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Again, the daily routine went something like this. Get up very early, go for a game drives through the park trying to spot a tiger on your own... .have some hot coffee while waiting for the rangers to call in with any tiger spotting..View image....if a tiger was spotted, the usual routine of getting a number and waiting your turn....back to Kipling for a late breakfast...
The rest of the day was spent watching all the monkeys around Kipling Camp ...View image...reading...talking with the other guests and staff...and at dusk, head back into the park. The parks are not fenced in and there was always a chance that a tiger would wander through Kipling Camp, but it never happened.
Continue reading "Searching for Tigers in Kanha, India" »
Kanha National Park is the area that Kipling wrote about in his Jungle Books. The park covers dense forest, open meadows, plateaus - the habitat tigers prefer. It also supports a wide variety of deer and other animals, perfect for the tiger's diet of only meat... but never mind the other animals...we were fixated on seeing tigers.
Other information? Kanha is closed from July 1 to October 31, the rainy season. The best time to visit is between November and June and there are many facilities to choose from. "Luxury" down to rest houses, all outside the Park at Mukki or Kisli. (There is more Kanha information on the Indianwildlife Internet site.)
Tigers are the largest living members of the cat family and weigh up to 500-600 pounds, with a length of 9-10 feet, not counting the tail. Their distinctive coloring camouflages them perfectly in the brush. (Only rarely are tigers born with pure white fur and black stripes like Siegfied and Roy's famous white tigers.) They prefer to live and hunt alone, with the exception of a mother tiger.
Continue reading "Kanha National Park, A Tiger Reserve - India" »
The Gond are the major tribal group of Central India. At one time forest-dwellers, they are presently settled farmers. Their clan structure and language is different from other tribes...they marry both within and outside of their tribes...practice monogomy, polygamy, cross-cousin marriages, parallel-cousin marriages, remarriage, widow marriage, divorces...they do it all! Clans are usually named after some animals or plants. Within the Gond family are different tribal labels: Muria, Maria, Hill Maria, etc. But the Gond generally describe themselves as Koitor. Are you confused? We were!
But, there was one clear fact...the Gonds love a good excuse to party! Dancing, singing, and some good home-made fermented Mahua liquor (from the flowers of the mahua dassia latifolia tree) or Salfi (juice of the wild date-palm). Most of the time, our presence was just the excuse they needed if a festival wasn't planned. Some typical scheduled festivals? "...worship before collecting Mahua flowers...festival of eating the first mangoes...worship before sowing of paddy seeds...festival to drive out crop disease...worship to start eating new vegetable crops...giving thanks for all new crops..." a festival for every occasion.
Kawardha map
Continue reading "Gond and Baiga People, Chattisgarh/Chhatisgarh - India" »
It was a four-hour drive to Palace Kawardha and we met John Ash, of Green Gondwana Adventures, in Raipur for a wonderful lunch of Chinese food. We were very impressed that John took the time to see how the trip was going and find out if we had any comments or suggestions. An excellent tour operator.
The Palace Kawardha was much bigger than Kanker Palace and had an entirely different history along with its surroundings. This was Maharaja Vishwara Singh's 1930's Palace and had six spacious suites, magnificent rooms, grounds, lots of servants, etc., and this was to be our home for the next two nights. Such a home...
Palace Kawardha
Continue reading "The Palace Kawardha, Chattisgarh/Chhatisgarh - India" »
Each Muria village had a different attire - feathers, flowers...an amazing amount of creativity seemed to go into their wearing apparel. The women had facial tattoos, displayed with pride. The tattoos serve a decorative value but also act as protective charms. ...View image... I lost track of what tribe was which (with the exception of the Bison-Horn Maria) and started referring to them as: the "stilt" tribe; "pom-pom" tribe, "cow-bell" tribe, etc..
Driving to and from these areas were other sights to see...people cramming themselves into this little mini-taxi....View image... symetrical mounds of cow dung made into patties for fuel in the fields...View image...and a stop in a pottery village where the local potter whipped up a little pot for me on the spot which I graciously accepted and then had to hand-carry for the rest of the trip...View image
local pottery village
Continue reading "Terdul Village, Chattisgarh/Chhatisgarh - India" »
In the village of Garh Bengal, Santu, his brother, Kande and their families hosted us to give an interesting glimpse of developments in the region. Santu has led a traditional Muria life with a Gotul upbringing, while his younger brother, Kande attended a conventional local school.
