Tadoba - Kids Camp - Author - Arpita Kulkarni (Camp 16)

It all started a year ago. All the parents wanted a camp for their kids.Accordingly iCampers planned a student's special camp. All the kids were eagerly waiting for the camp. Different place, away from parents & moreover new friends.....quite interesting & adventurous!!!!
       
And finally the day arrived:7th may 2015....time to say Good bye to parents. Everyone was very excited.We boarded the train & the fun filled moments begun. It was 7 in the evening and all kids were bored by the talks, so we decided to play cards....

The jokes,the pun, the fun and what not.....a truly exciting journey...Even though the kids were not familiar with each others, they adjusted within no time...and i got many new friends...Although i was the eldest, I was enjoying myself with all the kiddy gang.

 
Dhriti, the youngest one, was so happy to climb onto the upper birth....A smile of satisfaction gleamed over her face....

After a long time of enjoyment,quite naturally we all were hungry...so had our dinner..very tasty...yummy...n the joy of dining with new friends is truly mesmerizing.

Enjoying dinner....!!!..truly an amazing  experience to dine with friends...

Time to sleep....Good night..

On 8th may we started our journey to our resort...which was in the buffer zone. wow...we were very excited to stay in the buffer zone....a joy of reaching our destination gleamed over our faces...

masti...majak....aur bahot kuch....

Finally we reached our resort....refreshed ourselves....n were very excited for our first jungle safari!!!! After having our lunch....all of us had a power nap for getting charged up.As the temperature was quite high...we had put on scarfs , suncoats to keep ourselves cool....and it was time for our first jungle safari....we all were seated in our gypseys eagerly waiting to capture the moments of the wild........

Day 1: We had one safari on day 1. But this was the most memorable one. Actually, it was icing on the cake.We sighted 3 tigers. This is very rare.....one has to wait for long time for sighting a tiger...and all the kids sighted 3 tigers; Gabbar, Maya  and Tyson on the first day itself..Also,we got to see numerous varieties of birds.Eventually,our exceptions soared high.

Crested Hawk Eagle

The crested hawk eagle gave a great pose..

Monitor Lizard

A species of lizard...quite contrast to the one we often see....

Gabbar Cooling Down

Firstly, we sighted gabbar...in the tadoba lake....who was cooling down . He was far away, but he was the first tiger which was sighted ...so all were very happy..

P2.. Maya

Maya, the only dashing tigress...which is sighted the most....Coming out of water...

Maya

Tyson is the biggest tiger in Tadoba......firstly we sighted Tyson in the thicket....later it crossed the thicket and was cooling down in a small pond...later on it started coming towards the road.....its exciting to see a tiger when it is quite away from us....but when it starts moving towards you....especially the biggest one....then even i turned into a color pale green..Some shots of Tyson taken by Kedar Kulkarni while it was crossing the road..

Tyson

Tyson

Eye to Eye

lo!!!!!eye to eye contact!!!!

Royal

How great it is to capture the royal Tyson!!

Crossing Road

Great shades of colours seen on the fowl....which enhances it's beauty.

Grey Jungle Fowl

It was 7 when we reached our resort...all the kids were excited to share the pics captured by them and tell about their safari...everyone had many queries and Kedar mama solved it and also gave additional information about  the wild.....this increased our excitement as well....
   
Our dinner was the best....paneer, fryums....and butter milk were the favourite items....all the kids were very excited for the next safari hoping some better sighting....like the first safari... 

Finally it was time to sleep....

Good Night

Day 2:All the kids were instructed to get up at 4 in the morning...we got a wake up call and everyone got ready for the next safari....very excited for sighting something new....

The sun was shining in its full glory...

but everyday is not the same....on day 2 we spotted  birds....and a few kids spotted a tiger....but we didn't get to see much variety...

Although we didn't spot a tiger, we got to see many birds and enjoyed birding...

Good Morning

Wild Boar

Brainfever

Eurasian Thicknee with Chick

Brhmini Starling

Airborne

The swift glider.....truly airborne....

Spotted Dove

Paradise Flycatcher - Male

Tadoba is truly a paradise for paradise flycatcher....

Honey Buzzard

Brainfever - troubled by Bulbul

Quite amazing to see the chattering and fights between birds......

Katezari Male cub

Although a cub, it is getting ready to sustain all by itself....a few more days and it will be an all developed tiger.....searching for its own territory and ruling it.....a brave and royal one.

Crested Serpent Eagle

The will to be the best is seen through its eyes.....

Monitor Lizard

Yellow Throated Sparrow

                                                                     sun bird

        

Panting to maintain its temperature....quite common in all  the birds and animals                                                                                                                                                                     

         

                                                            Maya P2
 
walking along the bank.....

