Bandhavgarh (December 2021) - Tigers, more tigers and a Babysitter

The lure of stripes is magnetic, almost hypnotic in its power. Once you've seen a tiger, it is impossible to not want to see one again. And again. And again. While the pandemic has put giant-sized spokes into our tiger watching trips, we did manage to squeeze off a couple in 2021. Both to Bandhavgarh, one of the best places in the world to spot this amazing animal. Thankfully, both trips passed off without event, which is the polar opposite of what I can say for our 3 aborted Ranthambhore trips! 

Our annual year-end trip happened to feature tigers this time. Even as we planned it, we were crossing many fingers (and toes) and that seemed to work. We flew out to Jabalpur one balmy Saturday evening, and arrived at freezing Bandhavgarh around midnight. As always, we stayed at the super-comfortable and friendly Bandhav Vilas. And without much ado (or sleep), it was time for an early morning safari.

Day 1 - Trunk calls in Khitauli

Khitauli is one of the three core zones where tourism is allowed (Tala and Magadhi are the other two) It's also the only zone where I hadn't seen a tiger yet. And I was keen to set that record straight. And we had 3 chances to do so this time around. Beginning with the first day where both safaris would be in Khitauli. And we saw evidence of tiger as soon as we entered the zone - fresh pugmarks of a large male tiger embedded in the path. Lord Stripes proved elusive as did some of the other resident families there, though we did see fresh tracks and had some alarm calls from close by. But the most unexpected treat was a herd of elephants.

Bandhavgarh has not had resident elephant herds in recent memory. But one such bunch were determined to set that record straight. Over the last couple of years a herd has wandered in from a neighbouring reserve and stayed put, feasting on the spectacular bamboo that makes up a lot of Khitauli zone. We saw a splinter group of three, munching away deep in the bamboo thickets. No satisfying photos but deep joy nevertheless at being able to see these amazing giants in a new habitat.

The afternoon safari was more of the same,  a fair amount of audio but no visual sighting of a tiger. And so our first day passed off without much event, save the ellies. But it was amazing to be in the forest in the morning cold and that beautiful afternoon winter sun. All in all a very pleasant start to the trip.

Day 2 -  Face to face with the Babysitter

The morning of Day 2 was reserved for the Tala Zone. In many ways, Tala is THE zone in Bandhavgarh, being the stomping ground of some of the park's legendary tigers. It also has the beautiful fort and the medieval reclining Vishnu statue, both out of bounds for tourists (the first always and the second temporarily for renovation) Though tiger sightings are not as bountiful in Tala as they once used to be, any trip to Bandhavgarh cannot be complete without at least one safari here. And so, we set around this beautiful part of the park. The main targets were a tigress called Spotty and her three cubs and another called Kajri. Once again we saw many pugmarks on the path in their territories, at one spot there were so many of them that it was like a tiger dance party. A few alarm calls deep within the forest kept us interested, but no sighting. And so, that ended our third safari in Bandhavgarh without tiger. Almost unthinkable! And no one was more upset than Mukesh. And as we drove back that morning, he bought a few things from a local grocer and I was sure I saw a coconut there.

That afternoon was to be Magadhi zone, home to Spotty's sister Dotty, and her 4 cubs. En route, we passed a small shrine alongside the road; it was a small temple to Siddh Baba, one of the guardians of the park. Mukesh stopped and we got off to pray to the baba for some sightings. We lit some incense and broke open the ceremonial coconut. No sooner did that happen, then a troupe of Langur descended on and appropriated said offering. Very auspicious indeed. 

As we drove into the forest on what is an unusually short afternoon safari (just 2 1/2 hours) Mukesh told us more about this family. The fascinating thing was the presence of a male (not the cubs' father) with the family. No one was really sure who this male was (maybe her son from a previous litter), but he was tolerated by the female and the big male apparently. So much so that the female trusted him with her cubs while she was away hunting or marking. And I'd never heard of this before. So I was really keen to see him.

