Bandhavgarh - Day One

February 3-9

As much as we liked the desolate salt desert, moonscapes, acacia scrub, wetlands and wildlife of the Little Rann of Kutch and the lush woodland savannahs, waterways and birds of Keoladeo, it was Bandhavgarh that truly gave us the sense of being in wild India. We understand why Butch and Susi make it their home base, and it is, after all, where they first met. (For their story visit: butchlama.com, see "about us" and click on "our story" at the bottom of the page.)

We arrived in the village of Tala in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, in time for lunch at Tiger’s Den, where we would reside for the next six days.

The accommodations were very nice and spacious, with a great shower and plenty of hot water, after allowing a few minutes for the heat to make its way to the showerhead. The food was wonderful, and the dining room was looked after by the ever-smiling Manish, who in a past life may have been a Jewish or Italian mother. He was always on the lookout for an empty plate to refill with all sorts of wonderful Indian delights, including a never-ending supply of naan or chapattis. The grounds at Tiger’s Den were lovely with beds of flowers and shrubs and lines of bottle palms interspersed with a tree that reminded us of a closed umbrella. 

After lunch and settling in, we had our first game drive in the park.

Zone 2 - Magdhi Gate

Bandhavgarh is divided into three or four zones, depending upon your source of information. It has a large number of hills, some of which rise 1,000 feet above the lowlands of the park. One of the most impressive hills is called the fort. It sits in the middle of the park, and has been used, traditionally as a fortress because of its views of the surrounding territory, and the protection provided by its steep slopes. 

The habitat is a rich mixture of fields, tall grasslands, forest dominated by sal trees, bamboo thickets and a variety of water features from streams running down from the hills to reservoirs, which are frequented by wildlife, especially in the hotter weather. 

Sal Forest

One of the Rocky Hill Tops

Grassland and Forest Edge

Spotted Deer at Water Hole

For our first drive we were in zone 2, the Magdhi zone. During that first afternoon game drive, Butch was in his element behind the wheel of our gypsy. A gypsy is a 4x4 Indian made vehicle that is akin to a jeep. They are used in Bandhavgarh as the primary safari vehicle. 

The gypsies are deep forest green and open topped with two rows of bench seats – the back one raised above the front one so those in back can see over other passengers’ heads. Although we saw them loaded to the gills, they seat up to 4 people comfortably on the benches, with bucket seats for the driver and a passenger in the front cab. In addition to having Butch as our driver, we picked up an official guide for each safari, who provided another pair of very experienced eyes for tracking tigers and other wildlife.

Butch drove the sandy roads searching for signs of tigers – whether paw prints (pug marks) on the road, scratches on trees or in the sand to mark their territory, evidence of where a tiger took a rest along the road, or scat. 

We would also come to a dead stop at times, and Butch would turn off the engine, so they could listen for any telltale sounds, such as alarm calls from prey species within the park, proclaiming the presence of a tiger nearby. He and the guide conferred frequently in Hindi, interpreting the different clues and trying to anticipate where the tigers might be and where they might show up next. Along the way we saw lots of other animals: herds of chital or spotted deer, the less gregarious sambar, the largest deer species in India, and two species of primates - rhesus macaques, and the quite handsome langur monkeys. The short grass fields were rich with deer and an abundance of peacocks feeding.

Spotted Deer

Langur Monkey

Butch and our guide conferred with every other vehicle we passed. No one had seen a tiger that afternoon. We had resigned ourselves to the fact that sightings were sparse and our expectations of finding tigers were fairly low. Other groups had completed two drives a day for five or six days without seeing one of the big cats. 

Sign as you leave the Magdhi Zone

It would be disappointing to come so far and not see a single tiger, but I think we each tried not to get our hopes up and sought consolation in the fact that we really were enchanted by the terrain with its mix of landscapes – open grasslands, savannahs, closed canopy forests, lush tree tunnels as the road ran along creek sides and the high points in the park with lovely rocky balds on the hills. There were also plenty of other mammals and lots of birds to keep us happy.  So we remained upbeat and enjoyed what we did see.

