Planning Guide – for a trip to Kanha National Park

A friend once told to me that “jungles are an addiction” and I thought to myself, “that is just impossible”. Many material things can be an addiction, but jungles – no way. Little did I know then that one trip to Kanha would prove me completely wrong. And if you also think like I did, then its time you plan a trip to this amazing jungle. Below is a quick planning guide to help you find your way –

Introduction to Kanha National Park –

Kanha  is one of the biggest national parks and a tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh, India. By definition, a national park is a  reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns and uses for conservation purposes. Although each country has their own ways of classifying parks as national parks, the common idea always is – conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. Per wikipedia, we have a total of 166 authorised national parks in India and there are quite a few more national parks that have been proposed by the state governments and awaiting approval.

Drive through trees

Tracking a Tiger in the Jungle

Unlike in a zoo, a tiger sighting in a jungle safari is never assured or guaranteed, as it all depends on where the tiger is at that point in time. And the movement of the tiger is dependent on numerous factors such as – low tiger density, the area the tiger has to roam around in is vast and only specific limited areas are open for public (the tiger has to be where you are), the weather (in rains they retreat deeper into the forests), the topography (can’t see them amidst dense forests), your luck (even during the same safari some see the tiger and some people don’t), etc etc.

The walk of a 3 year old grown up cub, Kanha National Park

Photo Essay – Nature’s Canvas, Landscape of Kanha National Park

A trip to Kanha is like traveling to a nature lovers’ paradise with beautiful sights and sounds for your senses and your soul – every second of the drive opens up newer and beautiful vistas before you, gorgeous birds fly all around and their music is like peace for some part of your inner being and the animals of Kanha provide valuable lessons that we humans definitely need to learn.

But this post today is dedicated to the landscapes of  Kanha; that surely transports you into an alternate world where nature seems to have unleashed its creative juices and created a magnificent canvas with various elements from nature. And for my post today, I have decided to post a photo essay by combining the beauty of this landscape with some of my favourite quotes. Enjoy.

“There is always music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.”
― Minnie Aumonier

Drive through endless green Sal trees

Quick Postcard from Kanha – Fruits for Sindoor (Vermilion)

Visiting any new place is like a tour down an unknown lane of discovery, discoveries both big and small. My latest discovery was this local sindoor or vermilion that we saw in Madhya Pradesh. Sindoor is an integral part of the Indian culture and I have always seen my mom wear it. But for me sindoor was red powder in a box that always around. I never thought of how it was made or where it came from. Until recently when I saw this tree in Kanha that was used to make sindoor by the local tribal women. 

The Flowers and the Fruit used to make sindoor

Photo Essay – Birds of Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park is best known for its tiger population and the tiger sightings. But on my trip I discovered that it’s also a bird watcher’s and a photographers paradise. We had numerous sightings of some beautiful birds (both the common and the not so common) but I was able to capture just a few through the lens of my camera. And sharing the ones caught with you below –

Shikra Bird – These are hunting birds that prey on other birds. The males have a red iris while the females have a yellow iris and they can hunt birds as large as themselves.

Shikra Bird, Male with a red iris

Up in the Air with Red Ants and their woven leaf nests

Ants live in cracks (in cavities of anything – walls, plants, etc), Ants live in hills (ant hills),

But ever heard of ants living in a nest in trees?

Tree / Weaver Ants, Kanha National Park

 

I had not, but met with these tree / weaver ants in our resort, The Baagh in Kanha. We were out for a walk when we saw these large funny balls of leaves hanging on trees with numerous red colored ants all over it. Our guide then introduced us to these remarkable creatures that live in large colonies in leaf nests hanging on trees and display a unique nest-building behaviour – where worker ants construct nests by sewing leaves together using larval silk.

5 reasons to go on a Tiger safari, not to see the Tiger only!

Recently when I went to the Kanha National Park, the only image that crossed my mind was of the Tiger! This was going to be my first safari experience and according to me then, a successful jungle safari meant a good tiger sighting and that’s all. But one actual safari experience, and I was proven wrong beyond doubt. While a tiger sighting is one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring sights, there are numerous other sights in the Kanha jungle that are equally breathtaking, if not more.  

Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh

And I wanted to share my top 5 reasons for visiting the Kanha tiger safari, and not just for the tiger sighting: 

Meeting Tigers in Kanha National Park

“There is just something about seeing a tiger in the wild”. I had read and heard countless versions of this statement from many people and never paid much heed to it. Guess, I thought whats the big deal but little did I know that one trip to Kanha and I would join this bandwagon. Well let me rewind and restart. Earlier this year when I was setting my travel goals for 2014, I decided to include a jungle safari and hopefully catching a sight of the tiger to my list. And a chance call from Amit of The Detour Co, and I decided to join 14 other Tiger “aspirants” to figure what all the hoopla was about.

My first sight of the tiger in Kanha