Ken River Lodge

One doesn’t often hear about Panna National Park but a visit to Ken River Lodge might convince you about the attractiveness of this property and reserve. The resort has cottages on stilts and a beautiful Machan restaurant (a machan is a platform erected in a tree, once meant for hunting large animals and now used to watch animals in wildlife reserves) overlooking the Ken River. The restaurant might remind you of a tree house and the lovely wrought iron chairs blend beautifully with its rustic charm. If you’re adventurous, you can even go for a night safari from the Jhinna Safari Camp. The camp is an hour’s drive away from the lodge and you may spot civets, jackals, hyenas, foxes and rusty spotted cats among others. Nocturnal animals are only active in the night and this is the best opportunity to get a chance to capture them in your night vision lens. On the following day, you can enjoy a village walk and interact with the locals. During my visit to Madhya Pradesh, we were charmed by how friendly the locals were, inviting us into their homes and explaining their customs and traditions to us. Since this lodge overlooks the Ken River, you have the option of going for a boat safari as well and spotting river birds and crocodiles. The area has many points of interest such as the Pandav Falls and the Rajgarh Fort.