Early mornings can be deafeningly quiet. Anyone who has been to Kanha National Park, which is in its 60th year, will tell you so. I took in the silence around me as I waited for the gates to open at 6am. At first glance, all I could see was the mist veiling the trees like an overprotective parent. As the jeeps rolled into the forest, the guides advised the tourists to be both quiet and alert.
There were surprises at almost every turn, which made me feel like I was on a treasure hunt. Armed with heavy camera gear, I kept my eyes focused on the towering trees. The first sighting was that of a row of sleeping owlets perched in their nest on a massive tree. One of them watched our movements with just one eye. It was an unusual sight — an entire family of nocturnal birds basking under the morning sun. Most visitors, according to the guides, are greeted by a solitary owlet peeping curiously from the nest.
While it is common to spot peacocks and herds of deer, you haven’t quite earned your stripes as wildlife buff if you haven’t seen a tiger in Kanha. We followed a tiger’s call to find the big cat staring straight at us through the tall forest grass.
Pench National Park lies on the way to Nagpur from Kanha. The tiger is not quite the star attraction in Pench, which is not as densely forested as Kanha. It is home to ferocious jackals and critically endangered vultures. We were lucky to spot a pair of jackals chasing and hunting down their prey. We also spotted white-rumped vultures waiting to feed on a carcass. Very few can claim to have been this lucky at Pench, better known as Mowgli Land.
KR Deepak