Day 1 : 15.04.26 - .Safari 1 & 2 - Karwa Gate - We met tigress Irina with her two cubs.
We had a very successful trip of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve from 15 - 17 April this year. We had 6 safaris and a success rate of 5 / 6, that’s above 80%. On day 1, we went through Kawa Gate in the morning . Our first safari did not result in any sighting of Safari. We all returned to our hotel quite disappointed & dejected.However, we held our nerves & spirits.
Our second safari too was from Karwa Gate in the afternoon . We were lucky this time around as we saw the Tigress - Irina with her two cubs. Irina had chosen a shallow pond with very little water to relax and cool off her body. The guide told us that the body heat of a tiger / tigress is high after they have had their meal, so they search a waterbody to cool off their body heat.
The guide knew that Irina had a big kill a day earlier so he was anticipating sighting at this spot as it was near to the place where she had a kill. We had gone by this spot with out any success & returned again, after an hour or so, only to find Irina with her 3 - 4 moth old cubs. Irina was not visible to us clearly as some bushes were right in front of us. Still we managed to take good number of shots of Irina & one of the cubs.
Finally Irina got up and started moving towards the kill. The one cub which we could capture in our camera joined her mother. They both started moving to the place where the kill was lying. Irina stopped for a while waiting for the second cub. Soon the second cub came out from behind a bush & joined the sibling and the mother. They both started moving towards their kill under the watchful eyes of the protective mother.
We spent an hour or so after the first show in search of some other mammals, birds etc and returned to the same spot where we first met Irina & cubs. This time around we saw her sitting under the shadow of a tree in the dried but damp swale, like a patch of a ditch . Luckily We were at a vantage point this time as we could sight her completely. We had a good time clicking the mother & the cubs. Irina got up again after about half an hour & they all went back to their designated destination.
We could say goodbye to them all with an ear to ear smile on our faces as our day ended on a fruitful result. Irina & her two cubs had twice given us great photo opportunity to capture them in our cameras and carry pleasant memories with us.
On our way back a giant size Indian male Gaur greeted us right in the middle of the road. It looked ferocious & aggressive. In - fact he was preparing for another Male Gaur coming towards him. The one closer to us breathed fire. We waited for some time in anticipation of a thrilling fight and capture live action. However nothing of that sort happened , but the Gaur in front of us did not budge an inch, as if he wanted a decisive match and not just a threat.
So, we decided to retreat and change our path. Perhaps it was a wise decision on our part because if the fight had taken place, any thing could have happened and either or both could have hit our jeep. So close, we were , from the action scene.. We were happier now to have changed our route to return back and hoped to be luckier on the next two days.
Our inner self said “ ये दिल मांगे मोर - Ye Dil Mange More “ and why not?
Please do not forget to click the link below to view photos: of safari 2
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zWTzryZPVEMP7m5e8
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