Pench National Park – it conjures up images of Mowgli, Bagheera and the “bear necessities”. Immortalised by Rudyard Kipling in The Jungle Book, it is still sometimes unfairly given the step-sibling treatment next to Bandhavgarh. When, in fact, the Pench river meandering through its entire stretch, along with the open hilly terrain, teak forests and jungle streams form a heart-stoppingly beautiful landscape. A landscape that supports vibrant and diverse flora and fauna.

While at Khawasa a small little village on the Nagpur Jabalpur National Highway 7, you will see a board that says Pench National Park 12kms, take this metalloid road thru the beautiful teak forest. You will pass a couple of small village on the way. Finally you reach Village Avarghani, directions to Pench are clear, and you move towards the Turia gate, which is about 1.5kms from this village. Get into an open Jeep, and after your formalities at the gate enter the Park.

This park is different. Located in the AVSM (Aravali, Vindhyanchal, Satpura and Maikal Ranges) belt, this teak forest is a different and a pleasant surprise to the normal and scenic parks of Kanha and Bandhavgarh. The tracks are smoother, the trees are thicker with dense undergrowth, perhaps one reason why the herbivore population here is more larger in size compared to Kanha and Bandhavgarh. There is a distinct silence here. You feel you are the King, when suddenly your driver halts seeing the Pugmarks of the actual King of the area. A Tiger has just crossed, he shows them to you, and suddenly an alarm call from one of the denizens of the forest. You, your driver, your naturalist are all alert. Looking in the direction of the call, eye balls much bigger than usual, heart pounding at 120 beats a minute. Ears as big as of an Elephant, you want to see the true King of Pench. The drama, unfolds, and you are in Pench, the true and original Kipling Country.

It is blessed with forests spread in all the direction. As per the physiognomy, the forest type is southern tropical dry deciduous teak and southern tropical mixed deciduous forest with other species of shrubs, trees and climbers. Teak and its associates moyan, mahua, mokha, skiras, tendu, bija, achar, garari, aonla, ghont, baranga, amaltas, kihamali, khair, palas. Bamboo occurs sparsely, restricted to some valley.

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