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BOX PARK DAY ONE

All this week until Sunday my partner Jason and I are hosting our Novem & Knight pop-up shop in Shoreditchs popular retail destination Box Park.

Were alongside a selected handful of some of the best brands in the biz so its extremely exciting to have nabbed a box for the week!
We have our first collection on sale and also exclusively our brand new A/W collection which is not online until we close up the box at the end of the week so if you can, head down, have a little look and say hi! :)

It has been lovely so far getting to meet so many of you lovely readers and subscribers, it reminds me of why I began in the first place and there has been so much support so far - people congratulating us on the pieces and coming in for hugs and a little chat.
I am aiming to capture my outfits throughout the week, the days are jam-packed so I may be slightly behind but this was day 1.

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blooms in Bryant Park

Dress: ASOS (also love this one). Shoes (also wore this dress with these blush heels). Hat: BP. Sunglasses: Old, similar here.

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Big Cat Trail Leg 2 Gir Forest National Park

If youve never seen lions in the wild, its quite something to be less than six feet away from one. If you have seen lions in the wild, then to see them crouch, stalk and get into the hunt is like watching poetry in motion. The big cat trail made its second stop at Gir. Sowmya, Pratima, Pradeep and Santosh had headed back to Bangalore. That left Sahana and me to make the long journey to Junagadh, so we could connect to the last home of the Asiatic Lions (Panthera Leo Persica). Our journey took longer than expected and the comfortable, air-conditioned drive from Junagadh to the Club Mahindra resort was just the thing that we needed to soothe our muscles.

The next morning we were on safari. Gir has a clearly demarcated tourism zone that has 8 separate routes. This is a small section of the 1412 sq km forest, and that affords the animals a really large inviolate area. Unabashedly so, we had our eyes set on lion sightings. I asked our guide Bali about lion sightings and he said, "Ill show you so many lions that by the end of your nine drives, youll be tired of them!" I cant say Im tired of lions, but having seen 28 of them, I can safely say my eyes have had their fill for this time.

There are a few things you should know about Gir. First, lion spottings are aplenty on route 6 and route 2. This is because these are tracker assisted routes. From what I hear, Sandeep Kumar - the deputy conservator of forests at Gir is a pro-tourism administrator. Not only has he been instrumental in doubling the daily permit quotas to enter the forest, hes also made a significant change to assure visitors of lion sightings.

Lions are social animals. Having brushed shoulders with the local Maldhari and Negro tribesmen, theyve also become used to human presence. The local people are heavily involved in the conservation of this magnificent animal, which explains the evident disappearance of poaching and the continually rising population of big cats (411 in the last census). This being said, its never easy to spot them, because lions like most cats, can relax in the shade for unto 16 hours a day. They go on the hunt or to patrol their territories mostly in the darkness of night. This means that your chances of spotting a lion by following pug marks or by driving down a route are quite slim. This is where the trackers come into play.

Girs trackers are men from the local tribes whove grown up in the forest. They dont just know the forest like the back of their hands, they know the habits and haunts of the lions. With Gir being the last home for Asiatic lions, conservation efforts need to be more than just the usual stuff. The trackers do a 14 hour job in the forest, traveling on foot, motorbikes or bicycles to personally monitor the health of various lions in the forest. If a lion looks ill or needs medical attention, theyll inform a crew so they can get to the spot and help the beast. Its no wonder that Girs male lions enjoy a long life despite their violent lives.

Coming back to route 6 and route 2, Sandeep Kumar has instructed the trackers to assist safari jeeps with sightings whenever possible, especially if the sighting doesnt interfere with the natural behaviour of the animal. Let me put this into some perspectives. We did four of our safaris on non tracker assisted routes and we ended up seeing two lions. On the remaining five safaris we saw 26 lions. I personally think this is a wonderful move from the forest department as long as visitors dont make a circus out of it.

The lions apart, Gir is home to over 300 leopards and the numerous warning calls we heard for this elusive beast is testimony to their invisible presence. We could only spot one though - perhaps thats a reason for us to return. Combine that with the several species of birds and the great sightings of Asian paradise flycatchers and several birds of prey, and Gir becomes truly a wildlifers heaven.

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If you want to visit Gir, consider staying at the Club Mahindra Safari Resort. Its not exactly close to the forest, but I must say their service has bowled me over. If you prefer staying closer to the forest, consider the Gir Birding Lodge or the governments Sinh Sadan guest house. The latter is quite difficult to get bookings for. You need to get through several phone calls to secure your spot. Safari bookings are usually through your hotel and its useful to have hotel staff that understand your interests. Make sure you are vocal about what you want to see, so they can get you on the right routes. And by the way, dont be shy to walk around the buffer zone of the forest. You might just be surprised with some of the birds, animals and people you bump into!