Late in the afternoon, Butch pulled off the road again to listen. While we sat quietly, we heard several sharp alarm calls from deer in the vicinity. These calls alert other prey to the presence of predators, and the guides use them to home in on the location of tigers. We were on the alert, sitting quietly, watching for any other signs of activity and listening for further calls. We eventually proceeded, took a turn onto another track and drove down the road to see one very large tiger lying in the road. Upon our sudden approach, he rose and ambled across the road and off into the undergrowth. We were amazed at how quickly we lost sight of him in the bush. That bright orange color and striping provided amazing camouflage. Butch identified him as a sub-adult male. So, just as we were each silently resigning ourselves to how difficult it would be to see a tiger, there he was, if only briefly. It felt slightly unreal – a magnificent, pinch yourself moment.

To add to that excitement, we heard something we were told is very rare – tiger growls coming from within the forest. Apparently there was some jockeying for position among the members of the tiger community and they were being uncharacteristically vocal. Hearing the growling, which occurred intermittently for some time, was almost as good as seeing the tiger. Both were a real thrill. We waited around for some time, in hopes of another sighting, and caught up to some other gypsies full of wildlife watchers that had gathered in a spot together along the road near where someone else had caught a quick glimpse of another tiger. We watched and listened, but in the end, it grew late, and we needed to be out of the park before dark, so we headed for the exit, quite content with all we had seen and heard, and very much enamored of Bandhavgarh National Park.

It was a great day – the first of many, and to top it off, we were so warmly greeted upon our return to Tiger’s Den, as though we were old friends returning home. We freshened up and then had a wonderful meal, washed down by a tasty Kingfisher beer. Soon after, we collapsed in our beds, knowing that we were set to wake up at 5:15, in order to be back at the park gate when it opened just after dawn.

The Midnight Train to Katni

February 2-3

After a wonderful day in Agra, we headed to the train station to catch our 9 PM overnight train to Katni. The Agra Cantonment Railway Station was a bustling place, even at that time of night. With the help of porters we moved all of our gear onto one platform, only to discover that our train was changing platforms. So we hurriedly picked up the pieces and moved quickly up a ramp, over some tracks and down to the correct platform and waited for our train to arrive. Susi had warned us that, depending on when the train pulled in, there might only be 2 to 3 minutes to get everything on board before it pulled out again, so we were to let Butch and the porters deal with the luggage and follow his lead. It is a bit of a challenge to sit back and let others handle your bags when we are so used to doing it ourselves.

The cars are labeled with a letter and number and there are corresponding numbers on the platform. We stood at our designated spot, H2, and waited for the train to pull in. When the train arrived a little ahead of schedule, we scurried to get ourselves on board and out of the way and let Butch deal with the luggage. In those few short minutes, we managed to find our berth in the first class sleeper car and get settled in.

Not really knowing what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised by the spaciousness of our berth where the four of us would spend the night. There were two bench seats facing each other, each with a bunk above.

Lydia on a lower bench that folds out into a bed

Upper bunk that folds down when ready for bed

Once underway, we got ready for bed knowing that we would have an early morning arrival in Katni and had only a few minutes to make a quick getaway at that train station. Sheets, pillows and blankets were provided so we made up our beds and settled in for what we thought would be a decent sleep, hoping to be lulled into slumber by the gentle rocking of the train. Let me just say that it was a bit more than gentle and sleep was intermittent. 

We had also been very careful with our intake of liquids prior to the trip, as we had heard some daunting tales about using train bathrooms and were hoping to minimize our need to avail ourselves of the facilities. But again, we were pleasantly surprised. Not only was our nearby bathroom clean, it was a "western" style toilet...which means there was a commode and seat...and there was toilet paper! 

All in all it was an adventure, but happily, a relatively short one. 

When we arrived at the Katni station in the morning, we were met by porters offering to help with the luggage. We were amazed and mightily impressed when one of the porters, who couldn't have weighed more than 100 pounds, adjusted his turban so that it was flat on top and put both of our 40 pound suitcases on his head and carried them to the car. Settled into our vehicle it was onward to Tiger's Den and Bandhavgarh National Park.

Iconic India - Agra and the Mughals

February 1-2, 2015

After one more morning of birding in the beautful Keoladeo National Park, and a great find of the hard to see black bittern, we left Birder's Inn in Bharatpur to head for Agra. Our drive included a stop along the way at a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just 25 miles from Agra. We visited Fatehpur Sikri, a magnificent Mughal fort built by the Emperor Akbar in the late 1500's. For those of you who, like us, don't know a great deal about India's long and complex history, the Mughals were of Persian descent and, in the early 1500s, they conquered much of Northern India, ruling there for roughly two and a half centuries. In fact, Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal was Akbar's grandson.  

