C, T & G trip to India 2018

22nd February 2018 – Exploring Goa Chilling out doing nothing is not easy for any of us, so we decided to ask the concierge what there was to do round here.  Several suggestions were made so we opted for a tour of the spice plantation, which included lunch, and then some shopping. We ordered a taxi for 11.30am as the drive to the plantation would take just an hour.  Our driver was called João Gonçales – a legacy from the 500 year Portuguese occupation of Goa.  He was an interesting chap and he was willing to answer any questions we had for him.  We learned about the car registration plates; we got a recipe for making tinned sardines; most of the population is Catholic; the biggest industry is tourism – it used to be mining but has been shut down due to corruption; most homes have running water; the electricity supply is dodgy as is bought in from other states and big hotels like ours have to run on generators between 7-11pm so that there is enough electricity for the locals

21st February 2018 – Relaxing The wedding on the croquet lawn We had a lazy day today.   We all woke up at 5am as have been programmed to do so by the wildlife parks.  We met for breakfast at 9am and had a sumptuous banquet.  The buffet choice is enormous and I would defy anyone not to find something they liked. Paddling in the Indian Ocean We then went for a wander and passed the wedding on the lawn which looked to be a very grand affair.  Next up was a paddle in the Indian Ocean which was actually nice and warm, but with a strong undertow.  We enjoyed watching some crabs scuttling along the sand and digging their burrows.  We wandered along the beach and checked out some shack restaurants and bars with an eye for eating in one of them tonight.  We had a drink in Pearl’s beach bar and then retired to our rooms for the afternoon to escape the heat and just relax and unwind. Fishing boat advertising one of the shacks. We met again just a

20th February 2018 – Transfer to Goa Reflecting on our wildlife section of the holiday, all the parks were memorable for different reasons. Satpura will be remembered for the bad weather, rain and mud, which was unfortunate.  In normal years we would have been ferried across the river and done some wildlife spotting from boats instead of skidding across slippery duckboards in the mud.  The drivers were also awful, the roads were very potholed and rough so that the combination of the 2 resulted in rough rides and bruises!  However, the bad weather worked for us as it transpires that sloth bears are normally nocturnal and only come out in the day when the weather is cool and rainy, so in fact we were very lucky.  We also got good bird sightings and enjoyed the lodge very much. Kanhe was a beautiful lodge and Parat an excellent guide.  However, it is very popular as has a good tiger density.  You stand a good chance of seeing them as the park is criss crossed by a dense networ

19th February 2018 – Pench Another early start and fortunately not as cold this morning. We had asked Guarav if we could stop for breakfast at 09:00 and if we had seen no predators to make our way back after breakfast. As we approached the park we came across a Jungle Cat hunting on the edge of the fields. Golden backed Woodpecker This time our local guide was more than just an oxygen thief and seem to know what he was talking about. We travelled a lot slower than the previous trips as we were looking very hard for predators. Also today there seems to be fewer vehicles which made the whole thing much more pleasant. We stopped a lot to allow Guarav and the guide to listen for alarm calls and we took time to listen to the different bird calls and songs. After about an hour of driving around they heard monkey alarm calls and we moved around the roads to a better position. There was one other vehicle ahead of us and both vehicles stopped and listened as the calls seemed to be

18th February 2018 – Pench Pench National Park  is in  Seoni  and  Chhindwara  districts of  Madhya Pradesh  in  India . It derives its name from the  Pench River  that flows through the park from north to south dividing the park into almost equal western and eastern halves, the well-forested areas of  Seoni  and  Chhindwara  districts respectively. It was declared a sanctuary in 1965 but raised to the status of national park in 1975. In 1992, it was established as a tiger reserve. This park is accessible from Pauni on National Highway 7 and has two famous entry gates, Turiya and  Karmajhiri . Scopes owl Pench National Park comprises 758 km 2  (293 sq mi), out of which 299 km 2  (115 sq mi) form a core, the Pench National Park core area and Mowgli Pench Sanctuary. The remaining 464 km 2  (179 sq mi) form the buffer zone. The protected area is covered with small hills and well-stocked  teak  mixed forest in the southern reaches of the  Satpura Ranges . Elevation ranges f

