Spotted!

Date: December 7th 2012. 
Time: 4.15 pm.
Location: Somewhere in the Kanha National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh, India
Atmosphere: Tense 

Manchan, our driver had stopped the jeep and switched off the engine. We were the last vehicle in the convoy and all the other vehicles had gone back. The sudden silence was deafening. All of us stood up and peered into the dense green foliage around us. I shivered as a chill breeze found its way through the trees. We stood in attention, not saying a word, all our senses directed outward towards the jungle around us. Our guide for the day, Sukhender, had heard what we thought was the alarm call of a spotted deer and we had stopped to try and locate it. Two whole minutes went by and slowly our ears started picking up the sounds of the jungle - the faint cracks in the bushes 20 m away as a male sambhar deer grazed; the occasional mating call of a langur on a tree somewhere to our right; the mimicking call of a drongo sitting almost above us....and then - there it was! From somewhere to our left and ahead we heard the alarm call of a deer that had just seen a predator wander too close! It was distant, yet sharp and clear and even though it wasn't meant for us it managed to send a second shiver down my spine! The sambhar stopped its grazing and stood up fully alert, its ears twitching, nose sniffing...

On Sukhender's sharp instructions Manchan started the engine and we raced off down the road in the direction of the call. We sped on for a couple of minutes before he stopped and switched off again. Once again the jungle waited...and so did we... there it was again! This time the call was much closer and more insistent. Two parakeets suddenly took off screeching from a nearby tree jolting us out of our concentration. We shook our heads and went back to peering into the bushes. We knew our predator was close, but we had no idea where. We had stopped at the verge of a large open grassland with dense forest to our right. In the near distance a herd of barasingha (12-antlered) deer stood, most of them in full alert. The calls came again, and again, this time taken up by a herd of spotted deer behind us, each new one sharper, more insistent and increasingly urgent as the unseen predator came ever closer. Two langurs on the sal tree immediately behind us suddenly started screeching and shaking the branches they were on, causing leaves to rain down on us. Our guide barked orders to the driver, said "Start, start the vehicle! Reverse it back a 100m, do it now!!" Manchan revved the engine and we sped backwards on the road to a spot we had been just 5 minutes before, as the alarm calls and screeches kept coming. We were all standing, peering out of the back of the jeep, our heartbeats racing, wondering what we were going to see, when Sukhender shouted, "Slow down, Manchan, there it is - a leopard! A leopard!" We all gasped as the jeep came screeching to a halt, less than 30 m away from a magnificent specimen of a leopard that stood stretching luxuriantly, lazily to its full length, right in the middle of the path, absolutely unconcerned about all the noise and fuss! We gaped in fascination admiring the animal, as he looked up in what was possibly a mixture of irritation and amusement at this strange noisy green animal carrying four human animals! A full-size male, we had evidently disturbed him on his evening saunter! As we watched, he turned around and slinked off down the path away from us, looking back every time Manchan reversed the vehicle to follow. And for a whole five minutes we - very much the outsiders, got to follow and watch the leopard in his territory, as he walked off into the forest, pausing every now and then to scratch the bark of a tree, and once, even pee on a stump, as he marked territory!

We had to cut short our gaping as we were the last vehicle and had to be back at the park gate by 5 pm. Manchan floored it on the way back, but we were sated for the day and didn’t complain. Instead we re-lived what was easily the most memorable half an hour of our entire holiday so far! It wasn't just the fact that we had seen a leopard - a sighting that was in fact more rare than a tiger sighting, in the Kanha jungles - but the remarkable, unforgettable build-up to it - the excitement of the chase - the intense waits, hearing and locating the alarm calls and speeding ahead to where they came from, the gradual but inexorable build-up of tension, not just in our jeep, but in the jungle around us, as all the lesser animals stood up, called and screeched in DEFCON 4 mode, and, best of all, the majestic, almost anti-climactic fashion in which the leopard that was the cause of all this excitement, sauntered out on the path, stretching, yawning - and peeing! - and otherwise absolutely unconcerned about all the commotion and fuss around him! We spent three more days at the park, and though we didnt see any other predators, we had some thrilling close encounters, and almost every ride we took, we immersed ourselves in the jungle... and the primeval excitement of the chase!

General Information and Tips:
Getting there:

Kanha is most easily reached by taxi from Nagpur in Maharashtra, or Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. Though Nagpur is slightly farther away, I would recommend it as it has a much better choice of good, clean hotels to break your journey. Having said that, the Marble Rocks (Bheda Ghat) near Jabalpur - a remarkable natural formation of marble and limestone cliffs on the Narmada River, near Jabalpur are a worthy destination in themselves. See MPTDC's Marble Rocks Hotel at Bheda Ghat, for accommodation options.

Stay: 

MPTDC (the Madhya Pradesh state govt Tourism dept) run the Bhageera Lodges and Log Huts - the only accommodation within the core forest sanctuary. This is where we stayed and I would highly recommend the place, for its excellent location, wonderful food and friendly staff! Prices are rs 1100/- bed for the 8-bed Lodges and around rs 6500/- per two-bed room at the log huts.

General Tips:
1. Best time to see the jungle in all its glory - November-Jan, after the monsoon and before the dry season. Best time for animal sightings - summer - when the animals congregate at the water holes!

2. Take a pack of cards. There are two safaris per day - 6 am to 12 noon and 3 pm to 5 pm, which means you are free from 5pm onwards everyday. Do not expect to have communication with the outside world of any sort, while within the sanctuary - it was absolute bliss for the four days we were there with no mobile reception, or any other link with the rest of the world!

3. MPTDC offer online booking of park safaris (Rs. 2200/- (1 indian, 2 foreigners + guide charges) and Rs. 1800/- for the vehicle per safari). The best option for first time visitors would be (depending on your time) to book a couple of safaris for the first two days, and make the other bookings when you get there, depending on animal movements!

4. Carry a torch! Especially if staying at the Bhageera log huts. The place can get very dark very quickly - and you do not want to be wandering around in what is essentially jungle, with no light - commonsense, and the park rangers definitely don't approve!

5. Most important: Do not go to the sanctuary to see a tiger! Go there for the jungle, for the experience - that way you appreciate and enjoy things you would otherwise not even notice!