India, part 8 March 2026

    This morning is our last safari drive in beautiful Pench National Park.  A.G. is our driver and Elizabeth is with us too. We haven’t traveled far when A.G. turns onto a side road and we see a few parked jeeps. We join the small cluster of vehicles and immediately see a beautiful tigress lying on a grassy dam. When we first arrive, she has her head up but soon she sprawls on her side. The tigress seems to go fast asleep, despite her human audience, as her paws twitch occasionally as if she is dreaming.

    A.G. insists that as soon as the sun rises higher the magnificent feline will become hot and she will get up to move to shade. We sit patiently waiting for the sleeping tigress to stir but nothing happens. In the meantime, more vehicles are crowding along the road, including a big tour bus filled with local people. A.G. tells us we can continue to wait or go and have breakfast, but again he insists the tigress will eventually move from her now sunlit bed. The three of us confer and decide that there are way too many vehicles now and we are satisfied with just seeing this beautiful cat as she sleeps. 

    Some of our group, have arrived by now and we motion to one of the closest jeeps, I think it was Mike and Aimee’s group, to come and park in our soon to be vacant slot. We have a close and great view of the tigress, and they are several vehicles back in the line of jeeps. Once they are in position to scoot into our parking spot A.G. begins to wind his way through the jam of vehicles. Getting by the big bus was not easy!

    After breakfast, A.G. decides to go back to see what the tigress is up to. About half-way back to where the tigress is we meet a long line of jeeps, so our assumption is that the tigress is no longer there.  A.G. flags down one of the jeeps from our group to ask them about the situation. They tell us that the tigress halfheartedly went after a deer after we left! Oh well, that is the way things go. After her failed hunt, she went to lay in the undergrowth across the open field from where she had been sleeping.

    When we arrive back to the place where the tigress is, A.G. and our ranger quickly find the well concealed cat. She is laying in heavy cover with her head in the air looking back at we humans.  I swear it isn’t ten minutes after we arrive when the stunning tigress gets to her feet and starts walking towards the pond. A.G. was positive she would go to the water and drink, but she walks over the dam and disappears. What a way to end our time in Pench.

   Once we exit the park our vehicle starts acting up. You could tell that it wasn’t getting gas as it would sputter and die. A.G. is able to nurse it down the road for a few miles but soon it is apparent we aren’t going to make it to camp. A.G. finds a tree along the road and pulls the dying jeep into the shade. We aren’t far from the camp, maybe a couple of miles so that is the good part. A.G. calls for help, thank goodness he had his cell phone, and we wait to be rescued. Well not Elizabeth who decides to start walking towards the camp even though it is extremely hot. A.G. doesn’t say no to her decision but tells her to make sure she turns right at the next side road which leads to our camp.   We don’t have to wait long, maybe fifteen minutes, for a man to come to our rescue. We switch vehicles with him and continue to the camp, picking up Elizabeth along the way.

   Paul and I clean up and get packed before lunch. We sit our suitcases out for the staff and take our backpacks with us. After a good lunch we load up for our five-hour drive to Satpura National Park. Oh boy, I can’t wait for the drive! There is no need for us to rush for a vehicle as Allwyn tells us we have six vehicles today, so no couples have to split up. Paul does spot Bonsei when we arrive at the parking lot and quickly claims him as our driver. Joy is riding with us which is great since it lets just the three of us visit.

    We drive through villages, but we also drive through a big city with heavy traffic. I don’t know the name of the city but there are motorcycles everywhere along with cars and trucks. I read on my tablet, so I don’t have to close my eyes at all the close calls we have in this city, (at least in my opinion there are a lot of them).

    At one point on our drive to Satpura, somebody in another vehicle needs to stop for the restroom before we get to the planned bathroom break. Lots of us decide to take advantage of the stop and use the restroom too. I take one look at the filthy stall and decide I can wait until we reach the other rest stop. I am not the only one that decides to wait! Joy and Paul aren’t as squeamish as me so go ahead and utilize this stop.

   We arrive at our camp Reni Pani after dark. After listening to the camp manager, which I couldn’t understand at all we are given our room numbers. Paul and I are in room twelve and our neighbors in number eleven are Ron and Linda. A staff member leads us to our rooms with the aid of a flashlight. The rooms are at the top of a hill and by the time we arrive I am puffing from the walk. To make it tougher there are places on the trail that have loose gravel, so you really have to watch your step. The rooms are huge with high ceilings, so it is more like a small house. Very nice.

   I heard an alarm call from a spotted deer around three a.m. and wondered what was moving through the camp. Our abode has a lot of timber around it so there could easily be a leopard or tiger in the vicinity.

    A staff member arrives just after five a.m. to escort the four of us to the main building. Going down the steep trail by flashlight is a slow process but we make it despite slipping here and there on the path.

    Here we are told that we can choose which vehicle we want so we get into the one Ron and Linda are occupying. It is a twenty-minute ride to the park gate. After the check in we have to load up in a boat to take us across a big reservoir which is only a two-minute ride. Once there we walk up the road to where the park vehicles are sitting. Ron, Linda, and us decide to stick together and crawl into one of the vehicles. Our guide is Frankie. In Satpura, we are told the tiger sightings are less likely, but the upside is we have a good chance of seeing a sloth bear.

    We drove some really rough roads and went down one steep hill that had me holding my breath and pushing on an imaginary brake. Things are pretty quiet. We see gaur, deer and Neelgai, (aka, blue bulls) which are an antelope, plus a giant squirrel. The squirrel and the blue bull are something we haven’t seen in the other parks.

    We run into Joy, Bob, and Janet who are looking at a leopard. It took us awhile to find him as he was laying in heavy cover in the distance. Eventually the leopard gets up and starts walking allowing us to catch some glimpses of him. No photo ops though. When the spotted cat disappears into the trees we move on and don’t really see much after that. At breakfast Joy tells us that they found the leopard again and it walked out onto the road! They obviously went in the right direction which was opposite of where we went. Good for them.

   After breakfast we stop at a small pond where a crocodile is sunning himself with his mouth agape. We also see a small herd of gaur resting in the shade of some trees.

    After a tasty lunch and a short rest, we load up for our afternoon safari drive, but we won’t be going to the National Park. This is Wednesday and the park staff gets the afternoon off, so the National park is shut down. Instead, we are driving through what they refer to as the buffer zone of the Satpura National Park. We ride with Ron, Linda decided not to go this afternoon. Our guide is a young man called Maggie; I don’t recall our driver or local rangers’ names.

   Many of the roads in the buffer/boundary area are very primitive and rough. We stopped at a couple of places with nice vistas. Ron even climbed up a rickety wooden tower so he could get a longer view at one place. Paul and I heard and saw the boards moving and creaking and decided we could see far enough from ground level.

   It became apparent early on that our assigned guide and driver were not into this drive. They stared straight ahead most of the time and often one of us would see a shape in the distance and ask what that was. Maggie would take a quick look and say that is a gaur or that is a deer. We did see a few new birds. Due to the rough roads and heat we told Maggie we were ready to go back to camp an hour before we had to officially be out of the buffer zone. That set well with our three guys, and they quickly drove back to the gate and on to the camp. Since we have had since wonderful guides and rangers up to now it was a bit of a disappointment. I suppose they wanted to have the afternoon off too.

   On our drive back to camp we stop and watch a group of farmers throwing sheaves of wheat into a thresher that is attached to a small tractor. What a dusty, hot job! I cannot imagine how the man and woman tossing the wheat bundles into the machine could even breathe.

   At supper tonight we found out everyone else in our group saw a mama sloth bear and her two big cubs shortly before they exited the buffer zone! We were able to watch someone’s video they took which was cool. The bears were snuffling the ground looking for food. I guess we should have waited a while longer before we went back to camp!

    Tomorrow will be our last day in Satpura then we will head back to New Delhi.

India, part 7, March 2026

    This morning Paul and I arrive at the headquarters by five a.m. and guess who is already there. Joy of course, plus a few other early birds. Joy tells us that she has made the decision not to go on the safari this morning due to some stomach issues. Joy says her problems aren’t bad but she doesn’t want to take the chance that things will worsen while on the safari. That is wise but still it would be tough to stay behind. Bob informs us that Janet is not going on the excursion this morning either as she too is having stomach and digestive problems. Darn it.

   Our driver is Aszar, (the spelling is a total guess) and he lets us struggle for a bit in trying to pronounce his name before laughingly telling us to just call him A. Z.  Elizabeth is riding with us again. It is a twenty-five-minute drive to the park entrance. We have no problems with paper work and are able to proceed into the park within a few minutes. We have a ranger of course, but I don’t remember his name.

     A.Z. ventures down various roads and we see a nice herd of guar, spotted deer and a Sambar deer. Perhaps the highlight was seeing a Malabar-pied Hornbill. Hornbills are definitely unique and this species is much larger than the Indian gray Hornbill we saw in the other parks.

