris, sweets, nuts and the bride’s entire wardrobe. Her elaborate red outfit of a beautiful sparkly skirt, tunic (kurti) and veil was also included: ivory bangles; nose ring; rings; Rakhdi tied to her forehead; heavy thick gold neck hanging called an AAd; gold arm bands (or baju) tied on above her elbows; the sheesphul or headgear; and the pajeb anklets. So elaborate and incredibly uncomfortable looking.

Vibha and Garima in beautiful Rajput style

After dressing Abhilasha, it was back to the Forest Centre to get dressed and off to the dinner and wedding ceremony, which actually began about 10pm and concluded at about 2am, with the walk around the agni, or sacred fire 7 times. You’d think that was it, but nope. We luckily got to head back to go to sleep but the bride and groom were up all night completing other puja ceremonies, returning at about 8am and finally getting to shed the outfits. Abhilasha looked completely wiped poor girl. They then had to head out to the family castle to introduce the new bride to the villagers. And, the whole thing would have been far longer if not for the unfortunate tragedy cutting it short. So lucky and thankful to have been able to be there for Yugdeep and to have experienced this time with him.

A quick drive and I was then back in Delhi and running around with friends, and getting ready to cook the Christmas dinner for 10 at Lynn’s place. Finding a turkey was a challenge, especially since the US thanksgiving was the previous week and all turkey in Delhi had been gobbled up! We finally sourced two 8lbers at the Cdn High Commission’s restaurant. The ham at PigPo looked a little suspect, so we chose a roast pork instead. We did all the traditional trimmings – stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, beans and corn; and traditional deserts – minced pies with rum hardsauce, Nanaimo bars, whipped shortbread and rum balls. Huge success and hugely stuffed!!! The party wound up at 3:30am, leaving me nicely wiped out for my departure less than 24 hours later at 2am.

And just like that, 24 hours later I was back in Toronto… freezing my ass off!!! Time rushes on and this chapter comes to a close… till next time India.

White-bellied minivet couple