[gd1418]

Dateline: October 2010

In April 2010 I went to Corbett in search of the Tiger. This reserve boasts of the world's highest Tiger density - 19.6 Tigers for every 100 sq. km. At the last count it had 164 Tigers. Low rains for the past few years coupled with huge jungle fires resulted in animal movement from one zone to another. My permit was for the Bijrani zone and my stay of 3 nights & 4 days yielded nothing; meaning no Tiger sightings. You can read all about it here - Team-BHP - The Definitive Indian Car Community (Gurgaon - Jim Corbett - Ranikhet - Gurgaon: The Unsatiated Quest).

My next destination in the crosshairs was Ranthambhore, Rajasthan. Spread over an area of 400 sq.km and rumoured to have 34 Tigers, this is supposed to be the best place for viewing Stripes, even during daytime. Search the internet, pick up any wildlife magazine or book or ask anyone who has visited Ranthambhore and you shall without fail read or hear this singular line - "Nobody comes back from Ranthambhore without having seen a Tiger". Every single thread on Ranthambhore on TBHP too mentioned this and contained awesome photographs - Tiger walking in front of the Gypsy, Tiger lolling on the track and vehicles with gawkers waiting on either side, Tiger drinking water, Tiger cooling itself in the water, Tiger yawning etc., and many more.

All this warmly cockled my heart and I slowly started to build-up the tempo at home. My wife sceptical and kids cynical and uninterested. With a lot of persuasion and cajoling I made all of them agree. My son was categorical - "Paapu, will come with you this time only & I must see the Tiger in the wild".

I did not have the heart to tell him that it is not you who can see the Tiger, it is the Tiger that sees you and if deemed fit shall make an appearance. The year 2010 was branded in Delhi/NCR as CWG-2010 and because of that the Delhi Government had declared a holiday for all educational Institutions & Government & semi-Government offices from 1st Ocotber till 17th October.

After the monsoons the National Park was scheduled to open from 1st October and I made my bookings in July. Why so early?

Ranthambhore is a highly commercialised National Park, just like Corbett and apart from the hotel bookings the most important are the safari bookings. One can afford not to have a hotel booking but without a confirmed safari booking, Ranthambhore has nothing else to offer. I planned my stay in Ranthambhore from 3rd to 6th (check-out at 12 pm) with six safaris:

3rd Oct, 2010 - Evening Safari (Son & I)
4th Oct, 2010 - Morning Safari (Family of 4)
4th Oct, 2010 - Evening Safari (Son & I)
5th Oct, 2010 - Morning Safari (Family of 4)
5th Oct, 2010 - Evening Safari (Son & I)
6th Oct, 2010 - Morning Safari (Family of 4)

Why six safaris? Sariska, Dudhwa, Rajaji & Corbett went Tigerless for me. With reports coming in from R'bhore that it was raining Tigers and occassionaly Leopards, I, with a pinch of salt, did not want to take any chances.

Sumantha Ghosh, a friend who had arranged Suman's & my Corbett trip was instrumental in making all arrangements at R'bhore. My stay was to be at Welcome to Jungle View Resort Ranthambhore National Park, Jungle Lodges, Wildlife resort, book a hotel in Ranthambhore, Hotel Booking in Ranthambore.

With 4 Cottage rooms & 8 Luxury Tents, this was a quaint & lovely place to stay. I had opted for the Cottage room since it had an airconditioner.

Now the wait for the D-day started. I was scheduled to leave for R'bhore on the 3rd October itself and the evening safari was also on the same day. Hence, the target to reach R'bhore was by 12 noon. I had already charted my course and taken printouts of the maps. So, with a prayer on the lips left at 4 am on the 3rd. Took the NH8 till Manoharpur and then turned left towards Dausa. Destination was Sawai Madhopur via Lalsot. The maps given below shall explain better.

Gurgaon - Manoharpur



Manoharpur - Dausa



Dausa



Dausa - Lalsot



Lalsot - Sawai Madhopur



Sawai Madhopur



The road till Manoharpur was a breeze being the NH8. From there till Dausa was a single lane SH, good at places and bad in patches. The road expansion work too was going on. Dausa to Lalsot was simply horrible and on this stretch I broke the mounting of one my Hellas. Had to remove that unit, taped the wire and continued with one Hella. Lalsot to Sawai was again pockmarked at places. It was 11:30 when we entered Sawai Madhopur. In the town there is a roundabout called the Ranthambhore circle from where when you turn left you come on a stretch of road that has hotels, motels, resorts & lodges on the periphery of the Jungle. Our resort too was on that road but much deeper. By 12 we were settled in our room and having light breakfast. The evening safari was to start from 3 pm and the gypsy with the guide would come at 2:30.

to be continued.../-

[deky]

Eagerly waiting to know about the condition of the road once you left NH8. And also some more wildlife pics!!

