Mon, Nov 30: Kanha

Today the goal of our hunts was to find tigers and the day was very interesting.  We went on two game drives today but unfortunately the tiger were no where to be found.  There were often several jeeps traveling approximately together.  

It was interesting to watch the guides and naturalists in action. The naturalist and guide could pick out fresh tracks, quite amazing considering the jeep was moving and the guide was standing in the back, in the highest seats.

They would pull up and stop and everyone would listen carefully for some mystery sounds.  To the untrained ear there was usually nothing but a few bird calls.  However, all at once all of the Naturalists would start their jeeps and we would be off rushing down the dusty, bumpy roads. 

It was explained that they were hearing alarm calls from various animals who were responding to tigers in their vicinity.  After a while some of us got so we could also pick up the calls. 

We did see some fresh pugmarks (paw prints) and a tree had recently been marked with urine.  And we even heard some tiger growls in the distance…but no tiger sightings today.

The star of the day was a gigantic (and apparently fairly young) male gaur.  The gaur is found in India and parts of Southeast Asia.  It is related to the domestic cow but has never, itself, been domesticated.  It looks a bit like a large black moving boulder with legs and a tail.  Muscles were massive.

We saw lot of other animals including deer,

monkeys,

several types of birds,

and even a number of butterflys and insects...

including a gigantic spider that seemed to be hanging in mid-air.  These spiders are known for stringing their massive webs across the road...fun to run into when traveling in a jeep.

Mid-day return to the hotel consisted of cold wet towels and a cold drink.  Lunch was on the deck overlooking the river.

After some rest we left our tent intending to head out for our third game drive...and just outside of our tent was our first "wildlife sighting"...a herd of local cows that had wandered onto the hotel grounds.

We didn't see too much in the way of different wildlife this afternoon but it was a lovely drive through the forest and fields.

Can you find the owls in the tree?

The hotel knows how to pamper their guests.  On our return from our afternoon game drive there was, again, hot wet towels and a hot drink.  They had an even bigger surprise in our room - the tub was filled with hot water and tons of bubbles.  The tub rim and the top of the bubbles were covered with rose petals, a very decadent welcome back. 

This evening’s entertainment was a cooking demonstration.  Three cooking stations were set up and Mary and two others volunteered to cook.  The chef had set up gigantic trays with many bowls of ingredients.  All of the dishes were cooked in the Indian equivalent of a wok.  The volunteer’s jobs were basically to stir while the chef explained what he was throwing into the wok.  Of course the food was then sampled by all.  Dinner followed and included most of the dishes that were demonstrated.

Then it was early to bed in anticipation of another early morning game drive.