Last weekend our group visited Mogli Land, formally known as Pench National Park, situated in southern Madhya Pradesh, India. Many people come to this park just to see Tiger in the wild. According to our guide this park has around 33 tigers, 30 leopards, 20k+ deers, 100+ species of birds among other animals.
We took Vidharbha Express from Dadar railway station (Mumbai) and reached Nagpur at around 8.00 am. Then after checking with locals, we decided to take private Bus Transport to a place called Khawasa which is around 90km from Nagpur city. Bus took forever to reach Khawasa. We repented our decision to take private bus instead of State Transport. Khawasa is on the way to Jabalpur and Seoni District, so you can take any bus that goes to these locations.
Once we reached Khawasa at around 2.00 pm, we hired jeep to take us to Turia Gate of Pench National Park. We had our lunch at Lallan Dhaba which is just next to the Gate. We had already booked dormitory in Forest Guest House which is right inside the forest. We had to take Safari jeep to reach Forest Guest House.
We took 2 evening and 2 morning jeep Safari’s. After negotiating each Safari cost us Rs. 900 and we had to pay Rs. 680 each time as an entry fee for the park. Park entry fee also includes guide fees. In each jeep 6 people can sit comfortably. Morning Safari is between 6.00 am to 10.30 am. and evening Safari is between 3.30 pm to 6.00 pm. In my opinion morning Safari’s are more productive than evening ones.
Thanks to our knowledgeable guide Vinod, we were able to spot Tiger Couple, Leopard, Jackals, Wild buffalos, Indian Sambars, Peacocks and lot of other animal and birds etc. It was amazing to see how Monkey and Deer make alarm call (make peculiar sound) when they see Tiger and Leopard.
While coming back we hired Sumo ( 4 wheeler) to Nagpur, which was way more comfortable than the bus journey offered at a reasonable cost of Rs. 1100.
Overall it was a great experience. I was able to get some good pictures of animals in the wild.
If you ever plan to visit Pench National Park, do contact our forest guide Vinod Kumar: 9424747430
Absolutely recommended…
kurund.
good write up. i’ll take this up someday. i may also do both pench and kanha.
yashesh
The memory of private bus is still fresh. It was as if all the pieces of a puzzle were fitted and assembled together. Pieces of puzzle dont require movement, humans do.. 🙂 Cant forget how I, you and Claudy continuously changed seating positions inorder to allow some amount of relaxation to our muscles.
Instead of doing all these adventures, you could have hired a cab just @ mere Rs. 1600/- for dropping you at Pench and for coming, again you need to pay the same amount or max. Rs. 200 more (if you want to get drop at the airport). Next time, you consult me – I will surely help you and your friend for Central Indian Tiger Safaris.
We are planning an office trip to pench. Need accomodation in a dormitory for 17people. Can anybody help? how do I contact the forest guest house/Any numbers?
Thanks in advance.
There are few dormitories available and I guess would be able to accommodate 17 people. Try calling forest guard no mentioned in the post.
I am going to pench after my 3 days stay at bandhvagrah, i would like to know how long it take from bandhvagrah to pench by road in a car. and i would like to know how long from pench to nagpur airport, and is there any good hotels near nagpur airport.
thanks
Gautham
can you please suggest us which cab driver or agency you contacted for returning from pench too nagpur, I am going there on 18 may and returning on 19 may 2013. Every cab is charging us 8000 rupay.
It’s been a while, can you try contacting no mentioned in the post.