In the fourth edition of our Hyundai Jungle Diaries series, we take the brand new Verna to the Tadoba and Pench forest reserves
Story: Harket Suchde
Photography Saurabh Botre
The glittering Verna greeted us in the parking lot of the Car India HQ in Pune, and that could only mean one thing – it was time for another journey into the wild. In this, the fourth jungle outing in this series, we decided to mix it up, and hit not one but two forest reserves. The first spot on our list was of course the famous Tadoba forest reserve just outside of Nagpur in Maharashtra. This meant a 750 km drive – a tantalising prospect when the car is as exciting as the new Verna. As soon as we set off the Verna started to show its capabilities. The ventilated seats kept our backs cool even in the sweltering heat, the sunroof offered us great views of the sky when things began to get cloudy, and the auto-wipers meant I didn’t have to keep playing with the wiper toggle when the clouds decided to let loose.
Soon enough we arrived in Tadoba, and the following morning set out for our safari. In the jungle, we were greeted by Gaur, and a little further down the road; a family of elephants in the employ of the forest reserve. We also saw the lesser adjutant stork, wild boar, spotted deer, a mongoose, and a few stray Sambar deer as well.
Once the safari was over, we headed out and towards Pench, but not before going on a little off-road excursion to check out an excavation site. The Verna dispatched the muddy bits with aplomb, and then proceeded to absolutely devour the tarmac between the two reserves. Another night’s rest was followed by a fresh sojourn into the woods.
The first thing we saw were huge spider’s webs and proportionately sizeable giant wood spiders to go with them. A baby Gaur made an appearance looking extremely adorable, and a wily jackal came and had a dekko at us, too. Up in the trees, vultures, kingfishers, eagles, and rollers could all be seen sitting around, and fluttering away as we approached.
Two great safaris and one extremely capable car to bring us to them, all of which meant we had an amazing time on the penultimate leg of the jungle diaries.
Our short account of the fourth Hyundai Jungle Diaries ends here. If you want to full story with all the stunning images from the forest, pick up the November issue of Car India magazine, on stands now! 
