Day 3 at Kanha... and we saw the tiger!!

Another beautiful morning started with us queuing up at the gate, this time earlier than the previous day, after we saw the rush during the weekend. It was cool and misty and really beautiful. The drivers and guides waited on along with the tourists until it was their turn to enter. Today, we were even more eager to see the tiger.

We were really fortunate to get a very good and experienced guide this morning. His name was Guru Prasad and he had been working in Kanha since 1986. It was through him we learned a lot about tracking a tiger. He introduced himself to us, then got an update of what all we had already seen, so he could focus on showing us other things. His professionalism was really appreciated.

He was alert at all time and the first one to hear the tiger call. We had heard a call the previous morning and it had turned out to be a leopard. Timing and is so important in spotting these animals. Being at the right place at the right time is a matter of experience and takes effort.

Today, Guru Prasad our guide stopped the jeep in a spot where he heard a monkey raising a tiger alarm. None of us had heard one before and this was most interesting. The monkey made short desperate sounds as if the tiger was really nearby. Unfortunately for us, Kanha is thickly vegetated and we could see nothing inside the forest. Tall Sal trees bordered by thick bamboo made it impossible to look through the vegetation and spot the tiger. We stood long next to the monkey on top of the tree warning of a tiger in the vicinity. We were told that the monkey always looks in the direction of the tiger. It raises an alarm when the tiger is moving and stops if the tigers sits down or is taking a nap. This call was sure shot and the tiger was there. Just we could not see it.

Few other jeeps stopped with us but rushed on as there was a sure tiger spotting at another location which was known. We waited on, moved the jeep backwards to get close to the place where the monkey was looking. All of a sudden the monkey was quiet. Our hopes fell. But our guide assured us that the tiger had moved on and we would hear another call as soon as another animal spots it. Sure enough after 5 mins a sambhar deer called, but from the opposite side of the road. The tiger had just crossed behind us after the bend in the road.

Now we were disappointed but still stood a chance to see the female tigress who had been spotted. Our guide told the driver to rush there. We reached soon after a bunch of jeeps had spotted the tigress. They were tracking her direction of moving and reaching the spot much before the tigress got there. There was a line of 15 jeeps already and more were coming in hearing the news. Our hearts were pounding with anxiety of whether we would see the tiger this time at least. Suddenly one of the jeeps at the end spotted the tiger and the guide yelled warning everyone. What followed this was a picture I will never forget. All 15 jeeps started reversing and racing to get ahead and closer to the tigress. She crossed the road once and then crossed again. The road was hilly and I could see the stripes disappearing behind the bushes. The sight there was nothing short of a jeep rally with dust flying and people rushing to get close. Our jeep was in the wrong direction and our driver told us just one thing-Hold on tight. Finally, after all the rallying and racing the tigress grandly walked between the gap of the jeeps facing each other . We were quite in the distance and could see it walk. She turned to the jeeps on either side giving a look like-what the hell is wrong with you all?? It was quite a sight. In all the rally and racing, we could not get a good photo of the tiger and this was the only one that was near visible.

This was quite a spotting. Soon after seeing the tiger our relief was so obvious. All of the jungle and animals now looked wonderful. The joy showed on our faces. In fact this was a way of knowing if a passing jeep had seen a tiger. If you saw calm and disappointed faces you would know they hadn't seen one.

The story of spotting a tiger is told to all that you meet on the way, all the way till you get back to your resort, where the people working there enthusiastically follow up. They are joyed to hear that you saw a tiger as much as you, because now the tourists wont complain to them. They now feel their trip was worthwhile :)

We went to the evening safari as well but did not spot another tiger. We were not that lucky.