Arjit Agarwal

My memorable experience with Jungle

My experience in the trip at Tadoba was unique and was awesome because for the first time we saw five tigers altogether. This trip was my second time here at Bamboo Forest and the resort was also much better after our first stay. This time, I visited with my mom and two of our family friends Arush and Aarav and their mother too.
In this trip, we saw a mother tiger called ‘Chhoti Tara’ and we could only track her for around five minutes. The amazing part not only did we spot her on our very first safari , but we also heard her growl which meant she was announcing her presence.

We all were so excited because this was our first time ever being on safari. And we were so excited to see a tiger in first safari ever and that too on our first ride! We had the safari in the evening my so it was expected to see a tiger. I felt so roller coaster of feelings as I thought that in the beginning, we weren’t going to see a single soul and then out of the blue, the forest guide silences is and then my heart started pounding against my chest as I hoped for a sight and then out of the shrubbery she strode elegantly accepts the pathway and vanished into the jungle after five minutes. This sighting made me so happy.

As we reached the hotel, it was dark so we went directly to the dining room in which we had dinner and after that, we went to sleep early because we had to wake up at around 4:45 because we were going for a morning safari.

Unfortunately, we came back not seeing a tiger, but we did see a cool black shouldered kite perched on dead tree which allowed me to take a pretty good picture of it. We also had breakfast at one of the points where many people would gather around and eat.

During this time, I wanted to test how accurate a spider could sense something land on its web so we parked right under a giant wood spider and then I threw a tiny crumb of bread and unexpectedly within seconds the spider got there and was already wrapping it up to eat for later (although it would not be able to eat it).

We also spotted a Neil guy. We were delighted to cite the kite perched on the branch right next to us and then fly right over our jeep and soar away into the distance. This was truly a beautiful sight and I felt satisfied that I finally saw a raptor. I really find the black-shouldered kite attracting because it has such a mean look and its colors are so magnificent yet simple at the same time.

As we left for the next evening safari I got an imitation that we would spot something wonderful. Throughout the ride we saw nothing and so I thought that the intuition was just a thought, but then suddenly the jeep bolted through small alleys and we reached a place with at least 10-15 jeeps and they said there were two cubs who belonged to Chhoti Tara, the mother we had spotted the other day. Cubs didn’t come for around an hour. Waiting there was an arduous task, but then just as we were about to leave the two brothers started playing and jumping in the open land which permitted for some lovely pictures and a beautiful sight.

This made me feel so amazed as I have never seen three tigers in one trip in a tiger conservation. I was so happy that I almost screamed out loud, but then I remembered the rules to always be quiet. This sight filled me with joy and pressure as I have never seen tiger cubs in a safari especially two brothers who were playing, in front of me. They were quite far away, but we could still see them properly and it was such a beautiful sight to see.

The very next day, it was our last safari and my mom was feeling under the weather so she couldn’t join us for the safari. Not even 10 minutes into the safari, we saw one of the bothers from yesterday, except this time, he was at least five feet away from us. This was such an amazing sight as I have seen tigers even closer before. However right next to us there was a heard of at least 100 deer.

Five minutes after that sight, the other brother came and they were playing less than three feet away from us. This was the best wildlife conservation trip of my life as I saw five tigers. They made me feel so happy and I couldn’t even express how much I was feeling and then I snapped away with my camera. The ‘sight’ lasted for around an hour and we saw them interact with the environment and it was amazing and I will always cherish the memory.

After that enthralling experience, we really didn’t see any unique moments, but we still saw herds of Chital and Sambar deer along with a monitor lizard perched on a trunk of a tree. As we headed back to the resort, I was already starting to miss the safari and was looking forward to when I would come back.