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Big Cat Trail Leg 5 Jim Corbett National Park

There couldnt be a better way to end the big cat trail. While my photography form didnt hold its own at Corbett, I can safely say that being in the Terai is the real deal when it comes to Indian forests. Theres no other forest in the subcontinent that is home to 227 tigers, several thousand Asiatic elephants, 585 species of birds and more than 30 species of reptiles. In short, an extended stay at Corbett has to be a wildlifers dream. Corbett does have its ills, but let me blend them into my experience report.

Corbett is one of the most frustrating parks to book accommodation for. Youll be surprised that I say this, because a web search will yield several hotels around the park. The fact is that if youre serious about wildlife you want to stay away from the noisy boors wholl come to park for a drive because they have nothing better to do. Staying in one of the outside resorts means that youll enter the forest with these people and each time you see a tiger, therell be a mini traffic jam with people shouting like its a fish market. So, most wildlife enthusiasts choose to stay at one of the several forest rest houses in the park - the most popular of these being Dhikala. Dhikala is about 49 kilometres from the Dhangari gate of Corbett Tiger Reserve and is in the thick of this magnificent jungle. Only residents at the rest house can drive through the safari routes here and getting accommodation is so tough that only enthusiasts take the trouble.

To tell you the fact, the reservation system is from the dark ages. You fax them a request months prior to your arrival. You keep calling them every day to follow up on your request. You then send them a demand draft when they confirm your booking (yes, even electronic transfers dont work). All this, and you now need to find a good safari jeep and a good driver. After all that trouble, I still wasnt able to get accommodation at Dhikala for both my nights and I ended up getting a night at Dhikala and a night at Bijrani, a rest house slightly more on the outside of the forest. Getting accommodation at Dhikala is truly an insiders job and in hindsight I recommend you take the services of either of the following folks to take the load off your head:

• Ramesh Suyal (highly recommended on most travel guides)
• Dhikala.in
• Tigerland Safaris and Tours

Dhikala is a great place for spotting wild elephants, hog deer, barking deer and a wide variety of birds in a really dense, forest. Tiger sightings are a matter of chance and more so here, given the dense cover they have. We almost missed the only sighting we had here and the tigress we stopped for was so offended by the fact that wed blocked her route, that she lunged at us in a mock charge emitting a huge roar. Before we knew it, shed lunged across the road and neither of the five cameras trained on her had an opportunity to get a photograph. A great sighting - one that left our hearts racing. In our one day at Dhikala, we ran into several elephant herds and saw several exotic birds. Before wed even sampled the zone properly, we had to head out of the zone and check into our rest house at Bijrani.

The Bijrani rest house is quite old in itself. Established in 1928 as a hunting lodge for the British, it serves as an in forest accommodation for tourists. The zone however, is shared across both day visitors and lodge residents. This tends to make the zone quite noisy, despite the fact that your accommodation can get you several minutes of tranquility when at the rest house. Do remember that you can get out early each morning and stay back late each evening when all other vehicles are likely to be racing against time to reach the gate. Bijrani is also a comparatively drier zone which makes game spotting somewhat easier.

Now did we see a tiger at Bijrani? You bet we did - a young female who chose to sleep in a little cave in almost human fashion. It seemed to make no difference to her as the guides and visitors on the hillock above her made a huge ruckus about her presence. We left her fast asleep, only to come back in the afternoon to watch her lounging in her private pool after the long siesta.


I must put in a word for the elephant safaris at Corbett. In my view theres no better way to experience the forest. Remember that its not the best perch for photography or to get the best sightings, given the elephants always moving and that its a lot slower than a safari vehicle. However, the ability to see the forest from the inside, on an all terrain animal is quite something. No gorge is too deep, no slope too steep. If you had to follow a tiger into the bush, the elephants your best bet. Its also a great way to experience first hand how man and animal can be such good friends. The trust and understanding between the elephants and their mahouts (handlers) is something to see so you can believe. The mahouts also have really interesting tales to tell so even if you dont get great wildlife sightings, you can have a really entertaining ride through the thickets.

