Day 10 arrival at Taj Safari, Mahua Kothi Lodge; tribal dance; dinner under the stars
When we arrived at our primitive yet gorgeous Taj Safari, Mahua Kothi Lodge, we were greeted with by the entire staff at the front entrance with friendly nods and the requisite greeting, "Nemaste." Cool fruit drinks and cool towels to soothe the fevered brow were passed all around. This was a modern camp cloaked in a primitive setting. Our rooms were huts based on the tribal style of the Baiga tribal village that had once lived and hunted on the very land that had now been confiscated by the government and turned into a tiger preserve and campground.
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| Our hut for the next two nights! |
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| Comfortable king sized beds with local art adorning walls |
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| Double sinks and sky lights, soaker tubs! |
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On our first night at this Taj property, we were entertained by members of the Baiga tribal villagers in an Indian village theme called "Chaupal." They invited us to dance along with them. We soon learned that, in traditional Indian music, the drum beats gets progressively faster as the dance goes on. After this invigorating dance, we had a traditional barbecue dinner under the stars buffet style.
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| The dancers in their native costumes (which the women wear every day) |
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| Yes, that's yours truly making serious with the new dance steps |
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| Our drummers for the evening! |
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Day 11: Up at 5:00 and in the open top safari jeeps by 6:15! Jungle animals are early risers (apparently).
On this particular trip, we were truly lucky to share our jeep with John (bird watcher extraordinaire and his very sweet wife Polly. As it turned out, I was just as happy to spot these exotic colorful birds as I would have been to spot the tiger!
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| Sunrise |
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| The rhesus monkey |
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| Spotted deer (not shy like our deer). And, yes, he's full grown |
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| Do you see the haze? Air pollution |
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| Silver spiked cockscomb that covered the fields | | | | | |
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