Kya Bhool toh nahi gaye hame 😊

My apologies to all of you for taking a little more time to post something, this time it took around a year. Nevertheless, I am back with a bang, the reason for saying back with a bang is the Debut of my family to the wilderness, especially the Alpha Gen Z.

Since it was a debut trip, I had a lot of thoughts to finalize the place, the number of safaris to be done, whether early morning safaris to be done or not, whether 6-year-old kidos will be able to manage or not and many more thoughts.

So let me narrate the whole story which includes the "Action and Reaction" of a family, the trip report, and lovely memories captured during the trip.

THE ACTION AND REACTION

ACTION

The title is Action and Reaction because “Action” is I forced the action on the family (place, number of safaris, early wake up to rush to safari, etc.), and “Reaction” is how they reacted, whether they enjoyed or not. So let's see both aspects

Firstly on the Action part, introducing the family to the forest was long pending, I was always doubtful that at the age of 6, they would tolerate a tight schedule of safaris or not. I wanted Moneeth (son) and Pranavi (niece) to get exposure to the forest so I checked with them about going to the forest instead of going to random places, surprisingly both kids got so excited and pushed me to plan the trip as soon as possible.

It was clear that all were ready for the forest visit but the question was what place to finalize, which place to decide from the perspective of sighting, comfort, stay, food, etc, and especially sighting because both kids were crazy and excited to see the tiger. My mantra is when in doubt call Saurabh/Jogi from Nature Explorer, I had a couple of options in mind with Tadoba being the first, Jogi seconds the same, and then Tadoba I finalized.

REACTION

The reaction was unexpected and way beyond my expectations, the reaction from elders I was aware but about kids, I was worried especially about the morning safari. For a morning safari, you need to wake up around 5.15 am and that is too with a back-to-back schedule, I thought after two safaris kids would give up and would not come for other visits, but the kids proved me wrong.

Let me tell you I am still not able to digest that both kids were super energetic throughout the 4 safaris and at no point they hinted discomfort. A couple of times I asked kiddos if they were tired and wanted to skip the morning safari, and the answer I used to get was “We will go alone if you don't want to come” 😕. This is the reaction I got, Pranavi was equally energetic, and her pet name is now “Tiggy the Tiger”

Now both kids are asking me when we are going again. Let me give credit to elders also, other debutants were also very happy with the trip and ready for the next one.

So let us understand the reason for such a reaction, what happened that all are so happy with the trip, and who all played the role in making this trip a great success.

Family meets family

Now let me update you on all the drama that happened during safaris, our journey started with Nimdhela zone. Last year this zone was completely dry for me so I entered the zone with very little expectation and hence was checking about probabilities in this particular zone. The guide and driver said don’t worry we will surely get something. After searching for one hour we got the information about tiger movement, we reached the spot and got a big surprise, it was none other than the King of Tadoba “Chota Matka”. The king because this Big cat is ruling the Tadoba as a king, currently holding the largest area of around 100 km and not allowing any other male tigers to enter the territory. Chota Matka is defending the territory very aggressively, in the last year it terminated 2 tigers, and the message is clear that Matka is the King.

We saw this handsome hulk very closely, at one point I was unable to click this tiger as a full frame, it was too close for my camera to capture fully. After Chota Matka, we also got lucky with the sighting of Bala the sub-adult cub of Chota Matka.

Now it was the 1st-morning safari for debutants, I thought kids would sleep during the safari but they proved me wrong. Now Shirkheda rocked with Kankazhari Male tiger, one the oldest and huge one, this was a lucky find because this tiger was not visible for a long time. After this Chotti Rani gave a glimpse while we were coming out from the forest.

Now third safari in the Alizanzha zone, after four tigers what all you expect, but Alizanzha zone said why I will stay behind, it surprised us with Kalva again a family member of Matak, another sub-adult of Chota Matka. When I said we saw Matka very close, the definition of close changed when we got Kalva, it was even more closure than Matka. These tigers are very much used to vehicles and don’t bother about visitors and vehicle noise, they walk like a king and move ahead. Kalva compared to Bala looked more healthy and heavyweight and looked like he would be the next Chotta Matka. The reason I said family meets family is because my family meets Matka's family.

The last was Bellara, it was dry with no sighting but the zone is beautiful and really good to visit. When I visited last year to this zone Veera’s cubs were rocking but this time we could not find anything.

The overall trip went very well; we all enjoyed it like anything and now waiting for the next jungle trip. It was a dream come true type of trip. The big role played by Nature Explorer (NEI) in making this trip a great success. The team NEI planned this so well that everything went very smoothly. Let me also acknowledge that Chimur Tiger Resort also added a flavor of enjoyment to our trip, the food and stay were very comfortable

Now at the end please look at the DSLR section to see exciting pictures of the tour, do share your feedback with me at btwildart@gmail.com

Vote of Thanks

Nature Explorer Team – Many thanks team NEI for managing the tour so smoothly, you people are rocking, keep it up.

Drivers and guides – Many thanks for such a memorable time

Chimur Tiger Resort and Staff - Many thanks for the lovely food and stay arrangements.

BT Wild Art

Dils se DSLR