40 years of living in Delhi included several trips across the northern plains and the mighty Himalayan range. Treks, road trips, the narrow gauge train from Kalka-Simla, you name it, we would have done it. And, in all those trips there was one very important missing element – the tiger, the most beautiful and majestic of animals. Trips to Corbett, Ranthambore, Sariska, and Kaziranga certainly left me with long lasting memories of so many things, but the tiger remained elusive. Almost as if it had a personal agenda against me. A void, I wanted to fill with the trip to Tadoba.
When my youngest brother and his wife in Mumbai literally cajoled/coaxed/forced (;-)) me to join them to visit Tadoba, it was an invitation I could not resist. Of course, for two selfish reasons: to see the elusive Tiger and the excitement of driving on the newly built Expressway from Mumbai to Nagpur. Being an avid traveller and having a penchant for driving any day, any time, I could not resist the temptation and yielded to this invitation.
About ME-2:
We flew to Mumbai on the evening of March 24. Next day morning, I let my brother manoeuvre through the city and reach the expressway ME-2 in his 10-year-old Innova Crysta, still going strong. The highway started exactly 50 kms from his home in Chembur. And I just could not believe my eyes as I cruised through this 700 km highway, no, expressway. In my road travels across India, I have not come across a real expressway in the sense of what it is overseas. Our National Highways (popularly known as NH) are highways but there is no way you can drive as in an expressway.Not only do these highways have numerous intersections along the way, you would get to see pedestrians, cyclists, bikers, stray cattles, tractors, autos, and other slow-moving vehicles accompanying or crossing you from 360 degrees! Yes, literally, at times it feels like an obstacle course designed to test your reflexes and patience simultaneously. While that is not enough, you would also have to be mindful of so many barricades left haphazardly across these highways as well as speed (backbone) breakers. While the maximum speed in some of these highways is 100 km/hour, by the time you step on the accelerator to hit 100, I promise you would have slowed down because of one of the above-listed obstructionists :-)But, ME-2 is not any one of such highways.
I was surprised to know that this was built by the Maharashtra State Government. The toll fee is Rs. 2.08 per km, worth every penny. The entire stretch of road has a concrete top and also includes several tunnels with the longest one, 8 km, at Igatpuri/Kasara Ghat!
Along the way, there were about 15 exits to several cities. The exits were marked neatly and caused no obstruction to the drive. Once you enter the ME-2, the only time you pay the toll is while exiting. No repeated “toll tax déjà vu” every 50 km. The max speed was 120 km/hour. No wonder the 16-hour drive from Mumbai to Nagpur now takes only 8 hours. Since this is a newly built expressway, you would not find fancy restaurants along the way. But yes, you will certainly find restrooms as part of the petrol pumps, most of them kept clean. A few also had Maha Chai outlets selling tea, coffee, and drinks.
A funny incident that I can’t forget. A cup of ready-made chai was Rs. 20, whereas a cup of chai without sugar was Rs. 30. And the size of the cup was just that of a shot glass ;-)
Aurangabad (rechristened as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar)
Since we had no idea about the quality of the ME-2, we thought of taking a break mid-way and chose to stay in an Air BNB apartment at Aurangabad, now known as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, about 330 kms from Chembur. While the apartment was very comfortable, parking the Innova in their stilt parking was something that significantly improved my parking skills. My sister-in-law tried her best to keep the vehicle parked outside. But me being me, I persisted with parking inside and successfully escaped without causing any scratches to the big Innova!
We initially thought of visiting Ajanta (about an hour drive from our apartment) and Ellora (about 1.5 hour drive), knowing fully well that we had another 550 kms to cover the next day. Unfortunately, we reached Aurangabad by afternoon, and it was a Tuesday. No visits allowed to Ajanta/Ellora. Realisation dawned (a bit late, as always) that we couldn’t visit either of them, not only due to paucity of time but also because of the impending long drive the next day to Tadoba, the land of the Tigers.
