Trip to Kanha National Park

A trip to Kanha Reserve directly takes you to the widespread arena of the lush habitat of wild creatures. With elephant and jeep safari an encounter to all these species is really generous and worthwhile. With jungle safari you can take a closer look to the wild animals and can capture their magnanimous images in your cameras.

The Kanha National Park is surely a paradise for the wild species that brings the natural habitat for them. A location which is filled with large varieties of fauna out of which the jungle is best known for Barasingha, the swamp deer and is famously called 'the jewel of Kanha'. The tiger tour is perfectly a great option for the nature lovers in Kanha.

We have passed through the buffer zone area to reach our kanha earth lodge and spotted a group of chital deers drinking water and running around the way to lodge. We arrived to the Kanha Earth Lodge at Lunch time around 02 pm.

When we arrived the lodge, we met with lodge team; they welcomed us with smiling faces. They offered us welcome drink (Lemon water and cold towels).

We have been informed that the Lodge architecture has been inspired by the stunning Gond tribal villages which are situated on the fringes of Kanha, making it blend effortlessly with the forest and rural architecture. Local material and manpower has been used extensively in building the lodge, many construction workers have been trained and are now part of the permanent lodge team.

The main lodge building has the dining hall, a nature library cum presentation room and office cum eco shop.  The infinity pool is set between Mahua trees and its infinity edge merges with the jungles of the Kanha forest.

The dining hall is open only to in house guests and serve a variety of Indian and Continental meals cooked with locally sourced fresh produce from the neighbouring villages.   

The bungalow was spacious and well-appointed before our check in. The open fronted bungalows with en suite bathrooms and dressing room and large open verandahs set in 16 acres of jungle.   

Activities :

Jeep Safaris are offered early morning and in the late afternoon and conducted by qualified and experienced naturalists in an open 4x4 Suzuki jeeps. Bird walks, nature trails and cycling are conducted on request by the lodge naturalists in the forests adjoining the lodge. Occasionally, elephant safaris to look for tigers are conducted but frequently the elephants are unable to find a stationary tiger and the Tiger Show is called off.

We have been taken to Jungle early in the morning with our packed breakfast and mineral water bottles. A good number of wildlife species are present in Kanha National Park. Indian Gaur (Bos guarus), belonging to the ox genus, is found in Kanha but seen mostly as winter ends. In summer gaur inhabit meadows and water holes in the park.

Other commonly seen animals in the park include the spotted deer, sambar, barking deer, wild dogs and the four-horned deer.  Nilgai can be seen near the Sarahi Gate, while the Indian Wolf once commonly seen at Mocha is a rare sight now. Hyena and sloth bear are seen occasionally. Langurs and wild boars are common, but the pugnacious rhesus macaque is seen less often.

A part from the Jungle Safaris, we have seen a lot of wildlife on and around our lodge. The best way to see what birds and beasts are here is to walk around the property.

Royal Expeditions Team with Lodge Managers

Going there

Kanha is accessible by rail and air.

By Rail

The nearest railway stations are Jabalpur and Gondia. Jabalpur is well connected from all major cities. Gondia is on the Kolkata-Mumbai (via Nagpur) rail route.

Distance between Jabalpur to Kanha is 160 Km and takes around 4 hours. MPT runs bus service from Jabalpur to Kanha once daily. Private taxis are also available on hire from Jabalpur station.

Distance between Gondia to Kanha is 130 Km and takes slightly more than 3 hours. This is not commonly used by the visitors, so there are no standard charges for transport to Kanha. Private taxis are available outside the station that will charge between Rs 1800 – 2400. The other option is to take a share taxi to Balaghat and avail onward transport from Balaghat.

By Air

The nearest airport is Jabalpur. Private taxis are available from Jabalpur to Kanha.

Places to stay

Kisli: Baghira Log Huts run by MPT is the only place to stay inside the forest. 3.5 Km from the Khatia gate – it is situated in a clearing near the boundary of the forest. There are a number of other accommodations available outside the Khatia gate.

Mukki: MPT manages a property at Mukki outside the forest boundary. Other private accommodations are also available.

For your stay you can go through PUGDUNDEE SAFARI – Kanha earth Lodge and Taj Banjaar Tola in Luxury accommodation.

Author: Waseem Raja

Date: 20 April 2013

Month of Visit Kanha National Park: April 2013