Regards

[ExtremeTorque]

gd, while we did spot a Tiger at Bandhavgarh - the latest WLS with the higest density, most of the tourists we spoke to got to see a tiger almost every safari. Pench (MP) we returned empty handed. And then in Tadoba (MH) out of 5 safari's we had 4 sightings (1 in our personal vehicle!). Not many tourists in Tadoba got to see the tigers while we were there. I think it is purely luck and one should have low expectations as far as the tiger sightings are concerned. You should probably try your luck in the jungles of MP and MH, next time.

Wildlife is my fav subject and eagerly waiting for your TL. BTW, thats some good route details you posted!

[gd1418]

3rd Oct, 2010

We had two & half hours before the safari would start and within this period the resort people were to serve us lunch. Funnily, there were only two guests including us at the resort. The other guest were a pair of American ladies who had come from Jaipur and had gone for the morning safari and were due to come back. The park had just opened and today was the third day. I had surmised that since it is the begining, the animals would be roaming more freely as the tourist influx was low and the sightings would be more & better. How wrong I was, that I was to know later.

While the lunch was being prepared, I took a round of the property with my camera hung across the neck and clicked some pictures of the landscape, our cottage and a petite butterfly feasting on nectar.

The Jungle View Resort





Surrounding landscape



Cottage Rooms



Our room on the extreme left with the door open



Butterfly



Sharp at 2:30 the gypsy arrived with the guide and we three boarded. Wife being tired had opted out of this safari at the time of booking itself. I had read in the newspapers a few weeks back that one of the female tigresses of the Park T-13 had given birth to 2 cubs and the mother & the cubs were moving near the jungle periphery & were being spotted. I asked the guide about this and he confirmed and said that we were going to Kundal Ghati or the Zone 6, because that is where T-13 is camping. I was excited. I was so close to getting my wish fulfilled.

I must mention here some very important fact. I have a great peev & angst against the wildlife sanctuary authorities. They don't disseminate proper & thorough information. The same goes for the resort/hotel owners too. Further, the tourists and the travelogue writers contribute to it by not writing about the nitty-gritty, problems and chaotic conditions.

I did not know that Ranthambhore is divided in 6 zones. The entry to zones 1 to 5 are from one gate while Zone 6 or Kundal Ghati is about 8 kms away from the city. Secondly, there is a major cartel of private gypsy owners authorised by the forest department and even if you book the safaris weeks in advance, the zone allotment happens only an hour before the park opens in the morning & evening. What does this mean? It means that if you have booked two safaris, then don't be surprised if you get the same zone both times. And that is what happened to me and thrice in succession. It was only when I raised a stink, then I got the last safari in a different zone. I'll come to that episode later. Same is the case at Corbett too.

Dudhwa has two zones and we were taken by the guide to both the zones over a period of two days. Rajaji or Chilla has only one zone and it is a 40 km roundabout drive done over a period of two & half hours or more. Sariska has three zones but the main action is in the central zone only hence it is better to go there and normally the safaris are done in that area only.

I've yet to know about Kanha & Bandhavgarh. Maybe only when I go there, I would get to know.

We raced towards Kundal Ghati and driving through the heart of the city via meandering lanes we reached the checkpost. After due entries we were inside the forest. Now this forest was looking different. Lot of greenery around. And then the guide explained - 2010 experienced very very good rains all over and R'bhore was no exception. This forest had received unprecedented rains after a gap of five years. Hearing this my heart sank. Somewhere I knew that there wouldn't be any sighting for me. Why? Plenty of water available in the deep and animals don't need to come out to the peripheral waterholes to quench.

A view of the green Jungle



Any how we drove along and we spotted this big male Sloth bear foraging. A very rare sight indeed. Generally very difficult to see. I immediately changed my camera settings to monochrome because the bear being jet black except for its snout, taking in colour would not have made a good copy.

Sloth bear





We moved on further and then suddenly the vehicle stopped. The guide slowly pointed his finger to the left. Perched on a low branch was this magnificient Crested Serpent Eagle.

Crested Serpent Eagle





We roamed at all parts of the jungle and no animal was seen. We reached a spot where there was a deep well and found other gypsies also parked. The guide said that this well was hundreds of years old and its water had medicinal properties. I amusingly saw some other tourists filling their empty Kinley & Aquafina bottles with that water. While this act was going on, I ventured a bit far and saw this female Langur sitting on the ground. She allowed me to approach near her that I did very cautiously and clicked a picture.

Female Langur




Also clicked a picture of my son & daughter standing next to the vehicle.



We had to exit the forest before 6 and so it was time to return. On the way we saw this pair of deer foraging and then slowly walking towards the resting place for the night.



Time to go home



Nearing the gate saw this solitary nest of the weaver bird. Apparently it seemed unoccupied..

Weaver Bird's nest



Thus ended the first day at Ranthambhore and we returned to our resort with hope for the next day.

to be continued.../-

[deky]

Sir jee!!

Be positive. You your self said earlier in this thread that tiger spotting is like an icing on the cake. Look at the positive side, you spotted a sloth bear.

