Bandhavgarh

Editor's Note

Bandhavgarh does more than house them; this is home to the tigers. And one look at the confident Big Cat strolling across the uneven road proves this! The forests are wonderful and nothing beats the first sighting of the famed pugmark, precedent to the fact that a tiger is here. True, you might sight only one tiger over a period of four days, but the anticipation of ‘tiger here’ is at once attractive and fearful. Hire a guide who recognizes pugmarks to guide you where a silky golden hued tigress might sit zealously guarding her little ones. One look at them and it is tough to imagine that Bandhavgarh National Park was once a hunting ground for the Maharajas. And as if noticing your presence and eye on them, the mother would simply haul her cubs and disappear to the wilderness. Of course, don’t bet on sighting a tiger every time you venture out, and learn to admire the smaller wonders of nature-in sightings of herds of spotted deer, a group of elephants soaking up the sun, a wild boar, a peacock or two and a multi-hued bird. We say-go on every possible safari, because no two sightings would be the same. Options are plenty-take a jeep safari or ride an elephant. And not just the wild; the forest in itself is beautiful, to say the least; creating magic with its grass, moss and canopies as the time of the day changes.