A Royal Ride - Bandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh (Preet Lamba)

Our guide said that there was a surprise in store for us. Surprise….in a tiger reserve….Well! What could it be?

The forest authorities of Bandhavgarh National Park had at last accepted our request to spend an hour on an elephant, ride though the forest off the motor-able roads, and look for our favorite animals. The picture shows us and several tourists standing, and waiting for the two elephants to arrive. One elephant we were told was for a photo journalist. The other was for our family. Exclusive!!! I am sure the other photographer must have sneaked in a few snaps of ours. We sure did. And of the other lesser mortals in the SUVs’…envy…envy…

When you stand next to an elephant, you realize how big it really is. A dignified climb up its side needs some pulling and heaving, and also a bit of discrete pushing. The ‘howdah’ is where you sit and there is a little step hanging down on either side. The trick is to reach the step and then onto the seat at the top of the elephant. We had to use, the bars on the top of the open top SUV we were traveling in, to climb onto the elephant. Once on top of a bar on the SUV, one would have to hold the chain, iron bar and ropes attached to the elephant seat, to pull oneself onto the stair. The elephant’s ear is pretty close but it may be wise not to try gripping that. Thereafter climbing onto the seat becomes easier.

The elephant is a wonderful animal (and you realize this better when you are on top and secure) and quite comfortable on top. It is besides the point that when the elephant went on top of rocks and a small ridge I was a little nervous. Then there were times when the elephant went real close to tall trees and their branches. These branches did bruise our legs and we had to be careful. We found a female tiger cub, the youngest, on a rock, on a small hill. She was conscious of our presence and gave us a few wonderful pictures. This cub was shy and cuddly. She also did a little walk for us, but that was towards the end of our ride. She walked up to her brother who was sitting under the shade of a tree, looking real majestic.

I have described two cubs but there is another from the same family, the eldest male cub. We went down a ravine looking for this third big guy. These cubs are around fifteen months old and they are children of a tigress called Banbehi. Their dad is the famous Bamera tiger of the Bandhavgarh National Park. At present Bamera has a huge territory. Tigers walk around majestically and mark their territory. They come back to the same place after a week or so to reclaim and re-mark the area.

It is very comfortable to sit and ride on an elephant. The man managing the elephant is called a mahout. The mahout speaks to the elephant continuously, in a curious language of their own and the elephant obeys the mahout. Whenever we wanted to take pictures, this would be communicated via the mahout, to the elephant. The elephant tried not to move and help us get good pictures. Elephant rides in Bandhavgarh National Park are definitely recommended.