   A. Z. stops to talk to the guide that Ellen, Bob, Ron, and Linda are with. They saw another leopard! They are the same group that saw the leopard in Bandhavgarh I think. That is incredible.

   We move on and A. Z. stops the vehicle in a few places where alarm calls are heard. Suddenly A. Z. takes off like he is driving in the Daytona 500. The three of us hang on for dear life for twenty minutes as our jeep careens down the road. The good news is we don’t meet any other vehicles and we manage not to fall out of the vehicle! We arrive at a small open grass land where six or seven other jeeps are parked. A. Z.  and our ranger find the tigress immediately and A. Z. maneuvers the jeep into a terrific position to watch the recumbent tigress. We are parked for five minutes when the stunning feline gets to her feet and begins striding towards us.

    The impressive tigress chooses to walk directly in front of our jeep and doesn’t even bother to look at us. She ignores the other jeeps that are facing us and are parked down the road a few yards. A. Z. tells us that the tigress has cubs stashed in the direction that she is walking. The guides are hoping she is going to gather the cubs up and take them to a water hole which is close by. I believe her cubs are seven or eight months old.

    We watch the massive cat as she walks into the trees and when she disappears from sight A. Z. drives to the water hole. We patiently wait for some time but upon hearing no alarm calls and when no tigers appear we leave the water hole to go eat breakfast. After breakfast we continue exploring the park but only see a few deer and monkeys.

   On our way back to camp as usual there are a number of interesting things to take photos of.

After a quick nap we go up for lunch and sit next to Ron and Linda enjoying another nice visit with them. Paul and I stay after lunch so we can catch up on “Words With Friends” games and emails but it is just too warm so we return to our air-conditioned tent. I know, what a couple of wimps.

    This afternoon we have a different driver, plus another man with the lodge who tells us to call him A. G.! He informs us that he was supposed to drive and guide but told Allwyn he needed a break from driving. So, A. G. will be our guide, and the driver will just drive. We learned a lot from A. G. throughout the afternoon as he is a fountain of information like all of our guides have been.

   We haven’t traveled far when we come upon a half-dozen jeeps peering into the trees at a leopard. A.G. and the ranger find the cat fairly quickly but it takes a long time for Paul and I to see it. For one thing it is a long way from the road, very camouflaged by some bushes plus lying flat on its side sound asleep. We aren’t the only ones that are having a problem finding it. Joy, Bob and Janet are parked by us and they too struggle to find the spotted cat. It is so far away that A.G. has to take my camera and try to get a few shots of the sleeping leopard with full zoom. I simply can’t hold the camera steady enough. Our driver goes around the bend and there we get a little better view of the leopard, plus the sleepy cat raises its head briefly.

    We return to the area where we first watched the leopard and sat there as A. G. tells us the napping cat will eventually get up and walk away. Well two hours later we do see a leopard striding near the tree but according to A. G. it is a different cat. He claims the leopard that was laying at the base of the tree moved behind the big, black rock and he saw it raise its head when this new leopard appeared several yards away. A. G. and the other guides think this is a mother and nearly full-grown cub that frequent this part of the park.

    A.G. directs the driver where to move the jeep, and we end up in a terrific position where we watch the leopard walking through the trees and underbrush. Granted we mostly just saw parts of the leopard as it stayed in heavy cover. A.G. would tell the driver to move down the road every few minutes and this allowed us to keep track of the sleek cat as it continued to move towards us. The leopard eventually disappears from sight, but we need to exit the park anyway. Since everyone needs to get out of the park the dust clouds are thick. Since we are leading the pack, we don’t have to deal with all the dust hanging in the air. Whatever ranger or guide spotted this sleeping leopard a hundred yards off the road in heavy cover must have phenomenal eyes. It was not anyone in our group that found the leopard.

    Tonight we have drinks and appetizers under a huge Banyon tree that is right by the main headquarters. After relaxing and visiting with Joy and some of the group we go up to the roof for our evening meal. Allwyn sat across from us and we had a nice visit with him.

    This morning we are with A. G. again, but he is our guide and driver. We hear alarm calls from various directions and A.G. keeps repositioning to where the last ones are heard but we find no tiger. At one point Paul decides to take a nap as we sit waiting hopefully for a tiger to appear as the deer bark out warnings.

   A.G. decides we might as well go eat breakfast early since nothing is happening, as far as seeing any tigers. There is always something to watch be it monkeys, deer, birds, or just enjoying the beauty of the landscape.

   A.G. drives to a dirt area near the gate for us to have breakfast. A. G. has to keep chasing a langur off who is intently looking at the food on the hood of the truck and occasionally creeps closer in hopes of stealing something. There is also a cat, fairly healthy, that wanders over and I take some of the crust of my sandwich, lead the cat away from the jeep and toss it on the ground. A.G. told me it was okay but not to try and touch the feline, which I knew not to do anyway. I fish a couple more pieces of bread from the waste can and get the kitty to follow me a little farther each time. After the third piece of bread, she is satisfied and saunters away.

    A man approaches our jeep after we have finished eating and the ranger gives him the left-over food. This is something we have seen in every park so far. I think it is great since there is always an abundance of food left and it would be a shame if it went to waste.

   As we leave the breakfast area, we spot Allwyn parked along the road a quarter mile away. He is urgently beckoning us to come. Before we arrive all of us spot a big leopard sitting on top of a black boulder. The large male gets off the rock before we arrive and walks into the trees. We get a few good looks at him but he is to far away for a photo. That is one huge leopard!

   A.G. takes us to a different area of the park where we drive around while listening to some funny stories he tells us. A. G. finds other things to give us lessons on such as the web of a signature spider and tells us the reason for the interesting web.

   Upon our return to the gate there are some very stern looking men in uniform and A. G. tells Paul and Elizabeth to tell the men that they have no mobile phones if asked. They check the pockets and areas of the jeep, plus A. G. must get out of the jeep and show them there is no phone in his pocket. Good grief. When we exit the park A.G. tells us that they were tipped off that the officials would be checking for phones as everyone was exiting the park. It appears that the man who picked up the leftover food took more away than just the food! We have to stop along the way back to camp at a small shop and retrieve the ranger and A. G.’s phones. Hilarious but not if they had been caught. Fines and suspensions would have been the punishment if I remember correctly.

    We stop in a village on the way back to camp and visit a grade school. There are students that sing a welcome song to us in two different classrooms. The kids were darn cute while singing heartily to we foreigners.

    We are off again mid-afternoon where we run from one alarm call to the next to no avail.  We do sit and watch one spotted deer as she sniffs the air, lifts her leg up and stomps, raises her tail in the air, all signs that she senses a tiger or leopard nearby. The doe slowly works her way to a small rock formation repeating all the aforementioned actions. No predator is seen but it was really interesting to watch the doe in action. Why I didn’t take any photos of this I have no idea.

    When we get back to camp, we learn that Linda, Ron, Ellen and Rick saw three leopards this afternoon. These people are leopard magnets.

   We had drinks and appetizers under the Banyon tree again. After we finish the staff lead us to a different Banyon tree for supper. They had the area lit with candles and lamps. It was just beautiful. We sat across from Linda and Ron again. We discussed the what we saw in the park today and just enjoyed each other’s company.

  After a morning game drive in Pench, we will be off to Satpura National Park, our last park of this so far phenomenal safari.

India, part 6, March 2026

   This morning, Paul and I still have Krishna as our driver/guide but another couple, Rick and Ellen, are riding with us. When we reached the gate to the Kanha National Park there was some kind of mix up. The people that check us in were not happy and Allwyn had to gather all our passports and turn them over to the gate keepers. There is a lot of conversation between Allwyn, our guides and the serious man that is checking us in. The man in charge of checking us in begins changing our seating arrangements. He carefully looks at every one’s passport photo and then studies our faces before telling us to stay put or move to a different jeep.

    Paul and I never had to switch jeeps so that was a plus. Joy was in our jeep at one point but then was told to get into a jeep with Elizabeth and Jay, the managers son. We ended up with Bob and Janet. What a game of musical jeeps!

   At one point during this mess, Krishna tells us that someone made a mistake, and I assumed he meant Allwyn. Later Allwyn came over, and if we understood correctly, a National Geographic crew had gone into the park without properly checking in. I guess the gate keepers decided to make up for their mistake by raising heck with us! We also learned that Allwyn receives the list of who will be riding with which driver and what zone we will be in the night before our safaris from the park authorities. So, this mix up on who should be in what jeep certainly wasn’t Alwyn’s fault. I wondered why we hadn’t been riding with Joy. It made sense to me that if we traveled to India together that we would be riding on safari together. Naturally the people in the park office who were assigning us to the jeeps would not know the three of us were together.

   Because of the mix up we are off to a very late start plus our jeep is the last of our group to get through the gate. Today our ranger is a young woman.

