The driver and guide positioned the Maruti Gypsy perfectly and the tiger walks past the vehicle within a couple of feet.
BHPian DSK0909 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
A ‘Maha’ trip to tick items from the bucket list
Travelogues is invariably the first page that I go to on Team BHP and have been on some delightful journeys through the words and photos of the authors. This is my first travelogue after having read so many excellent write-ups by members. This road trip is to finally complete 3 items from the bucket list which have been on the list for a long time now.
1. Lonar lake:
This one has been on my wife’s bucket list right from 2018 onwards. Also, my son read about Lonar lake when we visited the Birla Planetarium in Hyderabad sometime in 2021. We had in fact booked the MTDC resort for 1 night in Mar 2024 but could not travel due to some work emergency.
2. Drive on Samruddhi Highway:
This has been on my bucket list since Aug 2022 when we visited Ajanta & Ellora. We travelled on a small portion of the expressway and were amazed at the infra similar to the ORR in Hyderabad. Got to know about the Samruddhi Mahamarg connecting the 2 capitals of MH after some research. Then began the following the updates on completion and official opening and the TBHP travelogues.
3. Tadoba Jungle Safari to watch Tigers in their natural habitat:
This has been on my bucket list since I read ramnath_77’s Tadoba Diaries travelogue in Oct 2022 especially the pic of Matkasur exhibiting the Flehman response behaviour. Since I could not get the tickets for Dec 2022, did some research and went on a road trip to Gir all the way from Pune (That’s a story for another time).
The Plan
Since getting the Safari permits is the most difficult, booked the tickets on 05-Oct. Earlier getting permits for the Core zone safari was the most difficult and that too for the Moharli core that was the first to be booked.
The Ride
Our trusted 2018 Baleno CVT which has completed 43K on the odo. Since the servicing was done at 40K comprehensively, did the basic long journey checks: Air, Fuel, Oils & Wiper fluid top ups.
The Execution
Day 1 – Monday (16-Dec): The Travel
Generally, we leave between 6am and 7am for road trips. But I convinced my wifey to start at 4am considering we have to cross Ahilya Nagar (Ahmed Nager) and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad). I avoid driving in dark but the other option driving in maddening traffic, we chose to leave early. This turned out to be a great decision since by the time we reached our stay in Tadoba it was 6 pm and it was getting dark.
We drove without any breaks till Ch. Sambhaji Nagar and had a buffet breakfast at Click Hotel. We had breakfast at Click Hotel once before and knew that the food there was fairly good and also there was a buffet breakfast (we love buffet breakfasts). Post our breakfast, got a fuel & air top up at Petrol bunk. And we got on to the much famed “Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg”. After the initial excitement went down after about 50 KMs of hard driving at 115 Kmph speed, settled down to 90 – 100 Kmph.
Having read multiple travelogues / updates on Samruddhi, I knew what to expect – cement road and straight as an arrow road. But I could not comprehend why people would get bored of driving on empty roads at 100 kmph. Boy, I was so wrong – after driving for about an hour that too after a sumptuous breakfast I felt my head nod. All the passengers (Wife and 2 kids) were happily asleep. I immediately stopped on the side, freshened up and made a commitment to myself to take a break every 100 kms or 1 hour whichever comes first. The petrol pumps are nicely spaced at every 100 kms or so.
Regarding the quality of the road as I mentioned I was prepared for the road noise. I was really sceptical of the joints on the roads – there were none on the cement portion. But there were joints on the tarred portion on the bridges that were jolting especially going at a speed.
Tunnel carved in the mountain to make way for Samruddhi
Ahhh – after going on the Samruddhi Mahamarg my need for speed was finally satiated. After exiting Samruddhi at Wardha it’s still approx. 120 kms to Tadoba (Moharli Gate). I had to start using the brakes again but I did not mind it because we were so close to the land of the tigers. As we neared the Tadoba buffer zone, we were able to spot some monkeys and spotted deers. We reached the Wagharanya Resort by around 6 pm. We checked into our rooms and settled down. The room was cramped and small – we don’t like cramped and small rooms having been used to Airbnb. The resort co-owner Mr. Mangesh came by to meet us & the first thing he asks us is ‘Did you see the Tiger?’. I was flabbergasted! We had just arrived and missed a tiger sighting. He said there was a tiger nearby the forest gate and people were able to spot it on the road.
The care taker in the resort informs us that there has been tiger sighting on the road in front of the resort quite often. He suggests people go on the road at night in their cars slowly to sight some wildlife/Tigers. Couple of days later another visitor shows me Whatsapp status of his friend where a tiger was sighted on the same road.
Day 2 – Tuesday (17-Dec): First blood
We woke up late as we had the safari only in the afternoon and had some nice breakfast of poha, chai and boiled eggs. It was a good thing that we did not book the morning safari as we needed that rest after the 700+ kms of drive. There was a plan to visit the butterfly world near Agarzari gate in the morning but that was dropped once we woke up late.
Our first Safari was in the afternoon at Dewada Buffer zone. We were at the gate well before time and got the Gypsy allocated. We were the 3rd Gypsy to enter the gate and after about 500 mts after entering from the gate, both the guide and me feel the left back tyre wobble. I get an ominous feeling and the guide confirms that the tyre is flat. The driver and guide immediately start to replace the tyre with the four of us still sitting in the Gypsy. They managed to replace the tyre with a bald spare tyre within 10 – 15 mins. I keep hoping that no other puncture happens as the guide was just telling us that we should not get down from the vehicle at any time during the safari.