Upon our arrival at the fort, we met up with our very knowledgeable guide, Chandrapal Singh, who accompanied us to the historic sites we visited over the next two days. He explained that after several military victories, Akbar decided to build the fort complex there in 1571, in honor of a Sufi saint who had resided at the site. He chose to use it as his seat of power, although he abandoned the site by 1585. There is still some debate as to why it was deserted. One theory had to do with the lack of a sustainable water supply. Another with whether the location was strategic enough to help stabilize the region. 

Chandrapal took us on a walking tour of the vast fort and its mosque and explained both its history and its architecture. Fatehpur is a meticulously planned city, surrounded by a vast wall, constructed of the local red sandstone that was used in much of the magnificent Mughal architecture of India. 

After our tour of these amazing structures, we continued on to Agra, arriving during the busy afternoon rush hour traffic. We tried to navigate the city and get to the bridge and across the river to view the Taj Mahal at sunset. Unfortunately, traffic was too snarled, so we turned around in a most unique Indian way, driving against oncoming traffic - it is amazing what the drivers do and what other drivers put up with, all as a matter of course. We opted to check in at our rooms at the Gateway Hotel and settled in for the evening. We discovered that we did have a view of the Taj Mahal from our room, although not one you normally see in photographs.

We had dinner there and headed to bed with plans to meet up very early in the morning to catch the Taj in the soft colors of the new day.

We arose while it was still dark and departed from the hotel so we could arrive at the Taj Mahal close to sunrise and be there when the gates opened. The Taj was built as a mausoleum for Shah Jehan's favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. She died giving birth to their thirteenth child. The mausoleum took seventeen years and thousands of workers to complete. The outlying buildings and gardens took an additional five years.

Chandrapal guided us through the site, pointing out many of its amazing features and highlights. Although it is one of the most iconic sights in all the world and you feel as though you know what to expect, the Taj is surprisingly larger than the classic photographs lead you to believe. In addition to the mausoleum with it's four minarets, there are also a mosque and an assembly hall on either side of the central area, as well as four entry gates. As all the structures were laid out to be perfectly symmetrical, the mosque and assembly hall are mirror images of each other. 

Mosque at the Taj Mahal

One of the Gates to the Taj Mahal

The white marble is a departure from the red sandstone that was used more widely during that time. Brought all the way to Agra from Rajasthan, the marble is exquisite, in large part because of the fact that it changes hue depending upon the light, the sky, and the season. The marble is inlaid with semi-precious stones such as amethyst, cornelian, coral, jasper, lapis, mother of pearl, malachite, onyx, paua shell, tiger's eye and turquoise. In addition to the inlaid stones forming intricate floral and geometric patterns, there is much inlaid calligraphy on the structures, scaled so that all of it appears to be of the same height from the ground. 

To say that the Taj Mahal is awe-inspiring is an understatement. It is so incredible and so intricate that one visit barely serves as an introduction. There is so much to see and learn about it that, despite the fact that it is likely the most visited site in all of India with the crowds to prove it, it warrants numerous visits just to begin to grasp its wonders. 

After our tour we went back to the hotel for breakfast and to check out. In the afternoon, Chandrapal took us to one of the shops where gorgeous white marble tabletops and decorations inlaid with the same semi-precious stones as the Taj are made. There, at Akbar International, we learned about the marble and the inlay process and watched two very skilled craftsmen preparing and setting the stones. They work so closely cutting and shaping thin slivers of stone with a hone that they tend to lose their fingerprints. Their work was incredible, and we couldn't leave the shop without some coasters to take home.

Craftsman Inlaying Semi-Precious Stones in Marble

A Work in Progress

Lydia's Coasters

We also visited some other historic sites in Agra: the red sandstone Agra Fort, where Shah Jaheen actually lived, and then the white marble Tomb of I'timad-ud-Daulah, also referred to as the "Baby Taj", as it is thought to have been part of the inspiration for the design of the Taj Mahal. In the later afternoon, we were able to get across the river to view the Taj from a bit more of a distance as the sun was low in the sky. Truly spectacular. 

Agra Fort

Agra Fort

Agra Fort

"Baby"Taj

Inlay Detail at "Baby" Taj

View of Taj Mahal from across the Yamuna River

From there, it was on to grab a bite to eat and prepare for our next adventure, the overnight train ride from Agra to Katni. 