   We have been driving through the park for thirty minutes or so when a deer runs across the road and two spotted deer standing close to the road begin barking out warning calls. Krishna stops the jeep and all of us are peering towards the area where the upset deer are staring. The ranger looks behind our vehicle and calls out tiger. There is a young tigress standing on the road fifty or so yards behind us! The bold tigress must have been in the brushy undergrowth, and we drove right by her. Thank goodness for barking deer, our ranger and the fact that this beautiful cat decided to come out into the road.

    After the subadult tigress gives us a long look, she begins walking down the road before returning to the cover of the forest. Krisna turned the jeep around to follow her, and we could see the tigress peeking at us from behind a tree. She slowly began to creep away and before long we lose sight of her. You can’t believe how easily they can blend into the background. It is incredible that we have had a second tiger all to ourselves! I guess that late start paid off.

    Bob is an avid photographer and a great one at that. Krishna stopped for lots of birds because Bob wanted to photograph them. We were all happy to spend some time enjoying the birds. After looking at some of Bob’s photos I realize that my photos are pretty mediocre.

   Our breakfast stop is at the main ranger station. There is a huge arch that is made out of deer sheds which is quite unique. They also have museums in a few of the buildings so Paul and I take a quick look into a couple of them before it is time to leave.

   Krishna drives through part of zone one where we saw the tiger and then takes us to zone two. It is a long drive, but he wanted us to see the difference in the landscape. Zone two is very hilly and then the road drops down into a valley that is a large grassland. Very beautiful.

   We leave on our afternoon game drive around three o’clock, Krishna is driving and Bob and Janet are still with us. The check in at the entrance gate is normal thank goodness. A friendly young man is our appointed ranger. We drive around various roads in the heat and dust but there isn’t much activity. Krishna pulls up next to a meadow where several other jeeps are parked. Evidently there was a tiger spotted here by someone earlier today. As we wait with the crowd, a spotted deer with a tiny fawn warily approaches the road. The doe begins to cross the road when a vehicle comes driving towards her, very fast, and we and others wave frantically for it to stop. The doe panics and turns back into the meadow, knocking the fawn down on the edge of the road and stepping on it as she runs off.

     I am certain the little fawn has been hurt since it is lying stretched out on its side. We stare at the tiny fawn with concern but after several minutes the baby deer raises its head then pulls its legs up under its belly and curls up tight. The doe has stopped running thank goodness but makes no attempt to return to get her baby. Krishna says that the doe will probably wait until the human audience is gone to come back for the fawn.

   Krishna decides to check out the area where we saw the young tigress this morning. He tells us that she is the daughter of a tigress they refer to as the shy one, as hardly anyone ever sees this adult tigress. He said the subadult we saw this morning is just the opposite of mom and has no fear of humans. The tigress we saw this morning has a sister and they are still reliant on mom so of course the two cubs stay together. I believe the cubs are one and a half years old.

   We are driving in nearly the same place we were when we encountered the tigress this morning when three Sambar deer come running out of the forest. They are not emitting any alarm calls but their necks are bowed which we are told is a sign of stress. As we slowly drive down the road, we are scanning the trees and undergrowth for tigers. Before long the ranger calls out “tiger”.  Are you kidding me! Krishna and the ranger patiently explain and point to where the cat is. Finally, the four of us catch glimpses of the tigress as she walks slowly through the brush and grass growing under the trees. I have no idea how our ranger saw that cat in all the cover.

   The four of us are excited and talking to each other, when Krishna tells us to quiet down as he and the ranger believe the tigress is stalking something. Suddenly we hear the rustle of dried leaves and grass and soon a herd of wild boar explode out of the tall grass into an open area with a tigress in hot pursuit. The youngster chases the wild boar as they run across the road into the forest and quickly disappear. Krishna tells us that this is the sister to the tigress we were watching.  It all happened so fast that there was no chance at a photo. Not that it even crossed my mind. My mouth was wide open in amazement, and everything was a blur anyway!

  The other cub has now walked into the tall grass, and she stops to look around several times. It is as if she can’t figure out why her sister didn’t wait for her before launching the attack on the wild boar. We get a few good looks at her despite the dense cover and then she lays down. If you didn’t know where she was you would likely never see her. Eventually she gets to her feet and walks back into the trees and soon disappears from sight. This encounter has left us all shaking our heads in disbelief at our good luck today.

    As we finish our afternoon safari, we come upon a jackal eating a fawn. The small canine has a large wound in his hind leg which looks like it could possibly have been inflicted by the tines of a deer antler. The wound doesn’t seem to be bothering him much but maybe that is because he is concentrating on eating his kill.

    On the drive to the gate, we all talk and laugh about what an incredible day we have had. Krishna tells us that we are the only ones that saw tigers today, I assume he meant of our group. I feel kind of bad about that but know if the tables were turned, I would be happy for the people that saw a tiger or leopard that we didn’t see. Oh yeah, we did have a group of people see a leopard that we didn’t see in the last park, and I was tickled for them.

   Tonight the staff has lit up the parking area for our supper. It was beautiful and the food, (outside of a couple spicy dishes), was very good. I am not sure anything can happen for the rest of our trip to top our experience that we had with the tigers today.

    This morning is our last game drive in Kanha. We are with the same people and driver as yesterday. We don’t get very far into the park when we come upon a slew of jeeps that are lining both sides of the road. In this park you can only sit in one place for ten minutes, then you must move at least a hundred yards. The park people can monitor this through gps so the drivers have to abide by the law. It is a good rule as it gives everyone a chance for the better viewing spots. We finally give up and move on as there is no sign of a tiger, though we do return several times to check but with the same result of no tiger to be seen.

    In a different part of the park, we hear alarm calls and it is in the area where a tigress and three cubs live. We stay there quite some time too, moving every ten minutes, then finally leave to go to the restroom stop. The rest of our group are here too, and we all have our breakfast.

   Krishna drives us back to camp and we all tell him how much we enjoyed having him as our guide. He was personable, funny and knowledgeable. I really liked this park, and the lodge was great too.

   After lunch we head for the parking lot to load up in the transport vehicles that will take us to Pench National Park. Paul and I agree that he should get to the area as fast as he can, so we don’t get split up again. When I arrive Paul motions me over to a vehicle. Paul has claimed Bonsei as our driver, the man that drove us from Jabalpur airport to Bandhavgarh. Joy gets in with us too. That is a relief.

   The drive seems less hectic due to less traffic I suppose. We are driving through farm country, and the ripe wheat is just beautiful. There is some corn too. We pass through small farm villages where we have to dodge chickens, goats and cows. The kids wave and say hello to us and we return the friendly gestures. The final part of the drive to Jamtara Wilderness Camp is on dirt roads and the one that goes to the camp is very rough.

   Our lodging here at Jamtara are big tents and I mean big. The interior is roomy and beautiful. I love it. This camp is also managed by a woman. We hurriedly clean up and then we are escorted to a flat roof top, where Allwyn talks about the animals found throughout India. Another man gives a presentation on Pench National Park. They also showed camera videos of tigers visiting the camp this month. That is why you must have an escort to your tents when it is dark.

   We sit next to Ron and Linda at supper and really enjoy their company. We have visited with them a little bit before, but this is the first time we have had a good visit. They are really nice people as all of our group seem to be.

    Looking forward to exploring Pench National Park tomorrow.

India, part 4

Up early and in our vehicle by six. Allwyn is our driver/guide, and I believe Elizabeth is still with us. Allwyn goes back to the grassy fields where we looked for the tigress and her three cubs yesterday. I should mention that the guides pinpoint the area where a tiger might be by listening to alarm calls that spotted deer, langur monkeys, and sambar deer make if they see or smell a tiger. Allwyn stops the vehicle every so often so he and the ranger can listen for alarm calls. We have also learned to recognize the anxious cries from the animals. Particularly those made by the spotted deer.

   When no alarm calls are heard, we continue driving on various roads. Allwyn turns off on a side road where there is a dozen jeeps parked ahead of us. Some of the jeeps are situated further down the road facing the group that we join. There is a large gap of maybe thirty yards between the two clusters of vehicles. Obviously, there is a tiger somewhere. I hear and soon spot an elephant crashing through the brush in a small gorge to the right of us. The patrol guy is yelling on occasion and soon we catch a glimpse of the tiger in the undergrowth.

   Before long the elephant patrolman “herds” the tiger out of the trees and the beautiful cat amicably strolls across the road in the gap left between the safari jeeps. He disappears quickly into the forest. Well, that was cool.

   Yesterday I suspected that the elephant patrol guys weren’t really wanting to get a close look at the tiger for health reasons but were trying to force him into the open. After this encounter there is no doubt in my mind that the elephant patrol really is herding cats for the benefit of tourists! Amazing when you think about it, that a tiger can be driven by an elephant. The question for me, is it right?  Perhaps the answer is yes because they need tourists to come to the tiger reserves. It is tourist money which helps save the tigers and help the local economy. If the visitors report that they saw no tigers will tourists continue to come to the tiger reserves?

