After a 4-hour drive from Pench we arrived at our camp at Kanha NP where we would be staying for 4 nights, going on 3 morning and 2 afternoon drives.
Routine here was more or less the same as in Pench; wakeup call at around 0515, leaving between 0545 and 0600 to line up at the entrance to the park which opened at 0615, stop for breakfast at some point, leave at 1130 at the latest, return at 1445 and leave again at 1730. Return to the resort for snacks, meet for a short briefing at 1930 followed by dinner.
Indian roller.
The process of entering the park was much stricter than in Pench – we had to show our passports which got cross-referenced with the reported lists of vehicles/passengers. We had the same driver & car on all drives, but the guide would be new every time. The guide was technically not a guide but a park ranger there to make sure the driver stayed in the designated sector of the park (among just generally making sure rules were followed).
Being higher than Pench mornings were significantly cooler and it took longer for the sun to burn through the morning mists. But when that did finally happen we were back to being nice and toasty again.
Siberian stonechat.
The park was huge – only app. 20% could be visited – which meant that we drove a lot, both to get from the gate to our sector but also to find anything watchable. There was plenty of birds around, the same with deer of various kinds – even the rare blackbuck made an appearance not far from the road. Tigers and leopards were significantly rarer, though. Our vehicle ended up spotting 2 tigers at two different times (during the two first morning drives); both were spotted crossing the road so the sightings were brief. One disappeared into the undergrowth, the other went to sleep in the bushes and was almost out of sight.
Blackbuck.
On the last afternoon drive we were heading out and near the exit another car had stopped; one of the passengers said there was a tiger but neither their driver nor guide seemed invested. Probably because of the latter and the fact we were getting close to the deadline for when we had to leave the park I couldn’t convince the driver to wait a few minutes so we could have an extra look. Returning to the resort we were the first ones there, the rest arrived 10 minutes later. It turned out that they had spotted a leopard– according to their description – exactly at the location where the passenger in the other vehicle claimed he had spotted a tiger. That bothered me quite a bit – not because they had spotted something I hadn’t – but because the driver & guide hadn’t wanted to give just a moment to a tourist’s curious suspicion.
Dragonflies at the hotel.
The afternoon we didn’t go for a drive we visited a house in the village to see how they lived. It was very simple (compared to a western residence) but very nice according to their means. To be honest these kinds of visits feel a bit colonistic to me and therefore a bit weird, even if it is the family that invites us to see and not just us walking in. A bit snobbish “Oh look darling – they have locks on doors! How quaint!”. But we did get to see a few birds along the way, so that was nice.
Moth at the hotel.
When arriving in India a husband in the group was denied entry at the border at the airport due to an anal power-hungry immigration officer: he got turned around due to a too old photo on the visa. After a bit (a lot) of confusion, chaos and getting her bag with her and his bag with him, he got a return flight to England while trying sorting out a new visa with a newer photo. In the end he was successful and retuned to Delhi, got through immigration, and when we arrived in Kanha he arrived a few hours later. There was applause and big smiles all around. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple.
Fruit bat.
