Saturday, May 8, 2010

3: Ranthambore - the Tiger trail










The tiger trail began with a budget hotel, only bed and no breakfast, with a loo as huge as the room and as clean, one of the few things Raghav and I agreed to be finicky about on this backpacking trip!

We woke-up just before noon to realize that we were too late to trek to the ruins of the then majestic Ranthambore fort (we more than made-up for it on our subsequent days), so we headed straight to the ticket counter of the Ranthambore National Park to collect our tickets for the much-awaited safari.

Convinced as I was that the chances of spotting a tiger were not slim but nil, I found myself sulking, though it didn't balk down Raghav’s spirits who avidly hoped to see the next of kin of the jungle king, aka the tiger!

We grabbed a quick home-made lunch near the ticket counter, where I could request for custom dishes, with more of veggies and less of oil, and filled our water bottles with water from ‘matkas’ (or earthen pots), and set out towards our canter. Locating the vehicle, we jumped aboard waiting for our other counterparts. Soon the canter was filled with a large group of enthusiastic firangs, and our guide welcomed us aboard while the driver revved-up the engine!

The short drive, across Vindhayas, perpendicular to Aravallis, from the ticket counter, also our pick-up point, to the national park was quite spectacular - particularly at the junction where both the mountain ranges (Vindhayas and Aravallis) seemed to form an interesting 'V'. Ah, I have an insatiable appepite for mountains! However, soon we bade goodbye to the Aravalli range and we entered the park.

The flora and fauna that co-exist in the jungle are overwhelming. We saw atleast 10 rare varieties of immigrant birds, along with commonly sighted Indian birds including a brooding partridge. I enjoy bird watching as a hobby, though I can't really stand up to the reputation of an amateur bird watcher! (Some trivia about myself :P). We saw alligators, hippos, rhinos and deer; grazing and idling in their natural habitat.

And then, we saw something very unusual. We noticed the spotted deer (known for its sharp eye-sight) with their tails up, a signal that the tiger was out and very much around. A few older deer formed a one-sided perimeter on the left-side of the younger and the weaker deer, grazing away to glory, thus keeping a vigilant watch. We also began to look in the direction of their guard, and lo and behold, we saw the tigress, identified as T-17 (3 years old, female, also known as 'bacchi' amongst the park personnel) drinking water at a pond at a considerable distance.

It was beautiful! Raghav described it as 'majestic'!

There was an absolute hush in the canter, and all we could hear was the click of the cameras. A German couple, with a kickass DSLR got some very neat shots of the tigress, and even made a ‘tiger video’ :)

Admiring the beauty, we waited in an ambush with crossed fingers, and hoped for the tigress to walk our way. Slowly the tigress did start walking towards us, and wonder of wonders, it walked right past our canter, across us for a while (enjoying the attention I guess), and was so close that I could feed it with my hand. Then it crossed our canter’s path and got on the other side of the jungle. High and dry, we followed it for a while, and hoped that it would make a chase on a deer, which was too much to hope for. And well, the greed didn’t pay, so we finally thanked the tigress for its kind guest appearance and made our way out of the park.

It was Raghav's first ever safari, and I am glad it materialized in fulfilling the very purpose of a safari. Noteworthy is the fact that it was also the first time that I actually saw a tiger on a safari! Initially a bit disappointed, because we couldn’t manage a booking for a gypsy, but only for a canter, Raghav's joy knew no bounds. Though I still believe that a safari in a canter is an experience in itself; Ranthambore National Park is an icing on the cake; and if you get to see a tiger, its a thrill!

- Namrta R (from my backpacking trip to Rajasthan)
Companions: Raghav and Lonely Planet

Also read about Pushkar, Ajmer, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Mount Abu, Jodhpur, Jaisalmerand Thar
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