Our Nagpur flight was at 6:30 AM, we left the hotel at 5:00 and arrived at 5:30 AM. We had toast and coffee as room service and this turned out to be an excellent idea.
Security was slow but smooth
We are on GoAir 141. Seats 11A and B.
The aircraft is AirBus 320 with Vinod Singh as the captain. The flight was quite smooth, the breakfast was prepaid but unfortunately not that good or plentiful. Good thing we had the toast prior to leaving the hotel.
The flight landed slightly ahead of time and we were met by the local agent with a car and driver. We dropped the local agent off at his office and proceeded on towards Svasara Lodge.
Tadoba is Southwest of Nagpur. The drive took around 2.5 hours and most of the roads were in good condition except for a couple of small patches where bridge work was going on.
We were greeted at the Lodge by Nandini, the lodge manager. She showed us to our cottage #115. There are 12 cottages all laid out in a line.
All the cottages are furnished in identical fashion. They are spacious and well appointed and with ac. The temperature was 93, and the cool room felt very inviting after the road trip.
We freshened up, unpacked leisurely and went to lunch. The lunch was buffet style as expected and excellent.
At lunch I met Ranjit, who was the General Manager and Nandini's husband.
We got ready and looking forward to our first game drive into the forest.
We were assigned a Gypsy with Atul as the driver and Chirag as the naturalist for all our 8 safaris.
The safari hours are 2:30 to 6:00 which varies based on season. Only 9 vehicles are allowed to enter from this gate. At the gate we were assigned Pancham jiutode, as our forest guide.
There is a village on the way that is in the process of being relocated, and then that area will become part of buffer zone.
Pretty soon we heard alarm calls and we positioned our selves. The Langurs jumped up on the trees and a male tiger known Leopard face appeared.
This is a huge male about 6 years old, with corded stripes and face markings of a leopard and hence the name.
We were surrounded by many jeeps which seemed to appear from nowhere, which made Leopard face disappear after a short appearance. Sudip got a few good shots.
We proceeded on our way and Sudip was excited to get pictures of the green bee eater and stonechat.
We also saw some sambar and a large herd of chittal deer.
Back at the Lodge we were offered moist towels for cleaning our dusty faces and necks followed by tea, coffee, and snacks in the Teak House
Tonight's Dinner was Bihari style. I didn't know what to expect but it was surprisingly good.
The video of the Tadoba part of the documentary, The Secrets of Wild India narrated by David Attenborough, was being shown. Sitting in an open theater in tiger country and listening to the tiger roar in the film, was a neat experience.
We retired right after since we have an early start for the morning safari.
The bed was comfortable and we slept well.
Location:Svasara Lodge & Resort, Tadoba
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