The Safari Isn't the Whole Journey

One morning you're sitting in an open safari jeep, scanning the edge of a forest for a tiger. On another, you're riding a bicycle past small farms and villages, wondering what's happening at the market up ahead.

Both belong to a journey through Madhya Pradesh. And neither tells the whole story on its own.

Central India is famous for its wildlife reserves. Pench and Kanha are among the places where visitors come hoping to see a Bengal tiger in the wild. But between those parks lies a remarkable stretch of countryside that rarely makes the wildlife documentaries. That's where bicycles come in.

Two ways to see a forest

On safari, the naturalist does much of the reading. A track in the dust, a warning call from a deer, movement at the edge of the trees: clues that might lead to something extraordinary. You sit, watch and listen. Sometimes the forest keeps its secrets.

Cycling offers a different sort of attention.

The roads between Pench and Kanha pass through teak and bamboo woodland, agricultural valleys and, closer to Kanha, stands of tall sal trees. The scenery doesn't arrive as one grand panorama. It changes gradually: a patch of shade, a clearing, a small stream, a stretch of farmland framed by wooded hills.

You can hear birds without an engine running. You notice how the air cools beneath the trees. And when something catches your eye, stopping is generally as simple as pulling to the side of the road.

One ride explores the Rukhad forest area, part of the important habitat corridor linking Pench and Kanha. With a local guide, a quiet stretch of woodland becomes a place to learn about animal tracks and wildlife movements.

The tiger reserves are not isolated islands of nature. The country between them matters, too.

A market doesn't wait for the tourists

Outside the protected forests, people have work to do.

Fields appear between wooded hills. Farmers work the land, carts and motorcycles share village roads, and the occasional tea stall makes a convincing argument for a break. Perhaps there's a market underway, children playing in a schoolyard or someone tending livestock beside the road. If something catches our interest, we stop and see what's happening.

Village markets are particularly inviting. People arrive from surrounding communities to buy and sell produce, household goods and whatever else is needed that week. Vegetables fill baskets, something is frying, and bargaining is underway. It's a market doing what markets do, not a performance arranged for visitors.

The route also passes through villages of Gond and Baiga communities, whose histories and relationships with the forests reach back generations. Traveling through their countryside offers opportunities for spontaneous encounters and conversations, always with respect for the people going about their day.

And there's another dimension to life in these villages. Tigers don't recognize national park boundaries. They travel through the forest corridors between them, sometimes passing remarkably close to farms and settlements.

Local people have lived alongside these animals for generations. Herders know the forest paths, recognize signs of wildlife and understand when it's wise to give a tiger plenty of room. That coexistence isn't always easy, particularly when livestock are lost, but there's a long tradition of learning to share the landscape.

For a visitor hoping to glimpse a tiger on safari, the animal is an extraordinary encounter. For people living here, its presence is also part of everyday life.

The miles between the highlights

There's a practical pleasure to riding here, too. Much of the route follows quiet rural roads, with modest hills and a support van when a lift is welcome. Some stretches use forest tracks and paths traveled by local villagers.

Along the Banjar River, the ride follows the water upstream through the Kisli forests. Elsewhere, the road slips between small settlements and open farmland before returning to the shade of the trees. The changes are subtle enough that you might miss them from a vehicle, but on a bicycle they become the shape of the day.

A picnic lunch in the forest, tea and samosas at a roadside stall, an unexpected conversation in a village: none requires a dramatic wildlife sighting to be interesting.

The days end in comfortable lodges with a shower, a good meal and time to sit outside.

What you take home

The safaris are an essential part of our Madhya Pradesh cycling trip. We wouldn't want to miss the chance to explore Pench and Kanha with the people who know those forests best. A tiger sighting would be thrilling, but wildlife has never been especially cooperative about keeping appointments.

The bicycle days give those safaris a wider setting. They introduce the farms, markets, communities and changing landscapes around the parks, and the people whose lives are connected to this part of India.

You may remember the moment a deer raised its head in the forest, or the possibility of stripes moving through the trees.

You may remember the chai stop just as clearly.

That's why the safari isn't the whole journey.