   Since we are in the back of the pack, getting a photo of the tiger without a human in it is not easy. I believe Joy and her jeep companions were in the front row, so they got a great look. No phone use allowed when in a crowd so Joy couldn’t get a photo of the young tiger. Joy’s old point and shoot camera she brought to use instead of her phone broke, I believe the first day we got to the park. This tiger turns out to be one of the cubs that are still “legally” with their mother.

    After our tiger encounter, Allwyn takes us up to see the recumbent Lord Vishnu statue situated at the base of a hill in the park. Paul and I visited this place on our last India adventure, and the site is as impressive as we remembered. The statue is sixty-five foot long and carved from a single piece of sandstone rock. This is the only place in the park where you can legally leave your vehicle, except for rest room areas. There are a set of steps that lead to the incredible Indian sculpture which is believed to date back to the tenth century. We are the only people here, so this adds to the peaceful solitude of the sacred place.

 After enjoying this extraordinary place, Allwyn begins the hunt for more tigers. We go to park by a waterhole along with other vehicles but leave after a short period of time. We drive along a road and see a couple of jeeps sitting alongside the road. The guides are pointing towards a grove of trees bordering a field of tall grass, obviously trying to show their guests where to look. Allwyn speaks with the guides, and they say there is a tigress in that area. I actually get lucky and see her for a brief moment as she walks through a gap in the trees. Paul and Elizabeth missed her quick appearance.

   There are elephants close by and since Allwyn leaves and drives back to the water hole I suspect our guide suspects what the elephant drovers are going to try and do.  We wait patiently while several other jeeps come to the pond, sit a few minutes and then leave. Soon we hear and then see an elephant in the trees on the far side of the water hole. Before long, the sister to the male tiger we saw yesterday, walks towards the water hole. For a minute we think the magnificent tigress is going to go to the water and drink, but she just walks along the pond and then retreats into the cover of the trees. We have a great vantage point for this tiger encounter plus there isn’t a huge crowd of tourists. We have a leisurely drive back to camp enjoying the deer and other wildlife along the way.

We do not eat breakfast in the park this morning but return to camp and have brunch. We enjoy omelets and other side dishes. When we finish eating, Paul and I go back to our room and finish packing. We take our luggage out and give it to a couple of guys who will take it to the transport vehicles.

   Paul and I make our way to the headquarters to await instructions from Allwyn for the next leg of our adventure. In the meantime, the staff brings out a birthday cake for Carolyn and we sing happy birthday to her. The cake was delicious!

   After we all finish eating cake, Allwyn informs us that our drive to Kanha National Park will take around five and a half hours. Yikes, although there will be incredible things to see along the road, I am not looking forward to another round of driving in India. Once Allwyn has finished talking, everyone heads down to the departure point to claim a vehicle. Paul and Joy are visiting the restroom before we leave so we three are the last to arrive in the parking area. Oh heck, there are five vehicles that hold the driver and three passengers. Our group has six couples so that means one couple must ride in different vehicles. That would be Paul and I! I am a little unhappy but there is nothing to be done about it. Paul and I have to do some trading out of our backpacks so we both have our water bottles, tablets and our seat cushions. I crawl into the backseat of the jeep and find my companions are Mike and Aimee. Our driver looks really young!

    Mike is a storyteller and I listen to some adventures that the couple have had. Okay, no way would I do some of the things they have done! After about an hour of listening to Mike, I have also been watching the traffic we are driving in. We have had some close calls which have elicited some audible gasps from me. I pull out my tablet and begin reading my book, so I don’t have to watch the road. I stop reading whenever we drive through a village and try to take pictures of the colorful life along the village streets.

    It is getting dark when we reach Kanha Jungle Lodge. I learn from Paul that they were nearly in a wreck! A car was passing a truck, and their driver had to go onto the shoulder to avoid being hit. Paul was riding with Linda and Ron. I think all of them were pretty scared and who wouldn’t be! After talking with Linda, I think the road trips and the way the people drive here, scare her as much as it scares me.

   There are staff waiting for us in the arrival area to greet us and gather our luggage. We are given our room number, and a staff member leads us to our room. The young man that accompanied us, shows us where the light/fan switches are located among some other helpful instructions. I am so tired that I tell Paul I am not going up to supper. Paul has them bring me a light meal, soup and a couple of small chunks of chicken. It is plenty. Paul doesn’t linger after eating as I would guess no one does because everyone is tired. Our room is nice, but we realize we have no air conditioning. Surprisingly, the room is comfortable with just a ceiling fan.

   We will have the same routine in Kanha as we did in Bandhavgarh. Up early, eat some porridge than off on our first game drive in Kanha. I am excited to see this new park.

India, part 5

    After a decent night’s sleep, finally, Paul and I go to the dining area where Joy as usual is already there along with a few others of our group. How early do these people get up?

   Paul and I serve ourselves porridge and seeing no juice we ask for some. The server disappears and after ten minutes or so comes back with two huge glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice. We feel terrible as we assumed the man would just go get the boxes of juice they gave us at our bush breakfasts at Bandhavgarh. I force myself to drink all of the juice after the fellow went to all that trouble, but it wasn’t easy to do.

    Paul and I again have Elizabeth in our jeep and our driver is Krishna. Krishna has a happy personality accentuated with a big smile. We also are accompanied by the managers son, Jay, of the Kanha Jungle Lodge. Our first three lodges on this trip are owned and operated by the same family who are related to the man, Kailash Sankhala, who made the push for tiger reserves staring back in 1956. I believe Jay is a great-great grandson of Kailash.

   We pick our local ranger up along the way to the entrance of the park. Soto introduces himself and he too is smiling and laughing as he climbs into the vehicle. Once we enter the park it isn’t long before our three guides hear spotted deer emitting alarm calls in the vicinity of a large grassland area. The Sambar deer that are near us are definitely on alert too but not calling.

   After sitting patiently with nothing happening, Krishna decides to check another area where we see deer running but not necessarily because they are frightened. Again, no tiger shows itself, so we head back to the large meadow area. Once we arrive, we see a huge number of jeeps lining the road. Krishna maneuvers us into a great spot where no one is blocking our view. A massive tigress is striding through the field right towards us and eventually she walks right by us! The stunning cat steps into the road and walks down the road for several yards. Krishna hurriedly turns the jeep around and we end up right behind the nonchalant tigress, following her at a comfortable distance.

    The big cat leaves the road and enters the meadow that is on the opposite side from which she came. There is beautiful light playing over her striped body. When we run into Joy later, she tells us that their jeep was the first to find the tigress. I believe she was laying down when they found her. Lucky them to see her without the traffic jam.

   We see a lot of deer and besides the Spotted and Sambar deer, there is a Swamp deer found here which is an endangered species. Kanha is one of the few places where these deer can be seen in good numbers. Swamp deer are cool to watch as they completely submerge their heads under the water to graze on whatever is growing on the bottom of the ponds.

    Krishna and Jay are knowledgeable about everything so we are enjoying listening and learning from them. Not that I will remember most of the education they are giving us! They also are good about stopping to let us enjoy all the animals we encounter. We sit and observe a Langur monkey and her baby that Krishna says is three or four days old. We watch the baby, (man they have big ears), as it plays, stares at us, and scratches his rear end, making us all laugh.

    Krishna drives us to a rest stop where our guides set the breakfast on the hood of the jeep. There is one dish that has some type of vegetable coated in batter and deep fried. There are a few fried green beans laying on top. I ask Krishna if this food is spicy, meaning the batter-coated vegetables. He replies that they aren’t quite as hot when they are deep fried. I decide to forgo them and opt for the green beans. I take a big bite and chew half of a green bean. Holy smokes literally, I wonder if flames are coming out of my mouth. My throat catches fire and soon my chest even feels hot plus my eyes are watering. I can’t remember who informed me that what I was eating was a green chili not a green bean. In my defense these chilis look just like green beans! I eat some of my sandwich and drink juice and water so eventually the burning sensation calms down. I can’t taste much; I hope my taste buds recover.

   On our drive after breakfast, Krishna was telling a few funny stories about some of his clients making us all laugh. I told him he had a new story to tell about the dumb American woman who ate a green chili because she thought it was a green bean. We are all laughing and Krishna states I told you it was hot. Which makes us all laugh harder.

    When we return to camp several of us, including Joy, take a walk that leads to the river with Dimple, Jay’s mother and the lodge manager. Dimple talks about various things including weaver ants which are amazing. Basically, the ants make their homes by “stitching” leaves at the end of a tree branch together. The river view is lovely, and, on the way, back Dimple shows us a couple of places in the fence where tigers crawl through and stroll through the grounds of the lodge, usually at night.

   We leave for our afternoon safari with Krishna, but I don’t remember if Jay is with us or who our assigned ranger is. I haven’t mentioned how dusty the roads are, so when there are a lot of jeeps driving the same road most of us have a handkerchief or mask over our nose and mouth. It is a good thing that they have laundry at the lodges for a very reasonable price, because our clothes are covered in red dust by the end of the day.

