Category: India

Shergarh Tented Camp

Not far from Singinawa is another remarkable story of change makers who have steered away from mass tourism to create a unique kind of travel with a focus on nature and people.

The making of Shergarh Tented Camp is a story that tugs at heartstrings. It is a story of love and passion resulting in a concoction of wildlife hospitality. Jehan Bhujwala grew up in the metropolitan city of Bombay having only the concrete jungle as his playground. He furthered his studies in geology and mastered in it but soon realized an insatiable longing to live life in the wild. He purchased a 21-acre land on the fringe of the buffer zone adjacent to Kanha National Park in 2001 whilst working at Kipling Camp, the first camp built near Mukki gate. In 2002 Katie, a British girl from a village close to Bath in the United Kingdom was so drawn to India after an extended backpacking trip that she decided to find a job at the same camp, and love struck.

At that time, Jehan was living in a tiny mud house on his property and had already started conceptualizing the idea of a tented camp. With extra hands and a like-minded partner, ideas soon evolved into reality and Jehan and Katie began building the camp. “This was not going to be any ordinary camp. With Jehan’s experience as a naturalist and my insight on travels after much destination hopping during my backpacking years, we both decide that this camp will honour and respect the environment and people living around,” explained Katie.

They adopted villages around the vicinity, hired local communities to help build the camp and fostered impeccable relationships with the villagers. “For many villagers, tourism was a foreign and new concept to them, especially when Shergarh Tented Camp was one first few properties established near Mukki gate. Today, they are like family.” said Katie. “We have incorporated local skills and techniques into the lodge as much as possible, such as their dry-stone masonry and mud-plasterwork, and have used local carpenters, masons, plumbers and electricians.”

Due to poor knowledge of sustainable agriculture practices, the 21 acre land was completely degraded and overused. Katie explained that the entire land space was filled with invasive and chocking eucalyptus trees, biodiversity was close to barrenness and the land was starved. The pair spent many months and years regenerating the land, chopping down eucalyptus for construction and firewood in the winters. Indigenous trees were reintroduced to the land and the beautiful waterbed that sits in the middle of the land continued to feed the trees.

We walked past the waterbed to reach our tents, and much to our delight, we saw egrets, commorants, kingfishers and bee- eaters basking in the water. Katie tells us that jackals and wild boars frequently roam the area and just at the entrance amongst the patch of tall green meadows, a jungle cat has made that his home. Katie recollects an incident when the name Shergarh meaning “Home of the Tiger” resonated. “In November 2008, a 5-year old male tiger strayed from the core forest and took refuge from (in?) the surrounding paddy fields”.

Camp in Comfort

As we ambled into the vicinity of Shergarh Tented camp in Kanha, we were expecting high A-framed tents, foldable camp beds, make shift toilets and simple skinny mattresses, but what we found at Shergargh was a haven of comfort and simplicity. The rugged looking canvas tent is tied securely on concrete A-frame structure with a sturdy roof made of handmade clay roof tiles. The tents are incredibly roomy inside with a large king sized bed, bedside tables and a spacious permanent toilet, shower and open closet area. Just outside the tent, a few plush cushion mattresses and deck chairs are cleverly positioned to great views of the lake and the open skies as we watch the stars emerge at night.

The tents take on names of indigenous trees in India such as Tulsi (Indian basil), Aam (mango), Jamun (blackberry), Imli (tamarind), Mahua and Neem. Many of these trees were re-planted around the property in their effort to revive the degraded land.

Moving away from a tiger-centric approach

While it’s easy to take on a tiger-centric approach as tiger sightings are almost a daily affair, the couple knew that that would not do justice to the rich diversity in Kanha. Instead they have expanded their list of activities to include village visits, walking hikes and bike tours.

In October 2011, Shergarh will be offering bespoke bike tours from half day tours to 3-day tours. These cycle ‘tolla’ tours (tolla meaning village) will take guests off the beaten track from Kanha through villages and obscure towns to Pench National Park (approximately 200km) or Bandhavgargh National Park (approximately 250km). Exploring the Madhya Pradesh region on two wheels opens a new spectrum of experience for guests giving them a chance to interact with locals, savour chai at roadside stalls, weave through tall paddy fields and stay with local communities. For a more rustic camping experience, guests have the option of camping out in the open and cooking meals over fire and charcoal.

Whether it is a lodge or a tented camp, conscious travellers are now looking for more than just a comfortable place to stay. I found myself searching for operators who are committed to preserving the destination and operators that can offer authentic experiences crafted through their commitment and understanding of the destination and the surrounding people. At Kanha, I found two champion operators who are investing time and resources to preserve the very thing that tourists come to Kanha for, a genuine ‘Jungle Book’ experience.

