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.