Watching an Oriental Darter strike its famed Romeo pose on the banks of the Denwa River feels arresting. Wings flung wide, body balanced with theatrical precision, the bird appears carved against water and sky. It is one of the most commanding sights on the Pugdundee Safari, organised by Denwa Backwater Escape, an eco-luxury wildlife resort bordering Satpura National Park. The experience opens doors to rarely accessed sections of the reserve—river safaris, immersive birding, and close-range encounters with apex predators.
The Tawa River widens and merges into the muscular sweep of the Denwa, carrying the speedboat deep into the Satpura National Reserve, a protected landscape spanning over 2,000 sq km. “Enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the park forms one third of the run of the National Reserve,” explains Kshitij Gambhir, a naturalist who designs in-depth safaris. The Denwa Backwater Escape corridor supports deer, boars, pythons, and other indigenous species that pass through the property with ease.
Morning safaris pull you deeper into the forest’s pulse. Spotted deer freeze mid-graze, ears angled like antennae. Owls cling to tall trunks, feather patterns dissolving into bark and shadow. Jungle babblers fill the air with layered chatter. Long-tailed langurs arc between branches with acrobatic fluency. Sloth bears and wild dogs cross in pairs, partially veiled by foliage. The forest operates by its own internal order.
A sharp distress call from the Mahadeo Hills signals a tiger’s route across the terrain. More than 80 striped cats dominate the park. Even without a direct sighting, their presence is unmistakable. “The paw marks and the fecal residue on the trees mark the territory of the beast,” says Kshitij, pausing beside a ghost tree rooted into rock. “These trees grow on rocks and draw in their mineral content, to stand as sentinels of the jungle.”
The safari concludes at Jhinjhini Mahal, an enigmatic seventh-century tribal temple shaped like a royal palace. From there, the return leads back to the glowing bonfires of Denwa Backwater Escape, where the forest recedes only in distance, never in presence.