Jan 03, 2007 06:01 PM
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(Updated Jan 28, 2007 07:55 PM)
Rudyard Kipling based "The Jungle Book" on the jungles of Seoni. Pench still carries a degree of the same mystery. My wife and I visited Pench in the month of May. It was our sixth jungle visit. We watched a tigress for about half an hour on our fourth day; a tigress and her four cubs for at least fifteen minutes on the next day; and a leopard for about fifteen minutes shortly after that. The leopard noticed us but was far more preoccupied by the tigress and her cubs in the vicinity.
Getting there: You can enter Pench through either the Karmajuri Gate or the Turia Gate.
I guess the Turia Gate is the more popular one. While traveling from Nagpur towards Jabalpur via NH7 you will need to take a left turn at Khawasa. The Turia gate is about 12 kms from there.
Accommodation: There are a number of options: Bagh Van Lodge, Pench Jungle Camp, and Mowgli's Den among others. We stayed in Kipling's Court run by MP Tourism. There is nothing fancy about it, but gives you value for money. It is also the closest to the Turia Gate. The manager is friendly and informative; taking special care of visitors who love the jungle. If you go there in the summers, as we did, make sure you book an AC room for yourself.
In the Park: The "visit" starts with filling out forms at the gate. You can bring in your own vehicle(not recommended) or hire an open hood jeep at the hotel for Rs 1000. More that six people would be a crowd. Entry fees are Rs 20 per head, Rs 150 for the guide(the first in their queue, one time fee for the day), Rs 150 entry fee for the car, and charges for the camera.
The guides are knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of the region. If you are there to enjoy the jungle in general, and not judge the experience by whether you were able to see a tiger or a leopard, then the driver / guide combine will take good care of you and will do their best to make your trip a memorable one. We were there in May. We made seven trips into the forest.
The guides pointed out the rare Pied Malabar Hornbill, the different owls, the jungle cat, the ghost trees, besides the cheetal, sambar, lemurs, monkeys, and gaurs(Indian bison).
We were fortunate to witness the supreme non-chalance and awareness of its position in the food chain when the tigress paused about fifty feet ahead of us and strolled of into the grass. That was our sixth trip into the forest.
