Safaris 5 & 6 on 17.04.26

 

Mamla Gate -17.04.26 - Gauri in the morning & evening:

Our first safari was through Mamla Gate. The forest in the zone was greener than all other zones. Today was the last day of our trip. Our expectations were higher now. We prayed to get some more sightings of the majestic tigers, leopard & sloth bear. It’s a different story that we could see only a tiger once again. 

We went to a waterbody as our guide expected tiger to visit the waterbody to quench his / her thirst and cool off for sometime. There were few more jeeps already there waiting in expectation. However, we all did not see anything even after waiting there for quite sometime. Since we did not hear any alert calls, our guide decided to move on and search elsewhere.

Our guide got a message from other guides that Tigress Gauri has arrived at the waterbody. Immediately our driver swung in to action and he increased the speed. It was quite a jerky drive then onwards. We asked him to go slow, but it did not have any effect on him. They all are tuned like that. They feel that it is their bounden duty to ensure that they give tourists max time to see and capture the tiger / rare animal. 

The jerks , pains, twisting & swaying in both directions of our Ferrari ki Sawari in those 5 - 7 minutes drive after we got the information about Gauri’s arrival, we  all forgot all pains & jerks on seeing the majestic Gauri’s basking on the banks of the waterbody with the sun shining right above her. 

We reached the spot and got a vintage spot where no other jeep was parked. Almost 6 - 7 jeeps were surrounding the waterbody. Everybody thought they were at the best spot, and we were not an exception. Gauri spent about half an hour there and decided to move out. She got up and walked out of the pond and went in the forest. 

Our second safari too was through Mamla Gate. The forest looked lovely in the golden light hours. We headed straight for the waterbody. Gauri greeted us. She was on the right side of the pond this time. She sat down, put her body weight on the front legs, bent her neck & mouth down and sipped water. After about 5 minutes she got up and Turned around, bent her back down first and then bent her front legs, lowered her front body &  sipped water once again. She got up again after quenching her thirst moved around looking for a comfortable spot bent her back down first and then bent her front legs, lowered her front body & sat down. This time around the body weight was on all for legs and her full body rested on the ground. Mostly the tigers sit down in the ponds or on the banks following these two distinct protocols for drinking water & resting. Finally decided to have a nap. 

We waited for sometime but she was least bothered so we too decided not to disturb her and we left the scene. 

We had seen imperial green pigeon during our morning safari. We saw Rufous tree pie, an oriental honey buzzard, a bronzed winged jacana, a purple swamp hen & an Indian roller on our way back. 

Thus we had an event full day with Gauri the tigress. We thanked god for making our 3 day trip a great success. 5 out 6 safaris we saw Tigers / Tigresses and Cubs. Though the Leopards & the sloth bears eluded us, we were all satisfied as the main agenda of my team mates Mr. Nandkumar Ghule,, Mr Abhijeet Bapat and of course our driver Ajit was to sight a Tiger, and I must say they all including me had had plenty of them.

Sighting of the only tiger “ Mama “ from no where, was the Icing on the cake for us all.

Please do not forget to click on the two links , one after the other to view photos of Gauri in Safari 5 & 6:

Link for Safari 5 -          https://photos.app.goo.gl/E6Z13eeb5y5tn9wr9

Link for Safari 6 -           https://photos.app.goo.gl/r47tf1wvTAvQn7Py6

Safari 4 on 16.04.26 from Zari Gate

 Zari Gate - Evening - Safari 4 - K mark tigress with two cubs - 16.04.26

Today two ladies from Mumbai joined us for the next 3 safaris. So our driver Ajit had to opt out from the safaris. I had told him that I would take him for the first three  safaris. I was happy that he sighted tigers in 2 out of three safaris. That was enough for him to carry home great memories with him back home  to tell his children and wife.He could capture the tiger in one safari only where mobiles were allowed. 

We were super excited after our morning trip when we encountered tiger Mama. We had been hunting for K mark with her two cubs in the morning, but in vain. However, Mama gave us more than what we expected. This time our guide took us to the same spot where we expected K Mark with her two cubs in the morning. A couple of vehicle were ahead of us. The vehicle in the front stopped suddenly & every one got up and hissed “ K Mark … “We too got up and saw her for a split second before the tigress moved in the jungle on the left and vanished. Guides of all vehicles decided to track her movements in the direction she had gone. 

After moving in the direction where she could have gone, we reached the expected  spot once again. Already there was a maddening crowd of about 4 / 5 jeeps at the spot. Our driver managed to squeeze in the available space.It was not a vintage spot though. We could barely see K Mark lying under the dense cavity of thick bushes. I could still capture her face and clear see the “ K Mark ”  on the left side of her face, which was visible. The guide told us that the tigress was named so because of the “ K Mark ” on her face.

We could clearly see one cub behind the adjacent bush. I took a few shots of the cub. However I could not capture the second cub  though I was able to see her too. Even manual focusing was not giving me desired satisfaction. Luckily the first cub came out of the bushes and sat on the side of the bush in open , as if she wanted all of us to give photo opportunity. The cub got up after sometime and went near her mother and sat beside her. They both  slept there  for quite a long time. Finally we decided to leave them alone and left as we did not see any activity from them both .

WE decided to call it a day. We carried mixed feelings as we saw the majestic tigers in  three safaris  out of the  four safaris in last two days, but  could not spot a sloth bear or  a leopard. But that is what wild life safaris is all about. We were all happy on the success rate of Tiger sighting till now.

We returned to our hotel with expectations of better ,experience on the last day ahead of us.

Please do not forget to click the link below to view photos: of safari 4

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VHt6xEjVtDAXUPDEA

Safari 1 & 2 on 15.04.26 from Karwa Gate

 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