Tadoba Safari

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve

9th April - 10th April 2018

Best Time to Visit: Summer (March to May)
No of people: 5 

Total distance covered to and fro from Nagpur : ~320 KM

Hotel /Home-stay bookings: Rs.3500 per night including the Lunch, Dinner and the Breakfast on double occupancy basis.

Tadoba Core Zone Safari charges: Rs.4300/-

Tadoba Buffer Zone Safari charges: Rs.3400/-
Petrol Expenses: Rs.3000/-
Total Expenses: ~Rs.15,000


In the month of March, we planned for a safari to Tadoba Tiger Reserve and immediately I started my search and google was to my rescue. As Nagpur is our hometown, reaching Tadoba was no big deal. But, if you are traveling to Tadoba, you can reach by - 

Air : Nagpur is the nearest airport and is 150 KM from Tadoba. 
Rail : Chandrapur is 45 KM from Tadoba and is the nearest railway station. Nagpur is 150 KM away and is well-connected too. 

Taxis from Nagpur to Tadoba should cost approximately Rs.3000 one way.

Following are the list of the Core and Buffer Zone Safari's that you can choose from:

Tadoba Map

Core Zones:

1. Moharli
2. Khutwanda
3. Navegaon
4. Kolara
5. Kolsa – Zari
6. Pangdi

Buffer Zones:

1. Alizanza
2. Devada Adegaon
3. Agarzari
4. Junona
5. Kolara
6. Ramdegi

I was totally confused by the above options and couldn't finalize any. Alas, after doing a lot of research, I thought of experiencing one core and one buffer zone safari.
 
Major difference between the 'Core' and the 'Buffer' zone is that; the 'Core' zone is actually a forest with abundant wild life. Whereas, in the buffer zone you will see a few wild animals along with co-existing villages. But, don't get to a conjecture about the tiger sighting. There is no relation between tiger sighting and the zones. You might sight a tiger in the buffer zone and not in the core zone , it's all on your luck. Also, you cannot predict which core/buffer zone gate will have a good sighting as you cannot trace the tiger movement.

I choose Khutvanda afternoon safari (Core zone) and Agarzari early morning safari(Buffer zone). You can book the same at:http://www.mahaecotourism.gov.in/Site/Common/nationalParks.aspx. I also had done one night booking at the 'Waghai Resort' near Moharli gate (https://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review-g1459055-d10171932-Reviews-Waghai-Chandrapur_Chandrapur_District_Maharashtra.html).

Park timings as on https://nationalpark.mahaonline.gov.in  

On 9th April, we started on our journey at 7:30 AM  in our Maruti Alto. Considering it as a 4 hours journey including the pit stops, we planned to reach the' Waghai Resort' at 11:30 AM. All it started with a gala journey, having chips/biscuits and soothing background music, when suddenly the car started loosing it's control on the highway and finally broke down. My husband Sagar, immediately got down and concluded that the tyre of our vehicle was ruptured and that we all had to get out. It was so much damaged that we could only see the rim. All of us were shocked, but the most relieving thing was spotting a garage at the same place where our car had stalled :) It was as if  the 'Almighty' wanted to help us out :)


After half an hour, we fixed the tyre and resumed our journey. Since ,we did not have spare tyre, we decided to purchase one from Varora to avoid any inconvenience later. We planned to have breakfast at a hotel on the highway. But, beware! There are not many restaurants :(  We ended in having food at one of the stall which wasn't value for money and was unhygienic .

At 11 AM, we reached Varora in search of a new tyre, as the roads were going to be more treacherous thereafter. As we reached Anandvan, we found out that the 19 KM stretch of the road towards Tadoba was under construction :(. It was very difficult drive through the scorching heat! Alas, we reached our resort at 12 PM.

As soon as we reached our resort, we relaxed in the rooms and had lunch. At 1:15 PM, we decided to leave for Khutvanda gate which was 13 KM drive. The drive was good, not many vehicles were plying on the road. In about 15 mins, we reached the Khutvanda gate and waited  for the safari. 

We started our safari in scorching heat of 43 degrees with 6 litres of water stocked in for the next four hours. We also covered our heads with scarves and caps :)

The Amazing Safari

 After half an hour all the vehicles waited at the spot near a pond where they sighted a tiger (fondly named Matkasur). But the tiger was a bit far (about 300 m) and was hardly visible. We waited for half an hour but Matkasur didn't move. 
  

Deer's on our way.

