Satpura National Park, a paradise for wildlife lovers

Satpura is one of my wonderful visits to any National park so far. We had planned our visit in hot summer month of June but the experience was incredible.
Satpura National park is close to pachmarhi and 150 km from Bhopal with nearest station at Hoshangabad. The park along with the adjoining Bori and Pachmarhi wildlife sanctuary provides 1427 km sq of Central Indian highland ecosystem. There are many staying options at Satpura, but the best accommodation if one is planning a visit in winter is the MP government forest rest house next to Denwa river. Although It has only basic amenities,it offers a splendid view of Denwa river and the dense forests nearby being situated near the entrance gate to the park. It is possibly the best stay option for low budget travelers with room rent costing around 1500 rupees per day.
The terrain of the national park is extremely rugged and consists of sandstone peaks,narrow gorges and dense forests. It is situated near river Denwa and invites many migratory birds throughout the year. The flora consists of trees of sal,teak,tendu, amla,mahua and bamboo.
We didn't have to make much efforts for spotting wildlife, it was a fortunate day as is evident from pictures

Sambar

One of the streams

Saaja or the Crocodile bark tree

There are trees which we had never seen before. Unique among all is the Indian ghost tree, it is found only in Rocky terrains of the national parks of MP and we were told that it glitters in the moonlight due to its white bark! Plenty of little streams made their way through the dense forests.

Indian Ghost tree

Going deeper into the forest, we suddenly came across three young leopards engaged in playful fight. It was a one in a million opportunity to observe these elegant big cats from such less distance.

We were now looking forward to see the giant squirrel, which is unique to Satpura and not found anywhere else in MP. Suddenly the guide pointed towards the top of a mahua tree,there savouring the fruits on the treetop were the giant squirrels, their purple fur scintillating in the sunlight! I managed to capture some good shots.

The Indian giant squirrel is a large tree squirrel native to India. It is a large bodied arboreal and herbivorous species found in south Asia. It is the state animal of Maharashtra.
It has a conspicuous two toned colour scheme. The colours involved are creamy beige,buff, tan, rust brown. It is a shy,wary animal and not easy to discover.

Every now and then, the call of Indian pitta(navrang) could be heard, disappearing now and then into the foliage of the trees....