The jeep had come to a halt. The guide had heard the deer call not far away from the same spot, again. The chances of us sighting a tiger were very high he said. The air crackled with excitement and the occasional sounds from three little explosives.
Suddenly a not-so-pleasant smell hit my nostrils. I looked down at the little squiggly thing in my lap. I knew it. HOW WAS I GOING TO ATTEND TO THIS NATURE’S CALL?
REWIND.
It was that time of the year when you sat down with your spouse over a cup of coffee and planned an annual vacation with the kids. For his eagerness to experience snow and love for the song Zinda from Lootera, we were considering Dalhousie for Shlok but when you have an infant in addition, you ought to be more practical unless you want to (frost)bite off more than you can chew! That’s when a friend popped the invitation to join them on a safari vacation in Bandhavgarh.
All our recent trips have been about hasty last minute packing but this time’s was extra special; it was New Year’s Eve! Here’s how we spent the last few hours of the last day of 2024:
Cooking and cleaning,
Ironing out clothes,
Assembling essentials – meds, baby carrier & car seat, ID filter coffee pouches
Putting the kids to sleep,
Loading the suitcases,
Celebrating our achievement with an icecream!
The saddest part is that despite making a To-Pack list (on paper and a WhatsApp chat group that has only ME!), I always find myself missing something or being unsatisfied with the things I packed! This time it was clearly a case of not packing enough to meet sudden contingencies! Read more to find out what!
After nearly six hours by car from Jabalpur airport, with a lunch break at a very local restaurant at Umariya with surprisingly good food, we reached Bandhavgarh only to be greeted by several vehicles making a confused U-turn and driving in the opposite direction. Upon enquiry, we were informed that a herd of wild elephants were on the road! After minutes of wait and watch, we were back on track only for PP to sight an elephant five minutes later! So it had been true!
No sooner did we set foot on the hotel premises, than I realised it was colder than I had expected! Only the earlier night I had scoffed at the weather forecast and removed the extra pullover calling it ‘unnecessary!’. I cursed myself. The property of Tigergarh WildLife Resort, looked pretty and welcoming, BUT I wanted to rush to the room in a desperate need for the warmth of a heater or my sweater! Would a husband even qualify to be one if he didn’t take a dig at you in such a situation!? Mine topped the charts with his charming sarcasm, ”I thought you were fed up of hot and humid Mumbai and wanted to go live in Alaska?!?”
When I woke up early the next morning, I was hit with a guilt that only a mother experiences. The baby had wet his three layers of clothing because of a full diaper that his mom forgot to change during the night. I had skipped the sweater to avoid overheating but turned out I was wrong. I panicked. What if this happened again and I ran out of clothes to layer him up? So there was only one solution – BABY DETERGENT but I had not packed any! So? Neighbours to the rescue!
We set out for the safari at 6 in the morning in an open jeep that got Shlok super excited! When you’re a mom you can come up with the most whacky solution to your problems! That would explain why I was dressed up so!
I sat in the front with Moksh cuddled up on my lap, a seating arrangement that worked perfectly for both of us, from a feeding and safety point.
Though we weren’t lucky to sight a tiger, it was a visually pleasing drive and the kids enjoyed the 5 hours on a bumpy terrain much to our relief!
Back at the hotel room, I was much more relaxed after having washed those clothes! God bless the friend that had packed wisely.
The second safari was in the rather pleasant noon, so we dressed accordingly but carried extras for the kids. Couple of hours into the ride, we started hearing frequent calls that made the guide very optimistic about our chances of sighting the striped beauty. Once again, I was in the front seat with the little one and this continued for a while until…
The highlight of the safari:
The smell. It was impossible to change the baby in the front seat. When you hear a call nearby, you are forbidden from getting down the jeep but if I didn’t address THIS call, the chances of us getting killed by the deadly diaper were higher than being eaten by a tiger! I requested the guide to switch places with me and I jumped to the middle seat after passing the boy to PP. We laid out the changing mat and started unwrapping the poor baby like a birthday present!
Note to self:
1) Never squish/ hug a baby that needs a diaper change at the risk of getting the stuff to leak onto their clothes.
2) Never change a soiled diaper in a hurry unless you want stuff flying out and messing your clothes.
3) Always carry disposal bags with you unless you have another set of parents with you to lend you the same.
Some babies will do their job in the oddest and wildest places, if yours is one of them, please keep these tips in mind and pack extra or pack a bottle of detergent.
After the job was done, we moved from that spot as the calls had changed direction. After a short while, just when I thought the safari was coming to an end, the jeep came to an abrupt halt. The canter in front of us had stopped and people were staring and pointing at the bushes to the right. The biggest problem with a canter is that it blocks the path. So our jeep went a little further down the road in an attempt to get a better view. I was busy trying to hold Moksh straight as he was engaged in making milk bubbles that were dripping on his last set of clothes when PP shouted for me to LOOK. There it was, the sighting that everyone waits for with bated breath. Let me tell you this. For a person like me who finds it difficult to see even her own reflection without specs, spotting a tiger camouflaged by the long blades of grass a few meters away, is not easy. Even with my specs on. But I saw it. I saw the tiger walking away from us.
We weren’t as fortunate as our friends in an other Jeep that was already parked behind because they watched the tiger cross the road and go deep into the woods on the other side, a scene that they captured on their phone and will be etched in their memories forever! Thanks to the traffic that the canter and other jeeps had created, we were stuck to our spot but when it comes to a safari, beggars can’t be choosers.
P.S. It was a No-YouTube vacation for Shlok and I can proudly say he was perfectly ‘content’ with the situation and he also rediscovered his love for nature.
Part 2 coming up soon..
C.A.: Confused Aquarian 