Pashan Garh – Panna, India

Excitement is in the air….our first safari and I had promised Tigers!  Why did I do that?

We left Delhi for our flights (note the s) to get down to Khajuraho and Panna National Park, little did we know what we were in for.

This is India’s answer to a roller coaster ride and you get 3 rides for the price of one…..avoiding turbulence is not on Air India’s training program, finding turbulence is. We were convinced our time was up and they will not let you off for a ciggie at either stop to try and calm the nerves. Khajuraho airport has some of the cleanest toilets in India by the way.

We then had the pleasure of one of India’s other treats for the hour journey to the lodge…the slippery agent but at least we managed to stock up on booze without losing too much cash.

Arrival

Arrival at Pashan Garh is forever memorable and trust me you will remember it twice a day as you wind your way through the trees to the lodge, every member of staff waiting, smiling and waving enthusiastically with two arms. No choice but to have the welcome drink, cold towel and meet everyone before being taken to the room with instructions on dinner timing. 

You go for a drink, orientation and to meet your guide before dinner at the lounge.

Room

The 12 individual cottages are set on a hill within 200 acres of wilderness and it is creepy at night as there are no lights, I had one foot inside at all times when venturing out to smoke. 

The cottages are beautifully furnished with big bathrooms and have every amenity including your own scorpions, we found two of them, trying to sleep was not easy, every little itch was a scorpion and the 5 am wake up call every day meant I was totally knackered at the end of the stay.

We did ask to be moved closer to the main buildings to save jumping at shadows when walking to the main buildings at night and our view was of the cottage next door. 

I also checked the bed and the toilet, well the whole room, never unpacked and zipped up the suitcase in between use.

Size: 63 sqm

Pashan Garh Room Facilities

• Toiletries
• Tea and Coffee on request
• Bottled water
• Hangers
• Safe
• Iron and ironing board on request
• Bathrobes & slippers

Dining

Full Board included.

Not spectacular but they do try hard and the chef was so nice that you really feel obligated to eat what is put in front of you.  Jon enjoyed the food more than me…I am picky!  You have a real problem here because if you do not clear your plate they automatically bring you something else and if you do clear your plate they bring you more, you could all day in the restaurant.

They scared the shit out of us on our last but one night, we walked out of the cottage to see members of staff with torches running up and down the main path and shouting, one came to get us and insisted we go quickly to the little lounge rather than the restaurant. Kept asking what was wrong but no answer, I am imagining the elusive tiger had got into the reserve or snakes are everywhere but no they have a surprise dinner all set up for us at the top of the tower. This was lovely but we were a captive audience for the chef and a huge number of dishes appeared for the next couple of hours.  At this point I had reverted to my childhood methods of mashing food and hiding it under other food and begging Jon to eat it but he was struggling as well

On the last night they also bring out a cake and thank you for staying with them, more smiles and handshakes.

Service

They were all so friendly and helpful so yes good service.

Amenities

The hotel has a swimming pool which merges nicely into the greenery only distinguishable by some stonework round the edges.  There is also a shop where you can manage to spend a few rupees to fill up the suitcases a bit more.

Game Drives

It takes about 40 to 60 minutes to drive from the lodge to the reserve, you get two drives per day, drinks and snacks and a trained naturalist. We were lucky as there was only one other guest with us.

Panna is a really beautiful reserve, we saw hardly any other vehicles nor any tigers! We were told that main female was the other side of the river where we could not go and her older cubs were in another out of bounds section.

There was a lot of talk on the radios and dashing here and there but to no avail. Saw a lot of birds, one snake caught by a bird, a small cat which I spotted and a crocodile. 

You get a trip out on the river with all eyes fixed on the other bank for the elusive tiger, mine were watching the crocodiles. We were shown were the leopards had decided to leave before our arrival according to the radio.

No smoking allowed in the reserve.

Conclusion

Although I spent a lot of time terrified I actually really enjoyed the stay.  I have no doubt that it was a not the place to see Tigers but even so the reserve is beautiful and uncrowded, plenty of birds to smaller wildlife to see and the guides are enthusiastic.

The lodge is really nice and the staff are wonderful and I would not have missed it for the world and I thank god that the flight back to Varanasi was fairly smooth probably because I asked the pilot in the smoking room if it would possibly be ‘bumpy’ again!

For your information there is a train from Delhi unless you like rollercoasters. 

Also FYI the staff say the scorpions are not dangerous only the small ones…yeah they were that small you could not see them until they moved!

Pashan Garh, Panna National Park

Beautiful lodge and an uncrowded National Park. Click the logo to visit their website