There are times when things you love take a back-seat
because something else is taking up your time. After the monsoons of 2022, my
love for being out in the lap of nature, watching wild animals in their natural
habitat took a back seat as I prepared for my second full marathon. There was a
trip to Kanha in November which had to be cancelled due to some work-related
exigencies. The safari drought looked destined to end at Ranthambore in
February 2023. However, a plan came beckoning, to explore Satpura Tiger Reserve
in Madhya Pradesh. This seemed like the best choice to overcome the missed
opportunity of being in Kanha. I had heard that it had a beautiful forest and
was frequented by very few persons. To make things even more tempting, it was a
trip which didn't require a holiday (God bless the 5 days working week). So I
jumped at the opportunity of visiting a new, relatively less explored forest,
the weekend after the Mumbai Marathon.
 |
| Post marathon glow |
The build-up as always starts with checking out photos, videos, reviews
etc. from social media platforms. There were very few people in my safari
loving circles who had been there. Thankfully they had the right contacts and
suggestions for planning the trip. We were hoping to stay in the forest rest
house inside the reserve, but unfortunately, we didn't get a booking for the
weekend. We had to be content with an amazing resort just 5km from the Bhimkund
gate, called Goldmark resort. The resort had amazing rooms, great food and
extremely friendly and helpful staff. The permit booking was extremely simple
(Kudos to the MP forest department for that) as was the travel. A 9 hour train
ride from Mumbai lies the city of Itarsi, which is 50km from the reserve and we
took one of the ample cabs from Itarsi to Bhimkund. We reached Goldmark Resort
at 5am. We headed to the gate and met our co-travelers who had driven down from
Nagpur. At the gate, we need to fill up a form to release a gypsy for the
safari. The gate opened at 6:15 and we entered the wonderful world of Satpura
Tiger Reserve
Day 1:
Entering a forest before dawn has its pros and cons. The weather as we
entered the reserve was superb! It was nice and cold, perfect weather for warm
blooded animals to walk around without overheating. With the sun still close to
45 minutes from rising, it was hard to see anything off the road which was lit
by the headlights of our gypsy. The road was bumpy like any unpaved road. We
were a good 32km away from the Churna zone. Churna was a village within the
reserve which was relocated as recently as 2013. It is the region in the park
with the best chances of spotting the main attractions of the reserve.
As we traversed the road to Churna, we were entranced by the beauty of the
forest. The lovely mist cover over the tall trees made the forest look even
more beautiful. The many streams we traversed looked like scenes from a
postcard collection. The sky was bright enough by the time we reached the
Churna Forest Rest House, the place we were hoping to stay. This is a fenced
area right in the lap of the core of the forest. After a quick bio-break, we
proceeded further.
A few minutes later, we encountered a gypsy standing on the side of the
trail. The six occupants were staying in the FRH, a clear result of having some
political connections. They had the look anyone would have on seeing a tiger in
the wild for the first tie. They enthusiastically showed us a video on their
mobile phones, where we saw a huge male tiger walking down the trail and
turning away towards the canal. We had missed him by a few minutes. What
commenced was a long search operation, looking for alarm calls, pug-marks etc. The
chase was not leading us to the tiger but we were able to explore the beauty of
the forest. The tall trees, the many lakes and rivers, the other mammals and
birds all going about their business. It was wonderful to experience the
forest. But alas, no tiger. At around 11am, we were supposed to not exit the
forest but report at the Forest Rest House. We could spend the afternoon time
there, have lunch and then resume for the next safari, avoiding the 32km drive
to and from the gate.
At the FRH, there was a Malabar Giant Squirrel aka Indian Giant Squirrel
who had come down to check on the visitors there. Nanhi the squirrel, was an
orphan who was raised by the FRH staff and rewilded. Despite being shy
typically, she is extremely comfortable around people and was happily moving
around like a celebrity, posing for photos and coming close to see her fans.
The beauty of being in a forest with few visitors is that
generally, only people having an understanding and deep love for nature and wildlife
funnel through the gates. Thus nobody was seen feeding the wild animals, birds
etc. Even the 'notorious' langurs were docile and were uninterested in people
eating in the FRH. We had an awesome time having the lovely food prepared
at the FRH. We also had a few rounds of Uno with some Spanish co-travelers. It
was clear that Uno is a globally popular game and time just flew while playing
The afternoon safari started at 3pm. To exit the gate at 6pm, we only had
till 5pm to explore Churna, before the hour-long drive to Bhimkund gate.
It started pretty much like how the morning session ended,
with us hunting for any signs of movement of big cats. With almost 90 minutes
of the safari done, we were busy admiring a racket-tailed drongo near the
Mahuapani dam. All of a sudden, the silence of the jungle was shattered by
frantic alarm calls by spotted deer and some sounds of them running helter
skelter. We presumed that someone had made a kill and went towards the
plantation road which was the direction in which the calls were heading. And
before long, we saw the cause of the commotion. A lovely leopard emerged from
the bushes on the left and ran across the road. It seemed like it looked at us,
acknowledged our presence and vanished. The calls continued and we caught a
glimpse of him on the next road too (Forgot the name of the road..Note to self:
you can consider typing these a little more promptly next time).
