TADOBA

Tadoba and Kodasa are essentially the same jungle but Kodasa is a wild life sanctuary and Tadoba is a tiger reserve.The animals in tadoba appeared more adapted to human interference and were less shy.But tadoba aslo had its share of casual tourists and family picnicers with the nuisance they bring in.....

KODASA

KODASA

So we planned for the next day and resolved to wake up early............as usual the electricity was erratic but we managed with a diesel generator.........the forest officer came around at night and told us that he had soptted a bear in the vicinity......after dinner we went for a stroll to the lake.....in fact it was a dare cos the way was pitch black as the power had conked off......so we went by weak torch light .........it was really exciting venturing out of the campus at night knowing fully well that a bear or tiger might be just lurking around.....

KODASA

The night falls swiftly and i saw colours i never thought existed..........it was so peaceful and calm .....the only sounds were the rustling of the leaves in the wind and chirping of insects and the only smell was of burning cowdung..........as the darkness fell the stars appeared in the sky and a calm descended uopn us.....my mind was at ease after a very very long time and the mood turned philosophical........this is the life i want...this is the life i crave for......i want to live like this for the rest of my life.....a sense of contentment and a sense of peace came over me........time seemed to slow down and stand still and all the world was irrelevant ......because the best was here .........i wanted this to last for ever..........wishful thinking............

KODASA

So finally we had to return to our rest house.........and there was only one thought in our mind.......when are we going to see the tiger.........we wanted to see the tiger......well tomorrow was for Tadoba and there was a vary good chance of a sighting so we were comforted by that thought.........

KODASA

Suhas at it again......see the efforts .......totally unnecessary since equally good pic could be obtained by simply projecting the camera out of the window.....but this his his style......

KODASA

Our sharp shooter Suhas............he is an expert in taking atrocious positions for a snap....he takes soo long to compose a snap that the saying goes that if he starts composing for sunrise then he will get a good snap of sunset ........the animals were so tired of giving poses but this chap took his own time...this is a perfect example of a bad workman with good tools.....the fellow had a high end panasonic digital camera and most of these snaps are from his camera......

KODASA

Our ace spotter khem....he had the eyes of a hawk......its difficult to sopt well camoflaged animals in the dense undergrowth of bamboo and shrubs.....but khem had the eye for it.........

KODASA

The light was fading and our time was running out.....we had soptted all sorts of animals gava, deer, sambar, wild boar, peacock, wild fowl, ghorpad a myraid of birds but no tiger or leopard.....our patience was wearing thin and we were egtting restless.......where are the bloody tigers???????????????

KODASA

Sambar.......these are shy and are found in abundance .....thet are soo cute and docile ....i wonder how salman felt when he killed the black bucks.......

KODASA

This one was massive.......

KODASA

More gava.....by this time we were getting restless to sopt the big game........a tiger or a leopard.......but all that were coming our way were gava........

KODASA

Monitor lizard or Ghorpad........this is the first time i saw one in the wild......its glorified in the history of maratha warfare when Tanaji used a ghorpad to climp up a steep cliff of Kondhana fort in the dead of the night and a band of 300 men attacked a well stocked mughal garrison of 5000 men and defeated them...the stuff legends are made of......

KODASA

A herd of bison.......just having a laugh after scaring the hell out of us.......

KODASA

A watering hole where we soptted many gava.....some of us had the gall to alight and go the edge of the water to get a good snap....and suddenly on of the adult bisons gave a loud snort........and man i didnt know how fast some of my sluggish companions could run when threatened by a bison........

KODASA

GAVA......INDIAN BISON........these are numerous in and around tadoba nad kodasa ...this one is a small kid . The gava usually move around in groups and the adults are enormous and can chagre a vehicle . Even tigers and leopard steer clear of them.

KODASA

Dirt tracks leading into the jungle........the jungle is dry in this season and there are artificial watering holes at regular intervals for the animals.....most of the animals are soptted in and around these watering holes.

KODASA