Overview:
Madhya Pradesh is the Land of Tigers and Pench is one of the best place to watch these beautiful and majestic animals. Pench National Park is in Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh in India and includes Pench Tiger reserve. About 90% of the park is in Madhya Pradesh while the remaining 10% is in northwestern Maharastra. It derives its name from the Pench River that flows through the park from north to south dividing the park into almost equal western and eastern halves, the well-forested areas of Seoni and Chhindwara districts respectively. It was declared a sanctuary in 1965 but raised to the status of national park in 1975. In 1992, it was established as a tiger reserve. Pench National Park is spread over 758 sq. km out of which 299 sq. km form a core, the Pench National Park core area and Mowgli Pench Sanctuary. The remaining 464 sq. km form the buffer zone. An additional area of 257 sq. km of this park lies in Maharashtra but is also accessible from Madhya Pradesh. The national park consists of dry deciduous forests and much fauna and flora including tigers, various types of deer and birds among which the deers, wild gaurs, monkeys are easy to spot. The tigers are fairly easy to sight post the baby boom whereas the leopards are difficult to watch as they do not come on the safari trail often. The forest area of Pench National Park is redolent with tropical dry deciduous teak and interspersed with bamboo trees and other species of shrubs. The Kullu tree in Pench is a highlight, and visitors are often mesmerized by its almost white bark and spread out branches that are a startling contrast to the lush greenery around.
This forest inspired Rudyard Kipling to write the famous novel The Jungle Book. BBC found Pench National Park to be the most appropriate location for documenting the behaviour of tigers and 2008, dubbed by Sir David Attenborough, released that documentary titled “ Spy In The Jungle”.
Getting there:
This park is accessible from Nagpur and Jabalpur which are two nearest airport well connected with cities like Mumbai and Delhi. The nearest railway station is Nagpur. By road one could Pench National Park is approximately 92 kms from Nagpur and 192 kms from Jabalpur The National Park has two famous entry gates, Touria and Karmajhiri. Touria is the nearest highway stop near Pench.
Safari details:
Open jeep safaris are allowed from each of the gates twice in a day, with a fixed quota for each gate, for each schedule. Elephant safaris used to be conducted at one time, but have been discontinued these days. The 5 Entry Gates in Madhya Pradesh are Touria, Karmajhiri, Jhamtara, the buffer gate at Rukhad, the Night Safari gate and the 6 safari gates on the Maharastra side are Silari, Chorbahuli, Khursapar, Kolitmaara, Khubada (Saleghat), Surewani (Nagalwadi). There is no zoning per say in Pench (unlike Kanha) but there is state-zoning which means if you enter the jungle from MP side, you cannot enter the MH part and vice versa. Safari timings of Pench National Park changes according to the seasons. However, it is important to know that during the monsoon season, the park remains shut for tourists as it is a breeding season of the wild animals. Therefore, as a tourist attraction, the park remains open from 16 October to the end of June. In the winter season (November to February), the timings of the morning jeep safari in Pench National Park starts from 7:30 AM to 10:30 AM. Whereas, the evening safari starts from 3:00 PM which lasts till 5:30 PM. For the months of Summer, i.e., March to June, the safari timing changes and scheduled from 6:30 AM to 9:30 AM for the morning batch and 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM for the evening batch.
Seasons:
The months of summer are all about hot and humid weather conditions the sometimes make difficult for tourists to explore the wildlife to its full. However, despite the hot weather, a large number of wildlife buffs still visit the park during this time.
Winter is the best season to visit Pench National Park due to the pleasant weather conditions. During this time, the park receives a cool temperature that makes it easy for tourists to explore the region without getting exhausted from the sweltering heat.
Not at all an ideal season to visit Pench National Park, monsoon received a considerable amount of rainfall in the region. Monsoon is the breeding season of the wild animals, and hence, the park remains closed till mid-October.
Stay:
The private and MP Tourism resort is situated very near to the park and it provides affordable lodging options for customers at budget rates. But if want to feel the serenity and essence of the jungle always opt for the forest rest houses. The FRH at Karmajhiri Gate is ideal for this.
Precaution:
Pench National Park is spread over a vast area which is covered by a dense forest. For this reason, there are few dos and donts which have to be followed by its visitors. Following the instructions would help in avoiding any disturbance to animals and keep tourists safe from any unpleasant incidents.
