29th January 2022, 16:11
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| BHPian Join Date: Apr 2020 Location: Jaipur/Mumbai
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| Enchanting Ranthambhore Ever since I visited Ranthambhore for the first time during the winters of 2016, I have been mesmerized by its beauty. Since then, I don't miss a chance to visit any Tiger reserve or National Park. After the initial visit to Ranthambhore, I have been to Gir National Park (however, I was unable to sight Lion) and Jim Corbett National Park (lucky enough to spot four Tigers at one time) travelogue link https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ht=Jim+Corbett (An impromptu planned trip to Jim Corbett) I was fortunate enough to visit Ranthambhore twice in the last two month. The best months to visit Tiger Reserve, to have maximum probability of Tiger sighting, is during the summers. However, Ranthambhore has a different charm during the winters and I thoroughly enjoy visiting during the winter months. The morning safaris are so chilling that one has to wrap in a blanket even after putting on 3-4 layers of clothing. The Drive Along with the Tiger searching, another thing what excites me to visit Ranthambhore is the road trip from Jaipur. The roads are absolute bliss to drive on and this has been improved in the last two years. During our first visit in 2016 there was a 20kms odd patch of absolute nightmare roads. The latest visit was very special for me as this is the first time I was visiting the park on my Nissan Kicks. It was very enjoyable to drive on those silky roads which were fortunately not marred by truck traffic in all the lanes (Mumbai-Vadodara route are you listening?). About Ranthambhore and booking Ranthambhore is divided in ten zones with 1-5 being the core zones and 6-10 being the buffer zones. The core zone is closed during the monsoon season (July-September) while the buffer zones are open throughout the year (barring some days due to rain). The ticket booking is through Rajasthan Single Sign On website (https://sso.rajasthan.gov.in/) and registration on this website is pretty simple. The booking of safari too is simple and I would suggest to book the safari on their own. The Canter safari cost for one person is around Rs.720/-. However, do remember only booking of ticket does not mean that you can simply board the Canter/Gypsy from the entrance gate. One has to get the ticket released from the booking counter one hour prior to the actual start time of the safari. The booking counter is at a place called Shilpgram and this place is usually within 5kms distance from almost all the resorts. The hotels and resorts too get the tickets released but they charge for it. After the release of ticket, one will get the Canter/Gypsy registration number. Sometimes, it is utter chaos at the booking counter and it is recommended to reach for the release of ticket in time. There are two types of Safaris: Gypsy and Canter. The former is difficult to get and one must, ideally book at least two months before the visit date to procure a Gypsy booking. Canter, however, is available relatively easily and one can get a booking even a week before the visit. While there is obvious advantage of Gypsy that it can move swiftly, however, there are no routes which are exclusively marked for Gypsy unlike in Dhikala zone of Jim Corbett National Park. Other advantage of Gypsy safari is that only six people can be accommodated and the safari can be started on time. However, Canter is for 20 people and driver picks up people from various hotels and usually the safari start time ends up getting delayed.  Last edited by sahil624 : 31st January 2022 at 11:54. |
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29th January 2022, 16:30
| #2 |
| BHPian Join Date: Apr 2020 Location: Jaipur/Mumbai
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| Re: Enchanting Ranthambhore The Stay Almost all the resorts in Ranthambhore are on Ranthambhore road. The first time we stayed at Clarks Abhyaran resort and I would like to personally recommend staying at this place. The staff, the rooms, the food everything was commendable. Since we travelled with a kid they made everything we asked for available to us. On the contrary, during our stay at The Fern Ranthambhore the rooms were far from the expectation one has from a chain hotel. While the food was good the staff behavior was not welcoming at all. The Safari We did three safaris (Zone 1,3 & 4) last month and two safaris (Zone 2 & 3) in the recent trip. In the last month trip, we were able to sight the Tiger in the third safari in the last one hour in Zone 1 and in the recent trip we were able to spot the Tiger in first safari in Zone 3. Both