   This afternoon Krishna takes us down various roads, but we don’t see a lot of wildlife. I think it is too hot. We do have a mongoose cross the road, but he is too fast for me to get a photo. When we are heading for the gate, there is a humongous gaur lying next to some water, chewing his cud. Before we reach the park gate, Krishna gets a call from someone telling him the tigress is out in the open. Krishna races back, and I am not kidding when I say he races, to the grass field we were at this morning. The light is very dim, but we see the tigress, strolling along a fence in the distance. A good way to end the day.

   If memory serves me right, and anymore that is questionable, Joy and her group were among the first jeeps if not the first jeep to find this gorgeous tigress again.

    Tonight Dimple shows us a film featuring her great-grandfather Kailash Sankahala, that talks about his drive to save the tigers in India. Some of the film shows the brutality of the British in slaughtering tigers when India was under there rule. I couldn’t even watch some of the carnage. The film made you appreciate the determination of Mr. Sankhala which covered decades to save the Bengal tiger in India.

   Tonight we are dining outdoors where the staff has lanterns hanging everywhere. Paul attempts to take a photo of the beautiful setting but all he gets is a bright glare. A nice ending to another wonderful day.

India, part 3

   Paul and I are up at 4 a.m. We both do our stretching exercises although the throw rug on the floor doesn’t help soften the hard floor. We arrive at the main building at 5:40 to discover Joy a few others are already drinking hot beverages and eating porridge. Paul and I have a bowl of porridge which is quite good.

    Allwyn reads our names from a list plus the name of the driver we will have today. Our driver/guide is Jay. To Paul and my surprise, a woman from Colorado will be riding with us and it isn’t Joy! We learn that our safari companion today is Elizabeth who is here on her own as her husband doesn’t like to travel anymore.

    Our tour group has been delegated to zone two this morning. A local ranger is assigned to all vehicles that enter the park. Our ranger’s name is Sankari (sp).  At the entrance gate of Bandhavgarh National Park, Allwyn and the other drivers gather our passports and check in with the authorities. Once we enter the park our group of jeeps head in different directions. It makes sense because four vehicles spread out over this large zone will up the odds of finding a tiger.

   Jay speaks excellent English and he tells us what his plans are in searching for tigers and other wildlife. Early in the drive we admire the sun rays creating beautiful shafts of light through the forest trees.

   We see spotted deer, langur monkeys, and wild boar before we have driven very far but Jay doesn’t stop for photos. Jay seems intent on getting somewhere and he and Sankari are speaking to each other in Hindi. Soon they stop the jeep to show us a tiger’s pugmarks and where he laid down in the road. Our guides follow the pugmarks in one direction and then the pugmarks would show the tiger reversing and heading another direction. They try to follow the tracks eventually lose the tracks. Jay explains to us that male tigers spend a good deal of their time patrolling and scent marking their territory. They have to cover a lot of ground every day.

   Jay stops and speaks with a couple of other guides we meet on the road and they tell him where the tiger is or at least was. We drive and turn off on another road where we join a half dozen jeeps whose occupants are looking across a field of tall grass. We sit and wait about ten minutes peering through our binoculars for any sign of the tiger. Jay and Sankari spot the tiger in the grass and with a lot of patience explain to us where the tiger is. Sure enough, we catch a glimpse of the tiger who then cooperates by coming out into a patch of short grass. The big male marks his territory, strolls a bit farther and lays his scent down again before returning to the cover of the dense grass. We wait a while longer, but the tiger never shows himself again.

    The big male was too far away for any photos, but I was trembling with so much excitement my camera wouldn’t have been able to focus anyway! We learned a couple of weeks before coming to India that the government had outlawed cellphones in the National Parks. People were talking on the phones, streaming videos, and taking selfies and it was causing a lot of problems. Allwyn told those with cell phones to keep them out of sight but if no one else was around you could use them to take a photo. Paul and Joy both brought an old point and shoot camera that they had hung onto. Most of the other people in our group including me have cameras.

   We continue to a picnic area, fenced in of course, which has restrooms thank goodness. Jay and Sankari put the breakfast out on a table in a shelter. There are sandwiches, boiled eggs, and other food I don’t recognize, plus coffee and juice. Other members of our group are there, and we learn that everyone saw the tiger. Joy told us that the tears flowed upon seeing the magnificent creature. I can understand that!

   Jay tours us around zone 2 after breakfast where he educates us on the flora and fauna in the park. We see more wildlife and beautiful birds before returning to our lodge. We have time to rest before lunch which is served at 1:15. This is the best meal we have had so far which includes tasty chicken and roasted potatoes. After lunch, Paul and I walk around the attractive campgrounds, listening and looking for birds but also to get some much-needed exercise.

   Our afternoon game drive starts at 3 p.m. and it is hot, but I have my life-saving cooling necklace on, so I am fine. We see a jackal that is not healthy. By the condition of his haircoat I would guess the poor thing has mange. We also see spotted and sambar deer plus plenty of birds. Jay checks numerous water holes which have beautiful reflections from the trees around them but no tigers. Jay informs us that tigers often lay in water to cool off.

   I am exhausted when we return to camp. We shower and a short time later are escorted to an outside venue that is lit up with lanterns. The chefs are preparing barbeque for us. The wait staff serves us appetizers and drinks so by the time I finish the appetizers I am full. I still manage to find room for small portions of the main meal. Way too much food! It is a fun and beautiful setting, but we return, via escort, to our room by nine.

   We have the same schedule as yesterday morning. Everyone is riding with the people they were with yesterday, but we have different drivers. This morning our driver is Allwyn. Allwyn is definitely a multi-tasker. I don’t remember our ranger’s name. We have been assigned to zone 3 which is good as there is a female tiger who is raising three cubs in the area. Allwyn drives and drives while the ranger and he look for pugmarks in the dirt road. They find none so the tiger family must have moved on.

    I find it amazing that we are so often alone. It is so peaceful and beautiful this time of day. We see green bee-eaters, and kingfishers along with other birds. We see two healthy jackal which is reassuring. The scenery is gorgeous too.

   We eat breakfast a different rest area than yesterday and there are no covered shelters. Allwyn pulls the jeep under a tree and with the rangers help lays our breakfast out on the hood of the vehicle. Soon all of our group has arrived but one. When the rest of us have finished eating the last jeep of our group pulls up. They have been watching a leopard. Unreal! I never really thought we would have much luck seeing a leopard in this terrain. It just so happens that Jay, our driver yesterday, is the guide that found the leopard. How fortunate the two couples that were with Jay that they got to see a leopard.

    Allwyn has us load up in the jeep and we take off before the rest of our party. We haven’t driven far when all of us spot a tiger walking in the forest close to the road! The local guide saw her a split second before the rest of us, but you couldn’t miss her. Allwyn somehow knows she will cross the road, so he positions the jeep about thirty feet from the stunning tigress. Sure enough, the tigress boldly walks across the road and has no problem staring us right in the eye. Whoa. Allwyn has called the rest of the group and they soon show up. They will have to be content to see the tigress in a distance as she has covered a lot of ground and is walking among the trees.

   Allwyn drives to a water hole that is located in the direction the tigress is heading. He thinks she may be going there to drink. Other guides have the same idea and soon there are an abundance of vehicles. This is when we realize how fortunate we were to have that magnificent tigress to ourselves.

   After twenty minutes, Allwyn leaves the water hole and drives to a nearby stream. When we arrive, there are a few other jeeps lined up and looking at the tigress who is laying in the bottom of a gorge. The beautiful cat is not easy to see but by standing on the seat and peering into the bottom of the gulley we can see parts of her including her head. There is a lot of brush and grass that is hiding part of the tigress. I don’t even try to take a photo. What a wonderful morning!

    We head back to camp. At lunch there is a tasty chicken dish, plus a spinach dish that I really like but most of the rest of the food I pass on due to the spiciness. Joy is on a bland diet ordered by her doctor so the staff must fix her food separately. It is a shame because I think Joy likes spicy food or at least would like to sample the native food.

   Paul and I relax until it is time to leave on our afternoon game drive in zone 1. We park by a grassy field where a mother tigress has been seen with her three cubs that are one and a half years old. Allwyn tells us that this tigress’s two-and-a-half-year-old cubs, a female and male, refuse to leave the area and there are some problems with that because they share in the kills mom makes. That makes a lot of work for this tigress to try and feed six tigers!

   Allwyn decides there is no activity here and begins to drive around. Soon we find a group of jeeps that are watching a tiger. There are two elephant patrol men who are following the tiger. Allwyn says they are trying to see if it is okay. The tiger ends up on the road but since we are in the back of the pack we must stand on the seats to catch sight of what Allwyn tells us is one of the older cubs.