Lunch at Sugran Pure Veg Thali Restaurant:
My brother, a foodie, recommended this place. And we were not disappointed. Unlimited and delicious food. Nice spread. Pooran Poli and buttermilk were certainly my top choices! Post lunch, we settled for a siesta before planning our itinerary for the evening.
With Ajanta and Ellora out of the equation, we settled on visiting Biwi Ka Maqbara, also known as the “Taj Mahal of the Poor.” It was built during 1660–1679 by Azam Shah, son of Aurangzeb, in memory of his mother, Dilras Banu Begum. It resembles the Taj Mahal but is made of marble and plaster.
I can’t fathom how this monument would have looked in the daytime. We were lucky to visit it exactly at sunset. And, to our surprise, the lights just came on as we stepped in, presenting a spectacular monument lit with golden hues. Other surprising elements were the crowd (why it should be a surprise, I don’t know; we are in India after all!) and the fact that the monument is open until 10 pm. We meandered through the crowd and took photos to the best extent possible, occasionally waiting for that one perfect frame without ten strangers in it. Mission: partially successful !
The weather was pleasant with a gentle breeze, perhaps because of the location where the monument was built. Huge sprawling gardens and a river in the backdrop. Could not see the water in the dark, whether the river was dry or flowing remains one of the unresolved mysteries of the trip.
Carrying the memories of the monument, our “food panda” (read: my brother) was at work to find a place for dinner.
Dinner at The Great Sagar:
My brother was mistaken in connecting this restaurant with Sagar Ratna in Delhi. The restaurant was fairly busy, which made us feel assured about the quality of the food. Well, quality is a relative term. Vegetarian food in South India generally tends to be light and not high on masala. The food at Great Sagar was completely the opposite - very Mughlai, generously infused with heavy masala and oil, something a bit too ambitious for the faint stomachs we had that evening. While we decided to skip the oily subzis, the waiter seemed to think we wanted to pack them home! And eventually, we packed ourselves home, just in time to get ready for the long drive the next day.
Camp Serai, Moharli, Tadoba
Left our Air BNB at 7:30 AM to reach Tadoba via Wardha. Well, tension (self-created or not) is part of any trip, and it must show up at the most inconvenient time to keep things interesting. This trip was no exception. Cruising through ME-2, I did not notice the fuel level, which was happily showing its red avatar. The hunt for a diesel pump began. It turned out to be a day of diesel shortage, and we were lucky to find a pump but only with a long queue of vehicles ahead of us. Our hopes were dim but prayers sincere. Thankfully, all was well the moment the diesel pump nozzle filled the Innova’s stomach.
Sometimes (or several times, depending on user experience), Google cannot be trusted. In spite of the campsite in-charge sharing the Google Map location, we were led through narrow lanes of small villages and unpaved roads for a couple of hours. At some point, it felt less like navigation and more like a rural exploration program.
At one point, we were horrified to see the unpaved road abruptly closed with a deep excavation across it. We scrambled to find some human faces for help. And, to our relief, we found two bikers who confidently asked us to drive through the neighbouring fields! Perhaps they mistook the Innova for a 4x4. But my over-optimism prevailed once again. We cautiously navigated through the field for a couple of hundred meters to finally reach the main road. Finally, we reached Camp Serai at 4:30 PM and were welcomed with refreshing lemon juice, well deserved after what felt like a mini expedition in itself.
The camp is very aesthetically designed. About 10 cottages arranged in a circle, each with AC and an attached bath. The windows and doors had netting on the outside. However, since it is located amidst the forest, avoiding insects is more of a wish than a possibility. They clearly believe they belong there more than we do. The green coverage in and around the camp attracts beautiful birds, and being nature lovers and bird watchers, we were all delighted to see them settling in for the evening. Unlike us, they didn’t need Google Maps to get there.
A nice buffet dinner was served, post which we all retired to our cottages for our first safari at 5:00 AM the next day.
Safari #1: Dewada Gate
The resort in-charge made the safari bookings for us. A welcome restriction is that one cannot use mobile phones inside the forest. Thank the authorities for that. Otherwise, we would have had people attempting selfies with the Tiger! Apparently, some have tried in the past and got attacked by the tiger.
