The first rains of June 2015

'Monsoon hits Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra' is the news casters' predictable opening line sometime during the first 2 weeks of June every year. And this year we - my husband and myself were 'in the other parts of Maharashtra' when it occurred!

A trip to the Tadoba wild life reserve near Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, had been a desire for a while. The sanctuary is open through out the year, except for the 3 monsoon months when the slushy tracks make it quite difficult, in fact, impossible to drive through. Add to that, the danger of being stranded in an open jeep, in the midst of a conserved forest, where wild life roam free.The State forest department does not allow tourist safaris into the forest core during this period. The summer months are ideal for tiger sightings. Tadoba reserve is one of the sanctuaries in India that has a very high count of tigers and large water bodies to lure the animals out into the open. Tigers and the occasional leopard come out of the dense forests to quench their thirst. Perfect photo ops! As far as I knew then, this was Tadoba's only claim to fame.

Safari permits [from the forest department] have to be obtained 60 days prior to the the planned trip.We were not aware of this pre-requirement and so our tentative plan to visit the sanctuary during summer 2015, did not materialise. The earliest possible was the first week of June-the last few days before the safari was to shut its doors to tourists, before the arrival of the rains. We decided to go anyway, aware that, in case the weather cools down and the rains clouds advance earlier than schedule, all we would see were vast expanses of a summer dried jungle, washed clean by the first showers.

Come June, we headed to Nagpur and further to Tadoba, excited, anticipating tiger sightings – well, at least 1 tiger, in the wild. No sign of the monsoons yet, right? We had booked for 3 safaris after all!

Tadoba wild life reserve is largely a bamboo and teak forest - tall tree trunks and not too many shrubs crowding the ground. Probably the reason, why it feels like a neat and clean jungle! Add to that, Well marked out fire-lines [tracks kept clear of trees, to ensure that in case of forest fires, the damage is contained], give one the positive feeling that animal sightings had to be a breeze - not many places for the animals to hide. :)

Open jeeps weave their way into the reserve and core areas on red mud tracks and alongside scenic water bodies. Picturesque! Statistics show that there are a mind boggling number of exotic birds in there and in large numbers too! The world and us, were focused on seeing tigers. Only.

Our first safari was fun! - warm weather and our enthusiasm ensured that! The 3 hours went by very quickly with excitement and cheer every few minutes. We saw plenty of animals – a wild bear crossed the track almost in front of our jeep! A whole herd of wild bison called 'white socks' [the lower half of their legs were white!] were lazily grazing on both sides of the road! Dozens of very large grey langurs prancing around, some of them with their little ones hugging them at the waist! Tall and sturdy Sambar deer peering from between tree trunks! Dozens of grazing spotted deer, stags, wild dogs, barking deer, and a whole lot of very colourful birds! And even a monitor lizard! BUT, no Tiger :(

The last 3 words reduced the spell binding 3 hours to 'a waste of time'.

Our 2nd safari was scheduled for the next morning. The skies were cloudy and cool breeze met us as we stepped out of our room. Lovely weather!

Gloomy weather was NOT a good sign for tiger sightings, we were told. The guards, jeep drivers and tour guides wore downcast expressions to match their ominous predictions. There were despondent mutterings of an impending 'useless' safari. “Kaahich disnaar naahi” [we are not going to see anything]. There had been light showers the previous night, a few streaks of lightning and some growls of thunder. Our moods went south too. The hope of seeing a tiger had dimmed. In fact, very quickly, It was not even an expectation any more.

Our jeep entered the gates of the reserve. It started to drizzle lightly, and we dived to retrieve our raincoats and sheets to cover the camera.

A few minutes into the drive and we couldn't help notice a few things that lifted our spirits and gladdened our hearts. The sights and smells were distinctly different from our experience of the previous day. The mud track that had been a pale, sun burnt dusty shade of saffron was now firm, damp and an earthy rusty red.

The smell of wetness seeping into the parched earth, clouds in different shades of grey covering the skies, puddles capturing the reflections of the sky and everything else close by, trees gleaming clean with their summer dust washed off, the moistened air, the mysterious silence that settles just before the next shower....

After a grueling summer, the much awaited monsoon was here! And this had to be the best place in the world to welcome it!

The change in the weather presented some unusual sights – a large eagle sitting right in the middle of a dirt track next to a small puddle of water. Langur in large numbers – I mean large numbers, they were everywhere, gathering around puddles to quench their thirst, bring with them their curious, round-eyed babies too! Baby langur on their wobbly legs, exploring the world, with the adults keeping a close eye, just a few inches away, not trusting the tourist jeeps and their passengers close by!

The slow bumpy ride in an open jeep with a fairly untouched forest around us was a pleasure. Away from the fast paced city and the tensions of everyday life, we were relaxed in these quiet surroundings. Our eyes had stopped their frantic search for a certain striped animal and we began to notice the beauty of the jungle.

Fleeting glimpses of colourful birds, elaborately entwined creepers, the deer fearlessly looking back at us, straight in the eye, peacock plumage visible from behind small dense bushes, behives, animal footprints...! Mangoose, jungle fowl, squirrels were in plenty!A silence that we never hear in the city interspersed with sounds - the rustle of leaves moving in the breeze, bird calls, growls, barks, squeaks....,

We had gone on vacation to escape the stresses of city life and stressed ourselves about sighting a tiger!! And the blissful hours we spent, not looking for one, were the best!

A city dweller's vacation is most often what one expects and pays for, rath

er than the rest and rejuvenation that one needs during the hard earned break from routine, isn't it?

We did see a 'just became mom' tigress on safari #3.

As far as our Tadoba trip experience rating goes, our true brush with nature stood first with the 'tiger sighting' coming a close second!

------

Originally published in 2015