Namaste
We made it to Bandhavgar!!!!!! The flight from Delhi to Jabalpur was just 3 hours late. We took Nacil India Air, which is like flying in a well-worn school bus (well, actually the short bus) that should have been retired long ago – frayed and ripped seats covers, padding that has been flattened to a thin pancake, and carpeting that has been worn to the metal flooring. Imagine Southwest planes after 30 years of flying without any upkeep or improvement. Thank goodness the pilot managed to sputter us through the air and land the old bird smoothly. Fingers crossed that I don’t have TB because many of the passengers had awful coughs.
The airport was a one room cement block. After we got our luggage, we were met at the airport by our driver Bagwooandas. Think of a lean Doberman with a mustache wearing a khaki uniform. He did not speak English fluently but enough to answer questions and point out sites along the way. We drove for 4 ½ hours to our safari lodge in Bandhavgar. Finally I had a little taste of the crazy Indian roads. Our car was a hermetically sealed white capsule with air conditioning that blocked out the noise and pollution from the outside. It was like being inside of wacky NASCAR video game without the sound on. Instead of just racing and dodging other cars, the obstacles were jockeying for a spot on a six-foot wide road while avoiding an onslaught of mobs of pedestrians, bicycles precariously balancing large bags of dry cement mix, motorcycles with three or more passengers, three-wheeled green and yellow motorized rickshaws decorated with beads and fringe, herds of cattle, skinny starving dogs looking for a meal, wild boars, tractor trailers, buses, and other cars. There are no traffic lights, but everyone manages to fall into a rhythm that is set by constantly beeping horns. It was fun to sit comfortably in the backseat and watch this madcap word fly by.
The last 15 kilometers were like riding along on the cratered moon with gravity. My booty was quite sore by the end of the journey. Our lodge, Mahua Kothi, was an absolute dream of serenity and beauty. The staff was extremely kind, attentive, and friendly. We had the best time meeting and getting to know the staff and all the other guests. We made friends with a really fun couple Geoffrey & Violante from Paris and a crazy old hippie couple from Malibu. We are actually going to meet up with Violante and Geoffrey in Varinasi (another destination) tomorrow for dinner.
The safari drives in the park were so fun. We did not see tigers at first because we were in the wrong zone. The park has 4 zones and each safari car is assigned to a particular one. It seems that only Zone 1 has a high probability of tiger sightings. We were assigned to Zone 2 and road around for hours without seeing anything. The forest is very dense. The first drive was really fruitless. Honestly, we drove for 3 hours and did not even see a bird. I really thought the park had no animals and then we saw 1 spotted deer. It was crazy. The same thing happened on the second drive and we (Veta, Violante, Geoffrey and I) went bonkers. We started screaming to our guide Parikshit to take us to Zone 1. He calmly explained to us that Zone 1 was booked in advance since March and there was no chance for us to get in unless we made friends with the wealthy guest who was about to arrive. He would have access to Zone 1 and anything else he wanted. The guest was Anil Ambani (one of the top 10 richest men in the world (his brother is number 5). The rest of the ride was spent laughing and plotting how we would become friends with Anil Ambani and beg him to take us in his car. We laughed so hard as the plots became crazier and crazier that we didn’t care if we spotted a tiger. We were having so much fun joking. At one point, the jeep hit a huge crater and I almost flipped out of the car. I started joking with Parikshit and saying he owed me a ride in Zone 1 for almost killing me.
When we got back to the lodge we asked the management to help us get into Zone 1, but they told us there was no way we could get a booking. The other guests who went into Zone 1 saw tigers. We then started asking for an elephant ride in the park, but we were told the elephants were busy tracking a tigress that had escaped the park and went to the nearby village where she killed cattle and a man. The same tigress was on the lodge property near one of the guest rooms the evening before we arrived. We were totally bummed, but determined to make friends with Anil so he would get us into the magical zone.
The next day, we went back to the dreaded Zone 2 for our ride. Of course we saw nothing so we went crazy saying that we would pay 10 times the fee to get into Zone 1. Who did we have to bribe???? Finally Parikshit said he would take us to the Park Director and we could ask him to let us into the coveted Zone. Before he took us, he told us to get a good story and be determined. It would be good if we could cry a little. He said that he would first go to the Director and tell him that we were very upset and that we wanted to talk to him about getting into Zone 1. The Director agreed to sit down and meet with us. We decided to let Violante speak and she concocted the story that she and Geoffrey were on their honeymoon and that their friends had paid for their trip and how they were so disappointed that they could not get into Zone 1. She begged and pleaded and he finally told us to come back at 2:30pm for the afternoon drive and if one of the cars with a Zone 1 ticket did not show up, we could have their spot. We thanked him and said we would return. We did and we got in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Zone 1 was like the enchanted forest. It was lush and well-manicured and full of animals, not just one spotted dear, but herds. It was AMAZINGLY better. Within 5 minutes of our entry, a tiger was spotted by the elephant trackers deep into the forest. The Park Director came over to the spot and allowed the people on the safari jeeps to get on the elephant and ride into the forest for a closer viewing of the tiger. He let our jeep get on the elephant first. We climbed onto the platform on top of the elephant’s back. It was unsteady and exciting at the same time. The elephant took us to the tiger that was lying down eating his kill. The elephant used his trunk to rip away some of the branches and reeds to allow us a better look. What an experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When we got back to the lodge, the staff was shocked that Parikshit took us to the Park Director and we got into Zone 1. They begged us not to tell the other guests and we were as silent as the grave.
Later that evening, we heard the tigress was loose again in the village. We tried to call our driver to take us to the village for another safari, but his phone was turned off. We spent the rest of the night laughing with Violante and Geoffrey and then made plans to meet in Varinasi for dinner.
We had our final ride in the morning with Parikshit. We said our goodbyes to the staff and met our driver to go to Kajuraho (city with the erotic temples).
Our time at Mohua Kothi was truly amazing. Parikshit was such a nice guy. We almost missed saying farewell to him because the lodge sent him on an errand right before we left, but he followed our car and we were able to say good-bye. I gave him my email and hopefully he will keep in touch. Even if we do not meet again, I will consider him a friend. He had such a great personality and we shared so many chuckles. I wish him well.