Change In Plans

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Greetings from Jabalpur, the arms and ordnance capital of India. We drove up here this morning from Bandhavgarh Park, to catch a flight to Delhi.

The remainder of our time tracking tigers was great. I found out that the morning drives are tightly controlled, and that the allocation of driving routes and zone permits does a good job of controlling crowds and chaos. There are no restrictions on the afternoon drives, and any tiger sightings become 20-vehicle carnivals.

Yesterday morning we watched two year-old cubs playing and romping around for a long time. Our driver, Pradeep, was amazingly good at predicting where the tigers would go next, and where they would cross the road, and positioning our vehicle to be very close to them when they moved. Combined with Indrajit’s deep expertise on tiger behavior (he spent three years tracking and filming tigers in the wild), these game drives were great. We explored the caves and rock stables of the ancient Bhandavgarh Fort, and climbed up in the hills to admire the 4,000-year-old giant stone statue of the sleeping Vishnu.

GIANT SLEEPING VISHNU - CARVED CIRCA 2000 B.C.

Zola befriended an English couple (to be honest, I think he was mostly interested in the young blonde woman), and took every opportunity to run off and regale them with tales from his life. As parents, it has been wonderful to see his self-confidence and gregariousness bounce back so strongly in the last few months. His school did not seem to encourage these characteristics, and by the end of second grade, India (the person) and I wondered a little bit where our son had gone. He appears to be back.

This morning we were on the road by 4:30, giving ourselves almost five hours to drive the 190 km up to Jabalpur and check in an hour before our 10:20 am flight. For those keeping score in American measurement, that translates to an expected speed of less than 25 miles per hour.

We drove the first two hours in complete darkness. Indrajit whispered that we were driving through the most beautiful old-growth forest in India, so it was a shame that we couldn’t see it.

It became apparent pretty quickly why we needed so much time for the drive. The road was very narrow and twisty, and even without the normal crowds of people, we spent a lot of time dodging cows and potholes. Still, at the two-hour mark we seemed well ahead of schedule.

WAITING AND WAITING FOR THE COAL TRAIN TO PASS

Then we came to a railway crossing with its gates closed. The five India Railways employees staffing the gate told us that a coal train would be coming through “soon.” We waited next to the rails for about 30 minutes, until a 60-car train eventually rattled through, en route to the cement factories in Katni. Zola and Indrajit put a coin on the tracks, and Zola got a ‘flat as a chapati’ metallic souvenir of our time in India.

A TWO-RUPEE COIN AS FLAT AS A CHAPATI

Now trying to make up time, the driver picked up speed, and we all bumped and rocked as we made our way down the still relatively uncrowded roads.

By 8am, nothing was uncrowded, in either relative or absolute terms. The typical morning crush of pedestrians, motor scooters,bicycles, cars, heavy trucks, and the ubiquitous cows, made for pretty slow going. As we approached Jabalpur, a city of about one million people, the driver had his hand on the horn pretty much all of the time.

Unfortunately, no one knew the way to the airport, and there were literally no signs of any kind. In his previous trips to Bhandavgarh, Indrajit had flown into and out of Khajuraho, which was starting to seem like a pretty good idea. Indrajit and the driver asked dozens of people for directions, as we zigged and zagged through city streets. Each person was happy to help, but only indicated a general direction with a hand gesture, or pointed to the next turn.

At 9:15am we drove through a large military facility at(with guard posts at both ends) and found the first airport sign: 10 kilometers to go.

Down a very narrow road, along a series of high walls and guard towers (the Indian Army’s primary munitions dump), through a few more small villages, and at 9:50 we came to an unsigned fork in the road. Even for me, this was cutting it pretty close for a 10:20 flight.

For the first time in India, there were no people on the road to ask, so we bet on left and kept driving. India (the person) soon saw a little roadside market with an airplane on it, so we had confidence, even if we did not have time.

Tires smoking, we finally pulled into the tiny Jabalpur Airport at 10:05 am, prepared to plead, wheedle and cajole our way onto the flight. We unloaded the van, thanked the driver, and were in the terminal in two minutes.

It turns out that Rahul Gandhi is visiting Jabalpur today, and our flight is delayed two hours (at least) for his charter jet’s security and convenience. He is Nehru’s great grandson, Indira’s grandson, and Rajiv and Sonia’s son. The heir to a dynasty trumps our flight to Delhi.

Now we have plenty of time to relax in the airport and to enjoy each other’s company some more. Travel in India is always an adventure.

GOODBYE TIGER COUNTRY!

Namaste from Bandavgarh, the heart of tiger country.  This short post is about our first two days at Mahua Kothi, a lodge on the edge of the Bandavgarh National Park.  Mostly this post is about tracking tigers.

We left Khajuraho at 6:30 yesterday morning, and drove south for about six hours to reach Bandavgarh.  On the way we had an impromptu 45-minute visit with a prosperous wheat farmer named Ahyad Singh. This led to a useful lesson in Indian agricultural economics (the details are at the bottom of the post, where they won’t deter the unsuspecting)

Sorry for the digression.  Back to tigers.

We arrived at Mahua Kothi just before 1pm.  The lodge is a joint venture between the Taj Hotel Group and CC Africa, which owns a lot of spectacular game lodges in Southern Africa.  The facility is beautiful: big individual bungalows of mud and wood construction,  connected by dirt paths through the forest.  There are open-air communal areas, fire pits, etc.  Physically, it is a lot like the South African lodges.  They alsoseem to have replicated the great staff and unbelievable service ethos that CC Africa is famous for.