For the next 2.5 hours, the driver and guide take us on a whirlwind on the various pathways marked for tourists. I tell the Guide if we can stop to take some snaps of other wildlife like Gaur and Boars. They stopped briefly but they were focussed on making a sighting – keener than us. We get to know that there was a sighting of a tiger and by the time we reach that place, there must by at least 20+ jeeps waiting. We wait for some time and then the guide takes us to a lake where he expects that tiger could make an appearance.
We were almost at the lake when we get to know that the tiger has been sighted and we rush to that place. We just missed sighting the tiger as it went into the bushes. My heart sank when one of the tourists in another gypsy is beaming from ear to ear and says that the sighting was amazing and the tiger was nearby. It’s 5 pm now and just 1 hour to exit the gate and the guide is even more determined to make the sighting. When he gets to know of an alarm calling, he asks the driver to drive fast to that place. The driver quickly rushes at 30Kmph to that place and wait. The gypsys cannot go faster than 30 kmph in the forest as they are monitored using GPS. Considering that the forest pathways are not levelled properly, even driving at 30 kmph throws the passengers in the back seat around.
Finally, we get to see what we were hoping – ‘Choti Madhu’ makes an appearance from behind the trees. The Driver and Guide have positioned the Gypsy in such a correct place that the Tiger walks past the Gypsy within a couple of feet. Let the pictures do the talking now:
The Queen emerges
Marking her territory
The tiger sighting was spectacular – all credit to our guide-driver who got us prime spots for viewing our top celebrity ‘Choti Madhu’ doing the catwalk. Choti Madhu was regal and royal and she held her gaze up high with pride. She carried herself with immense grace & dignity and she was a queen in her own right.
By the time the catwalk is completed, we have to start for the gate. Any delay in exiting the gate after 6 pm, the driver and guide are penalized. We had a fulfilling safari experience inspite of the initial scare of a flat tyre.
Day 3 – Wednesday (18-Dec): Fate and Deadly Destiny
Today is the big day with 2 core safaris scheduled in the prime zones of Tadoba: Moharli Core in the morning and Zari Core in the Afternoon. Morning safari starts at 6:30 am and ends at 10:30 am and the afternoon safari starts at 2 pm. The Zari gate being 60 kms away from the resort; we had planned and packed everything. What we did not plan for is 18-Dec to be one of the coldest days in MH. On top of that riding in an open-top Gypsy in the middle of the jungle; all of us were shivering.
Morning in Moharli Core
All packed up but still feeling the cold
Here, I would like to point out the importance of the Guide in the safari experience. The guide assigned to us for the Moharli Core was one of the most unenthusiastic people who was just going through the motions. Made a 15 min stop for making some entries into the register and then a 30 min stop for a relaxed breakfast. The guide was not at all interested in making a sighting and was just following other Gypsys. When he got to know that there were 2 cubs sighted in a thicket, we joined the queue of 20 other gypsys for a glance at the cubs somewhere deep in the forest. They were so far away they very well might have been an odd leaf.
The cubs in the distance
Overall, a forgettable experience on the Safari that I had the most hopes for. Moharli Core being the flagship gate, it has the greatest number of Gypsys entering the forest. The majority of the safari routes are tarred and it felt like a zoo safari. The underwhelming experience of the Moharli core was exacerbated by the indifferent guide and the extreme cold weather.
Other wildlife sightings: Peacock & Spotted Deer
Our guide informed us that this is the State Bird of Maharashtra: Yellow Footed Green Pigeon
We completed our morning Safari and had lunch back at the resort. Left the resort at 12 noon for the 2 pm safari following the Google Maps for the Zari gate. We switched on the maps started following the maps without any 2nd thought. We were in for a surprise when we reached the Khutwanda gate after about 20 mins and then we realized that we followed the wrong route as this one was going through the jungle. After the Dewada gate, I had come to appreciate even minutes and how a minute difference could mean you lose a potential tiger sighting. Now I drove fast so as to cover up the 40 min delay so as to reach the Zari core by 2:05 pm. The resort care taker had noticed that I took a wrong turn after exiting the resort, and he tried calling my number. But he called my wife’s number and her mobile was kept at the resort itself as mobiles are not allowed in Tadoba safaris. Fate and deadly destiny hit us badly today multiple times.
Anyways we started the safari in Zari Core along with the other 5 gypsys and were excited to catch a glimpse of the big cat in a beautiful back drop. Alas, this safari was a washout with no sightings at all although it felt like we will come face to face with the Tiger at any turn as we were able to spot paw prints of Tiger and Leopard at multiple places. The guide and the driver were very energetic and tried their best to get us a sighting – full points for their efforts. The Zari core is a beautiful jungle and going around it is an experience in itself. We bid adieu to Zari with a mental promise to return sometime in future.
Zari’s pictures
Beautiful Zari
Leopard Pawprints
Sambar Deer
To catch a flying bird
Peacock running away frantically from us
Indian Gaur
Breathtaking sunset at Zari
We ate our dinner glumly and then put up a bonfire since it was extremely cold that night. The bonfire with its heat and warmth cheered us up a little bit. We went to sleep snugly hoping for the best for tomorrow.
Continue reading about DSK0909’s road trip and jungle safari experience for BHPian comments, insights and more information.