                                                                  Amazing moment

So amazing to see a tiger just in front of  its prey....the deer quite alert ....looking at the hunter....as the tiger could attack them at any moment.....

                                                            Indian darter
Day 3: day 3 was amazing for some kids as they got to see a sloth bear which was crossing the road......very rarely a sloth bear can be seen...so it was quite amazing and adventurous....also we got to see the Katezari male cub....which was busy swimming in the pond...among the thicket.....it was difficult to spot it...as it was camouflaged in the  bamboos......

                                                                Red wattled lapwing

The innocence can be seen ............

Peafowl.
Blessed with natural beauty.........

Through the Bamboos

Amazing Road

Its an amazing experience to enter the wild habitat.....

Jungle is not just about animals

This is a historic pillar which was built for the king Gond while crossing the jungle at night.....the top used to be lit with the help of lanterns......which would light up the jungle at night....

But they cut their road at times

Finally, it was time to say bye to the jungle and return back...but in these we got to make many new friends...got to know how the wild habitat is....and were returning back home with a package full of sweet memories ,the fun, the pranks...and moreover....a great eye for the wild.

This was our group...the sweetest and naughtiest one...although we were returning back....we were happy to be a part of the camp....taking back a big suitcase of sweet memories...which just can't be washed away from our minds....it was great fun to be a part of the camp....a big thanks to Kedar mama and team for organizing the camp....hoping the next camp to come soon.


Bird List -

Cattle egret	Red wattled lapwing	Jungle myna
Red avadavat	White breasted kingfisher	Common tailorbird
Little brown dove	White breasted waterhen	Ashy crowned sparrowlark
Spotted dove	White bellied drongo	Crested serpant eagle
Little green bee-eater	Alexandrine parakeet	White throated fantail
Intermediate egret	Bramhiny starling	Ashy drongo
House crow	Eurasian golden oriole	Common blue kingfisher
House sparrow	Grey junglefowl	Common hawk cuckoo
Rock pigeon	Indian peafowl	Pallid harrier
Jungle prinia	Rose ringed parakeet	Sirkeer’s malkoha
Oriental magpie robin	Black rumped flameback	Eurasian stone curlew
Red vented bulbul	Purple sunbird	Purple rumped sunbird
Red whiskered bulbul	Asian koel	Montague’s harrier
Ashy prinia	Common myna	Oriental darter
Long tailed shrike	Red spurfowl	Dusky crag martin
Indian robin	Black crowned night heron	Bay backed shrike
Paddyfield pipit	Brown cheeked fulvetta	Oriental turtle dove
Black hooded oriole	Yellow footed green pigeon	Black headed ibis
Tickell’s blue flycatcher	Orange headed thrush	Pied kingfisher
Jungle babbler	Grey hornbill	Indian little nightjar
Indian roller	Greater coucal	Skykes lark
Rufous treepie	Plum headed parakeet	Crested treeswift
Crested hawk eagle	Racket tailed drongo	Brown fish owl
Asian paradise flycatcher	Indian pitta	Marsh harrier
Oriental honey buzzard	Black naped monarch	Amur falcon
Black drongo	Shikara	Black kite
Little cormorant	Black shouldered kite	Lesser adjutant stork
Little egret	Lesser whistling ducks	Bank myna
Pond heron	Jungle crow	Common hoopoe
Black ibis	Eurasian collard dove	Baya weaver
Asian openbill	Great egret	Bronze winged jacana
White eyed buzzard	Yellow throated sparrow	Indian shag

Thanks Everyone for reading this!!
Arpita Kulkarni

Kanha Camp - May 2015 - Author - Ninaad Joshi (Camp -15)

May this year, iCampers planned a camp @ "The Land of Rudyard Kipling" i.e Kanha Tiger Reserve. It is the largest national park in Madhya Pradesh stretching over an area of 950 km² in the districts of Mandla and Balaghat. It is surrounded by a buffer zone of 1000 km² and 100 km² of Phen Sanctuary. It is one of the top 10 tourists places and a pristine sanctuary for sighting Royal Bengal Tiger, leopards, sloth bears, wild dogs, wild cats, barasingha, sambhar deer, spotted dear, chausingha, bison etc.

Day 1

This was a big camp, 30 odd including kids.Most of us started from Pune and others joined us in Mumbai.

Mowglis for the Kanha Camp

iCampers socializing @ CST

Group train journeys are always fun: new friends, endless talks, munching and cards (Ganiti Jhabbu). We all relished on Bademiya's Biryani got by Gitesh.

