Gina and her family came to Tree House Hideaway, Specialty Lodges at Bandhavgarh in the very beginning of the New Year 2014. They planned a family get together while enjoying one of the core wildlife centers of India, Bandhavgarh National Park. What a nice place to be! And yes, their plan was totally successful. “We love all animals and wildlife. We are enjoying the beauty of the jungles, the calmness here and the company of family members after so long. We and kids are excited about the rides and we are really hoping to see the tigers!” said Jusmita and Simonjeet while having a chat with us at the fireplace.
The next morning they started for the jungles and entered the gate. They reached near Dinosaur Rock in Maghdi and soon they could hear alarm calls. On the road were some fresh pugmarks of tiger-cubs. But they were heading into the grassland nearby. Few jeeps were already moving away to another direction. As they were passing on, their guide Manjeet, caught the sight of two sub-adult cubs right there in the grassland. Naturalist Kshitij and the guide explained that those were cubs of a tigress called Mahamanwali Jr. The tigress herself is known for running away from vehicles. And so did the cubs! When the jeep stopped, they got up and started to move away. Gina and family could see them walking through the grassland into the thick tree-lines.
It was a really good spotting as none of the other jeeps could spot them even when they drove very closely to the cubs. “How lucky we were!!” says Gina; “we were the only ones to see them. They were so well camouflaged in the surroundings. As our gypsy stopped, the cubs got up and started to move towards the thickets. That’s when I could luckily take a few snaps of them. The spotting cheered us up. To see a tiger in the first safari, just as we rode into the jungle was really exciting.”
Sightings of birds like Indian Rollar, Hoopoe, White eyed buzzard, etc. excited them even more. They also saw a jackal up close near Ghodi grassland. Take a look!!