• By Air: Nagpur is the nearest airport to Kanha National Park. Other airports include Raipur and Jabalpur. These airports are all connected to major cities in India.
• By Train: Jabalpur is a convenient rail route to head towards Kanha National Park.
• By Road: Kanha National Park is well connected with major roads from Jabalpur (175kms), Nagpur (266kms) and Raipur (219kms). Kanha also has a good network of roads connecting to surrounding national parks such as Bandhavgarh, Pench, Panna, Achanakmar and Phen National Park.
• Best time to visit: The peak season for Kanha National Park visits is the winter season, from October to February. During the summer months from March to June, tiger sightings are at its best as the grasslands dries up making it easier to spot wild animals. The park is closed from mid-June to October during the monsoon season.

… read Part 1 and Part 2 of My Indian “Jungle Book” Experience

Singinawa Jungle Lodge (Protector of the Sacred Forest)

My visit to Singinawa Jungle Lodge fuelled my passion to discover this unique relationship between tourism and conservation. I met with Dr. Latika Nath Rana, a petite lady with captivating big brown eyes and her husband, Nanda SJB Rana, a friendly man with an imposing build. Both wildlife enthusiasts heeded their passion for the wild and eventually led them to cross paths. Latika is a wildlife biologist and the first woman to be awarded a doctorate on tiger conservation and management from the University of Oxford. She is also fondly dubbed as the “Tiger Princess” being married to Nanda who hails from the Royal Rana family of Nepal. Nanda is a tiger photography expert and film producer having worked for notable organizations such as National Geographic, BBC and Discovery Channel.

Both knew that they had a strong role in the fight to save tigers. With their wealth of knowledge on tigers and Nanda’s love for hospitality, they bought an initial piece of land just outside of the buffer zone bordering a local town named Bayar. It was evident that the main reason tourists visited Kanha is for the wildlife, more specifically for the tiger. The pair knew all too well that the fight to save tigers is not a single minded quest; instead it required tourists to be educated, locals to sense pride, government to buck up and private enterprises to take on the role as catalysts. Hence the inception of ‘Singinawa’, which takes its meaning from a Sherpa term, the “Protector of the Sacred Forest”.

Nanda understands the need and importance of embracing the local community, “if we start something, it needs to make a difference to the people around it”. They hired over 350 local people for the construction of Singinawa. For 10 months, a small community was formed as local men shared craftsmen skills, exchange stories of wildlife encounters, and shared life together. Many of them stayed on to be part of the Singinawa family.

The construction of Singinawa Lodge was no easy feat with many minute considerations to take into account in order to lessen the impact on the environment. Details such as land use, building material, waste management, energy source and water management and wildlife management were part of the equation. A sustainable property was the only kind of property that Latika was willing to build, stating, “If I as a conservationist and wildlife biologist set a place and don’t think about conserving it, who will? It is a responsibility I owe”.

The Lodge

Today, Singinawa provides affordable and comfortable living with a grand main house and 12 individual cottages dotted around the 55 acre land. The once degraded land choked by lantana has now been restored and it is home to two resident leopards, chital, wild dog and wild boar.

Every structure is designed and built around existing trees and a great evidence of that is upon entering the main house with a lofty tree at our welcome. The interiors of the main house are decorated with heavy wooden furniture and leather bound chairs giving the impression of castle, perhaps influenced by Nanda’s upbringing of living in palaces most of this childhood. The grandeur of this building is further enhanced by the magnificent photos of tigers set in bold frames, all taken by Nanda who is notably the only photographer who has documented six generations of tigers in Bandhavgarh National Park just six hours away.

On wintry nights, the cosy fireplace in the library makes for a perfect seating for stories. The double walls provide adequate insulation in the winter and perfect cooling in the summer. A natural air cooling system channels hot air out and cool air in eliminating the need for air conditioning in the main hall. And where possible, without the disturbance of langurs and macaques, solar panels have been fitted to provide energy for external lighting.

Creative conservation

As conservationists at heart, it wasn’t enough just to set up a lodge for wildlife enthusiasts or holiday makers. Latika and Nanda thought up innovative ways to raise money for conservation and community development projects. Last year, Latika rallied a group of well-known artists from all over the world for a 10-day retreat the lodge. Surrounded by incredible wildlife, great food and organic inspiration, the artists produced passion-laden paintings that were later auctioned to raise funds for tiger conservation projects such as the building of watering holes for tigers in Kanha.

In 2008, the Singinawa Foundation was established with a steady flow of funds coming from the Spa at Singinawa. Guests who pay to be pampered at the Spa are contributing to the wellbeing of the villagers around the lodge. Through monies raised, medical camps are organized and critically ill villagers are being sent to hospitals that they could never afford to pay.

The need never stops and as long as operators like Singinawa continues to thrive, protected areas are a little safer, wildlife can continue to flourish and local communities will grow in their sense of pride and belonging that they too are “Protectors of the Sacred Forest”.

… continue reading to Part 3 (final) or go back to Part 1