Day 2

Early morning we reached Jabalpur. We had quick breakfast and we headed for Bedhaghat & Dhuadhar falls.

iCampers ready for Bedhaghat & Dhuadhar falls

We took a boat ride and with it heard some amazing filmi commentary.

Diver @ Bedhaghat

White Marble Ravines @ Bedaghat

iCampers @ Bedaghat

After Bedaghat, we all reached Dhuadhar falls. Huge gushing water falls awaited us there. We all got drenched and played quite a while in the chilled Narmada waters.

We had kandamul, berries, cucumbers, lassi, chat, jalebis and a luch too at Dhuadhar falls. We then left for Kanha. It was a long drive. On the way, we again munched on Mug Bhajis and Mawa Jalebis.

Mawa Jalebi

Mung bhaji

We reached Kanha pretty late in the evening, had our dinner and retired back in to our rooms.

Day 3

We assembled in the lobby at 5 am, had tea and started off for the first ride of the camp. Even though this was not the first ride and that we had seen the tigers in the wild earlier still we all were very anxious and kept our fingers crossed.  Every sighting of a tiger in the wild is mesmerizing. We prayed that we witness some of the best sightings. Every ride, our quest was to be the first in the queue at the gates. As soon as we entered the forest we were greeted with an awesome sunrise.

As sun rays lightened the forest darkness, we first saw a pair of jackals playing far off in the open ground.

Jackals

As jeeps spread out in different directions, our quest for sighting a tiger started. We kept ourselves very alert to the slightest indications of any alarm calls, unusual activity in the Jungle or for any tiger pug marks along the trail. Tiger being an apex predator, keeps all other animals on their toes. Animals make peculiar noises (Alarm calls) when they sight a tiger. These alarm calls are different for a tiger than that for a leopard. Tiger is also a solitary animal. A male tiger owns and governs approximately 50 SqKm territory and allows two or three females in his territory. These females have their own exclusive territory. Tigers mark their territories with scratches on tree barks and spraying their urine. 

Tiger Scratch Marking on tree bark

They fiercely guard their territories by constant patrolling inside their territory. Tigers love to walk down the trails. This is when they leave the pug marks on the trails. Freshness of these pug marks determines the vicinity of the tiger in the area.

Pug Marks - Kankatta Male Tiger

We saw fresh pug marks of both male as well as female with her cubs along the trails. We also heard numerous alarm calls. We roamed the entire zone, different water bodies in search of the tiger. Finally, we settled near a water hole hoping that the tiger would come by to quench its thirst and we could have its glimpse. We also exchanged information with fellow Jeep riders/enthusiasts, mahoots for any indications of tiger presence. However, the tigers had different ideas and the whole day we couldn't spot them. Its an endless waiting game. You never know, when you decide to leave and the tiger walks in. The wait is interesting though. There is lot to hear about the silence of the jungle. The chirping of birds, langurs playing around, deers passing by etc.

 

Langurs

Garden Lizard

Eventually, we decided to look out for other animals and birds. We spotted bisons, sambar deer, spotted deers, barasingha's, monkeys and chausinghas (four horned antelope).

 

Spotted Deer

Indian Bison with calf

India Bison (Male)

If one animal species were to represent Kanha, it would probably be the barasingha, or the swamp deer. The barasinghas at Kanha are unique, being the hard ground variety, which populate the large open tracts of grass amidst the forests of teak and bamboo. Couple of decades ago, the barasingha was faced with extinction but some desperate measures including the fencing-off of some animals helped save them and again the air in Kanha bugle with their rutting calls. Kanha is the only habitat for the Barasingh. The swamp deer differs from all the Indian deer species in that the antlers carry more than three tines. Because of this distinctive character it is designated barasingha, meaning "twelve-tined." Mature stags have 10 to 14 tines, and some have been known to have up to 20.

Male Barasingha

Female Barasingha

We spotted Chausingha, the four horned antelope. Its kind of difficult to spot them in wild as they are solitary animals, although they are occasionally found in groups of up to four individuals . The most distinctive feature of this animal is the presence of four horns; a feature unique among extant mammals. Only the males grow horns, usually with two between the ears and a second pair further forward on the forehead.

Chausingha

At times the forest is dead silent and sometimes it is filled with wide variety of sounds from different animals/birds. Its really amazing experience to witness these sounds. We saw so many pair of Lapwings guarding their nests on the ground.

Yellow-wattled Lapwing

Yellow-wattled Lapwing

The Eurasian stone curlew, Eurasian thick-knee, or simply stone-curlew is a northern species of the bird family. It occurs throughout Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia. It is a summer migrant in the more temperate European and Asian parts of its range, wintering in Africa.

