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25th February 2007
I braved the morning’s five hour safari. Good views of about 20% of the world’s last remaining. Common snipe and Indian scimitar-babbler were the best of the birds. 26th February 2007 We managed to squeeze a truncated jeep safari into the morning before leaving for Pench National Park. The morning was icy cold in the open vehicle. It was probably late morning before animals started to defrost. PENCH NATIONAL PARK lies among the southern valleys of the Satpura ranges in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. The park covers an area of 292.85 sq km but if combined with the neighbouring forest area of the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary (118.31 sq km) and the buffer zone (346.73 sq km), they total up to an area of 757.89 sq km to form what is known as the Pench Tiger Reserve. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1977 and it got it's status of a National Park in 1983. In 1992 it gained the protection of "Project Tiger" and was declared the 19th Tiger Reserve of India. In 2001, the tiger count of the park stood at 55. The area around Pench was the inspiration for Kipling’s "Jungle Book". A hydro-electric dam was built on the Pench River between 1973 and 1988. This created a reservoir that submerged 74 sq km of the park. A positive aspect to this man-made creation is that it now attracts large numbers of aquatic birds, resident and migratory. More than 200 species of birds have been spotted in the park. The vegetation is quite varied but the predominant species are teak and bamboo. The Kulu gum tree with its stark white colour and brilliant green leaves is also a favourite with visitors. The afternoon safari started at 1500. The park is more open and much drier than the nearby Kanha. I had no real expectations for what we may see but numerous gaur and a leopard sitting on a rock were pretty nice. We watched the leopard for about half an hour from about 30 metres, with the very real prospect of some action when a large herd of chital walked in its direction before veering off at the last moment. We enjoyed a few single malts before some beer in front of the fire.
27th February 2007 Dave told me to get the torch. It was still dark and two sets of eyes were staring at him from within some long grass in the hotel grounds. For a short time we thought we had found two caracal kittens but we settled for jungle cats as more likely given the views that we had. Apparently they were in the same spot before Max and Dave went to bed the previous night. The morning safari was enjoyable. We covered a lot of interesting territory. The afternoon safari started with great views of jungle cat walking across the road, some painted spurfowl and the almost guaranteed sightings of gaur. Some beers were enjoyed before we had a wonderful meal. We complimented the Nepalese chef, although Fifi told him the meal was better. 28th February 2007 Our last jeep safari in Pench after that we checked out of the very good Pench Jungle Camp and began our short journey to Nagpur, from where we were to catch an overnight train to Delhi. The train journey started mid-afternoon and ended at Delhi the next morning at about breakfast time. The train’s catering included afternoon tea and snacks and a cooked dinner. Travelling with us in our compartment was a charming Indian couple. The lady hennaed Mayette’s hand, which made her very happy. 1st March 2007 Max discovered that he had dragged his daypack straps through a strategically placed human turd on the railway platform in front of the train carriage door. This remains an enduring image of India. And yes, there were toilets on the station. The train had been delayed by a thick fog bank. We looked out of the train window in the early morning. This was our welcome to Delhi. Happily our vehicle was waiting with our last and probably best driver. Rakesh wore a jacket and a smile. He didn’t say much at first as he assessed his new clients. It turned out that Rakesh was very well studied in Indian history and spoke and understood English perfectly. The four star The Claridges was our temporary home. It sits in the very leafy New Delhi and is located near consulates and rich people. New Delhi was a bit of a surprise in that it is easily the greenest city I have seen. The public transport vehicles all run on natural gas. We check in, at hotel early morning. We had breakfast and lounged about in the garden. After checking in and returning to the lobby I found a circle of hotel staff surrounding a clearly agitated Sir Gir. Then I went for a walk. My walk took me past an enormous Indian flying fox colony – many thousands. Lunch at a fancy restaurant was followed by a visit to Qutb, a UNESCO site with lots of important old things, buildings mainly. Many of them had not completely fallen down. There was a big minar poking up in the sky and acting as an aircraft navigation hazard. We then visited a 20 year old Bahai Temple that I couldn’t give a toss about and refused to enter. We asked Rakesh to source some beer for us (and for him) for our time in Corbett National Park. Sir Giles was asked if he wanted tonic water. It took a considerable part of the remainder of the day for him to calculate how much he needed. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant that set a record of sorts in that it had no hint of a Chinese person. The food was good. We finished the last of our duty free single malt. The best investment we ever made.
A Wildlife, Culture An Lifestyle Experience Trip
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