Bharatpur and Keoladeo

After a wonderful three days of exploring the Little Rann of Kutch, we headed back to the Ahmedabad airport for our flight to Jaipur, the pink city in the colorful state of Rajatsthan. Our short flight was fairly turbulent, causing a poor passenger behind us more than a little distress, But we landed safely and were met by our driver and his assistant. They loaded us up in a spacious mini-bus for the 3 hour drive to Bharatpur. As we left Jaipur, it was getting dark, so we didn't get to see the city in its rosy splendor. Once out of Jaipur, we were on a national highway, which was quite nice and we made good time. After moving into our palatial marble room at Birder's Inn, we joined Susi and Butch for a late dinner and then went off to bed to get some sleep before our first early morning trip into Keoladeo National Park.   

In the morning, we met our bicycle rickshaw drivers out in front of the hotel. They were a turbaned older gentleman, Mr. Singh and a young man, Devanger, and were our drivers for the entire visit. We made the short trip to the park where we were met by our wonderful guide, Brijendra Singh. We were so fortunate to have " Brije" with us for the entire three days as he is one of the premier birders, botanists and entomologists of the area. Much of his life has been spent in a village within the park and he knows its every nook and cranny. Within the 29 square kilometer park, he knew the exact tree in which to look for the brown hawk owl and the small roadside thicket where the Siberian rubythroat hangs out. After three tries at finding this splendid little bird, we were rewarded with some great views! 

Normally this park is a wetland that is filled with flocks of thousands of overwintering birds from Europe, Russia and other parts of Asia...spoonbills, painted storks, Sarus cranes, and much more. However, the monsoons last summer brought far less water than they had in previous years and the water levels within the park were very low. What little water there was was nutrient-poor and not able to support the migrating birds. But we were not disappointed!  It was still rich with a variety of species; just not in the usual numbers.

Although we used the rickshaws to get us to and from the park and to different areas of this large park, we were able to do a lot of walking within Keoladeo, which was a very good thing considering the amount of food we had been eating. Although most places offered "Continental and Chinese" fare in addition to Indian, we stuck with delicious Indian food for all our meals. And the food just kept coming! Most of the meals are buffet-style, with a range of wonderful Indian dishes from which to choose, but the staff keep bringing extras like naan, samples of dishes, desserts and the wonderful ever-present masala chai, sweetened, spiced tea with milk.

Butch was in search of a couple of rarer birds that cannot be found in the park so on one of our morning outings we headed out of the city into a nearby farming area. After passing many fields of mustard, wheat and cotton, the driver was directed to pull over next to a bare field...nothing growing but a few patches of shrubs. There was not a bird in sight...or so we thought.  We were in search of the Indian courser, a beautiful, iconic bird of India but apparently hard to find....unless you know exactly where to look for it - and Brijendra did!  Once we walked out into this desolate field we saw our first courser scooting across the ground....and then another, and another.  By the end of our exploration we had probably seen 20 coursers along with several other new birds for us.

Next we were off to a village canal in search of the illusive painted snipe.  Our driver dropped us off at the entrance to the little village and were it not for Bridje we would have quickly gotten turned around in its narrow, twisty streets. It was pretty evident that we were a curiosity to the villagers. Apparently two white women wandering through the village was an unusual sight,  so we had a little entourage following us as we moved through in search of the canal.  Once there, we were successful in finding the snipe as well as numerous other new shorebirds for us.

Although the birding was great, the village was another highlight for us.  It just so happened that there was to be a marriage that day. Brijendra found the way to the bride's home and we were invited in to see her. Although we were a bit hesitant to barge in, we were welcomed so warmly that we had no choice but to go in, meet the bride in her beautiful wedding sari and take photos of the bride and her family. We were very honored. As we headed out of town, we met the groom and his buddies so more pictures....and I think we were actually invited to the wedding but graciously (we hope) declined.  This was just one of many examples we have seen throughout the trip of how wonderfully welcoming and friendly people can be. Were we to show up at an American wedding party in the same way, we're not sure we would have been welcomed so.

Another adventure while we were in Bharatpur was a visit to the pharmacist. Since we had both been experiencing sniffles and a sore throat for several days, we decided it would be a good idea to seek out the medical shop which was a short distance from the inn where we were staying. Typical for all of the shops we had seen along the way, it was a small open-fronted store lined with shelves stocked full of medications. The shop keeper listened to our symptoms and provided us with the Indian equivalent of Tylenol and some cough drops. Before leaving we snapped a few photos and posed with the owner who wanted his picture taken with us!

