This morning we drove to another part of the National Park which involved crossing the Madhya Pradesh state border and into Maharashtra (the same state as Mumbai is in). There was a bit of confusion as we were told we had to declare what cameras/lenses we were carrying and pay the appropriate charge. As Naturetrek's documentation said all camera fees were included we were a little nonplussed and of course hadn't brought any cash with us. One of the guides explained that it was a new ruling, since COVID and that she would pay for us and we could reimburse her, although the board clearly showed 2019 Charges! Anyway as it only amounted to £6 for us we didn't make a fuss.
It was a beautiful drive through a different type of woodland (I know this looks a bit weird but I've run it through denoise software) - I think there are more Sal trees rather than Teak as we've seen so far.
The wooded nature of the landscape makes it nigh on impossible to take a shot that doesn't have a tree trunk in it.
After driving around aimlessly for about 3 hours, our local guide suddenly said something to the driver and off we went; talk about a roller coaster ride, we had to cling on for dear life. It seems that unlike the other section of the NP there is actually mobile phone coverage here and so the sighting of a tiger had been reported, albeit a long way away.
There were already about 5 other trucks there when we arrived and many others arrived subsequently (unlike African conservancies there are no limits here) but our driver pulled up on the side of the road and I was able to see the tiger coming towards us. Unfortunately the autofocus was confused by all the foliage around and so this is the best I got.
We thought she was going to turn and cross the track behind us but suddenly she changed direction and walked out right in front of me - almost too close for my lens.
On the other side of the track was a man-made dam and the last thing I wanted in my shot was a load of sandbags.
But unfortunately, you don't always get what you want!
Despite all the shouting and hollering going on (the vast majority of people in the trucks are Indian and they don't have a clue how to behave - major criticism) she carried on walking past all the trucks and just turned her head very slightly towards me WOW!!!
Ian said afterwards that he wished he tried to take a video, I did think of it at the time but this was his first sighting and I wanted him to be able to enjoy it with his own eyes, not looking through a camera viewfinder.
Apart from this Flame of the Forest (Butea monosperma) tree coming into flower, that was it for the morning.
As a keen photographer I'm always hopeful I'll get THE shot which of course I didn't but we did have a great sighting of a beautiful creature. What I wasn't comfortable with was the behaviour of some other visitors/drivers/guides - it should not be a free for all scrum and the welfare of the animal must be paramount so maybe a restriction in the number of vehicles allowed in the vicinity of a potential sighting is necessary.
Back at the hotel we had an hour or so to pack as we were moving on after lunch, but I did get a chance to take a few photos of the Fruit Bats which were nesting in a nearby tree - they are also known as Flying Foxes and really are quite large and have a massive 5' wing span. Although it was daylight and presumably they should be sleeping, they were constantly moving and it was impossible to get a decent shot.
Well I wouldn't like to get one of them tangled up in my hair!
I'm quite sorry to be leaving this lodge, the staff from the manager down have all been really lovely and friendly; they always ask about our drives and whether we've seen anything exciting. Nothing is too much trouble and the food is fab-u-lous.
After the fuss we made about the unsuitable vehicles on the first transfer drive, the guides have arranged for 2 x 9 seater minibuses plus a taxi for B & L which should be much more comfortable for everyone. This afternoon's drive is about 200km north east and should take us around 4 1/2 hours including a loo stop.