the videos are below: Noor Tigress sighting in Zone 1: This sighting happened in our last safari when we visited last month. Luckily, our Canter had some VIP guests and our safari became zone free i.e. we could enter any zone we desired. The booking for us was for zone 2. The entry gate for Canter allotted for zone 2 and zone 3 is the same. Zone 2 has a hilly terrain and we checked the usual places where the Tiger could be sighted, but with no luck. Then there was some information from guide of other Gypsy that there has been a sighting at the entrance gate of Zone 2 and 3. Alas, we still were unlucky. Then, we left the Zone to check with the forest guard whether there has been sightings in any of zones. He replied in negative. Just then a Gypsy came out of the Zone 1 gate and informed us about the sighting at a particular place inside. However, that place was far away from the entry point and we had only 45 minutes left in our morning safari (The vehicles have to leave the zone by 10:30 AM for morning safari). In spite of this constraint the driver decided to give it a try and we were off to try our luck for the last time on that trip. He drove like the drivers did in the Mad Max Fury and to be honest we were pretty scared. The vehicles coming from the opposite end were giving us way on that narrow pathway, to make sure that we too get to sight the Tiger. And finally when we reached at the place, there she was Noor, the famous Tigress of Ranthambhore. The Hindu also did a piece on Noor tigress in 2018 (link below) https://frontline.thehindu.com/envir...%20of%20T%2D13. T120 Tiger sighting in Zone 3: This sighting happened in the first Safari of the visit itself and all the credit goes to the guide, Sh. Shivraj Singh, we were allotted that day. He was a very experienced guide and was working as a guide at Ranthambhore since 1993. He was very confident that the sighting would be at the place where we finally ended up sighting the Tiger. He got the driver to park the Canter in such a position that we got the best angle amongst all the Canters there. Finally after waiting for 15 minutes the majestic T120 Tiger appeared and we had the best seats in the house. However, once it started getting close, we gave away our position for other Canters to see the Tiger. It was a truly memorable sighting. After the above sighting the same Tiger was sighted from the boundary wall outside the Zone 3. Further, I would like to add that Zone 3 is the most scenic Zone in the Ranthambhore and I have witnessed that most people staying at our resort sighted Tiger in Zone 3. So do not forget to book at least one safari in Zone 3. Serene forest Small Deer fight  Some of the pictures of Ranthambhore taken since my first visit in 2016:  This is the second largest Banyan tree in India.    Attachment 2266463   Attachment 2266478       Last edited by sahil624 : 31st January 2022 at 19:48. |
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29th January 2022, 22:03
| #3 |
| BHPian Join Date: Apr 2020 Location: Jaipur/Mumbai
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| Re: Enchanting Ranthambhore The best part about Ranthambhore apart from the Safari is that the road from which the Safari vehicles enter into various core zones is accessible for the private vehicles as well because at the end of the road there is Ranthambhore fort and Ganesh Temple on top of the fort. Also, sometimes Tiger is spotted on this route too as this route is very close to the all the core zones. There are some videos of this route on my dashcam: Route with beautiful mountain landscape The glimpses of Jaipur to Ranthambhore highway. The route was Jaipur-Newai-Tonk-Uniara-Sawai Madhopur. And finally the vehicle which made the trip even more fun!!  Last edited by sahil624 : 30th January 2022 at 18:40. |
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1st February 2022, 05:53
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3rd February 2022, 22:20
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| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bangalore
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5th February 2022, 10:38
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| BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2020 Location: Pune
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| Re: Enchanting Ranthambhore Wonderful travelogue with some nice videos  My only trip to Ranthambore was way back in the summer of 2014. Had amazing sightings of Ustaad and Krishna. Hope to do a trip during the winters this time. Can’t imagine how beautiful the Rajbagh lake would be. Getting the big cat against this sort of a backdrop would be dreamy stuff |
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