Eurasian thick-knee

We found the Indian nightjar in the morning ride as well as the evening ride at the same exact location. It is very characteristic of them lie still on the ground through out the day. Thy camouflage very well with the ground making them very hard to spot. It flies mostly after sundown.

Indian nightjar

The common hawk-cuckoo, popularly known as the brainfever bird, is a medium-sized cuckoo resident in the Indian subcontinent. It bears a close resemblance to the Shikra, even in its style of flying and landing on a perch. During summer months, before the monsoons, the males are easily detected by their repeated calls but can be difficult to spot. The call is a loud screaming three-note call, repeated 5 or 6 times, rising in crescendo and ending abruptly. It is heard throughout the day and frequently during moonlit nights. It sounds very similar to "Brainfever" or "Perte Vha (marathi word)". Some say that the farmers start preparing for sowing(Pernya) as these calls are heard before the monsoon and resembling "Perte vha" (Start sowing).

Common hawk-cuckoo (Brainfever)

 We saw numerous raptors, owls and vultures.

Crested-hawk Eagle

Shikra

Serpent Eagle

Brown fish owl

Vulture

We came across a very rare species of raptor called Jerdon's Baza. We presumed it to be a crested-hawk eagle. However, we were corrected by a Danish enthusiast that it was Jerdon's Baza. He had studied this bird in detail and has even written a book on it.

Jerdon's Baza

Day 4
Next day, we were hoping to catch the glimpse of the elusive tiger. We started out for our morning ride watching out for pug marks and alarm calls. We saw a jungle cat hiding in the thick grass. We extremely delighted as Jungle cats are extremely rare to spot.

Jungle Cat

As we moved ahead, we saw conspicuous pug marks of a male tiger. We were in the territory of the Munna tiger. We roamed the entire zone in search of Munna but we couldn't find him.  It was about time to head-back to the center point and resume the later half of the morning ride. We were reluctant but had to leave. On our way back we saw very fresh pug marks of a male tiger and they were different from Munna's. The guide immediately said it might be of Kankatta, another aggressive male tiger. The pug marks were very fresh and we started looking out for Kankatta. At a juncture, we took a right turn and immediately our guide spotted Kankatta crossing the road behind us. What an awesome sight it was. Huge male tiger Kankatta, the real king of the jungle, unperturbed by the presence of the jeeps around him, walked silently and gracefully in the thickets. kankatta is a ferocious, aggressive and a huge male tiger. He is collared too.

Royal Bengal Male Tiger (Kankatta)

It was an awesome sighting though it lasted on a few moments. We had a quick breakfast at the center point and resumed our remainder of the ride. Very were very much contended. We spotted quite a few Sambar deers.

 

Male Sambar Deer

The fourth day evening ride was the most astonishing jungle rides we ever had. We witnessed something phenomenal. At about 4 pm, the thundering clouds gathered and it turned pretty dark. The wind was blowing very fast. The dry leaves of the Saal tree were flying all around. It started raining heavily. After the initial drops, we could smell the Petrichor,  the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The sweet fragrance made us extremely fresh. We wrapped our cameras in the bags and enjoyed this heavenly experience.

Day 5

Third day morning was our last ride. Kanha is extremely picturesque and we wanted to witness its famous meadows, landscapes and water bodies. Shravan Taal, the famous lake from epic Ramanayan, still exists inside Kanha. The lake is errie and still surrounded by thick and dense trees all around. A female tiger roams nearby this lake. 

Naktighati

 

We were late to reach the Shravan taal. We noticed most of the jeeps had witnessed an awesome tigress sighting. We were dejected. We were in the final hour of our last ride. We wandered around the zone in search of that tigress but in vain. As we were waiting at a secluded spot for this tigress, our driver suddenly saw the tiger tail and we reached the spot. We were extremely delighted to see the tigress. This was the different tigress. Never the less we were ecstatic. It sat around for a while and then vanished in to the woods. We could see an injury mark on its left eyebrow. It might have been from a territorial fight with another tigress. Our guide told us that this tigress had recently delivered cubs.

We spotted numerous birds during five rides across three days.

Lesser Adjutant Stork

Red-flame back Woodpecker

Indian Roller

Red Jungle Fowl

Emerald Dove

Prinia

Peacock

Dancing Peacock

Little Cormorant

Racket-tailed Drongo

Black Hooded Oriole

Scarlet minives

Vulture in flight

Kanha is one of the most beautifully maintained tiger reserves. On a full moon night, in the open air theater at the main gate, we watched a documentary film made on tiger conservation. The film is very honestly made. Still a long way to go but we should appreciate that a lot has been done to save the tiger and we are seeing positive results in the census.

Full moon night in the forest