Safari Round 2 - Chris and Charly 0 vs Tigers 2

Jackal

It all started with a knock on our door at 05.30am. After a terrible nights sleep - due to insanely cold weather they are having here - we dragged ourselves out of bed, both feeling rotten, and prepared for our first morning safari. To protect ourselves from the bitter cold amplified by the open top jeep our attire went as follows:-

- trousers - CJ x 2, CP x 3
- t-shirts - CJ x 2, CP x 2
- shirt - CJ x 1 (lucky safari shirt), CP x 1
- fleece - both x 1
- cardigan CP x 1
- the big double blanket from our bed
- and of course Chris' lucky'ish Tilley Hat

After all of this prep we still froze to death; there was ice on the ground and we were driving through the park with the full force of the icy wind in our faces.

Elephant rides in Bandhavgarh NP

We had a new guide who was determined to find tigers, and so once we heard of a sighting he directed our driver (now called Colin McRae) to head there top speed. Now let me explain that there are 6 of us in an open top small jeep, driving on pretty rough tracks, all of us holding on for fear of leaving the vehicle at the next bump. It warmed us up slightly at least.

To summarise, we froze, got scared to death and didn't see any tigers. Oh well, 3 more to go, fingers crossed!

The pics in this entry are from our limited sightings, plus it was too cold to operate the camera. We did see a Jackal, and some of the elephants they use to hunt for tigers within the forest, plus the usual Sambar and Spotted deer, and some Warthogs (too quick to take pics of).

Scary spider in our bathroom

Last but not least was the spider Charly found in the bathroom that she promptly decided was going to eat her and went off to get help from the staff (whilst I laid in bed). When they finally came they brought a heater (her hysterical English not getting through), so I stepped out of bed and used my size 10 to dispatch the poor fellow.
Until next time...................CJ

written by  chrischarly on January 4, 2011 from Umaria, India
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Indian Odyssey
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