17th February 2018 – Kanha game drive and transfer to Pench Mum was convinced that having seen tigers once we would now get a bonanza of sightings this morning so talked us all into going for another game drive.  I wrapped myself from head to toe in a blanket today leaving just a slit for one eye to peer out of and this was definitely the warmest way to travel – I’ve cracked it! Female Gaur or Indian Bison. We went into a different part of the park which was very attractive scenery – more tropical and steeper terrain with huge clumps of bamboo towering above us.  Since both of our tiger spotting have been in more open terrain I was a bit sceptical about seeing tigers today.  I was unfortunately proved right as actually, we didn’t see much at all.  We saw a gaur (large cow) on the road and a male samba deer with his harem of females wading in some water, but that was about it.  Parat was most apologetic as he said that normally we should have seen more tigers than we had,

16th February 2018 – Tiger Hunting I woke up early this morning as we all did so need for the alarm.  Having learned our lesson from yesterday, we piled on our layers.  I had 2 pairs of socks, my thick UK trousers, a T-shirt, a long sleeved shirt, my only (thin) fleece and a thin waterproof jacket.  Mind you I wore all this yesterday and have never felt so cold.  I added a neck warmer from the shop so I could turn my scarf into a hat and also wore a pair of socks as mittens. When I packed my suitcase for the trip I expected to wear everything in it, just not at the same time! I also got 2 blankets today as well as the hot water bottle. It was slightly warmer, but still pretty damn cold.  We drove around in the gloom for half an hour or so and then thankfully, the sun appeared and gradually warmed up the forest floor as it rose.  On and on we drove and our spirits really did begin to flag.  We’ve been shown 2 lots of tiger poo (but how do we know what it looks like – it could

15th February 2018 – Kanha We thought Satpura was cold and Parat had warned us to dress for it, but we were not prepared for how cold it was this morning. They provided blankets and hot water bottles, but we were still cold. In reality it was about 10C, but with the added wind-chill on a damp morning it felt considerably colder in an open truck doing about 50Kph. Luckily we’d put Gill next to the driver. Still when we reached the park entrance none of us could feel our feet. For some reason Kanha requires you to provide your passport so, we handed ours to the driver who headed to the park HQ. I guess it’s a job for someone. Kanha Tiger Reserve , also called  Kanha National Park , is one of the  tiger reserves of India  and the largest  national park  of  Madhya Pradesh , state in the heart of India. The present-day Kanha area was divided into two sanctuaries, Hallon and Banjar, of 250 and 300 km 2  respectively. Kanha National Park was created on 1 June 1955 and in 1973 was m

14th February 2018 – Satpura to Kanha Sid had been trying to persuade us that we need to get up and leave at 07:15 today. Tamsin pushed back and we agreed to a 30 minute lie-in. We met up with our driver, Naseem from Bhopal and the rep, also called Sid for the drive to Pipariya There was a degree of flexibility as we had to go back over the railway tracks we crossed on our way into Reni Pani. Fortunately the crossing time was much shorter this time as we arrived in Pipariya with almost an hour spare. The train is very different from one we travelled on down to Bhopal and much more a local train. Needless to say it was full. The windows are yellow with curtains pulled so there’s nothing to see. The journey was unremarkable as we passed fields of wheat, lentils etc.. We arrived in Jalalpur on time and transferred to our car. Our driver for the 5 hour trip is Sandeep. I think they’re trained not to say too much. Most of the journey was on reasonable tarmac, but as we got within

13th February 2018 – Satpura Park Late into the night we had torrential rain and thunderstorms. At one point the lightning and thunder came at about the same time so, close by.  Even when we woke there was still thunder around. Gill had an unfortunate experience being woken up by something brushing her face. She got up to and noticed a mouse disappearing into the bathroom. She does seem to attract interesting visitors into her bedroom!! We climbed aboard the truck and started out. Sid had to use four wheel-drive as we were sliding around so much. There was some rain as we started, but that started to get heavier and the time between lightning and thunder was becoming shorter. The rain started to get heavier and I called to Sid that we needed to abandon this outing. Rapidly putting on ponchos we turned around and back to the lodge. About 20 minutes after we’d got back to camp the rain stopped and the air cleared. I wandered round camp looking for anything interesting to