TAJ WILDLIFE SAFARIS. PANNA and BANDHAVGARH TIGER RESERVES. APRIL 2009.

I’m not superstitious but I guess the jungle is no place for urban wisdom. And so it was that the day the lucky Ruddy Mongoose crossed my path, I finally saw my first tiger in the wild.
I had landed in Khajuraho two days earlier to a really warm welcome — 44°C to be precise. But it was the beginning of the week and instead of grappling with Monday morning blues, I was on a four-day wildlife safari. I wasn’t complaining. On my itinerary were the Panna and Bandhavgarh national parks in Madhya Pradesh. My first stop was Pashan Garh, the Taj Safari jungle lodge, about 50km from Khajuraho and 20km from Panna National Park. Taj Safaris is a joint venture between And Beyond (Africa) & Indian Hotels (TATA group) and it boasts of the country’s only luxury wildlife circuit.

Day one at Panna was spent chilling at the breathtakingly luxurious lodge, a sprawling 200-acre property with a cluster of rugged-looking sandstone cottages atop a small hill.
That night just before the lovely lantern-lit dinner set up in quaint little ox carts in the middle of the jungle, my naturalist for the trip, Sajith (trained by And Beyond), informed me that my game drive would start by 5.30am. Though I had no complaints (really!), whatever little whining I was about to indulge in was forgotten the moment our Tata 4x4 pulled into the reserve.
We were greeted by a herd of nilgais heading towards a watering hole. Though all eyes were, of course, strained for a glimpse of a tiger, the majestic teak forest introduced us to a host of its other inhabitants.

Apart from the chital, sambar and langur, the forest was a burst of winged colours and sounds. We spotted the master of camouflage, the Grey Nightjar (I kept looking for the bird for 10 minutes — thinking it was a stone — till Sajith helped me spot it), a Painted Sandgrouse, a Pied Kingfisher, an Indian Roller, a Black Drongo, Plum-headed Parakeets, Red-wattled Lapwings, Crested Serpent eagles and Green Bee-eaters.
Panna is also home to hyenas, wolves, leopards, wild boars and sloth bears and is dotted with ancient rock paintings, believed to be around 2,000 years old.

There was still no sight of the feline beauties but what we saw next made my day. Barely a minute into our boat-ride along the River Ken, that runs along the park, we spotted a marsh crocodile sunning on the rocky bank and another one soon after it, with its mouth wide open — very National Geographic!
Later, we learnt that another group in the park spotted not only one of the tigresses but a leopard as well. My Big Cat luck sucked. Our safari, meanwhile, wrapped up with that and an al fresco breakfast by the river — a charming idea, though it’s probably more enjoyable in winter. It was just 8.30 am but the mercury was nearing 40 °C already.

Besides, after guzzling on two bottles of water to beat the heat I could barely wait to get back to the lodge. I’d overlooked that one very euphemistic bullet point in the brief given to me before the drive — ‘There are no formal ablution facilities in the park’. Translation: No bathroom, folks!
On Day Three I set off for the other Taj Safari lodge, Mahua Kothi in Bandhavgarh. Mahua Kothi is a pleasant contrast to Pashan Garh. It’s charmingly rustic with kutiya — or hut-style suites with mud-coloured walls in lime and earth washes and handmade pottery roof tiles. Bicycles in the parking yard are an invitation for guests to explore the property or even go into the nearby village.

A luxurious stone cottage in Pashan Garh
Bandhavgarh National Park, nestled between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges, has one of the highest densities of tigers in the subcontinent. At present there are 40 in the park, my naturalist Himanshu informed. Other animals that share this dense sal forest include leopards, chital, sambar, nilgai, wild boar, chinkara, sloth bear, rhesus macaque, grey langur, jungle cat, hyena, fox, and wild dog. Apart from the wildlife, the ancient Bandhavgarh Fort atop the hill in the park makes for a stunning sight, as does the 10th-century statue of Lord Vishnu reclining on a seven-hooded snake halfway up the hill.
The fort, visible from the forest, is believed to be 2,000 years old. To get to the Sheshaiyya statue, one has to trek uphill. It’s located in a pool of spring water, said to be the source of the Charan Ganga, that’s one of three perennial streams flowing through the park.
Summer is perfect for tiger sightings but after Panna I was feeling sceptical. My game drive in Bandhavgarh started with the usual langur, chital and sambar sightings and the forest, in its different shades of green, brown and grey, was a sight to behold.
But even after two hours of driving and plenty of false alarms, the tigers remained elusive. Just then a Ruddy Mongoose scampered across. “That brings good luck. Get ready for a tiger,” smiled Himanshu. And sure enough, after another half-hour, I saw my first Big Cat in the wild. A tigress by a watering hole.
There’s hardly any adjective that’s not already been used to describe seeing this majestic animal in its natural habitat. So I’ll go for a noun. Respect. It’s the first word I could think of when a friend later asked me “How did you feel seeing a tiger up close?” I saw another tiger that day apart from a rare sloth bear sighting.
The next day was equally rewarding. Dancing peacocks played swaggering roadside Romeos to impress the peahens at the watering hole, a Red Jungle fowl, a white-naped Woodpecker, Black-hooded Oriole, Tailor Birds and Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher made for awesome visual treats apart from two more tiger sightings. The second one — my closest encounter — will remain unforgettable. A 60-year-old tusker lumbered to within a heart-pounding 5-feet distance of a lazing tigress — a feeling that made me decide I’d come back for more.
The Ruddy Mongoose charm is potent obviously. And now I’m a believer.