Dotty's territory is deep within Magadhi zone and it took us nearly 40 minutes to get there. En route we saw tracks of another tigress with cubs and evidence that she'd recently dragged a kill into the bamboo thickets. We had no time to spare so we zipped on to Dotty. And joined several other jeeps in looking for the family. We heard a tiger roar repeatedly, deep in the bush. And then, some folks saw the head of a tiger pop up over a bund next to a waterhole. The ensuing hurly-burly probably made the animal change its mind about having a drink as it seemed to retrace its steps. Mukesh steered us to a side path where he was sure it would come. And we waited. Our patience seemed to pay off as the tiger came and stood in the bush alongside the road. We were sure it would cross in front of us; we'd left acres of space for it to move out.

But this is India and space is always at a premium. Other jeeps rushed in like high tide on steroids to fill in that void and caused said tiger to reconsider its options. More vehicles came in and thankfully some of them did create a gap for it to cross over. It just happened to be a couple of vehicles behind us. Thankfully, it happened to be right behind our other jeep. And they got a lovely video (mobile phone) of it zipping across the road. And it was a male tiger. The Babysitter!! 

He crossed into the bush and we heard him roar again, accompanied by a volley of alarm calls. It was like he was calling someone; most probably the cubs. And everyone was guessing where he was going, when everything fell silent - no roars and no alarm calls. It was almost time to head out, when Mukesh suggested that we check for the cubs a little further ahead. As we turned into a side path a jeep coming the other way told us that there were 4 tigers ahead. It was the cubs. And we proceeded to see all 4 of them in the bush right next to the road. It was a sketchy sighting and in not great light, but it was still amazing to see 4 young tigers! They were obviously responding to Babysitter and then came across the jeeps so decided to break journey. It was time to head back and we left the cubs, hoping to spend a lot of time with them over the next couple of days.

Day 3 - Close shaves in Khitauli. And Magadhi too!!

'Twas the day of close shaves. And no sightings. We arrived in Khitauli in the morning, with me determined to break my duck. As if that was in my control! And we set out to find fresh pugmarks of another large male, then another female and then another one! All within an hour. But no luck with any sightings. Suddenly, the jungle reverberated with spotted deer alarm calls and we waited at the edge of a thicket, but the calls ebbed away. Driving on, we encountered another jeep who'd seen a tigress cross the other side of that forest patch. She was still in the vicinity and there was a chance she'd come to a nearby waterhole. So we waited.

And even as we did, a couple of vehicles quietly pulled away; we thought they'd already seen the tigress earlier so they were going elsewhere. And we focused on the lake ahead as a herd of spotted deer wandered towards it. Would we see a kill perhaps? Turns out the deer were in no danger; they sauntered up to the water and still nothing happened -  there was no tiger there. Mukesh quickly realised something was afoot and he backup and out to where the earlier jeeps had gone. And guess what? The tigress had crossed right in front of them a minute earlier. They'd caught a glimpse of her approaching the lake and then turning back, so they anticipated her move. Once again, the tigers of Khitauli had defeated me! Only a leucistic Jungle Babbler provided some entertainment at the breakfast camp.

That afternoon, we headed back to Magadhi, hoping to see the whole family together. Unfortunately, some VIP visitors had already had first bite of that sighting and while we did see tracks of the cubs on the road, they had moved into the bush. We could head the occasional alarm calls that gave away their presence.We all went around in circles for a bit, trying to find them, mom or Babysitter. And came a cropper. It was almost time to head back when we turned into a narrow path; for a jeep to tell us that Dotty had just crossed the road in front of them. Damn! A couple of minutes further and another jeep tells us that she chased a sambhar in front of them. Double damn! We were late by a minute at best.

Twice that day, we'd missed tigers by the finest of margins. That's the beauty of the jungle. As we reflected on our way back, it was time to be thankful for all the amazing sightings we'd had over the years.

Day 4 - Last bite of the cherry

Our last safari would be in Magadhi. Third time very lucky? We certainly hoped so. And with that hope, we drove in, straight to Dotty's territory. And once again, we saw evidence of a tiger party. Pugmarks galore in front of us - cubs, female and even two male tigers. What was going on??? We traced the evidence of this family debauchery for a bit and then the tracks disappeared. And now Mukesh and our guide Rakesh decided to investigate further, deeper into Dotty's territory. And we drove into a brand new section (for us) of the park - a beautiful, wooded and hilly terrain. And as we drove through (without any evidence of this family) we also passed through Spotty's overlapping area. Without luck there too.

