Pench is magical. I’ve been there five times now, and each time, I come back refreshed because the forest is so breathtakingly beautiful.
There’s Venuban (Bamboo Forest), a canopy of bamboos, full of secrets. That’s where we saw paradise flycatchers in the past, and Malabar Pied Hornbills this time.
There’s Jannat Point, where we saw our first jackal.
Totladoh, an erstwhile village, close to which we saw the tiniest crocodile I’ve ever seen.
And of course, there’s all the rest that I love–the garadi forest, the teak trees that are different in different seasons, the Indian ghost tree, the crocodile bark tree … Joy!
Peacocks
One of the highlights of this visit to Pench was certainly the dancing peacocks. We saw a dozen or more!
The one here was probably the most magnificent, trying hard to attract a peahen that seemed, for the most part, quite uninterested. She took a sip from the pool and then strutted away, even as the peacock continued to dance, its feathers whooshing as it moved back and forth.
Crocodile
I saw the smallest crocodile I’ve ever seen! It was just about two feet long, and we watched a little drama unfold as we stood there next to the tiny water body.
“No one ever stops for a pond heron,” I commented, as we stopped to look at two birds. But it’s because we stopped for a pond heron that how we saw the crocodile and two turtles too!
Soon, the drama began. One of the birds scurried around the pond to where the crocodile was. We held our breath, whispering uselessly to the bird, “You do know that there’s a crocodile there, right?”
It seemed as if the bird did know, for it was staring at the spot where the crocodile was. Did it have a death wish? Or was it taking on a dare? The other bird was staring, just like we were.
We waited and watched. One bird watched the crocodile; the other bird watched the first bird.
Karina, our guide, laughed. “Chalein?” she asked. No one watched a baby crocodile for so long!
We laughed and agreed, but just as we were leaving, the bold bird, dipped its beak in and took a sip. Dare completed!
Tiger
Is a trip to the jungle complete without a tiger sighting?
Of course it is. But there’s no doubt about the fact that a sight of a big cat raises the excitement and energy of a visit to the jungle.
Down Pawar Zodi and straight towards the water we went. Jeeps were already there, watching.
And there was the tiger, in the water, with just his head above the surface. Tiger!
Our hearts were already full, but we waited and watched as he stepped out. Majestically, he made his way to the trees. He settled down and looked at us, taking in the air before proceeding to clean himself slowly and painstakingly. We waited there until the very end of our safari, watching. Magic!
Why Pench? Why Sillari?
Apart from all the wonderful sightings, one reason why we keep going back to Pench is how accessible it is. A train to Nagpur, followed by a one and a half hour’s drive, and we’re at MTDC, Sillari. We’ve had incredible tiger sightings, incredible leopard sightings, and so much more. The variety of birds takes my breath away each time I visit–woodpeckers, drongos, tree pies, hornbills, eagles, buzzards, rollers, kingfishers, and for the first time, the Indian pitta too!
Every time I return from Pench, I long for more, and what better way to come back from a holiday?
Other Visits
I’ve blogged about visits to Pench in the past. Take a look:
Or look at my whole set of jungle experiences here.
Plug
Inspired by all my visits to forests in central India, I wrote Red Eyes, which was the first runner-up for the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2018.
Eleven-year-old Veer Prann runs away from his posh boarding school, where he was bullied, to Suryanagar, where his father is a forest officer. At Suryanagar, he makes friends with the forest guides and learns about the jungle. It’s a different world from boarding school, but nothing prepares Veer for the naked red-eyed girl he sees in a tree one day. The girl, whom Veer calls Medha, is a mystery, an intelligent and intuitive being who communicates with Veer through the psychic transmission of images. Afraid that she will become Suryanagar’s next tourist attraction, Veer must figure out whom to trust and how to save Medha from being caught.
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