Life in 4 Low

I’ve been driving a Thar for the past three and half years now, most of which has been on highways. I’ve mostly kept away from tough terrain to stay safe and avoid vehicle damage since most of my road trips have been solo drives.

Some tough terrain did come my way during my trip to Ladakh and the Little Rann of Kutch where I’ve had to switch to 4H to get out of a sticky situation.

Getting comfortable with handling slush, river crossings and uneven off-road incline / slope has always been there in the back of mind and therefore signed up for the two day Trail Survivor course with the Mahindra Off-road Academy at Igatpuri, Nashik, MH.

Half a dozen Thar’s were waiting for us as we participants arrived at the site. The 4x4 was set to 4L or 4 Low from the word go. This transfer case setting generates an awesome amount of torque (because of low ratio gears) on all four wheels thereby making the Thar a true off-roader!

The next two days were spent negotiating various obstacles in the 28 acre facility under the watchful eyes of the instructor. By the end of it I had a good idea of life in 4 Low and came amazed with what a Thar can handle.

Bless the Thar

As long as 3 wheels are on the ground, it'll get out!

SUV Challenge - the Thar does it easy!

While negotiating the slush pit, I (deliberately) went in with 2H (2 wheel drive mode) and got stuck. No amount of acceleration or rocking the vehicle (forward & reverse) helped. Even 4H didn’t work. Switching to 4 Low pulled the vehicle out without much of a struggle!

Akshi, Alibaug

Captains Log; Star Date 1211.2017

Reached Akshi Beach at about 730 hrs after a rock and roll drive via the NH17 which is under repairs. The twisty section around Poynad was a good drive though.

Early in the morning with the tide near its high point, the beach looked pretty unassuming. As the sun came up a little more, flocks of winter visitors could be seen settling down.

Oyster Catcher

Lying down flat on the beach and crawling up slowly helped me get close to some of the visitors.

Kentish Plover

Shooter in the open!

There’s a small parking area with some shacks retailing snacks. There's also a loo and a changing room – not exactly hygienic though.

Gaganbavda, Kolhapur

Captains Log; Star Date 1108.2017

Wheels rolled at 530 hrs. on a cloudy morning. Traffic was heavy, given the long weekend, right up to Kolhapur. Hit heavy rain and slow moving trucks short of Lonavla. The Mumbai-Pune expressway and the Pune-Bangalore NH tarmac was great. Beyond Kolhapur the tarmac is decent and winds through green vegetation and paddy and sugarcane fields. The 420 km drive took about 7 hours. It took about an hour less on the way back as traffic was moderate.

Old diesel pump near the Sugar Factory

Stay was at The Camp – a farm house set amidst paddy and sugarcane fields. Dev, a wildlife conservationist, was around and patiently answered all my questions ranging from wildlife to agriculture.

Food from The Camp’s kitchen was a super local fare with pandhra rassa, chicken in a coconut gravy, spiced up dal, rice from farm, roti and poha, served hot in the porch overlooking a grove of coconut and beetle-nut trees.

While out for an early morning walk, chanced upon giant squirrels (shekru) scampering about on the tree tops.

The trek to the Morzai Plateau gave a super glimpse of the rice fields below and the periphery of the Dajipur Sanctuary.

Sahyadari Spotted Flat

The Cave Temple at Ramaling, I thought, was straight out of a Lara Croft movie.

Mahalaxmi Temple, Kolhapur

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve

Captains Log; Star Date 0505.2017

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), about 150 km south east of Nagpur towards Chandrapur, had been on my radar for some time now.

Safari bookings are a tricky affair and multiple safaris increase chance of a ‘sighting’ therefore joined up with a group. Another advantage of the group was the interaction with the group leader - a seasoned wild life conservationist and sharing of the day’s experience with the rest of the group.

Landed at Nagpur in the month of May when it’s really hot and dusty. The road from Nagpur to Moharli was decent and took about three and half hours.

We got lucky in the first safari in the afternoon with a chance meeting with Bajrang and Matkasur both well-built young male tigers.

While Bajrang snoozed peacefully on the banks of the Andhari River under a canopy of trees, us tourists sweated it out in the open gypsies about 100 mtrs away. Any movement by Bajrang was met by a barrage of camera clicks! Finally around 5-530 pm, snooze over, Bajrang walked away into the thick dry vegetation.

Matkasur was out watching over and marking his territory. The sight of 10-20 gypsies with overzealous tourists didn’t seem to bother him. Well-built fellow, almost as long as the gypsy, every step he took oozed tons of grandeur.

The two safaris the next day didn’t yield any sightings. Apparently Choti Tara at Jamini Talao and her two cubs kept to the thicket while we were around.

The next day morning we chanced on Choti Tara lazing just outside a thicket near Jamni Talao. We missed Maya by a couple of minutes at another water hole.

While the focus tends to be on tiger sightings the reserve is teeming with a lot other animals and birds and is a super place to catch up with nature.

Oriental Honey Buzzard

Brown Fish Owl

Monitor Lizard

Green Bee-eater leaving its nest

Gaur

Langur

You may want to:

• Dress in dull coloured clothes and cover yourself as much.
• Be prepared to handle dust – glares, cap and a scarf / hiking headband help.
• Carry a bottle of water (and perhaps an ORS like Enerzal) when out in the sun.
• Carry your longest lens.