After an hour, we spotted another tiger (Chota Matka) who was resting in a pool of water along with some crocodiles. We all were amazed by that sight. He was almost there for half an hour and  he quietly moved behind the tree after spotting some deers. The deers ran helter-skelter after finding the presence of the Jungle King🐯.

Checkout the Deers in the background.

Crocodiles in the same pond :)

After this event, the tiger escaped through the farms and no one knew his location. We also waited for him for about 30 min and then left to the Tadoba Lake.

 Tadoba lake was too beautiful and surrounded by wild life. One could see the spotted dears, sambars, monkeys, wild buffaloes, Nilgai's, crocodiles and birds such as the storks, kingfishers, jacana's, woodpeckers, eagles. It was a sight to behold  :) The greenery besides the lake was talk of this journey in such scorching heat and was a lovely sight. My eyes couldn't take over to anything else, than this. It was indeed a fantastic moment :)

Tadoba lake

Deer

Wild Life @Tadoba

Eagle

The Lazy Croc!

At 6 PM, we left by the lake towards the gate and photographed the beautiful tar roads amongst the ghost trees. It is an awesome feeling when you are the only one meandering through the dense forests.

Serpentine!

Internal tar roads in Tadoba

Here, ends our afternoon safari..

Our 4 hours safari had come to an end and we reached our hotel at 7 PM and relaxed in our rooms. We also had nice delicious dinner and dozed off.

10th April, we left for Agarzari Buffer Zone at 6 AM and reached at the gate in 5 minutes. We got our documents checked and started our safari with our guide and the driver. I still cannot forget that morning, driving deep into the forest in the perfect weather conditions. We drove through the bamboo trees with peacocks in the background and golden backwaters of the IRAI dam. View was just irresistible!

Peacock!

Backwater of the IRAI dam.

The beautiful Kingfisher :)

Deep inside the Forest :)

We could see the pug marks of the tigers at one point and we followed them. We reached at a point and waited for 15 minutes but couldn't spot the cats.

Pugmarks!

We almost spent 2 hours later in the jungle and my hope to see the 'Bengal Tiger' almost diminished. Alas, we waited at a water spot where 'Madhuri', the tigress was spotted the day before along with her kids. We spent half and hour and one of the tourist spotted  some movement just adjacent to the water-pond. All of us were eager to see the 'Bengal Tiger' making a heroic entry through the bamboo trees towards the water pond. 

He came. He posed. He drank water and finally made a Good Bye! We were stalled by the beauty. He was just 15 feet away! What a terrific sight it was! I was blown away.

Tiger Spotted!

Gosh! He is so huge 😻😻

Superb!

What a sight!

Closeup!

Good Bye!

There was a senior ladies group aging 70+ and they were busy eating their tiffins and as soon as they saw the tiger, they stood and started annoying him  ... :|

I think the tiger identifies this gesture :) :P

We all couldn't control our laughter :D  and their guide promptly asked them to be seated. Those people also threw some paper wrappers from their gypsy and our guide picked it up later. I somehow was irritated by their behavior. All rules and regulations should be strictly followed is what I feel while you take the safari and if anyone disobeys the rule, the safari should be called off.  You shouldn't take advantage of people who are nice to you.

With that happening in the background, another 3 tigers started making their way towards the water pond. Everyone was excited to see all of them coming. Suddenly, surroundings went quiet. Our hearts were pumping for what next to come and boom!👊 One 9 month old baby from fellow gypsy started crying loudly. Tigers who were on their way got disturbed and sat down at the same location :(. We all love babies, but we were so upset as he totally ruined our experience.

Also, there was one instance where one of the tourist did not switch of his phone and his alarm was continuously ringing and the guide too couldn't switch it off as it was kept inside the locked safety box. 

We nearly sat there for more than half hour, but no luck! Finally, we made our way towards the gate and our safari ended.

It was amazing experience to visualize the 'King of the Jungle' in the wild. We could have sighted more too but probably bad luck. I wish the people are more thoughtful and the forest department makes stricter rules in the best interest of everyone. 

After buying some souvenirs we reached our resort at 10:30 AM. We had a quick breakfast and left for Nagpur at 12 PM. On our way home, we visited 'Anandvan'. We took a break for lunch at 'Hotel Ashoka', Jamb. We reached home around 4:30 PM. 

To summarize, it was a mesmerizing experience watching big cats in the wild!🐅 Not to forget, the incredible Tadoba forest and the amazing safari experiences in the core and the buffer zones which would be in my memories forever! 

They say once you spot the tiger, you start planning for your next visit and so are we :) 😼

For more photos follow me on instagram @saylibidkar, @sagarbidkar