Bandhavgarh National Park
Days Three & Four - India - 2024
Two game drives in Bandhavgarh National Park hoping for a close-up tiger encounter.
1. Bandhavgarh Sunrise #1
Bandhavgarh National Park occupies the land of a former royal hunting ground.
After a lovely evening at the Nature Heritage Resort (another slam-dunk hotel from this trip), we arose yet again for another game drive, this time in the so-called Tala Zone of Bandhavgarh National Park. The landscape in this part of the park is unlike any other scenery we saw at any of the other game parks we visited, featuring rolling hills and even a giant fort atop a mesa-like bluff.
The first part of the game drive wasn’t really intended to look for game, but rather focused on the scenery and the sunrise. Two more photographs of the sunrise follow.
2. Bandhavgarh Sunrise #2
The Tala Zone of the park is known for its rolling hills…
3. Bandhavgarh Sunrise #3
… And rocky terrain.
4. Bandhavgarh’s Morning Mist
Here, light penetrates the thick tree cover found commonly across Bandhavgarh.
Before long, we tucked into the forested area of the zone in search of primarily tigers.
5. Bandhavgarh Alexandrine Parakeets
Two Alexandrine parakeets cling to a tree.
We didn’t come across any tigers by the Tala Zone’s lake area, but did spot several birds along the way.
6. Bandhavgarh White-Throated Kingfisher
A white-throated kingfisher sits intently on a tree limb.
7. Bandhavgarh Sunrise #4
While best known for its hilly terrain, Bandhavgarh does have a few prominent swamps and lakes.
8. Dotty #1
Dotty, an enigmatic tigress is seen resting in some tall grass.
Having abandoned our quest to spot tigers nearby the ponds, we moved further east into the park’s grassland area. I’m not entirely certain how our guide spotted the tigress, Dotty, sleeping far, far in the tall field, but all the same there she was!
It is worth noting at this point that Indian wildlife parks have a rule which prevent you from loitering at a certain location for more than a set period of time (in the case of Bandhavgarh, I think the cap is at ten minutes). Our guide calculated that Dotty would be sleeping for a bit longer and we did a quick lap around a nearby grassy field to “reset” our ten minute clock.
9. Dotty #2
Dotty is believed to have been born in 2012 along with her sister, Spotty.
Circling back, Dotty had awoken and was now sticking her head above the grass. We admired her for our allotted ten minute period and she stayed perfectly still for the whole encounter … she even looked in our direction a few times!
Editor’s Comment: I couldn’t decide which of the following four photographs was my favorite … so you get all four!
10. Dotty #3
Dotty is known for her distinctive triangular “D” pattern above her right eye towards the center of her face.
11. Dotty #4
12. Dotty #5
13. Dotty #6
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14. Bandhavgarh Fort
Perched high above the park is Bandhavgarh Fort, built in the 10th century.
Following our encounter with Dotty (who disappeared shortly thereafter into the thick part of the jungle out of the hot morning sun), we made our way back to the pond area of the Tala Zone to see what animal encounters might await us there.
15. Bandhavgarh Indian Vulture
With fewer than 15,000 mature individuals, the Indian vulture is critically endangered. Its population -and the population of eight other vulture species in India- dropped dramatically as diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug used in livestock, proved fatal to vultures when they consumed the carcasses of animals treated with the pharmaceutical. It is believed the total number of vultures in South Asia decreased from 40 million to less than 20,000 in less than 40 years.
We came across this Indian vulture perched atop a dead tree. I feel very privileged to have seen one and -given the breed’s fragile population- I also hope it is not the last time I get to see one.
After this interaction, we made our way back to our lodge for a relaxing afternoon off (Bandhavgarh National Park is closed to game drives on Wednesday afternoons). While the reason for the visit was wildlife spotting, I was thankful we had the extra time to relax - since arriving in country, we had been very go, go go, and I needed a chance to recharge my batteries considering we still had another ten days to go!
16. Bandhavgarh Spider
A giant spider (I don’t know which kind, I can’t know every animal…) spins a gigantic web.
The following morning, we made our way west to the Khitauli Zone of Bandhavgarh National Park for the second of our two game drives here.
I suppose now is as good a time as any to point out that the zone you visit on any given game drive is assigned randomly; in other words, your day is truly up to random chance. In this case, we unfortunately drew the short straw and had a bit of an underwhelming morning. These things happen - it is all part of the safari experience!
17. Bandhavgarh Stream
The Khitauli Zone of Bandhavgarh features flatter terrain punctuated by occasional streams and bogs.
We spent the majority of the time following the fresh tracks of at least one tiger, and even heard the roar of one at pretty good range. Unfortunately, we did not spot the tiger and (justifiably, mind you) spent quite a bit of time waiting for one to hopefully appear in the roadway.
18. Bandhavgarh Red-Naped Ibis
A red-naped ibis stands atop a tree branch.
Thankfully, our morning was salvaged by a large pond which featured some birds …
19. Bandhavgarh Gaur #1
The last endemic gaur population left Bandhavgarh around 1995 …
… As well as some rare guars, which we got to see grazing on some tall grass nearby.
20. Bandhavgarh Gaur #2
… And multiple reintroduction efforts have successfully returned the animal to the park with a small population a couple hundred strong.
Following this, we made the nearly six-hour long journey to the ancient city of Khajuraho. One more game drive in the morning to hopefully spot a tiger or two!