Little Rann of Kutch - Part 2

For the next couple of days, we rose before dawn, had a very early breakfast, bundled up, and met Azad at the front of the lodge just as it was getting light. It always coincided with the early morning Muslim call to prayer, which provided a sense of being in a new place and added to the serenity of the morning. We'd load up the vehicle and head off to a fabulous wetland area, thorny scrub patch, or the salt flats. We had really excellent birding, got a close-up view of the making of salt in the moonscape that encompasses the salt pans and had the treat of finding and following a desert fox as it moved through the acacia scrub, marking its territory. We were even scared off from a section of acacia bush by a man wielding a machete. The thought was that he either had a still or was illegally collecting firewood. Needless to say, Azad got us out of the area quickly.

Several of us had developed sore throats and colds, so we stopped in at the village of Dasada to pick up some throat lozenges.  It was market day and we got to see a slice of life in India that we wouldn't have been privy to otherwise. We drove through the very narrow unpaved streets among the villagers, buffalo, goats and cows grazing amidst the trash on the roadside. The small shopfronts featured fruits and vegetables or pots and pans, but not both. There was nothing resembling an American General store. There was one theme per shop. People were busily buying and selling and we were pleased to see the daily goings on in the village. I witnessed one particularly touching scene. A person was outside of a house laying on a cot and a youngish man was very attentively kneeling at the person's side, leaning in close. I don't know the story behind the scene, but I found it to be very moving - an intimate glimpse into someone's private life in the village.

We found the Little Rann of Kutch fascinating, ecologically, as most dry environments are, with plants and animals that are uniquely adapted to some very extreme conditions. The bird life in winter is exceptional and it was a great starting place for our introduction to wild India.

Gujarat, a Very Dry State

Part 1
Last Monday morning, we had a very early departure from the hotel in Delhi for the airport and the hour and a half flight to Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, in Northwestern India. Gujarat was the home state of Gandhi, and, although it borders the Arabian Sea, it is an arid area, at the southern edge of the Thar Desert.  We were headed to The Little Rann of Kutch, an area that was once part of the sea, but which has been uplifted ever so slightly so that it is now seasonally wet during the monsoons and dry the rest of the year. The terrain consists of marshes, mudflats and vast salt pans and is a the winter haven for a vast number of bird species from Europe and Asia. We went there in search of birds as well as other specialties of the area, including the only remaining herds of the endangered Indian wild ass, which is a lovely chestnut and cream colored equine.

We were met at the airport by a driver and vehicle, and headed out of Ahmedabad for the town of Dasada.  Along the way we were met by many wondrous sites:

- Camels with huge carts loaded higher than the camel is tall with straw
- Tractors pulling low wagons like landscapers use to haul mowers, but instead of mowers the wagons were full of women donning brilliantly colored saris and wraps
- A shrine with a giant statue of Hanuman, the monkey God 
- Fields planted with cotton and castor beans

We arrived at our lodging at Rann Riders in time for a wonderful lunch - the food was quite good there, and on our way to the dining area we encountered the stunning star tortoise in their garden.

In the afternoon, we all bundled up to take the first in a series of wildlife drives in different habitats. Our guide and driver, was twenty-two year old Azad who had a quite impressive knowledge of the animals of his area. Our vehicle was an open air Mahindra jeep and with bench seating at along each side.

In the afternoon, we all bundled up to take the first in a series of wildlife drives in different habitats. I ur guide and driver, was twenty-two year old Azad who had a quite impressive knowledge of the animals of his area. Our vehicle was an open air Mahindra jeep with bench seating along each side. We bounced around in search of birds, the wild asses, and India's largest antelope, the nilgai, which has a rather horse like look and gait to it. We found them all and even joined jeeps of other photographers at sunset - all men - lying on the ground' trying to capture the perfect image of the wild asses silhouetted against the setting sun. 

As is generally the case in arid regions, it got quite chilly after the sun went down, so we pulled on the layers and bundled up for the windswept ride in our open jeep home. How lovely it would have been to have been able to grab a nice warming whiskey upon our return, but Gujarat is a very dry state in every sense of the word, with the sale and consumption of alcohol banned since Ghandi's time, so we had to settle for some excellent masala chai and a very good buffet of tasty India dishes.