Farewell to Kanha! There was a mix-up with my bill when I checked out, but that notwithstanding I’m really going to miss Courtyard House. The lodge and the park are both wonderful places, and I hope to return someday.
Uday rode with us as far as the nearest mid-sized town, where he planned to catch a bus back to Jabalpur. While in town I got an unwelcome surprise when I discovered that my bank card wouldn’rt work in the local ATM. Thankfully I got enough cash in Toronto to last me the whole trip, though I won’t be buying any souvenirs or indulging in any more gin and tonics in the evenings.
As I actually got some sleep last night, so I was more alert during the car ride from Kanha to Bandhavgarh. The countryside was full of fascinating sights, from tent shelters on rickety-looking elevated platforms to groups of boys playing cricket in open fields. The sharp-eyed driver even spotted a couple of foxes not far from the road.
Like last Thursday, I got to my destination in time to have a quick lunch before the afternoon drive got underway. The Nature Heritage lodge was a fascinating place. Unlike Courtyard House, which was a single building, my home-away-from-home for the next three days was more spread out. I was staying in half of a duplex, one of several that surrounded a courtyard landscaped with narrow paths that wound through plant beds and patios.
The drive procedure was a little different, too. The lodge was actually in Tala, the town on the edge of the park. Thus the jeep ride was shorter and followed an interesting route through some twisty dirt roads and through a back alley with its own barber shop and small store.
The park gate was more familiar, looking and working a lot like Kanha. I was surprised to find that I wouldn’t be accompanied by a naturalist during my drives in Bandhavgarh. That would have been rough to start, because Uday was a big help while I was learning how everything worked. But once I got used to the routines, I found I was able to get by with just a driver and a guide. The guides in Bandhavgarh were nice guys who knew the park and did a great job keeping me informed and finding photo ops.
After driving around for awhile, we settled on a spot near a grove of trees beset by strangle vines, huge things capable of slowly killing even the strongest trees.
A large group of jeeps were all clustered in the same area, with all the guides listening for alarm calls. We sat there for quite awhile before the guide decided to try a different spot not too far away. By that point I figured it was getting late enough that the light would be too bad to get good photos of distant wildlife, so I was ready to call it a day.
Then I got to see Solo. She gets her own entry.
After the Solo encounter, we were running seriously behind schedule. The driver sped us back toward the gate along bumpy roads that gave me visions of Mr. Toad exclaiming, “No thanks, I’m not getting on that thing!”
Nature Heritage custom was to greet returning guests with a hot towel and a cold glass of lemonade. Tea was at 6, served in a shelter with a bonfire in the middle and comfy chairs all around. And best of all, it came with pakoras.
Dinner was at 7:30, served in the dining room in the main building. By the end of the long day and the huge dinner, I was beyond exhausted. And yet I was up for awhile, unable to get over the excitement of my first close encounter with a tiger.
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