Being the morning safari, we had a lot of time. So Mukesh decided to drive further to check on the Dabhadol family. And there too, we saw fresh pugmarks of the female and her two cubs. And we drove all through the area but no juice. Mystified, we drove back towards Dotty's area when a jeep coming the other way told us that there were a couple of cubs and a tigress seen where we'd seen all the pugmarks. And as we drove up, we were expecting the Dotty family. But as we eased next to a jeep, the guide told our driver that it was the Dabhadol family! Here we were, seeing fresh pugmarks a few kilometres ahead and the tigers were actually here! Go figure!

The cubs were in the grass a fair distance away and they got up and walked in the undergrowth, in the same direction that the Dotty family pugmarks had gone. And then they vanished from view. We drove further looking for them to emerge further ahead and then turned back. When a jeep told us that the mother was on the road a few minutes ago and that she'd just cut into the forest ahead. She had come out of the grass a few minutes after we'd seen the cubs. One more near miss!! We drove back but so no sign of her, and so decided to turn around and take another stab. A few minutes later, Mukesh exclaimed "Tiger on road!" And there she was - the Dabhadol female.

She walked on the path like the queen she was, with three jeeps following at a respectful distance. We were mesmerised at her walk, and how her paws made fresh pugmarks on the soft sand. From time to time, she'd stop to mark her territory on a tree next to the road and then continue her stroll. At one point she left the path and we got ahead of her to get a frontal view. But she decided that she didn't want her portrait taken and gracefully glided off the path into the undergrowth. Leaving us enthralled at what was finally a quality sighting. We turned back, and saw that there were tracks of a male tiger, on top of our tyre marks, barely a few minutes old! We didn't see him but marvelled at the number of tigers in one small area of the park. Super happy with our sightings, but something was still missing - that's when we realised realised that we'd forgotten to have brekkies! Such is the lure of pantera tigris.

Bandhavgarh again showed us why it is going to be a place that we keep coming back to. And with these incredible tigers and friends like Ram and Mukesh, try and keep us away!!

Bandhavgarh Trip Guide

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is spread across more than 1500 sq kms in the Umaria District of Madhya Pradesh (MP), often called, India's heart.  Its sal forests and meadows are one of the finest places in the world to see wild tigers. It has had its share of legendary tigers, from Charger and Sita, to B2, Bamera and the amazing Rajbehra tigress.

Bandhavgarh has three core zones open for tourists - Tala (the most famous), Magadhi and Khitauli. There are buffer zones as well, but it's worth checking with your hotel for sightings there before booking.

Getting there

Bandhavgarh is about 4 hours (160kms) from Jabalpur, which is the closest airport and major rail head. Jabalpur has decent air connectivity, and excellent rail connectivity. 

The closest rail head is Umaria (35kms) which has a couple of trains to Delhi.

Another good rail option is Katni (100kms) which is on the main rail line connecting Delhi with other southern and western cities.

Your hotel can arrange pickups from Jabalpur, Katni or Umaria.

Safaris

You can book safaris on forest.mponline.gov.in or ask your hotel to book for you. Please carry original IDs when you visit the forest, these get checked when you enter the park.

I recommend that you do at least 4 safaris (combination of morning and evening) to maximise your chances of sighting.

Places to stay

Bandhavgarh has every conceivable type of accommodation, from affordable to unimaginable luxury.  

We stayed at the Bandhav Vilas. And whatever I say about it will barely do it justice. The property itself is a large, sprawling resort with small clusters of cottages. The rooms themselves are huge, beautifully done up and have a lovely verandah where we could sit and enjoy our evenings.

The food was amazing and hospitality was extra special. It was like being looked after at home.

The drivers and naturalists were out of this world. Rambeer Singh and Mukesh Shukla, the driver/naturalists are incredible fountains of information and instinct.

Other tips

Bandhavgarh can get really cold in winter, so do pack in jackets and woollens. 

The park is very strict about enforcing COVID regulations, so a face mask is mandatory.

It can also get quite dusty, so the mask may also help keep dust away.