   The tiger walks into a field of grass and the jeep drivers go crazy trying to get their clients in a good position to watch the big cub. It is like a dang demolition derby! Allwyn eventually manages to separate us from the mob of jeeps, and we drive to a place where we can see the male tiger. The tall grass hides the tiger’s body, but we can see his head. There is also a Gaur in the grass and when the large bovine senses the tiger he begins snorting and walking towards the enemy. The big cat makes a wide berth around the Gaur and ends up walking into the timber. The young tiger roars a few times as it retreats into the forest. Oddly enough Allwyn had told us earlier in the day that one of his most vivid memories while guiding was of a guar charging a tiger. It almost happened again.

   Allwyn drives back to the grass field that we started at this afternoon. This is where people saw the three young cubs yesterday. At one point the three cubs begin to call for mom. Neither the cubs nor mom show themselves. Does hearing three tigers call count as seeing them??

   Making our way back to the gate there is several jeeps that have spotted a tiger. We are lucky enough to see it walking through a clear gap in the grass but there isn’t enough time for a photo. You must exit the park on time or the driver is fined.

Another thing that makes you say hmm is that Allwyn asked what we hoped to see today and Elizabeth said she would like to see three tigers. Wish granted!

   We enjoy another good meal, plenty of dishes without much spice. After supper we pack everything up, but what we will need in the morning. Tomorrow after a morning game drive, we will be driving to Khana National Park.

India, part 2

   Well, being exhausted didn’t help us sleep. I got about two hours of sleep and Paul didn’t do much better. Ugh, jet lag big time.

    We meet Joy for breakfast at eight a.m. in the hotel lobby. There is a buffet and it is huge. The variety of food they offer is amazing but there is no beef, (cows are sacred), and I didn’t see any pork products either.

   After breakfast, Paul and I check out the courtyard where there is a beautiful pool, water gardens, along with plants and trees. We make a few laps around the courtyard to get some exercise.

   At ten a.m. we are picked up by a driver whose name is Aman. Joy booked a tour for us with a company called Delhi Magic where we will tour the bazaar in Old Delhi on foot with our guide. Aman is quite talkative but still seems to maneuver through the insane traffic in Delhi. There are only two lanes, but the small cars and motorcycles turn a two-lane road into at least a four-lane road. The depth perception of Indian drivers must be incredible because I swear there is only a few inches between us and the vehicles next to us. There are several times when I let out an audible gasp because I am sure we will be hit by another vehicle. There is constant honking of horns, but it isn’t angry. The drivers seem to “talk” to each other by using their horns.

   Aman stops in an area where we are to pick up our guide and after a short wait he appears. Our guide is a young man, whose name I can’t recall. Aman continues driving but doesn’t talk much now that we have our official guide who takes over giving us information about Delhi. When we reach Old Delhi, we exit the sedan and begin our walking tour of the bazaar.

   The streets are busy, congested and noisy with cars whose drivers are constantly honking their horns. There is activity everywhere which keeps one looking in all directions. Our first lesson from our guide is that when you cross a street, hold up your hand and the cars will, (hopefully), stop for you. Our guide walks fast and between dodging moving vehicles and the horde of milling people it is hard to keep up with him.

    There are little shops everywhere that sell food, spices, clothing, jewelry, and on and on with the wares for sale spilling out onto the sidewalks. The smell of cooking food mixed with car fumes adds to the overload to your senses. Constant noise in your ears, incredible colors and activity for your eyes, and the smells of a bazaar that offers a variety of goods is overwhelming.  Paul asks our guide at one point how the store owners can get everything sold when so many people are offering the same items in their shops. I am not sure we really got an answer, but when you have 25 million people living in Delhi, I suppose that explains it.

The photos in Old Delhi are mostly Paul’s taken with his phone. A few from Joy. I didn’t even take my big camera.

    It is impossible to walk down the sidewalk without being jostled and bumped by the human traffic. One oddity is that the shoppers and shop keepers all seems to be men.  It is with some relief that our guide turns into an alley, and we continue our walk here. We don’t go far before the noise subsides, thank goodness. The bad part is that this alley is filthy but at least there are less people here.

    Our guide leads us to a large area where men are unloading and moving bags of spices. He warns us that we will walk through the spice area until we are overcome with sneezing and coughing. I think he is joking but he definitely was not! After a few minutes we are all beginning to clear our throats along with coughing on occasion. Our guide takes us down another alley and we are happy to leave the spice saturated air behind. I can’t imagine having to work in that place all day long. You have to wonder what state those workers lungs are in.

    This alley is full of jewelry stores, some fancy clothing stores, while other shops are selling hats and shoes. If I remember correctly a lot of these shops cater to people who are preparing for their weddings.

   Once we leave this place our guide goes over to a line of rickshaws and visits with a few of the owners. He chooses two of the dozens he could have picked from, I suppose the pair that were selected gave him the best price. He puts Joy and Paul in one and he and I get into the other rickshaw. Again, I can’t imagine spending all day pedaling a bike as you pull a cart weighed down by your passengers.

    We exit the rickshaw after a few blocks, and we now wait for our guide to choose a motorized cart. I guess he wants us to experience various types of transportation in Old Delhi. Several people are trying to get his attention, but he chooses an older man, and we climb into the cart which comfortably holds four people.  Our driver takes off and joins the throng of traffic consisting of cars, rickshaws, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, and humans. Geez. Our guide warns us to keep our arms and hands inside the cart as there is little wiggle room between all the modes of traffic clogging the street.

   Our driver tries to finagle his way in front of another motorized cart and ends up bumping into it. He achieves his goal of getting ahead of his rival but due to the mild contact the offended driver begins shouting at our driver. A loud argument ensues and our driver speeds up. The offended man follows right behind us and continues to yell at our driver. To the relief of all of us the angry cart driver finally turns off on a side street. Our guide never says a thing so maybe this is a normal incident.

   We are almost back to the area where Aman dropped us off this morning when a car begins backing out of a parking space. The car comes within a few inches of hitting us. Really! I am so happy to see Aman waiting to take us back to the hotel. The bad part is he will have to drive through heavy traffic for nearly an hour to deliver us to the hotel.

    I suppose we dropped our guide off where we picked him up but truthfully, I don’t remember. I know we all thank him and give him a tip. When Aman drops us at the hotel we also thank and tip him. It is 2:30 and I am really hungry. We eat at the hotel restaurant where I have, wait for it, spaghetti. Most of the items on the menu are spicy and I am not taking a chance on that. Paul has stir-fried noodles which have plenty of zip. Joy settles for rice and steamed vegetables.  

   We take it easy for what is left of the afternoon. Since we ate so late Paul and I just eat some fruit we brought up from the restaurant and some complimentary cookies that were in the room this evening.

   We go to the lobby for the meeting with our trip leader, Allwyn, and to meet the other members of the group at seven=thirty. We are ushered into a small, doorless room off the main lobby. Allwyn, pronounced Alvin, introduces himself to us and then has us all introduce ourselves. There are fourteen of us in total and I am guessing all of us range from middle sixties to around eighty. Once the introductions are finished, Allwyn proceeds to tell us how to pack for our domestic flight tomorrow. We can only carry on a personal item, all liquids are to go in our checked luggage, and all batteries, wires, anything electrical must be in our carryon packs. When we get to the airport, we must remove all batteries and electrical things and place them in a tub, plus your binoculars must also be taken out of their cases. Great, basically we have to unpack our carryon. Allwyn then tells us what time to have our luggage out of the room and when we must be in the lobby. Allwyn answers any questions we have and after socializing a bit, we head up to our room.

     I slept for two hours and then was wide awake. Paul is awake too and we both reluctantly decide to take a half dose of ambien. That gave me another three hours of sleep while Paul managed to get four hours. Thank goodness for downloading books on our tablets.

    We pack everything we can, then Paul and I take a few laps around the courtyard before going to eat breakfast with Joy. We go back to the room and finish packing and set our luggage outside the door. We leave for the airport at 9:15. Allwyn, gathers all of our passports and checks us in, then hands out the tickets. He also checks every one’s luggage in. I would assume this might help keep all our luggage together. After we unpack our backpacks to get through security we have a short walk to our gate. We board the plane shortly after arriving at the gate and after an hour and a half in the air we land at Jabalpur airport. It is a small airport out in the country, and we don’t have to wait long for the luggage to appear. We exit the airport and there are five SUV’s waiting to drive us to Bandhavgarh National Park. Nope, I can’t pronounce it or even remember the name. Joy too, has problems saying the name of the park. Paul on the other hand has no problem pronouncing or remembering the name.

   Joy, Paul, and I walk over to one of the SUV’s and lay claim to it. The driver’s name is Bonsei. He is a very nice man, with limited English. He proves to be a good driver, and he doesn’t excessively use his horn. On our four hour drive we pass through many villages even more colorful than usual since the people are celebrating Holi which is a Hindu festival celebrating color, love and springtime. I looked that up😊. One of the ways they celebrate is painting their faces with various colors and splashing each other with paint. We even see some dogs that have joined the celebration whether they wanted to or not, their coats splashed with red or blue paint. For some reason I did not capture any of the villagers that were covered in paint, but Paul did get one great photo with his phone.

