Bye Bye 2015.. Welcome 2016 :)

Reason to Smile: There is always some learning we all took from the year that went by. While we bid adieu to 2015 and started getting ready to welcome 2016; most of us made new plans, meet new people, had new thoughts within us to make the new year far more better than the previous one :)

Sometimes what you are looking for comes when you aren't looking at all. This is an experience some of us felt 'literally' while we were roaming the jungles of Tadoba - one of the best tiger reserve / conservation center at Nagpur :)

Shailendra, Bibhas, Mohit, Madhura, Rajjo and me got completely charged for our trip to Nagpur and experience the wildlife in the jungles of Tadoba. The laughter riot that we all have enjoyed right from the time we boarded the train has been unbelievable. More so because not all of us have met earlier at all ! For me, I knew only Rajjo and Bibhas. Thats it.

While I wrote all this sitting in one of the rooms at Tadoba, the friends had left for the last safari in the core jungle to spot the tiger. I chose to back out after having eaten the red sand enough to myself :P I feel truly blessed and thank myself for taking a prompt decision to be a part of this trip. This was basically because I had no plans for 31st to party and also did not want to celebrate it that way. I was indeed skeptical about this plan as I am not fond of wildlife at all. Rajjo had just blustered in one of our casual conversations about this plan that they all made it on their own. I took no time to say yes and was immediately added in their whats app group :) I am glad they happily welcomed me.
So yes, this turned out to be my first ever exclusive wildlife encounter so to speak :)

Our journey started on 31st December at about 8 pm. We obviously knew we would be in 'motion' when the clock strikes 12 ! The new year was welcomed and celebrated in the most populated place in motion - The Indian Railways ! :D We cut the already sliced cake and celebrated it the traditional way and how !!

Between 9 pm and 12 pm the way we have laughed on every joke or comment that came by from each of us was just unbelievably loud. We knew we might be disturbing other passengers but none of us could resist the laughter and we would just not stop ! So much so that after a point we had to hold our stomachs and control our feelings so that it would not ache ! All this is a special thanks to Bibhas and his all new sigma lens as most of the time they were the targets for all our humor instigation.

Needless to mention, with all this came a time where we were humbly and politely warned and thrown out of the bogie if we wanted to continue laughing like that with so much noise :P I had never imagined in my lifetime that after being warned and moving out of the bogie we would still be ready to cut that cake (near the toilet); eat it, take pictures, share some stories and go back to sleep :P What an unusual way to celebrate the new years !! :P :D

Tadoba is a jungle for tiger reserve located about 3 to 4 hrs drive from Nagpur city. The jungle is best known for the conservation of the wildlife. To spot the tiger with its cubs one has to go deep inside the jungle about 30 - 40 kms from the village where home stays are available. This time of the year it was indeed cold and pleasant. The speed at which the jeep ran in the jungle only got us tight and dry in the early mornings and late evenings in the safari we booked online. The jungle is very dense and huge enough for some really nice pictures and to feel the serene nature around.

3 days, 3 Safaris, 3 nights at the home stay, awesome home cooked food, Maggie & Omlette special breakfast that we cooked on our own; some dirty jokes; early morning chills and not to forget the evergreen Coke & Sprite for the game of cards - all this made it an unforgettable trip to cherish for many more wildlife safaris to come :)

Special thanks to Shailendra for taking all of us home and serving us the most delicious dinner !

Some great and super fantastic pictures of all the fun we had and shots of the tiger that we spotted ofcourse (from the lens of our eminent photographers) will be uploaded soon on FB :)
Mohit, Bibhas, Rajjo, Shailendra - Please upload the fun ASAP :)

Thank you 2015.. Welcome 2016 ! Happy New Year Guys !!
Keep reading my blogs and Keep Smiling :)