Car India recently drove through Madhya Pradesh in a Tata Safari Storme under the auspices of Tata Motors’ ‘Full Throttle’
THE NORTHERN END OF India is crested by the majestic Himalayas, the southern end reaches out into the Indian Ocean, the Seven Sisters guard the eastern edge and Gujju and Maratha land watches over the west.
At the heart of it all is Madhya Pradesh, not just the geographical centre, but also the confluence of myriad hues of natural beauty and cultural diversity that
characterise the Indian melting pot. It is through this region that we drove a Tata Safari Storme as part of the six-day ‘Jungle Experience’ organised under Tata Motors’ motorsports platform, ‘Full Throttle’.
The event got under way at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi at 8.00 am. As we partook of the sumptuous buffet breakfast, Ashish Gupta of Cougar Motorsport, programme partner for ‘Full Throttle’, handed over the starter kits and briefed the participants on the itinerary and convoy guidelines.
Pedal To The Metal (New Delhi to Gwalior)
The 15-vehicle convoy comprising the entire Tata UV range – the Safari, Safari Storme, Xenon, Sumo Gold and Sumo Grande – set out from the Taj Palace Hotel at about 10.00 am to slowly weave its way through Delhi’s traffic and head towards the Yamuna Expressway, where a quick regrouping halt ensured we were all on the same track.
I was told this Expressway beats the Mumbai-Pune Expressway experience hollow and, sure enough, it was so, with long arrow-straight well-surfaced stretches and a fair number of turns. 100 km/h felt like crawling pace and rarely did our speedo needles drop below the 140 km/h mark, except whenever the lead car announced, via the CB radios installed in our UVs, “Approaching speed cameras!”
Agra came up soon enough and proved to be a little tricky to navigate – more than one convoy member lost his way here. We finally made it to the RTDC Motel at Dholpur for some delicious food, after which we continued our affair with the tarmac. About five in the evening, having clocked 380 km, we pulled into the beautiful Usha Kiran Palace Hotel at Gwalior. This is a heritage property under the aegis of the Taj Group and ‘royal’ is the theme here, seen in the beautiful gardens with fountains, ornate carvings and regal bedrooms with the largest bathrooms I have ever seen – with marble flooring to boot. Later that evening, we enjoyed a lovely sound-and-light show at the majestic Gwalior Fort that served up a quick history lesson for us residents of modern times.
The Land Of The Tiger (Gwalior to Panna)
Madhya Pradesh has six tiger reserves and today we journeyed towards the first of the three on our list. The roads, however, did their best to dampen our enthusiasm: if we flew on the first day, we often crawled today. The surface was so heavily pockmarked with potholes, ruts and crevices that it seemed it would swallow anything smaller than our UVs. The Storme acquitted itself well here; body-roll cannot go away from a top-heavy ladder-on-frame chassis, but there is a vast improvement over the Safari days and the ride was quite manageable, even if no smooth sailing.
The day’s first stop was at Jhansi Fort, a picturesque location with towering ramparts, a huge cannon and well-manicured gardens, besideds the spot from where the intrepid Rani of Jhansi jumped off the wall on to her horse and rode away. We then drove towards the Amar Mahal Hotel at Orchha. By now we had covered barely 100 km of the 300-odd scheduled for the day and the road condition meant this could be an arduous drive. Well, after sunset and a drive of 320 km, we reached the Panna Tiger Resort, our abode for the night. We enjoyed dinner at the neighbouring Ken River Lodge and many participants gathered round a bonfire for a fun session of singing and merrymaking.
Seek And Ye Shall Find (Panna to Bandhavgarh)
We dragged ourselves out of our beds for the 5.30 am safari through the Panna Tiger Reserve, spanning an area of over 500 sq km. This Reserve was awarded by the Ministry of Tourism as the best maintained national park in 2007. However, by 2009 rampant poaching wiped out its entire tiger population!
Each Gypsy started off on a different track through the Reserve in the hope that at least someone would get lucky. My Gypsy did come across a lot of spotted deer, sambhar, langurs and birds, etc, but no striped feline. Just as my hopes were sinking, there she emerged – T4 (as informed by our guide), a pregnant tigress, quickly strolled across our path. I was so captivated by the sight that I forgot to click a pic.
Our drive for the day was to be a quick one – under 250 km. We could thus afford a relaxed breakfast and a lazy lunch too, post which we left for Bandhavgarh about 1.00 pm. The initial stretch of the road was especially good, with smooth tarmac and twisty sections – a driver’s delight even if in a vehicle that didn’t earn any laurels for handling prowess. However, the roads closer to Bandhavgarh were really bad – even the lunar surface must be better! Our 225-km drive ended at Bundela Jungle Lodge, a quaint resort with beautiful cottages amid a soothing ambience. We turned in early that night as another safari was coming up the next morning.
A Date With The Big Cat? (Bandhavgarh to Pench)
My luck at Panna had raised my hopes of spotting a tiger at the Bandhavgarh National Park, which is just a fifth of Panna’s area and has a higher density of tigers. Probability did not translate into reality, though, and the safari ended in disappointment as none of our Gypsys spotted a tiger. We returned to base for an early lunch and set out for our final destination – the Pench Tiger Reserve. This was to be another long drive, with 350-plus kilometres expected to take 10 hours. The first 100 km were particularly heavenly, with a smooth surface, wide roads and undulating curves enhancing the pleasure of the drive.
We re-grouped at the Ghugwa Fossil Park where we got to see fossils of various types, including trees, dinosaur eggs and rocks. We then continued through many small towns and villages and our snaking line of Tata UVs sure was a sight to behold for the villagers, who waved us on and clicked pics. It was well past 7.00 pm when we reached the Pench Jungle Camp (PJC), where we had an early dinner. I was part of the few people who were put up at the ‘sister concern’ Pench Jungle Home, which was an even more beautiful resort with luxuriously appointed rooms.
Fun and Frolic (Rest Day at Pench)
This day we were particularly grateful to the Madhya Pradesh government for a recent rule laid down by them: all MP national parks are closed on Wednesdays, so no early morning safari. For the first time on the trip, I did not set a morning alarm and woke up lazily to a relaxed breakfast and then headed for the PJC, where some fun activities were organised.
There was an adult-size trampoline, which made for hilarious pics and tumbles. The camp staff had also arranged ATVs, ziplining, rope bridge crossing, hot air ballooning, and horse-riding. Later that evening, everyone gathered after dinner for a round of reintroductions and recollected their experiences on the trip thus far.
Are You Feeling Lucky? (Safari at Pench)
This was our last safari and, as usual, we were out by 5.30 am in search of the big cat. We saw the regular fare -the same flora and fauna as the previous two safaris, but where was the star? I was almost asleep when – praise the Lord – there it was! An eight-year-old adult male tiger came through the bush on the left side of the road, strolled across lazily, briefly turned towards our cameras (this time I got pics) and disappeared on the other side. Third time lucky indeed and two out of three possible sightings ain’t bad at all. Mission accomplished, we headed back to our hotels for an early lunch, so that we could make it in time for our flights from Nagpur.
If you own a Tata UV and if driving for you is more than a point A to point B routine, then be sure to sign up for the next Full Throttle Experience to enjoy beautiful driving holidays without the hassle of arranging accommodation and other logistics. Don’t miss it!
Story: Gaurav Nagpal
Photography: Gaurav Nagpal, Cougar Motorsport
