Kanha National Park

The money that we spent at Kanha National Park for spotting a tiger overshot not only our budget but also the expense of the entire trip combined. From Jabalpur there is a direct bus to Kanha at 11:00am. With bad roads at specific places and stops included the journey is about 5hrs. We found our accommodation at Panther Resort for Rs.400/- a night. 1/2km from the resort and towards the national park was where we had our dinner. It was more of “On Demand Service”. You order what you want then he would cook. But very tasty.
We booked for the jeep in the evening itself at the resort. The cost for the jeep was Rs.1500/-. This is standard.
What I find as crazy is the high charge for foreigners to visit the park while it is less for Indians. What do foreigners have or bring with them that we Indians dont? When the goverment itself fixes special price for foreigners how can one expect auto drivers to charge less for foreigners?
The entrance fees to the park was Rs.2180/- for 3 of us. And the jeep would take us around the park from 5:15am till 11:00am. Sandeep Yadav our jeep driver was waiting for us. About 945sq. kms of area and an evergreen park, saal trees are common. There are 89 tigers was what our guide Chandrakanth told.

4hours later we were yet to spot a tiger! We saw birds, soft deer, spotted deers, indian gaur, monkeys, wild dogs, peacock. All but no tiger. Time and again our guide and other guides in other jeeps would stand up to listen to sounds of birds but they could never hear a tiger.
With no point in wasting time we decided to go out of the national park. Our driver was very sad to be taking us out with showing us a tiger. When we reach the gate of the park, the staff told tiger was spotted and we could head back inside. This is called tiger show. They charge Rs.100/- for Indians and Rs.600/- for foreigners. You would have to climb on top of elephant and they will take you near the tiger for a glimpse of it. If luck is not on your side tiger might run away and your money will be refunded. Dont worry though. They ensure that they dont scare away the tigers.
Getting the tickets off we went and climbed on top of elephant and into the bushes. Not far away was this lazy tiger. 6 elephants surrounding it still the tiger did not budge. How many tigers did we see? ONE (1).

With summer there is more probability of spotting a tiger but keep your fingers crossed. You might never see one also.

For all photos @ the park from my camera click here.

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