With so much excitement, we hopped onto the Gypsy at 6:00 AM. A 4-hour safari through the forest, amidst a cool breeze, was a great experience except for one small detail: the Tiger continued to remain elusive. Seems, it had not received our itinerary. The forest was alive in its own way, calm yet mysterious, as if quietly reminding us who was really in charge. We returned to our resort for lunch, slightly hopeful, slightly impatient, and fully convinced that the afternoon safari would surely change our fortunes.
Safari #2: Mamla Gate
Never did we realise that the heat would be so unbearable. But the desire to spot the elusive beast easily overpowered our rapidly dipping energy levels. My sister-in-law chose to skip as she wasn’t feeling well. Though we felt bad leaving her behind, we carried on to Mamla Gate. The safari once again began at 2:00 PM, with the scorching sun doing everything possible to test our commitment. Along the way, we spotted the Gaur, Spotted Deer, Barking Deer, and the Sambar Deer. All graceful and photogenic. But the Tiger? Still playing hard to get. We were nearing the end of the safari when suddenly, at around 5:30 PM, the guide received a call - a tiger had been spotted. Those four words instantly revived us better than any energy drink ever could. He asked if we were ready for a quick dash. Ready? I have been ready for 40 years! What followed was a drive I will never forget. Racing through unpaved, winding roads, the Gypsy seemed to have a mind of its own. Our bodies oscillated 180 degrees from left to right, bounced like tennis balls, and our heartbeat was faster than the odometer, which must have been hovering above 100! Luckily, the odometer wasn’t working ;-) And then… it happened. For all of us, the long wait finally came to an end.
A beautiful sub-adult Tiger lay about 15 feet away, partially hidden behind a bush, breathing heavily, probably after a long walk, as our guide explained. Four jeeps, each packed with eager visitors, were all trying to catch a glimpse of this magnificent creature.I was fortunate to get a clear spot. And even more fortunate to capture the tiger yawning and then staring straight at me through my 200–500 lens. That moment of eye to eye with the very beast I had longed to see for decades is etched in memory forever. I am fairly certain the tiger was equally impressed. What a feeling. No words can truly capture the excitement and happiness all of us experienced in that moment. We had finally got the worth of our efforts.
A night and the day to follow that I would like to forget:
With the satisfaction of having sighted the tiger, we returned to the resort only to realise that I had started showing signs of a heat stroke. I was feeling extremely uneasy, skipped dinner, and went straight to bed. It took a couple of hours before I finally threw up everything that was inside my stomach, all the masala, oil, and indulgences of the past few days. Whether it was the food catching up with me or the heat and the maddening drive through the forest, I am not sure. Perhaps all three!
My wife promptly administered Dolo 650 to keep the fever under control. Within a few hours, I reached a stage where even moving my limbs felt like an effort, body ache had taken complete control. As a result, I had to skip the entire day’s safari with the morning one planned for Kelsaghat (about an hour’s drive from the resort) and a repeat safari to Mamla Gate in the afternoon. My ever-caring wife decided to stay back with me, leaving the remaining four members of my brother’s family to proceed without us. Unfortunately, they returned without sighting a tiger in the morning safari. In the afternoon, they did manage to spot a cub at a distance. Some consolation for the effort they put in.
Day 2 – Safari 5 – Karwa Gate
I recovered fairly quickly from the previous day and was all excited for the final safari of our trip. This was a new buffer zone where mobile phones were allowed. But what’s the point when luck decides to take a break? We did not spot a tiger here. Nevertheless, the sighting from Day 1 carried us through, more than enough to keep the spirits high for the journey ahead.
It was around 11:00 AM when we decided to begin our return. Our first-hand experience of driving on ME-2 gave us the confidence that we could complete the journey in one stretch, instead of halting again at Aurangabad. So, we bid goodbye to the tigers of Tadoba and proceeded towards Mumbai, reaching exactly at midnight after a dinner stop at Chembur.
In all, a memorable trip from every aspect.
The tiger made us wait, tested our patience, pushed our limits, but in the end, delivered a moment that made everything worthwhile.
