Kanha National Park

I spent the morning exploring Kanha National Park on the back of a gypsy (an exotic sounding open-air jeep). We started out at 5:30am, driving into the park as the sun made its ascent over the meadows. The first sighting of wildlife was an Indian owl perched high in a ghost tree--a creamy, off white tree that gets its name from its eerie appearance in the darkness of night. Soon after, white-spotted deer, peacocks, monitor lizards, and hundreds of monkeys entertained us as they ate, wandered, and played. Kanha National Park claims to be the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, and as such, people come here to see the tigers. Home to India's largest number of tigers, I too had my hopes up. Hopeful to see a tiger, we kept alert as the dirt road twisted and turned, winding up through the forests, meadows, and jungles of the park. But with the sun rising quickly and the cool of the night air giving way to the intensity of the sun, our hopes slowly dwindled. While we never did spot one of the elusive tigers, the plethora of flora and fauna was enough to excite any nature lover and the adventure of exploring untamed India in a jeep rivaled that of any Indiana Jones adventure!

From here, I'm starting my journey south, with hopes of reaching Chennai by Thursday or Friday. Travel is slow here and the country is huge, so its no wonder that I can potentially eat up the better part of a week en route to my next destination!