I have pleasure in reproducing an article written by Annikki in 1990 and which was published, in Finnish, in Kaleva in 1990. (Some geographical data in this article are now obsolete.)
Annikki at the centre point of India in Nagpir en route to the Kanha National Park.
The pictures which were published by Kaleva are, unfortunately not available with us. But we had taken many photos and are given here as a good record of our visit to Kanha, and Jabalpur.
Here are some pictures from that visit to the Kanha National Wild Life Sanctuary.
We spent the night en route at the Bison Lodge.
Jacob on the banks of the Bhanjur River near the Mukki Village outside the Kanha National Park.
Our young guides with eyes like hawks.
Here are the pictures of our first encounter with a tiger on the very first drive into the National Park. It shows the tiger walking to the car and then walking past the car and on its way. The last picture shows it turning around to see we were not following it! Annikki is sketching the tiger facing us is in the centre photo.
Annikki sketching a picture from our encounter.
The tiger turns around to see whether we were following it.
The same day we were fortunate to see a tigress and her two cubs resting under the tree as described by Annikki in her article above. This can be seen in the photos above.
We took an elephant ride into the forest to see a variety of wild life close up.
We visited the doctor’s clinic which handles both human beings and animals. We met with the doctor and his compounder.
We visited the nearby elephant village where we saw them making enormous "rotis" to feed the elephants.
We visited the local Mukki village and listened to their stories about living on the edge of a wild life sanctuary. We heard some beautiful and horrific stories,
Driving through the National Park was truly a moving experience as we saw many beautiful sights, heard magical sounds and saw wild animals galore.
We saw the Pariyat Nadi leading to the magnificent Bhadbhada waterfall.
We travelled downstream and had a small rownboat take us up the majestic and colourful marble canyon.
A truly beautiful holiday enjoyed thoroughly by Annikki and me.
We still talk about our encounters with the tigers. Many friends have been to Kanha many time but never seen a tiger. We saw not only one walking to us but saw one tigress with her little cubs.
The luck of the Findians?