PENCH NATIONAL PARK RULES:
It is compulsory to take an authorized park guide with every tourist vehicle.
Obeying the park guide is a must.Lifting of any forest produce, plants or animal article inside the protected area is prohibited.
Do not get down from the vehicle, until the park guide has asked to.
Creating noises by using transistor, tape-recorder or blowing horn or any similar equipment in the protected area is prohibited.
Teasing, feeding or chasing wild animals in the protected area is prohibited.
Speed limit of every vehicle is 20 km/hr in order to ensure the safety of animals. In case of speeding, inform the park management.
Use of polythene is prohibited in the park. Littering is prohibited in the park.
Carrying arm and ammunition is prohibited inside the protected area.
Maintain silence during safari. Shouting, misconduct and indiscipline in the protected area is prohibited.
Before entering the protected area, read the rules written on the sign boards at the entry gates.
The best train to visit Pench from Kolkata is Gitanjali Express. You can even avail the afternoon safari. But due to peak season and huge rush we didn't get reservation in it. Instead we boarded Mumbai Mail which didn't cause any punctuality problem and we reached our destination on time. Our accomodation at Forest Rest House, Karmajhiri was a little interior from highway and the driver was not familiar with the place so it did take some time to reach at the forest gate. But on the way we lost some time due to deer crossing😝😝. But one thing was very satisfying that MP Govt. is making elevated highway around the animal corridors.
Karmajhiri FRH is situated on the side of the core area. One can easily enjoy the silence and serenity of the jungle by staying here.
Safari started at 6.15 am. Only 6 nos gypsies are allowed to enter the forest through Karmajhiri gate. We got the last one and at that moment our luck was decided. We got a very efficient combination of guide and driver, Rajkumar and Kriahna. A herd of deer greeted us just after entering the forest followed by a herd of Indian bison aka Gaur. Some peacocks were also here and there. But our target was the main attraction of Pench, the Bengal tiger. Our guide spotted a pugmark and we were following it. In the way we were taking some pictures of a peacock suddenly guide told us to move because alarm call was started. Leaving the peacock we moved and came to a junction of 3 roads. On our right 4-5 vehicles from Touria gate were coming slowly and ahead of them is #Collarwali, the legendary tigress of Pench as well as India, with her 3 cubs. Oh!! what a beautiful sight. She came, she saw, she marked her area and again went into the jungle. Our car has to move backward to give her way. When she was around 8-9 feet from our car, she stopped and called her cubs who were a little behind. A sambar was also watching the group. When the group got nearer, it gave an alarm call and ran away. Pench is also rich with birds. We got some of them. At the time of returning we got a pack of indian wild dogs aka dholes resting on the track. They gave us plentiful opportunities to take photos.
Afternoon safari started at 3.00 pm. We fixed our target on Langdi, another famous tigress of Pench. She didn't came in front of us but we successfully spotted a leopard.
All national parks in MP remain closed on Wednesday afternoon. So we have only the morning for safari. The morning was cold and cloudy. After some time sun comes out but it was not as strong as yesterday. When you visit a forest, you have to expect the unexpected. Visiting forest in a cloudy morning was a totally different experience. All animals were vanished from the jungle. It was feeling like there is no one in the jungle except the birds. But after the sun came some of them showed but we had no luck with tigers. We visited the areas of two new tigress, Pardo and Runijhuni and also the area of male tiger Tarzan but nothing happened. So we opt for birding. In tge afternoon we were strolling at the courtyard suddenly a Chital came. Canteen staffs told us that a leopard killed the deer's mother just outside the boundary of FRH some years ago. From them they have raised the fawn. Now a days if they are present at canteen, the deer pays a visit. We were clicking the photos of the deer suddenly alarm call from both deer and monkey started. We became excited to spot a tiger/leopard right from our veranda. One canteen staff came and switch on all lights; he also told that it may the leopard which visits this area occasionally. But to our bad luck we could not see it.
Being the last day of our tour we didn't opt for safari this morning but that was a mistake from us. In the forest you should use every opportunity you get but parallelly it is also true that if you have dissatisfaction about some place in your mind you have to return there again and again to enjoy the place's beauty. Actually all the visitors told us that they saw Collarwali, Langdi nad Mataram which was a grand opportunity for visitors. In the mean time our brunch was a little bit delayed because it was 'robbed' by a group of langur😑😑. Any way our car appeared in time and we started for our mundane life leaving behind a awesome place and its splendid memories.
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