"I should mention that the Sarai was actually not set up to be a wildlife lodge," says Joanna Van Gruisen, speaking about The Sarai at Toria. A half-hour drive from Khajuraho airport, the Sarai At Toria has been named after the neighbouring village of Toria. Located on the banks of the River Ken, opposite the Panna Tiger Reserve, the place is run by Dr Raghu Chundawat, a conservation biologist, and Van Gruisen, a former wildlife documentary filmmaker. A couple with a passion for wildlife and conservation, they aimed to establish a sustainable livelihood in the central Indian region and carry out research and community conservation programmes. Dr. Chundawat's main studies have been on snow leopards and tigers. His pioneering ten-year research on tigers took place in the Panna Tiger Reserve and has been immortalised in the BBC Natural World documentary, "Tigers of the Emerald Forest”.
"We created it as an environmentally appropriate place to stay for visitors to Khajuraho - at the time Khajuraho had very urban generic accommodation and was known in the tourism industry as a one-night stay, " says Van Gruisen. "We aimed to change this and to show there was so much more to the area than just the UNESCO World Heritage temples. The Tiger Reserve was, of course, one of these but it is only one of more than a dozen other possible activities available to the tourist. Our aim has always been to showcase wildlife and nature beyond the tiger and to minimise its use in publicity."
Sustainability and responsibility are at the core of the project. Joanna and Raghu were determined to create a haven that would be environmentally friendly, so they set out to build cottages with locally available construction materials using traditional techniques acquired from the local villagers. These ensured that the cottages would stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The place composts all its wet waste and has an organic garden. And they educate local children on the importance of wildlife conservation. The Sarai at Toria’s conservation programmes are operated through their trust, Baavan, Bagh Aap Aur Van—named after the tigress who was matriarch of Panna during Raghu’s research study there. The overall long-term objective is to create satellite areas through inclusive conservation models, using tourism as an economic driver.
The Ken is a major river of the Bundelkhand region and flows through Panna Tiger Reserve. It has a reputation of being one of the cleanest rivers in India and supports wonderful aquatic and avian wildlife. Among the activities you can sign up for are bird and village walks around the camp, along the river edge, through the crop fields to Toria village or even just around the grasslands and forest of the compound.
You can also visit the thousand-year-old, intricately carved temples in Khajuraho, a World Heritage Site and only half an hour’s drive from the Sarai at Toria. And the Panna Tiger Reserve, one of India’s most dramatically scenic parks and an excellent place to see a variety of central India’s wildlife.
"One USP is the fabulous zen-like boat ride we can offer on the river Ken," says Joanna. "Recently a young wildlife photographer came and had incredible luck in the national park having wonderful sightings of tigers, leopards and even a mother sloth bear with a baby riding her back amongst all else. Yet when I saw the comment she had left in the visitor's book, it said "the boat ride was the highlight of the trip."
Address
Mela Wali Galli, Village Toria, District, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh 471101
Website
Getting There
The Sarai at Toria is located only half an hour’s drive from Khajuraho. It lies on the banks of the River Ken, less than 2 kilometres from the Madla entrance to the Panna Tiger Reserve. The nearest railhead and airport is Khajuraho which is connected to major cities by road, rail and air.