GOA. SEPTEMBER 2008.

We’d planned a holiday for over three months. And on D-day, the elements (read: traffic, cabbie, East Bengal-Mohun Bagan football match) conspired to make us miss our flight.
That’s how our trip to Goa took off — without us.
But we weren’t about to lose a single day of our meticulously planned — yes, we even used ExcelSheet — vacation! In fact we’d chosen September (end of the monsoons) so it would be different from the same old sun-and-sand experience. Even if we were heading to a familiar tourist spot it was an unfamiliar time of year. We reached our destination smarting from the pinch of the extra 10 grand each of us shelled out to catch the very next flight out of Calcutta.
Goa, however, can take away the pain of any pinch and the air out of any ‘plan’! “Relax no, bug***!” they like to say there. And that’s what our vacation punch line became.
It was the brightest Monday — in our minds. By evening it would begin to rain. But now the sun was mellow and day one at Baga, where we’d put up, began with a walk to the beach.
Baga is around 10km west of Mapusa and extends out of Calangute beach and is less crowded. Baga is also more scenic with a hillock on one end and a quaint retreat house atop it. Being off-season, the shacks were relatively empty, the owners eager to please and except for the sea, everything was heartwarmingly lazy.
So naturally, brunch was a four-hour affair. By the end of it, we decided that only the most frenzied partying could help us shed the kilos we’d put on from all the beer and batter-fried sea food.
Baga is known for popular nightspots in Goa like Mambo’s, Tito’s, Fiesta, and Cavala. But we’d almost forgotten that this was September. Fiesta was closed, and the scene at Mambo’s and Tito’s was boring. So we headed for Cavala, and thank god!
The relaxed buzz of guests, live music and great food and wine at this ivy-clad hotel was just what we needed. Designed by Goan architect, Lucio Miranda, Cavala, is a refreshing Portuguese-Goan style building — with its red laterite façade, tiled roof and wrought iron balconies.
After the first day of chilling out Goa style, we were ready for action on the next. We hired two bikes — the best way to experience Goa this time of the year — and set out for Anjuna beach.
Eight kilometres west of Mapusa, Anjuna is a rocky beach with a stunning view of the horizon. The little bazaar at the approach is as endearing for the trinkets on sale as the women selling them. “Buy something. Make my day,” they call in a rustic tone and the most amusing European accent, picked up from foreign tourists.
Our next stop was Vagator, a 20-minute ride from Anjuna. Vagator has dramatic red cliffs plunging down towards the shore and is split into two by a seaside headland that holds the parking lot. As you face the sea, on your right is North Vagator Beach (Big Vagator) and on your left Ozram beach or Little Vagator.
The other view on our right as we faced the sea got us so excited that we decided to undertake a trek — laziness be damned — early next morning. It was the Chapora Fort.
The ride to Chapora felt like straight out of a movie. Verdant hills, lush fields, clouds turning from white to grey as we raced them, and even a double rainbow — we decided we were in The Motorcycle Diaries.
Located 10km from Mapusa, Chapora Fort was built by the Portuguese in 1617. The view of the sea and nearby beaches during the uphill trek is worth every breath you expend going up. The fort is in ruins but you can still see the heads of the two tunnels that were the supply and, probably also escape, routes for besieged defenders.
As we walked past the gate, it felt like stepping back in time. It gave us goose-bumps. Part of which, of course, was the result of me recalling that Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna sang paeans to their friendship in Dil Chahta Hai at this very spot!
While we explored the hill on the other side of the fort, a storm broke out. We were at the edge of a cliff that extends out for from the fort and ends over the sea. With nowhere to take shelter, we simply watched in awe. The clouds blew in, gathered right over us and burst open in a 15-minute shower leaving us drenched and thrilled to the bone. On our way back, we hit Curly’s, a little shack on Anjuna. Another lazy four-hour lunch, we were back in Goa mode.
And that’s how we remained the next day too. We swam and chilled out in front of the NV Beach Resort at Calangute beach. The most delectable golden fried squids, lazy deck chairs, and a playful family of three German Shepherds, made our day.
And like anyone who holidays there, we woke up the next day — our last in Goa — rattled by nightmares of getting back to work.
Our only consolation was the promise of an awesome lunch at Panjim. A friend had suggested Viva Panjim, run by the charming Linda D’Souza on the ground floor of her house. The place, also recommended by The Lonely Planet, is perfect for Goan staples like sausage rice, fish curry, xacuti, vindaloo and cafreal. The city also made for the most beautiful architectural eye candy.
And as we finally drove out of Panjim, our hearts and stomachs sated, all’s well that ends well we thought — and happily braced ourselves for our credit card bills.

TRUCKIN...

I promised myself (and so many others) that i would write ... but just can't seem to find the time (euphesim for 'lazy')... so i'm gonna resort to a little cheating and post my Goa and wildlife safari travel stories here! :P

some pretty lame rubbish i've written before this ... hmpfh! i shall write about turkey here soon. with pix. (basically - put up the travel story i'm writing for Personal Telegraph!)

'eat my word'

So you have a book. Only it's a bag of different-coloured little candy balls. Pop one and you get a story - in your head. The purple one makes your face go blurred. The orange sets you head off into vibrations. The dark pink one sets off coloured sparks into your mouth that come out in spurts from your ears and eyes.