*ing- rags, vinay and himesh (the savla brothers :D)first reached a hill station called chikaldara....stayed in the MTDC drom there...kya sexy view tha wahan se...ekdum hill ke edge pe reh rahe the....aur wo hill station bhi tiger reserve ke pass mein hai to bahut baar tiger aa jata hai wahan ghoomne raat mien wahan nikalne mein fat-ti thi :D
wahan kuch forest officers ko pakad ke ek pug mark census pe jaane ke liye fight maari...but saala raat mien ek badi si forest fire lag gayi....sab officers busy ho gaye so we cudn't go :(
but anyways hum nikal gaye jungle mein trek karne....one gud thing about melghta is that u r allowed to trek inside the jungle...no other tiger reserve wud allow that...ghoomte ghoomte humein bhi tiger ke pug marks dikh gaye...kuch hi ghante pehle aaya tha wahan tiger...ye soch ke hi excitement hota tha ki hum wahin khade hain jahan tiger kuch der pehle hi guzra...aur humare pass to koi protection bhi nahi tha...agar tiger aa jata to gaye kaam se :D
left the hill station to the reporting place for the census...wahan acco nahi tha to ek forest dept mein hi ek bande ko pain maar ke ek forest rest house (kolkas) mein acco jugada...jahan generally acco nahi milta hai bina reservation karaye...
saala us jungle mein wo rest house ke alawa aur kuch nahi tha...wahan cheetal dekha first day...raat mien dinner ke liye thoda door jana tha, cook ne bola aa jana apne aap....hum 3 nikle but raat mien ghane jungle ke beech soonsaan road pe chalne mein sabki fat rahi thi...aur wahan pahuch kar ek aadmi bolta hai "arey, aap logon ko akele nahi aana chahiye tha!!" ye sunkar to jo bhi bacha tha wo bhi fat gaya :D
next morning udhar wild dogs ka ek group dekha...ek sambhar ko maar ke kha rahe the...saala wild dogs jahan ho wahan tiger bhi nahi aata hai ....bison bhi dekha tha
wahan se nikle aur reporting station (semadoh) pahuche...wahan pe next morning start hone wala tha census...so raat wahin bitaani thi...rags aur himesh saath mein thoda sa courage jugaad kar bahar open mein sone aa gaye....sab saale dara rahe the ki yahan sloth bear aata hai (which is considered to be more dangerous than a tiger!!)...pehle to humari bhi fat rahi thi...ek bamboo lekar lete...fir dheere dheere kuch aur log bhi aa gaye bahar sone....to apne upar attack hone ki probability kam ho gayi...aur chain ki neend so gaye :D
next day census started...we were supposed to spend 24 hours in the middle of the jungle sitting on a machaan observing all the animals that came to drink water at the water hole...machaans are constructed near water holes so that animals aaye wahan paani peene...machaan sala ekdum jungle ke andar...itni dhoop mein 4 km chal ke jana pada with temp in excess of 45 degrees...anyways reached the machaan...had lucnh and settled down so as not to make any noises...otherwise the animals would know that we were there and then not come at all...
initially to sirf birds hi dikhe....bahut saare birds....fir jaise shaam hui us water hole pe activity badhne lagi....pehle ek langooron ki family aayi paani peene...saalon ko ek ghanta lag gaya paani peene mein...itni fat ti hai na sabki paani peene mein kahin koi attack na kar de....saw 2 barking deers also....
raat mein tha to full moon fir bhi dekhne mein bahut fight ho rahi thi...beech beech mein clouds aa jate the...we took turns to catch some sleep....humare saath ek adivasi banda bhi tha saath mien with an axe for protecttion (not from girls obv) :D
bahut der baad ek bear aayaa paani peene...uske upar light maar ke dekha...light padte hi wo bhaag gaya nahi to humari machaan ki taraf aa raha tha :)
raat bhar kuch na kuch awaazein aati rahi but dark tha isliye dikha nahi kuch dhang se...aur tigers to ekdum stealth planes ki tarah aate hain...koi noise nahi karte...to unko spot karna aur bhi mushkil...anyways saw 2 more bears late in the night...couple tha....paani mein khelne aaye the :D
aise hi raat nikal gayi...and we returned to the base camp....tiger nahi dikhne ka disappointment to tha but that experience was worth all the pain...kaafi eventful trip raha...garmi ne thodi waat lagayi but finally zinda wapas pahuch gaye :D