Kande's substantial and self-built house contained a TV set and he showed us a rare film - A Jungle Saga - made over 46 years ago in Garh Bengal by a noted Swedish filmmaker, Arne Sucksdorff.
The commentary was in Swedish, but the film portrayed life in Bastar as it was then, including the adventures of a young man, Chendru, who is now quite old and still living at the other end of the village.
outside Garh Bengal Village
Continue reading "More Murias and Markets, Chattisgarh/Chhatisgarh - India" »
Drove out of Jagdalpur to visit the Bison-Horn Maria tribe.
Each tribe put on a performance of their spectacular local dances and we got a good look at village life, costumes, ornaments and customs. ...View image... The Bison-Horn Maria quite obviously derive their name from unusual headdresses worn while dancing during ceremonial occasions. Since the bison is becoming scarce, cattle horns are often used, placed on a bamboo frame, with peacock feathers (or chicken feathers) and strings of cowrie shells hanging down from it. This ornate headdress is passed from father to son.
Bison-Horn Maria Headdress
Continue reading "Bison-Horn Maria Tribe, Chattisgarh/Chhatisgarh - India" »
Bastar was once a substantial State and the majority of its people are still tribal with unique though rapidly disappearing lifestyles. North Bastar is home to the Muria Gond tribe, famous for their Gotul system.
What is a Gotul? It is a co-ed dormitory system where the unmarried young people (from the age of 9 or 12 until they marry in their late teens) live and make their own rules away from adults whose presence in the Gotul is taboo. They are allowed to have sexual relations with anyone they chose, but must change partners after several days. Wouldn't our teenagers just love that?
At the first Muria tribe near Bahigaon, a villager greeted us dressed in this spectacular headdress. A small indication of what was in store for us.
a Muria "pom-pom" turban
Continue reading "Bastar and Its Tribes, Chattisgarh/Chhatisgarh - India" »
Another plane ride to Raipur by Indian Airlines, ranked one of the unsafest airlines in the world. Not my choice, but the only one that flew to Raipur...and we're still alive. John Ash, Green Gondwana Adventures was the person who arranged the entire Central India portion and did an outstanding job. I invite you to visit his website and use him if you decide to see this area for yourselves. John met us at the airport with a beautiful table book on Bastar, lots of information, and notes on the Central area we would be visiting.
From Raipur, a two-hour ride to the small town of Kanker, once the capital of the princely state. Our "hotel" was the Kanker Palace, a private residence belonging to the late Maharajadhiraj Udai Pratap Deo and run by his family. Our guides in this area were Rajkumar Surya (called "Jolly") and his younger brother, Ashwini ("Jai"). Eldest brother, Aditya, current Maharajadhiraj of Kanker, teaches history in Delhi. There was also a sister who had her own little school on the ground of Kanker Palace.
Kanker District Map
Continue reading "Princely State of Kanker, ChattisgarhChhatisgarh - India" »
Lots of e-mails and Interneting...looking over maps of the area, reading about tiger reserves, even my old Lonely Planet's India had only a few pages about this area (have to buy a new one), and deciding what were the most important sites to visit. The Chattisgarh and Project Tiger websites were particularly informative in helping to make some decisions.
Spend US$40 at the Lonely Planet Shop and receive free delivery and a free gift
Finally, an itinerary incorporating everything "ex-Marine" (husband, Steve) and I had spoken of. Now for the nitty-gritty planning:
Air? We blew mega-miles to fly First Class on Lufthansa, Chicago-Frankfurt-Mumbai going out, and New Delhi-Frankfurt-Chicago on the return. And miracle of miracles, space was available on the days we wanted! An extremely auspicious sign!
Visa? You must have an Indian visa. Available at your nearest Indian Embassy or Consulate. There is one in Chicago and you can get a visa issued in the same day. You can apply for a 10-year visa which saves a LOT of money.!
Continue reading "Planning A Trip to Tribal India" »
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