Kanha Reviews

Food, sight-seeing and shopping
The accommodation is quite comfortable, given that you are located in the midst of the jungle in the heartland of India. Seven of us were comfortably accomodated in two clean and pleasant A/C Deluxe Rooms. The pricing, at a lilttle over 3500 per night (Includes all meals, but excludes safari's) is also quite reasonable - the staff is also flexible when it comes to accomodating extra people in the room. The staff are also extremely helpful and courteous - they will entertain your requests for tea and coffee at odd hours with a smile. The manager is extremely knowledgeable about wildlife and the park. The food is definitely one of the highpoints of the resort, apart from the service and the location. The menu of simple Indian food (dal, veggies, and a non-item item) is extremely tasty and reminds you of the cooking in old Government guest houses. The only area where we could fault the cook was the deserts. There is also a decently equipped bar (they even had some wine from Grover's ) and happy hours in the evenings.

Activities & things to do
The main activity at the Park is, of course, the jungle safari - there are two safari?s in a day (morning 6-10 and evening 4-6). How many animals you sight depends upon the time of your visit and of course, your luck. I finally broke my jinx of no tiger sightings in several previous wildlife trips by seeing three this time! Looking at this majestic creature - the lazy and regal walk, the proud tilt of the head, the soft and shiny fur and the mesmerizing eyes ? is an experience of a lifetime that sends an unmatched thrill down your spine. The two male tigers were actually ?sighted? by forest guards, who then transmit this information to all safari jeeps so that the visitors can come for the ?tiger show?. This is essentially a 2-3 minute circling of the tiger as you sit atop the park?s elephants ? it may appear a bit contrived to purists but you are unlikely to ever get a closer viewing of the king of the jungle, so it is worth the 100 bucks per person. We also had the more natural ?stumbling upon the tiger? experience when we came across a tigress nonchalantly ramble across the road that we were driving on. Our safaris would not have been half as entertaining without Sharmaji, our jeep driver, who imagined himself as Kanha?s Casanova with seven women who he wrongly presumed were innocent college kids (much to his chagrin later!). We learnt all the wrong facts about Hindu mythology from him, and even though we were left to ?catch? the wildlife on our own, his inimitable vignettes (Main hee who Sharma hoon joh Sita ke saath tha, mujhe zyaada bolne ki aadat nahin hai) and the laughter they evoked are unforgettable. Though the tiger is clearly the main attraction of the park, on offer are several other wonders for a nature lover. Kanha is the only park that is home to the barasingha (12 horned deer), and our superb luck continued as we came upon a group of them sunning themselves in an open meadow, as if parading for a National Geographic photo-shoot. Other animals that you are likely to come across are various groups of antlers (cheetal, sambhar, chousingha and barking deer ? the last look more like street dogs!), bisons, wild boars and of course, langurs (you can see them peering longingly at your food from outside the windows of the dining cottage). The park is also known for the nilgai, the leopard (we waited in vain to see one), sloth bear and dhol (wild dog) ? we came across a pack of the last polishing off their kill a few hundred meters from our cottage. There are also wonderful opportunities for bird lovers ? some birds we sighted that you don?t see in cities were the blue jay, the rocket tailed drongo, the junglefowl (we even saw one fly!), the seven sisters and the brainfever bird (heard, not sighted). We also came across a kite hunt for its prey and several egrets by the ponds. The park abounds in Sal and bamboo trees ? the sky-touching sal trees with their evergreen yellow flowers provide a wonderful spectacle in the dry summer months. Also watch out for the tiger pug marks on the bare Indian Ghost tree. Apart from safari?s, the Kisli gate has an excellent nature?s trail that you can walk or cycle. A wildlife film is also screened here every evening. The Kanha museum in the middle of the jungle is an excellent source of information on the park?s inhabits. Our only grouse was with the safaris ? the charges for these were higher than those published on the MP tourism website, and a lot of expenses were not disclosed upfront. Also, being the tourist season, a lot of local boys were being sent as jungle guides, instead of the trained forest staff. Overall, though, we had a memorable time at the park ? this was certainly the best wildlife vacation that I have taken. The highpoints were clearly the location, the service, the food offered at the resort.

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc.
Kanha is 165 km fm Jabalpur and 250 km from Nagpur. All major airlines fly into Nagpur, from where a 5-6 hour ride taxi ride will get you to Kanha. Bus service is also available from these cities into Kanha. The best time to visit the park is the summer months, when the heat draws the animals to the watering holes. Do remember to carry comfortable cotton clothes (no denims, please), sunglasses, caps and sunscreen, and a good pair of binoculars. Our manager told us that Dec to Jan are also great for sighting the barasingha ? apparently its antlers are in full splendour during these mating months (the antlers are shed every year after this season) ? but the temperature touches sub zero levels then.