One reason why forests like Kanha have such intact ecosystems, where endangered species survive in healthy populations, is due to centuries of a balanced co-existence with the indigenous communities who have inhabited them. Since the inception of Project Tiger in the 1970s, Kanha’s forest villages have been gradually relocated from within the ‘core’ zone and integrated into the peripheral landscape. These hunter-gatherer communities who traditionally practiced a shifting form of cultivation are now permanently settled in villages: clusters of handsome adobe homes that look as if they have been plucked directly out of the earth and painted sky-blue. Subsistence farming now defines their ever-evolving relationship with the land, and their connection with the surrounding forest remains deep yet fragile.
There is no better way to immerse oneself in this fascinating and beautiful environment than by cycling along the tracks that weave through this rural heartland, connecting village after village. We have curated several trails that can be explored for various durations, from just an hour or two, to a half or full day trip, as well as a very special 3-day cycling adventure around Kanha staying in lodges enroute. These experiences are intended to be neither arduous nor competitive, but slow-paced and meaningful, revealing the human side of Kanha’s wilderness and conservation. That said, the terrain is changeable, so competency is essential: a smooth cement road quickly changes to a sandy or rocky dirt track, there are hidden speed bumps, and sometimes waterways or fields to cross. Routes see minimal traffic, but cyclists need to be adept at negotiating a tractor, bullock-cart, wandering dogs and cattle, and the odd village drunk!
Cycling at a leisurely pace allows time to soak in the scenery, take photographs, chat with local people and stop for chai and snacks. On certain days, weekly haats – like farmer’s markets – become lively focal points, but there is always interesting activity taking place: the intensive post-monsoon/early winter rice harvest; cattle being bathed in the river, or pedalling alongside a herd as they return home at sunset and peel off to their homes; sometimes a festive occasion in a village, or a kind and spontaneous invitation into someone’s home.
The landscape is breathtaking with pristine tracts of sal forest providing perfect locations for picnics on longer routes, fields of bright yellow mustard flowers in the winter months, and sweeping valleys set against the backdrop of Kanha’s core forest. There are opportunities to stop and birdwatch, and if very lucky, encounter larger wildlife.
