Day 6 -- Bandhavgarh National Park

13-04-2017
Unfortunately, because of delay in formulating the plans, we could get selective number of safaris. The morning was open. We requested the resort to arrange something for us, but they could not help us with that. So we decided to do a safari in buffer zone.
06:00 AM Left the resort for buffer zone.

11:02 AM We reached back to the resort. The buffer zone has a considerably less amount of animal activity because of many people in the jungle.
3:50 PM We left for the evening safari in Magadhi zone. It turned out to be one of the best safaris that I have done. Three Kankati cubs were there in all their glory.

Finally we were back in resort at 7PM.

Day 5 -- Kanha National Park to Bandhavgarh National Park

12-04-2017
We had our breakfast and got ready to leave Kanha. The destination for the night was Aranyak Resort near Bandhavgarh National Park.

10:15 AM We left the resort.
We wanted to also visit Ghughwa National Park where plan fossils were discovered. Unfortunately, nobody knew about it. Finally, some searching through Google and road signage told us that the Ghughwa National Park was midway between Kanha and Bandhavgarh on the same road.
12:34 PM We stopped at MPTDC Mandla Tourist Motel for a quick Lunch and continued on our journey. The roads are little bad in these parts but nothing that is not drivable.
2:50 PM We reached Ghughwa Fossil National Park. As expected the park was completely empty with no soul in sight.

Ghughwa Fossils Park is the first park in the country where plan fossils as old as 65 million years old have been preserved. It was discovered in Dindori district in year 1970 by Dr. M. R. Ingle (Jabalpur Science College) and Dr. M. B. Bandhe (Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotanic).
Plant fossils are wood like pieces which feel heavier, almost like stones. Fossils are priceless beacuse they are extremely rare and give us invaluable information about earth's past and the life that existed millions of years ago. The park has these fossils and there are trails around these.

The fossils found in the park are plans of very ancient times. Palm fossils are numerous. Other fossilized plans include ancient forms of Banana, Rudraksh, Eucalyptus, Jackfruit, Jamun and Aonla. Their woody parts, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds are represented in these fossils. 

Places where fossils have been found are, Mohgaon Kalan, Samnapur, Mohgaon, Parapani, Ghughuwa, Deori Khurd, Mehadwani, Devargarh.
How was Ghughwa then?
About 65 million years, the area of Ghughuwa was covered by forests similar to evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of today's western ghats and northeast India. These forests were made up of moisture loving plants. There was a three-tier forest structure consisting of small trees or shrubs growing below moderate to large-sized trees. The middle level had mostly trees of the palm group. Ghughuwa enjoyed a humid equatorial climate in ancient times with uniform temperatures throughout the year and an annual rainfall above 2000 mm as compared to 1400mm now. In those times, it also had a very long rainy season.

Why did these plants die?
The single landmass called Gondwana, comprising peninsular India, Australia, Madagascar, Antarctica and Africa, split up into these constituents which then slowly moved apart to take up their present positions. The Indian peninsula moved north. With this, the Indian peninsula no longer remained in the equatorial region. The seas receded from central India.
These changes were initiated by frequent earthquakes, the flow of lava and upheavals which covered entire regions with salicaceous sediments. All this meant a drastic change in the climate and the moist evergreen forests died out to be replaced by the tropical dry deciduous forests of today which were more suited to the changed climatic conditions.

Was Ghughuwa near the sea then?
Mollusk fossils found here, as well as at Matka-Deorikhohani, Palasunder, Silthar-Chanti Hills, and Chargaon, indicate the presence of a large water body nearby. Some scientists have conjectured that an ancient branch of the sea called the Tethys Sea extended up to this area.

Earliest forms of human beings began to appear only about 2,00,000 years ago. The earliest signs of human civilization are only 10,000 years old. These fossils were formed 65 million years ago, the Himalayan mountains were not even in existence then. Even the continents were not in the same position as they are now.

4:30 PM We left Ghughuwa and headed towards Bandhavgarh.

6:15 PM We arrived in Aranyak Resort near Bandhavgarh. Here is my review of the place.

Day 4 -- Kanha National Park

11-04-2017
The day was reserved for safaris at Kanha National Park. We had one confirmed booking for safari and the resort had indicated that they would try to get us another safari in the evening. So our fingers were crossed.
05:50 AM We were at the gate in the queue of cars to enter the park.

The morning safari was uneventful. We came back hoping for another chance for evening safari. Finally, the resort guys came through and we were ready for evening safari.

That was the end to both the safaris in Kanha. Even though the jungle was interesting, it was very quite and at the end of both the safaris, we had seen gaur, some monkies, deer.

Day 3 -- Pench National Park to Kanha National Park

10-04-2017
The plan was to attend the morning safari in Pench National Park and then move on to Kanha. We entered the Jungle at 6:00 AM and were back by 10:35 AM. Here are some pictures from the Safari.

We were back to resort by 10:45 AM, got ready, had lunch and we were ready to leave for Kanha by 2:15 PM.
2:15 PM We left Pench for Kanha.
We reached Kanha at 06:00 PM. We stayed at The Baagh. Here is my review of the place. We had a sumptuous meal and retired for the day.

Day 2 -- Nagpur to Pench National Park

09-April-2017
The destination for the day was Pench National Park. Since it is around 3-4 hours, we decided to get ready leisurely.
10:00 AM We started from previous night's destination after breakfast.  We quickly got onto NH-44.

The roads are fantastic in the Maharashtra section of NH, once you enter MP, the roads are under construction. The roads have significantly improved since last December but still, work in progress.

12:11 PM We reached Pench Jungle Camp. Here is my review of the place.

After Lunch and little rest, we got ready for our first jungle safari into the park. Here are some of the sights from the first day of safari.

And finally good night.

Day 1 -- Bengaluru to Nagpur

08-April-2017
06:00 AM We were on outer ring road towards Airport. Crossed the airport toll at 6:45 AM.

7:10 AM Stopped at Kamat in Chikkaballapur for the breakfast. It turned into a slightly longer break and we could leave around 7:50 AM.

9:30 AM Crossed Anantpur
9:45 AM Stopped at Bluemoon Highway restaurant.
12:55 PM Stopped at Bharathi 97 Food n Fuel for a small break. This place has a petrol bunk adjacent to it. The toilet facilities here are clean. This was a half an hour break.
2:20 PM Entered the Hyderabad Outer Ring Road, exited ORR at 3:05 PM.
3:25 PM Stopped at the Cafe Coffee Day for a break and some food. We prefer this place just for clean toilets etc. This is also adjacent to a petrol bunk so one can fill up if required.
As one drives towards TS-MH border, facilities dry up. There are no decent restaurant and toilet facilities. So we continued driving.
7:15 PM Stopped at a small Dhaba (Shiva Shakti Garden Family Restaurant) kind of place for some chai. Chai turned into pakora and it became slightly longer break. 40 minutes later we left the place.
10:20 PM We arrived at Le Meridien hotel in Nagpur which was our halt for the night. Here is my one of the earlier reviews of the property.
We had a quick dinner and retired for the day.