    After some heart-stopping moments during our drive, we arrive at Bandhavgarh Jungle Lodge by late afternoon. The staff was waiting for us with big smiles and waves as we drove into the parking area.

   After being shown to our comfortable rooms, Paul and I get somewhat organized and then shower before going to supper. Paul ordered a beer which is the biggest bottle of beer I have ever seen, a whole liter! I share a little bit of the beer as we listen to the manager of the lodge give an informative talk about the park’s history and the animals that can be found here. That of course includes tigers!

    Once the presentation is over and questions from members of the group have been answered we proceed to the buffet. I quickly learn that most of the food is too spicy for me so thank goodness they have Naan (flat bread) which is delicious. Other members of the group love the spicy food; a few are like me and can’t tolerate it while others like Paul can eat the dishes that are somewhat spicy but don’t set your mouth on fire.

    Allwyn gives us our instructions for tomorrow. We are to be at the main building by 5:45 where the staff will have tea, coffee, and porridge ready for us. Shortly after 6 we will load up for our first game drive. I can’t wait.

India, part 1

   Paul and I were invited by his sister Joy to join her on a tiger safari in India to celebrate her turning eighty years old this year. How can you turn down an invitation to go on a trip with Joy, the world traveler, especially when the adventure is focusing on tigers! All of us have been to India before and were lucky enough to see the magnificent cats back then. It has been seventeen years for us, and I believe ten years for Joy since our last India adventure, so we all decided it was time to return to India. I will add that Paul and I will be celebrating our fiftieth wedding anniversary this year so this will be our gift to ourselves!

   A couple of days before our departure I am having second thoughts about going because of the chaos in the middle East. In fact, I tell Paul I am not going and he informs Joy, who like Paul is disappointed. They decide they will still go although Joy is a bit uncomfortable with the situation too.

   I then call Katy, from Wilderness Travel, to break the news to her. Katy listens patiently then proceeds to explain to me that the company is in constant touch with their people in India and the consensus is that there are no problems in getting to India from the USA. That was my main concern. A couple of the people coming from the USA have had flights that had to be rerouted, but our flight was fine. I ask if anyone else in the group has canceled and she said only one person and it was due to health problems. After listening to her calm and kind explanation I reverse my decision and decide to suck it up and go to India.

    Paul and I have booked the Wabaunsee County transport van to deliver us to KCI. We requested that our friend Chuck drive us and to our delight he agreed too. It is a great service provided by the county at a very reasonable cost. The best part is we don’t have to drive to KCI and pay to have our car parked there for nearly three weeks.

      Chuck picks us up before 8 a.m. and then he picks up another woman who lives in northern Wabaunsee County. We arrive at the airport at ten a.m. and thank our friend for bringing us. Chuck is a great driver, and we appreciate him giving up his day for us.  Thanks Chuck!

    When we enter the airport and go to the check in area for United, we are approached by a staff member. The woman takes us to a kiosk and proceeds to do everything for us. Great. I breeze through the Precheck line, but Paul’s artificial knee sets the alarm off as usual. He is used to this and is prepared for the going over the TSA person gives him.

   Our KC flight leaves on time so we land in Dulles on schedule. The flight information board shows that our flight to Newark is on time, so we are feeling good. I happen to look at the flight board sometime later and now it shows our flight has been delayed and will be leaving fifteen minutes late.  The next time we check our flight the delay is up to thirty minutes late. I go to the desk and ask a man what the problem is. He explains that Newark is fogged in and they are having to slow the incoming and outgoing flights down to be safe.  He checks the passenger list and tells us there are ten people that are on the same flight to India as us. The helpful fellow admits that they probably wouldn’t hold the plane up even for that many people. Great. We end up boarding the plane more than an hour late. The pilot gives the usual “welcome aboard” talk and tells us approximately what time we will land. We will land about the time our plane to Delhi is to be closing its doors.

    This is a short flight and as soon as we land, we begin asking people in front of us to please let us by as we are hoping to make a connection and have very little time. We go from row thirty to row eleven before they start allowing people off the plane. That was a big help, and we were thankful for people understanding. We rush to the shuttle with eight other people who are of Indian descent. Once everyone is aboard the shuttle Paul tells the rather bored driver to “drive”! He complies with Paul’s request. Our companions, who I assume have taken this flight often, are confident that we will make it to our gate before the doors are closed.

   Once off the shuttle, Paul and I take off running. Well, Paul walks really fast and I run if you can call it that. We both have a backpack and a carry on but at least my big case has rollers. A young woman that was on the shuttle with us blows by us like we are standing still. Before long, my heart rate is crazy and I am gasping for breath, so once in a while I have to slow down to catch my breath. Paul looks back often and asks if I am okay. He doesn’t seem to be having much trouble.

    I see our gate and am elated when there are eight or ten people still lined up to board the plane. I walk right past them telling them we are in boarding group two. I asked them what group they were in and they replied group five, so I feel like we have the right to go to the front of the line. I thought Paul was right behind me, but when I look back after scanning my ticket, I see him standing at the end of the line with Joy! I didn’t even see Joy as I was so fixated on getting on the plane. Paul catches up with me and tells me I got a couple of dirty looks when I cut in line. Oh well. I need to sit down and get my heart quieted down.

   We have the two front seats in economy plus and is it nice to have all that leg room! Joy is seated right behind us. Across the aisle from us are a group of monks dressed in their saffron colored robes. I don’t know why I should be surprised but I am when I see them working/reading on their laptops, tablets or smartphones. It just doesn’t fit my image of monks!

   The fourteen-hour flight to Delhi is fine, with only a few instances of minor turbulence. I think the three of us slept more than we thought we would which is good. Once in the Delhi airport we have no problems, it is just very slow to get through customs. Not because there are a lot of people, the process is just time consuming.

    As we exit the customs area, we see a man holding a Wilderness Travel sign up with our names on it. We wave and approach the man who introduces himself as Sandy. I believe he is somewhat amazed that each of us only have two pieces of luggage. None of us checked any luggage which helped get us through the airport quicker.

   We follow Sandy to a small van and after the luggage is stowed, we are taken to our hotel called Andaz. It is just a few minutes’ drive from the airport thank goodness. We got to the hotel at midnight but the process to get checked in to our rooms is very slow. I think it took longer to get checked into the hotel than it did getting through the Delhi airport!

   Joy and our rooms are on different floors, and we drop Joy off first. The rooms are very nice. I shower plus hang clothes up for tomorrow, etc.  We get to bed about two a.m. completely exhausted. It took us 24 hours from leaving our house to arriving at our hotel in Delhi!

Brazil 2025 part 6

   Our next three days at San Francisco ranch go like this. Up at 4:30, eat breakfast at five o’clock, load on the touring truck at 5:30.  We are taken back to headquarters around 11:00 a.m., eat lunch at noon, try to take a nap before going on our afternoon drive which starts at 2:30. Back to the ranch at 5:30, eat supper at 6:00, back on the truck by 6:30 and do a night drive that ends around 10 p.m.!

    The first day we meet up with a research team that are studying Crab-eating fox and Ocelots to see how each species is doing on this ranch compared to other parts of the Pantanal. The team have live traps set and are trying to capture a crab-eating fox whose collar has lost power. The team leader has informed Fred that they have captured two foxes, (neither one turns out to be the collared fox) and we go to the first area to watch them release the canine. The fox is amazingly calm until they open the cage door. When the cage door is opened the fox bolts for freedom and never looks back. We meet up with them at the second site and again, no agitation in the cage by the fox, but as soon as the door is open the little fox is a blur as it runs from the human spectators.

   This afternoon Paul and Fred end up in a contest on who can find the most Marsh Deer. The deer are an endangered species but not on this ranch. The deer do so well here because of the ranches main crop which is rice. There are water canals and boggy areas that the deer love plus they graze in the rice fields.

At the end of our afternoon drive as the sun is nearly down our driver spots a giant anteater! These are the oddest-looking creatures! The anteater is in a pasture, and the South African man asks if we can try to get closer to the anteater on foot. Fred agrees that this will be okay. It is a hopeless attempt as the anteater keeps walking away from us faster than we can close the gap. Once we are in the pasture Fred spots a second anteater on the edge of the field. You can tell it is an anteater, but it is not close enough to document with a photo. Paul had hoped we would see an anteater, so he is quite happy.

     We do not see much on our night drive and Fred tells us we have the misfortune of a full moon while we are here. During a full moon mammals are not moving around much. We do see a couple of foxes, plus a barn owl diving for prey. The highlight was spotting a cayman killing a huge snake in one of the canals. No chance for a photo darn it.

