After a very early morning internal flight we then drove to the first of the three national parks we would be visiting. To show whereabouts in India we were, I mapped out the route which was (Fly from) Delhi – Nagpur airport, then drive to Pench – Kanha – Bandhavgarh – Jabalpur airport – (Fly to) Delhi.
Later that afternoon we had our first safari drive. The temperature was around 42ºc but three of us were rewarded with an absolutely incredible sighting. 6 month old cubs, drinking at a waterhole, great reflections, facing the sun and with the light in their eyes. It’s possibly my favourite wildlife photo I’ve ever captured and I hoped that it wasn’t going to be downhill for the rest of the trip! Nothing did come close, but we still had quite a few great sightings. More importantly, by the end of that first drive all eight of my guests had seen a tiger which was a big relief for me!!
When we weren’t seeing tigers there was plenty of other wildlife to enjoy, and the monkeys provided many ‘awww’ moments and amusing antics.
It seemed to be ‘baby season’ and we saw many tiny ones.
The way they sit amuses me – like old men just watching the world go by.
“Smile for the camera”
Photobomb from a spotted deer.
On the hunt……..
I love it when a big cat looks you right in the eyes!
Early morning drives started at 05.00 as that’s when the tigers are likely to be active before it becomes too hot. Several times on those drives our guides would stop, turn off the engine, and we’d just sit listening to the sounds of the forest coming alive. The birdsong was incredible and we could just enjoy it, whist the guides listened for alarm calls from other animals which potentially signalled the whereabouts of a tiger. It also gave me the opportunity to try my intentional camera movement shots!
A great way to cool off
Ugly birds, but vultures are very necessary to clean up the remains of dead wildlife.
Several of my guests had photographed this little owl in a tree but I hadn’t seen it. On the last day before moving on to a new park, our guide stopped to see if it was visible and I was rewarded with this shot.
Driving through India offers lots of scenes to capture. I tended not to have a window seat in our minibus though, so wasn’t able to photograph much as we passed by. I did manage to snap these two with my phone.
Our second national park was Kanha, where tigers are relaxed enough to walk along the tracks, and if your vehicle is in the right position they cross right in front of you or even walk towards you, just going where they want to.
Fixated on some prey and slowly, slowly, creeping towards it. It was not successful however, as many aren’t. Tigers have a relatively low success rate when it comes to their hunting attempts, with most sources estimating that only 5 – 10% of their hunts result in a successful kill.
I found it amusing when this owl shook water from its body and closed its eyes as it did so.
All three of the parks we visited had very different landscapes ranging from extremely dry and brown with very little water, to leafy and green with rivers running through.
Rivers are always a good place to spot kingfishers.
One of the drives lacked any tiger sightings, so three of us spent over 20 minutes trying to photograph dragonflies. Once we had remembered / realised that they return to the same spot after flitting off to catch a mosquito or other small fly, it made it easier. We just kept focus on the twig and as soon as it took off one of us looked out for it returning and we started shooting. I did end up with a lot of shots of just an empty twig or a very out of focus dragonfly though!
Each day en route to our third national park we drove through a tiny village and I was drawn to the colourful buildings and doors. I’m sure our guide thought I was crazy when I asked him to slow down and stop at various places for me to snap photos of them but he was very kind about it!
We saw literally hundreds of peacocks.
Another great tiger sighting, this time high up in a cave, so it was the only time we photographed a tiger from below its eye level.
You might have gathered by now that I love owls ! I’m always surprised to see their eyes open in the day.
My very last drive resulted in seeing a couple of wild elephants having a great time in a dam. We sat in the vehicle very close to the edge of the water, and when they emerged one of them strolled straight towards us. Our guide had had the foresight to park in such a way that he could easily drive away if necessary, and we were able to photograph out of the back as it kept coming. It was very relaxed and not threatening at all, but you don’t mess with an animal this size!
Finally, although we were all split into 4 vehicles on each drive, we usually met up at breakfast. This was often served on the bonnet (hood) and a good chance to exchange news of what we’d seen (or not) on the drive so far, as each one usually went on a different route. One particular breakfast stop was a good place to get a photograph of us all and shows the kind of vehicles we spent hours in each day.