.jpg) |
| The lean and mean leopard |
Right then, the silence was shattered again. Not by deer but
by their worst nightmare. We heard the roar of a tiger sending shockwaves
through the jungle. We headed straight back to the Plantation road where we
were joined by two more gypsies. One of them had just come in from Mahuapani
Dam road. We thought that any movement would happen towards the Plantation Road
and plus the third gypsy had already seen that the road was clear. Still, our
driver took us on the road for one last check before leaving. And voila! There
was the most magnificent looking male tiger, bathing in golden sunlight,
sitting on what looked like a carpet. His name was Rudra and we had missed
meeting him in the morning by just a few minutes. He saw us nonchalantly and acknowledged
our presence by rolling on his back. It was as though he had called us to click
his photo and was playing with the lights like a seasoned model. When he knew
that we had to leave, he too vanished. After almost 7 hours of no action, we
had the most amazing 30 odd minutes! And we were the only gyspy to have seen
either of these beauties. Two brilliant solo sightings to cap off the day
 |
| The massive Rudra!! The glow was real!! |
The resort was wonderful with a nice bonfire, great snacks
and dinner. Considering how sleep deprived I was, I quickly had my meal and
retired for the night
Day 2:
Day 2 again commenced with the hour long drive from the gate
till the FRH and then into the Churna zone. On the way we spotted a jungle cat
just beside the road. The previous evening, our driver told us after our
photoshoot with Rudra that every time he had seen a jungle cat in the past, he
had seen a tiger. That definitely raised our hopes for day 2. A little further,
just as the suns rays were barely making their presence felt, we saw another racket
tailed drongo, our messiah from day 1. We went on the Sendalbaba road, following
the pugmarks of a male tiger(Male pugmarks are much bigger than those of
females). The pugmarks looked fresh. All signs seemed to point towards another
rendezvous with Rudra. Within a few minutes, we saw a gypsy going slowly, with
hands out asking us to slow down. And there was a giant tiger walking on the
trail, leading the gypsy. What a sight it was! The guy was just ambling along
the road, sniffing his territory and scent marking wherever he deemed
necessary. We later understood that this wasn’t Rudra but his father, the
mighty R2. After a short while, the gypsy let us through. They let us go ahead
of them and they were happy to have us between them and the tiger. At a point, R2
stood up on his hind legs and scratched a tree to serve the dual purpose of
showing who is boss and cleaning his claws. It was amazing to just watch this
big guy go about his business, without the chatter which normally comes with the
huge number of vehicles seen commonly at most national parks.
After trailing R2 for some distance, there was a branch in
the road. Our driver figured that we could take that diversion and come out
ahead of R2. What a drive it was! It was an amazing exhibition of car control and
navigation on rugged terrain. We got back onto the main trail and after a few
minutes, had the majestic beast walking right towards us. The driver ensured
that the tiger had sufficient space, the simplest technique to ensure that a
tiger keeps walking towards you. He walked along with us for almost an hour
before entering the woods, giving us ample time to just admire and watch the
behaviour of a wild tiger on his own turf. We saw him again a short while
later, but the exhilaration paled in comparison with the hour long walk.
 |
| The mighty R2 |
Post lunch we continued searching for other tigers like
Machli, Katy and Heart-face, exploring some amazingly beautiful parts of the
forest. But there was no sign of any of them. We did however see the pugmarks
of a leopard going along the trail for a very long distance. Happy with our
haul, we started our 32km drive back to Bhimkund a little before 5. I was
hoping to catch a glimpse of the vultures on the tree which we had seen the
previous evening and at dawn, but they were nowhere to be seen. A little further
ahead, we saw a rock like shape, suddenly materialize into the form of a
leopard and flash across the road. The langurs continued their alarm calls. But
it was amazing to see how masterfully camouflaged the leopard was. We had heard
about the boldness of the leopards at Satpura, but seeing two leopards in two
days was a bonus! And as we headed towards the gate, we also saw a nice big
sloth bear, capping the list of rare and beautiful animals we saw, who call the
forests of Satpura Tiger Reserve, home
What a beautiful forest Satpura is! It is still largely
unexplored by people. The people who make it there are ones who truly love and
appreciate wildlife and it is great to experience a forest without the noise and
trash brought in by crowds
The only thing which pinched a little was the almost non-existence of digital payment methods at the gate for meals, the gypsy charges, etc. You will have to carry cash with you
Being so close to Mumbai, I am sure I will be heading there
more often and enjoy being totally immersed in the beauty of nature