     Today the native South Africans are going home so our group is down to six. This morning, we see myriads of beautiful birds, a couple of fox, and Marsh deer. Fred tells us that we have seen nearly two hundred species of birds!  

    We arrive in the parking lot and discover that a busload of people has arrived for a day at the ranch and they are waiting to eat lunch. Thankfully Fred has arranged for us to be at the head of the lunch line.

    This afternoon it is really hot which is not made any more comfortable by the hot wind that is blowing. Thank goodness for my neck cooler. Again, we see lots of birds plus the Marsh deer contest is continuing. Fred is winning. The rest of us are helping Paul if we see a deer that Paul overlooked. We point out to Fred that he has an advantage because he is sitting on the chair that is affixed to the top of the truck cab which gives him a clearer view. He just shrugs his shoulders and laughs.

   Tonight, the Indian couple decide not to go with us on the night drive. The man seems to be bothered by mosquitos, but Paul and I have not been bothered by the pests. They chose the wrong night to stay behind because we have not driven far when our spotter finds a giant anteater. We sit and watch the animal nosing around in a pasture for a while then move on. Amazing.

    Towards the end of our night drive the truck driver picks up speed. Our spotter and the driver are talking excitedly to one another. Soon our spotter shines his light on a walkway that is built out into a boggy field (these walkways are made to allow people to get through the marshes). There is a magnificent jaguar walking on the wooden structure. The big cat soon disappears into the darkness. We had no expectations of seeing a jaguar here, so this was an incredible bonus. We were all getting a little sleepy, but this certainly woke us up!

    On our third day we have a unique experience of watching the farm crew loading fertilizer into a plane. We watch as the plane takes off and begins dropping the fertilizer on the wet rice fields. Paul and I have also enjoyed looking at the farm equipment that we have encountered on these drives. The San Francisco Ranch is 15,000 hectares which is nearly 37,000 acres! Fred told us there are around 7500 head of cattle, counting cows, calves, and feedlot animals. I do not remember how many acres of rice they had. Fred also informs us that fifty percent of the ranch’s income comes from tourism.

   Later we sit and watch as some cowboys are moving a herd of yearling bulls. They are bringing them out of a pen onto the road. All goes well until one bull suddenly decides he does not want to leave the pen. After evading the two cowboys on horseback several times, the bull attempts to go through the fence. He is unsuccessful in getting through so the renegade gives up and walks through the gate. We watch as the cowboys and cattle move on down the road then return to the lodge for supper. These cattle were headed for a feedlot. They do not steer their bull calves.

    Tonight, our game drive was very sparse though we did watch a pair of crab-eating fox hunting in some tall grass next to the road. Although the pair worked hard, they came up empty.

    This morning, we begin our long journey home. We eat breakfast at five and return to our room to finish packing. Paul left our room for some reason and soon came back in to inform me that there was a Hyacinth Macaw in a tree behind our building. I grab my camera and get some shots of the beautiful bird. Paul tells the other people in our group about the Macaw, and they all go unpack their cameras to photograph this hard-to-find Macaw. A great way to end our time here.

    The Colorado couple and Fred are not going with the Indian couple and us to the airport because their flights are later. We take a photo with Fred; tell him he was a great guide and give him a well-earned tip. We say goodbye to Fred and the couple from Colorado and load up for our last road trip in Brazil.

   Our trip home was a long one but the complete opposite of the debacle of getting to Brazil, meaning it all went smoothly. It was a great trip but as always so good to get home.

Brazil 2025 part 5

    A cold front came through last night with strong winds and the riverboat was sailing into the wind and waves. I woke up several times and could feel our ship hitting waves and rolling a bit.  Paul slept through the night and never noticed the waves at all. Consequently, we are behind schedule as far as where the captain had hoped to be this morning.

Paul and I went outside at five a.m. to look at the sunrise and came right back in. It is chilly and with the stiff wind, it is not comfortable. What a change from yesterday. After breakfast we load up in the speedboat.

    Although our boat driver stays as close to the edge of the river as he can, we are traveling into the wind. This means the wind-created waves are coming straight at us.  The river is rough and at times there will be a wave that is three feet tall, (I asked Paul about the height, and this was his estimation). Our driver must speed into these large swells to make it over them. This maneuver sends a spray of water into the boat. This is one time it is good to be sitting in the middle seats! We hardly see any birds, I assume they do not like the wind or the temperature.  Fred must see the discomfort of his charges and asks us if we want to go back to the riverboat. Every one of us agrees we want to return. Some explorers we are!

    We decide to go back out on the speedboat this afternoon, this is our last chance to explore by speed boat after all. At least the sun is out although it is still windy. We must cross some rough water but then our driver turns into a side channel which is protected from the wind, (and much smaller than the Paraguay river). We see a Toucan, a Trogan, and a Great Horned owl with two chicks in a nest so this alone was worth the trip. We arrive at a crystal-clear pool of water where a lot of the group had hoped to swim and snorkel, but it is just too cold.

    Fred sings for us one last time and gives an educational talk on Macaws. He also brings the cowboy-hat wearing chefs out and introduces them to us. We give the incredible cooks a much-deserved round of applause for all the delicious meals they have prepared for us.

    Tonight, the KC Chiefs are playing in Sao Paulo. As crazy as it seems, Paul and the man from Colorado can watch the game on the tv in the dining room. Not exactly roughing it are we?

    Today the riverboat delivers us to the town of Carumba. Upon seeing the slot where the captain must maneuver the boat into, I cannot see how in the world he will manage it. However, with seemingly little effort he pulls into the space next to another riverboat. Before we disembark the crew lines up in the prow of the boat. We shake hands, thank them for taking such good care of us and give them a well-deserved tip.

    There is a van waiting for us at the boat dock. Some of the crew loads up our luggage and we climb into the van. We are driven into the historic part of Carumba where a young woman is waiting for us. We climb back out of the van and take a walking tour in the old town of Carumba. As we walk, the young woman fills us in on the history of her town as we admire the colorful buildings.

    When our tour is over, we crawl back into the van and are driven to a house that is now a museum. The museum was the home of a wealthy couple who left the house and their belongings to the city with the intent for it to become a museum. It is filled with beautiful furniture, has a big library, and a large room dedicated to Don Quixote. The man was obsessed with Quixote. There are Quixote paintings, statues, toys, and books he collected in many languages.

    Our next stop is visiting a man who is famous for constructing guitars from native wood. We are given a tour of a room filled with memorabilia and guitars. He also strums on one of his creations while he sings to us. We end the tour in his simple workshop which is behind his house.

    Our last stop before lunch is at the top of a steep hill. There is a statue of Jesus that looks like a replica of the famous statue in Rio de Janeiro. There is also a nice bird’s eye view of Carumba.

   Time for lunch, which is in a museum dedicated to cowboy life in the Pantanal. Fred has outdone himself here. Our table is set up in the middle of the displays, and a trio of men are serenading us as we eat. We are served ten different dishes, one at a time. Though the food was delicious, and the portions small I do not think anyone was able to eat everything.  The guitar player and accordion player are excellent. They both have great voices too but when the guitarist sang on his own, I literally got goose bumps. What a haunting voice this young man has. The song I remember clearly was “Easy like Sunday Morning.” Yes, they mostly sang American songs.

    It is time to journey to the San Francisco ranch, so we say goodbye to and thank our knowledgeable guide. I tell her that her English is superb, and she thanks me for the compliment.

     After three hours on a very rough highway and some dirt roads we arrive at our destination. The first thing we see when exiting the van is a pair of Macaws eating from the unique bird feeder. The feeder is the top rail of the wooden fence that has been hollowed out. When everyone is finished snapping photos of the Macaws, Fred leads us to one of the owners who is waiting for us. The young woman points out the restaurant, the office, informs us where to drop off our laundry, etc. We are shown to our rooms which are spacious, simple, and very clean. There are three beds, a half dozen wood platforms attached to the wall to set your luggage on, a small bathroom, and air conditioning. It is all we need.

    We eat supper at 6:30 but it is not just our group. The ranch has many guests here. Most are Brazilians who come for one night to enjoy the country life. They are taken on drives in trucks that carry sixty people. No thanks! The guests also enjoy the pools, hammocks, liquor, and the buffet. Our supper is good but a step or two down from our meals on the riverboat.

    After supper we go on a night drive. I am a little uncomfortable with the spotlighting but that is the only way you will see anything. We get lucky and our spotter finds an ocelot hunting by the edge of the road. The small cat catches what our spotter thinks is a guinea pig. We watch from a distance as she gobbles it down. We sit and wait and sure enough the ocelot comes towards us with no fear at all. She goes into a field and this time we clearly see her pounce on something. Since it does not take her long to consume it the guides figure it is a mouse. Cool, we had hoped to see an ocelot and that can be checked off the list.  We also see crab-eating foxes and some owls. I also am surprised at how the animals and birds don’t seem to be affected by the spotlight. We get back to our rooms around ten o’clock, tired but happy.