Before booking this trip I'd asked Naturetrek about the vehicles we'd be using and was told gypsy jeeps for the safaris with max 4 guests and usually Toyota cars for the road transfers. After breakfast we headed out to the vehicles for our 3 hour journey to Pench National Park and I was not particularly happy that I was expected to sit in the boot seat at the back of the car but I was the youngest and most flexible of the group and by sitting sideways I was just about able to get enough legroom. That is until the younger of the two guides got in beside me! Fortunately we stopped halfway and the person who'd immediately "volunteered" to sit in the comfy front seat then took my back seat and I persuaded Ian to go in the front whilst I sat with another lady in the middle seats. Not ideal and we made our feelings known that this would not be acceptable on days when we had a 6 hour transfer.
Our hotel, Tuli Tiger Corridor, is situated within the park's buffer zone and shortly before we arrived some of the group were able to have their first tiger sighting from the road; an orange flash in the distant undergrowth.
It's quite a nice hotel, although the rooms are a little dark and rundown, they are clean and the staff are very helpful.
There are lots of these butterflies dashing around which I tried hard to photograph without success. Luckily I found this specimen dead on the path and so could position it where I wanted. I think it's a Crimson Rose.
Having settled into our rooms, we all met at reception for 1430. We'll be sharing our gypsy with B and L from Surrey who seem very pleasant; they're keen birders and have been on many Naturetrek holidays. We offered to take the back seats for the first drive and suggested that we swop over tomorrow but it was quickly apparent that L would struggle to climb into the back as she is quite short and suffers from various ailments.
We've never been on safari in national parks before (in Africa we are in conservancies) and the process is typically Indian time wasting, job creation bureaucracy. The hotels are situated 10-20 mins drive away from the park entrance and despite there being no seatbelts in the gypsies the drivers drive like lunatics through the villages so they can be first in the queue when the park opens half an hour later. In most parks there are several entrance gates and different zones with visitor numbers strictly limited, with permits are granted weeks in advance. We have to take our passports to prove identity, the drivers have queue up to sign in and then collect a local guide whose main function would appear to be ensuring no park rules are broken* and some have little or no interest in wildlife whatsoever. Said local guide also has to squeeze into the back of truck if the passenger seat is occupied by a Naturetrek guide or hotel naturalist as occurred on 50% of our game drives. So yes, 4 Naturetrek guests is technically correct but .......
* no off roading, no getting out of the truck except for designated breakfast spots, only stopping on one side of the road at a sighting etc etc.
When the check-in procedure is complete, the trucks then line up in two columns which rather reminded me of a grand prix start (I'll try for some pictures if I remember).
From the first drive it is apparent that wildlife is less prolific and less varied than we are used to and also being restricted to set routes, with thick/tall vegetation in places, we are unlikely to get close enough to most things for decent photographs. Another unfavourable comparison with Africa quickly became evident - the drivers generally don't have the experience to position their truck so the passengers can see the sighting (rather than them!) and have no clue about lighting directions.
So I'm just going to have to post what I've got and try not to moan too much!
Yellow-Footed Green Pigeon
We saw this jackal running away with something in its mouth.
Langur monkey by the looks of it.
Great excitement when a leopard was spotted in a tree, again with a langur monkey kill - it was at least 200m away!
Crested Serpent Eagle with what looks to be a broken wing.
At last, some live langurs. I love the way they sit, so humanlike.
Towards the end of the drive as the light was fading rapidly, we found ourselves in a very rocky area with no other trucks around. It was perfect leopard territory and we suddenly spotted this huge male leopard in hunting mode.
We watched him for a while as he tried to manoeuvre himself closer to a small herd of Sambar Deer grazing behind the rocks.
Having failed to make a kill he turned around and was standing up on the bank really, really, close to our truck.
I think L was seriously worried he was about to launch himself at her.
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally jumped down onto the road and sauntered in front of the truck.
We then had to race off at high speed to get out of the park before it closed at 1800 undergoing a reverse of the entry procedure with the local guides having to go in and report on the sightings and, presumably, the truck.
Although our exclusive leopard sighting was quite spectacular overall there wasn't much to show for our first drive but I'm sure it'll get better.
We were back at the lodge about 1830 and told to meet in the bar at 1930 for checklist; one of the guides reads through a very long list of birds/mammals we all might possible have seen today (and some we definitely couldn't have as they aren't even in the area) and some of the more earnest birders, B included, call about whether or not they had a sighting. This was a new experience for us and quite frankly a waste of people's time - I think the data could be collected in a far simpler/most efficient way but it's part of a Naturetrek tradition apparently. Personally I'd rather be able to have my dinner earlier so I can digest it a bit before bed as we have to be up at 0500.