Game drives in India are quite different from what we came to expect when we were living in South Africa.  First, there are gates on the roads, but no fences around the game parks themselves.  Local residents seem to come and go in the park (on foot and on bicycles) all the time.  There are actually a number of small villages within the boundaries of the reserve, and occasionally tigers will kill cattle and drag them back into the forest.

Our first game drive, yesterday afternoon, was pleasant, but we did not see tigers.  Game vehicles are assigned to specific routes within the park, using a system which may or may not be random.  We saw a lot of spotted deer and sambars (biggest deer in India), and a few wild pigs.  We also saw some great birds.  When we came back, however, we had to put a brave face on the experience. , Tigers are clearly the main event.

This morning we were out of the lodge before dawn, and arrived at the park gates at about 6:10.  I thought we would be early for the 6:30 opening, but there were already 25-30 open-air vehicles lined up in a messy queue.  Our Nepali driver and guide, Pradeep, went into the administration office at the gate to get our route assignment and park guide.

When Pradeep came back, he was obviously disappointed.  We had been assigned to a morning route in “Zone 3.”  This meant that we drove out and away from the main gates, leaving the messy queue which had grown to about 50 open-air “Gypsies.”  We drove for about 20 minutes, and came to another gate, which was deserted except for a single guard.  As we went in, Pradeep seemed to put a brave face on this drive as well, explaining “the likelihood of seeing a tiger is lower in Zone 3, but if you do see him, you have him all to yourself.”  I appreciated his candor, but can’t say I was looking forward to four hours of fruitless rattling around.  India (the person) and Zola, on the other hand, love everything about game drives: the air, the natural beauty, the small and common animals.  

For the next hour and a half, we drove slowly along dirt tracks, seeing a few deer and some huge spiders.  At one point, India (the person) whispered to me, “This is like driving around in the Catskills and hoping that you will see a bear.”  Even the local park guide started glancing at his watch every few minutes, wondering when the charade would be over and he could go back to Zone 2 for the afternoon.

Of course, that is when we saw a huge male tiger in the middle of the road.  I think all of us in the jeep were equally surprised, except for Tallulah, who was sound asleep on my lap.  The tiger took no notice of us, and continued sashaying on up the dirt road.  ”Sashay” is the only verb I can come up with to describe how tigers walk.  They seem absolutely confident, and their muscular ferocity is disguised by their grace.

India, Zola and Indrajit (who truly is an expert on tigers, and we are lucky to have him with us) shot about 200 photos of the tiger, as he walked and we followed him.  Eventually he trundled off into the deep forest and was gone.  It had been a great tiger sighting, and we had been the only people around to enjoy it.

The park is closed to vehicles from 10:30am to 2:30 pm.  After having breakfast at an elephant camp (elephants are used to track tigers through the forest), we raced back to the Zone 3 gate just in time to avoid a fine.

For the afternoon drive, we arrived at the gate just before 2pm, and took a spot in the first line of vehicles in the queue.  Pradeep nudged his way in so that when the gates opened we were literally the first vehicle in the park.  As we raced past the monkeys at the gate, with 45 other vehicles close behind us, Zola commented that this was a lot like his Nintendo game, Mario Karts.  Still, being first gives the tracker a chance to see fresh pug marks (which I am told is the technical term for tiger paw prints) and to get to the prime viewing points. 

Again, as we found out in the afternoon, game drives in India are not like what we came to expect in South Africa.  South African lodges have a “three-vehicle” rule which is followed pretty strictly: only three vehicles will be within viewing distance of any animal.  This is India, and India is crowded. 

In our afternoon drive, we came up on a cluster of 5-6 vehicles near a meadow.  By looking at where all of the cameras were pointing, we quickly spotted two tigers sitting in the grass.  Within minutes there was a complete carnival of game vehicles and tourists on the road.  I counted 20 vehicles, jammed 2-3 abreast on the dirt road, with drivers shouting and gesturing wildly at each other.  

Whenever the tigers got up and moved 20 feet, the entire caravan of vehicles would start their engines and follow along.  These movements created a lot of jockeying for improved position.  It was great to see the tigers, who did not seem bothered by the noise or the activity.  Eventually, they crossed the road, wandered photogenically in a meadow, and slipped away into the forest.  The caravan dispersed, but it had gotten late, and the drivers raced down the dirt roads to make it to the gate before the 5:30 pm deadline.

We are having a great time at Mahua Kothi, and we are seeing a lot of tigers. I hope that India (the person) downloads some photos today so that I can save the proverbial thousand words and put them in my post.

Noted from the farm visit (if you are interested)

From his 60 acres of land, Mr. Sinai makes gross revenues of about $8,000 per year (two yearly crops each of wheat and rice).   He pays his workers minimum wage of about $1.40 per day, and probably ends up with net profit of about $3,000 for himself and his family.  His water and electricity are heavily subsidized.  This farm is much bigger than most in India (like 20x as large), and having adequate water and electricity are a huge plus.  Still, I don’t see a way for him to grow his productivity 6-7% per year, matching the overall Indian economic growth.  The non-agricultural sector will have to continue growing in mid double digits in order to sustain the national average.