‘Footlooseinme’ in Satpura Tiger Reserve! After a long series on Ladakh, I could finally draft my post on Satpura Tiger Reserve. When I delayed this post for such a long time, then why not share it on my blog anniversary? I prefer to call my blog anniversary ‘Blogiversary’. So on this ‘Blogiversary’, I share with you my story of Satpura Tiger Reserve.
Satpura Tiger Reserve is also known as Satpura National Park. It is located in Madhya Pradesh nestled between Bori and Panchmari Wildlife Sanctuaries. The name Satpura Tiger Reserve comes from the Satpura Range. Satpura means seven folds or seven hills and runs through this forested area.
Captain Forsyth served in the Bengal Lancers regiment of the British Indian Army. He explored this forest in search of the Tatya Tope, a notable commander in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 also known as the Indian Mutiny. Satpura Tiger Reserve along with Bori and Panchmari Wildlife Sanctuary form the Satpura National Park.
We were highly excited as our long-due tour to Satpura was about to happen. We were supposed to drive on the Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg or the Mumbai Nagpur Expressway. This was one of the major attractions of this tour. The new 701 km access-controlled expressway in Maharashtra reduced travel time from Mumbai to Nagpur to 8 hours. Previously, this journey used to take 16 hours.
We planned our stay at Satpura Tiger Reserve for two consecutive nights. And we were lucky to have a New Moon night. We reserved our stay in an Eco-resort overlooking the Denwa River in the vicinity of the forest. I wished to experience a dark sky free from light pollution. This would offer me a chance to experiment with astrophotography. We rarely get opportunities when we are in proximity of the forest (meaning no light pollution) on a new moon night with a clear sky. (Read my previous astrophotography experiment in Dubare Elephant Camp.)
We had no major plans but to do bird watching by the day and spend the night star gazing. A stay by the Denwa River overlooking the rolling hills of the Satpura Range would offer a serene respite. Our balcony and the wide glass window of the room would be a gallery for wildlife watching. (Later during our stay, it surely became our gallery for wildlife watching. A group of spotted deer and a couple of wild boars visited us 😀 ).
We started from Pune and entered the Mumbai – Nagpur Expressway from Nashik. The straight high-speed road took us through many cities and villages. We exited the Expressway from the Amravati toll gate and followed the old Nagpur highway towards our destination. We entered the Orange capital of Maharashtra. Small to large orange orchards lined up the roads. The orchards were colourful with juicy orange-laden trees. At some orchards, harvesting was in progress.
We stopped at one such orchard to go and have a look at orange harvesting. We already saw Mango harvesting in Devgad (read my post on Devgad.) Now it was time to see some Orange harvesting. As we entered the orchard we saw piles of oranges heaped up on tarpaulin sheets on the orchard floor. Workers were busy plucking the oranges with the help of bamboo stairs.
The workers were highly excited to see visitors. A few excited workers took a break from work and came to us to inquire about us. As we took their pictures at work, they eagerly posed for us. Some of them took selfies with us on their cell phones.
The orchard’s owner gifted us some freshly plucked oranges as a goodwill gesture. We politely offered to pay for them but he declined. He expressed his happiness saying we were the guest of his orchard and they all were delighted to have us.
We had a ‘Jhola’ full of healthy snacks for the rest of our way. We started our onward journey to Satpura Tiger Reserve. We crossed numerous towns and villages. Finally, we reached the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. This is where the Satpura Tiger Reserve is situated.
Our stay was beautifully located in the woods. The Denwa River bank marks the boundary of the property. Across the river is the core area of the Satpura Tiger Reserve. There was a small organic kitchen garden within the property which sources the produce for the restaurant. The rustic-looking property was perfectly made to fit in a forest. An open worship area under a tall tree seemed so peaceful.
We had no plans for a safari. However, the property’s naturalist convinced us to take a boat safari and a jeep safari as we showed interest in the bird life here. So our safaris were booked for the next day. The evening I spent capturing the night sky. The sky was dark as expected and there was a good view of the Milky Way. The light pollution at the ground level prevented me from composing the images in the desired way. I was not happy with the shots.
After a sumptuous dinner, we retired for the night and got up early the next morning for the boat safari. We did not expect much from the safari. The forest cover was dense. Additionally, the time of the year was not favourable for our expected birds. It was a relaxing boat ride through the calm waters of the Denwa River in the warm morning Sun. Our boat was moving along the core area of Satpura Tiger Reserve. We spotted a few common birds like parakeets and kingfishers.
Then there was a herd of spotted Deer, with their alert ears trying to sense any danger. A lone Sambhar deer looked at us. It had a curious glance from the bank of the core area of the Satpura Tiger Reserve. Then came a pair of big fat Black bears with their furs covered in tiny forest berries. They came to the water to quench their thirst and moved into the jungle.
We enjoyed the morning breeze in the warm sunlight. We watched the calm river flowing through the dense forest. It was surrounded by rolling hills. We felt serenity wrapping us in its soft and gentle engulf. This is when the forest guide accompanying us received a call from another. The boatman immediately turned the boat. He took us to the location we just crossed. Another forest guide informed him that a tiger had hunted a Sambhar. The tiger was resting with its hunt in the bushes by the bank that we crossed a few minutes ago.
We reached the location. Our boatman cautiously entered a creek-like inlet of the river. He was careful not to get stuck in the undergrowth. After a point, the boat couldn’t move ahead and we stopped there. The guide searched for the tiger and it was right there on one side hidden in the bushes. It was difficult to focus on the Tiger because of the thick cover of the bushes.
We managed to see only half of the face of a full-grown tiger. We did not see the kill around. Probably it was hidden within a safe covering somewhere close. Suddenly a thought came to my mind. Did he kill the same Sambhar that gave us a curious glance before? This thought saddened me. I consoled myself. This is the rule of the forest. All animals are playing their destined part in the food chain. The tiger has to kill to live and one has to be its prey.
We saw other birds, like grey-headed fish eagles, Asian woolly-necked storks, pied kingfishers, and Knot-billed ducks. The evening safari gave us a bumpy ride through the Satpura Tiger Reserve buffer zone. We had a few common bird sightings. We returned back and later in the evening I got involved in astrophotography again. The same light pollution bothered me.
I managed to post-process the images and share the final results. I am not satisfied with the results, yet I am sharing the pictures for reference. I wished to get better shots with better composition. However, things do not always happen the way you want them to. I came to terms with what I experienced. I value the memory it created and the lessons that I learnt. With all the memories and the lessons learnt, I end my post on Satpura Tiger Reserve. What next? We returned to Pune via the same Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg or the Mumbai Nagpur Expressway.
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