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.
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| Crested Hawk Eagle |
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| Monitor Lizard |
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| Gabbar Cooling Down |
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| P2.. Maya |
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| 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..
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| Tyson |
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| Tyson |
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| Eye to Eye |
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| Royal |
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| Crossing Road |
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| Grey Jungle Fowl |
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....
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| Good Night |
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...
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| Good Morning |
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| Wild Boar |
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| Brainfever |
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| Eurasian Thicknee with Chick |
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| Brhmini Starling |
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| Airborne |
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| Spotted Dove |
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| Paradise Flycatcher - Male |
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| Honey Buzzard |
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| Brainfever - troubled by Bulbul |
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| Katezari Male cub |
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| Crested Serpent Eagle |
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| Monitor Lizard |
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| Yellow Throated Sparrow |
Panting to maintain its temperature....quite common in all the birds and animals
walking along the bank.....
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.....
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......
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| Peafowl. Blessed with natural beauty......... |
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| Through the Bamboos |
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| Amazing Road |
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| Jungle is not just about animals |
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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
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Red wattled lapwing
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Jungle myna
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Red avadavat
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White breasted kingfisher
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Common tailorbird
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Little brown dove
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White breasted waterhen
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Ashy crowned sparrowlark
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Spotted dove
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White bellied drongo
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Crested serpant eagle
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Little green bee-eater
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Alexandrine parakeet
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White throated fantail
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Intermediate egret
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Bramhiny starling
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Ashy drongo
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House crow
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Eurasian golden oriole
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Common blue kingfisher
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House sparrow
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Grey junglefowl
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Common hawk cuckoo
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Rock pigeon
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Indian peafowl
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Pallid harrier
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Jungle prinia
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Rose ringed parakeet
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Sirkeer’s malkoha
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Oriental magpie robin
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Black rumped flameback
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Eurasian stone curlew
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Red vented bulbul
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Purple sunbird
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Purple rumped sunbird
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Red whiskered bulbul
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Asian koel
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Montague’s harrier
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Ashy prinia
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Common myna
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Oriental darter
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Long tailed shrike
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Red spurfowl
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Dusky crag martin
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Indian robin
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Black crowned night heron
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Bay backed shrike
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Paddyfield pipit
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Brown cheeked fulvetta
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Oriental turtle dove
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Black hooded oriole
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Yellow footed green pigeon
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Black headed ibis
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Tickell’s blue flycatcher
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Orange headed thrush
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Pied kingfisher
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Jungle babbler
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Grey hornbill
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Indian little nightjar
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Indian roller
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Greater coucal
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Skykes lark
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Rufous treepie
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Plum headed parakeet
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Crested treeswift
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Crested hawk eagle
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Racket tailed drongo
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Brown fish owl
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Asian paradise flycatcher
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Indian pitta
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Marsh harrier
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Oriental honey buzzard
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Black naped monarch
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Amur falcon
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Black drongo
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Shikara
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Black kite
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Little cormorant
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Black shouldered kite
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Lesser adjutant stork
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Little egret
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Lesser whistling ducks
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Bank myna
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Pond heron
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Jungle crow
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Common hoopoe
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Black ibis
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Eurasian collard dove
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Baya weaver
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Asian openbill
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Great egret
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Bronze winged jacana
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White eyed buzzard
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Yellow throated sparrow
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Indian shag
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Thanks Everyone for reading this!!
Arpita Kulkarni
