Bear Cave, Pachmarhi, MP

Gaur (Wild Bison)

Here's a gaur threatening to charge at you.

Satpura Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh

Along with a few like-minded friends, I visited Satpura Tiger Reserve at Madai (Madhai) in MP in the first week of October 2008. Lack of good rainfall could have been a reason why the forest was not in its pristine glory, but here is one lush green image of the forest. This Reserve was opened recently and hence the infrastructure is quite poor. Very few vehicles in the Park to take you around and local politics could put you off. The Maruti Gypsi ride in the forest is a mere 1.5 hour long. Our vehicle driver on the first two days seemed to be a rookie who, it seemed to us, did not know the routes in the forest. After we lodged verbal complaints, we were taken for a longer ride on the third day. Our driver this time knew each and every path/turn within the forest and his driving was exceptionally good. We saw no tigers, but then tigers are not the only wildlife one sees in a Reserve. There were lots of wild buffaloes (Gaur), wild boars, deers, monkeys etc. We also saw (briefly) a leopard.

Germans Enjoying Life

If there's one group of people who know how to enjoy life, it's the Germans. Here is a group of merry-making Germans enjoying beer along the River Rhine, Frankfurt.