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Anyways, Corbett was the last stop on the big cat trail this year. Its been quite amazing - weve spotted 49 big cats; 28 lions, 20 tigers, and 1 leopard. I think its quite humbling to be stuck one short of a half century; natures way of showing shes still in control. I am returning to Bangalore enriched by this experience. Ive learned so much and I am more appreciative of this countrys biodiversity than I was ever before. The big cat trail will be on the road again in the summer of next year and my plan is to visit the following parks:

• Tadoba
• Pench
• Ranthambore
• Corbett
• Dudhwa
• Sunderban
• Kaziranga

While its quite impossible to upload all my photographs from the big cat trail, Ive put together a small selection of photographs here. As always, my work is under a Creative Commons license.

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Big Cat Trail Leg 4 Bandavgarh National Park

Its not often that you see 10 tigers and still retain a sense of disappointment. Happy as we are at the end of our Bandavgarh safaris, we see a huge scope for improvement with the tourism policies at this reserve. More on that in a bit. If you were ever in two minds about which Indian tiger reserve is likely to afford the best guarantee for tiger sightings, then its got to be Bandavgarh. Why? Take a few factors into perspective. The Tala tourism zone is just about 102 sq km and has about 22 tigers in it. That gives you a tiger density of about one in every five sq kilometres. This apart, you can seek the assistance of the tracking elephants which when they find a tiger, will mark the spot where the tigers resting and then take turns to transport you so you can view the tiger in its natural habitat. Dont listen to what armchair conservationists may say in criticism of the tracking elephants. These animals do not interfere with the big cats natural movement and make far less noise than safari vehicles. When observing secretive animals, using any intelligence and assistance is never a bad thing. Add to that the presence of some really bold tigers like Kankatti, B2 and the new and upcoming Bamera male, you have a heady mix for tiger sightings.

This being said, the park management needs to get its act straight with its tourism policies. Wildlife observation is a matter of luck and patience. Depending on the kind of wildlife you wish to observe, youll need to invest time and energy to get the sightings you want. The park management has made this very difficult. Theyve divided the zone into four tracks - A,B,C and D. These tracks combine to make four 60 km routes (AC, CA, BD, DB) that safari vehicles have to complete whether they like it or not. When on safari, the prescriptive routes make it really difficult to stop even for a 5-10 minutes near an animal you wish to observe. I hate the Bandavgarh route system with a passion, if you havent noticed already. The park management seems to be hearing the visitors though and theres talk of potential changes next year. The management plans to halve the number of vehicles allowed in the zone and double the safari prices. Thisll ensure that we can reduce the disturbance for the animals and also keep the park revenues intact.

Now thats a lot of background information, so Ill keep the rest of the experience report short. We stayed at the White Tiger Forest Lodge of the MPTDC which in my view is just unbeatable, comfortable accommodation right by the edge of the forest. The air-conditioned and the air cooled rooms are equally comfortable and with all three meals included, the deals a steal. In addition, you have some really hospitable staff who will do all it takes to make you happy. If you book the safaris from the lodge, then be sure to ask for Yadav as your driver. The gentleman has been at Bandavgarh for two decades and knows the park like the back of his hand. Most importantly, hes developed a great intuition for all of the parks tigers and can often guess with great accuracy the routes theyre likely to take. You will of course need a good guide, but since thats really out of your control given the parks rotation system, youre well served if you have a knowledgeable driver.

We didnt have Yadav as our driver for the first drive, but we more than made up for it in the next two drives which had us bumping into 8 tigers in a day - my best tally ever. In the following drives we saw a tiger each, bringing our tally to 10 tigers in Bandavgarh. We didnt get the best photographs at the park given that we didnt have the opportunity to wait at most of the spots for long and if wed found tigers resting we had to leave them before they got into a good photo position. Im not complaining though - every moment you spend with this regal animal is an absolute privilege and something to cherish regardless of whether you get a photo or not.

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I need to also put in a word for the Bandavgarh Interpretation Centre which is just near the Tala gate. Its a great showcase for this small, yet incredible park and has a great photo gallery on its first floor. Bandavgarh is famous for tiger sightings but the interpretation centre is a good place to visit just to learn about the incredible biodiversity of the park and the things you should keep an eye out for. All in all, Bandavgarh gets high marks in my book (photos here) and the only reason it doesnt get a perfect 10 is because of the accursed route system. Hopefully that changes soon.

If youre visiting Bandavgarh, try seeking the help of MP Tourism to arrange your transfers, stay and safaris. The fact that we paid just about INR 7500 each for this awesome experience tells you how inexpensive they can make things for you.

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