Many people have seen the tiger over the years (surprisingly everyone does if they stay at my guest house, excluding me ) but not many have or hardly anyone sees the sloth bear!!!

For me the bear is the catch!!!

And you did not tell how good/bad was the route.

[gd1418]

I'm after all a human. Desires when unfulfilled lead to disappointment. I conveyed what I felt at that time. This trip was pre-Sariska.

I saw, not one, but two Tigers after I stayed at your guest house.

And Deky, if you read the travelogue carefully, I've mentioned the road conditions. Do remember that the road conditions described are a few months old and immediately after that good monsoon. Now the situation might be different.

Originally Posted by deky

Sir jee!!

Be positive. You your self said earlier in this thread that tiger spotting is like an icing on the cake. Look at the positive side, you spotted a sloth bear.

Many people have seen the tiger over the years (surprisingly everyone does if they stay at my guest house, excluding me ) but not many have or hardly anyone sees the sloth bear!!!

For me the bear is the catch!!!

And you did not tell how good/bad was the route.

[ExtremeTorque]

Agree with deky! The sloth bear is a very rare and reclusive animal and a prize catch for you! I spent about 9-10 safari to catch it in the wild but got only a fleeting glimpse of it in Tadoba.

gd - very crisp snaps! care sharing your tools? The butterfly macro and the crested serpeant eagle are my fav so far. Keep them pouring in please!

[gd1418]

Thanks ET. The butterfly snap is not a macro, but a crop . It was shot by the Nikkor 70~300 VR.

The exif -
1/160Sec
F4.5
ISO 560
Spot metering
Focal length 70mm (70~300 VR)

My current photographic tools are:

Nikon F801, D300 & Fuji Finepix S602 Zoom
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED
Nikon Speed Light SB-24 & SB-400

During Ranthambhore I had the 70~300 with me that I subsequently traded for the 80~200

Originally Posted by ExtremeTorque

gd - very crisp snaps! care sharing your tools? The butterfly macro and the crested serpeant eagle are my fav so far. Keep them pouring in please!

[fazalaliadil]

GD,
Looking forward to a quality thread from you again, and definitely a complimentary write up with (mention of all tiger parts).
Regards,

[gd1418]

Thanks Fazalbhai.. Updates follow..

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

GD,
Looking forward to a quality thread from you again, and definitely a complimentary write up with (mention of all tiger parts).
Regards,

[noopster]

Wow those are some nice snaps. It must be frustrating not to have spotted a tiger but am sure you patience will pay off (in fact it looks like it did, at Sariska!)

PLs keep posting.

[Cesc]

I was hoping to go to Ranthambore sometime soon so this thread is really going to help a lot. The most carefree I have seen tigers roam was at Bannerghatta (Bangalore) which isn't much anyway because IMO it is an extended zoo only. But then again spotting tigers in all their natural glory isn't guaranteed anywhere I guess. So even before heading out I am preparing myself for the possibilty of not spotting them.

Read your earlier thread for Gurgaon-Vrindavan-Sikandra etc. Really appreciate the details you provide (and the amazing photographs as well) in your threads. I made it a point to visit Sikandra (was there last weekend) while going to Agra after seeing the wonderful photos you had posted of the place. The fact that I am also residing in Gurgaon makes your travelogue a complete holiday guide for me. So again - Thanks a lot for these threads.

[gd1418]

Thanks noopster. And yes, all that patience & perseverance paid off in Sariska..

Originally Posted by noopster

Wow those are some nice snaps. It must be frustrating not to have spotted a tiger but am sure you patience will pay off (in fact it looks like it did, at Sariska!)

PLs keep posting.

Thank you Cesc. Glad that my Bankebihari - Agra travelogue inspired you to do that route.

Originally Posted by Cesc

I was hoping to go to Ranthambore sometime soon so this thread is really going to help a lot. The most carefree I have seen tigers roam was at Bannerghatta (Bangalore) which isn't much anyway because IMO it is an extended zoo only. But then again spotting tigers in all their natural glory isn't guaranteed anywhere I guess. So even before heading out I am preparing myself for the possibilty of not spotting them.

Read your earlier thread for Gurgaon-Vrindavan-Sikandra etc. Really appreciate the details you provide (and the amazing photographs as well) in your threads. I made it a point to visit Sikandra (was there last weekend) while going to Agra after seeing the wonderful photos you had posted of the place. The fact that I am also residing in Gurgaon makes your travelogue a complete holiday guide for me. So again - Thanks a lot for these threads.

[gd1418]

4th October, 2010 - Morning Safari

This was the safari that the whole family was going to. One room, one bathroom & 4 adults. Let me explain. When you travel, boarding & lodging takes a major chunk of your expenses. To cut this down to the minimum, we normally take a room with extra bed and manage in that.

The safari gypsy would come by 6:45 am. Everybody had to get ready before that. Since I would take the longest time in the bathroom, I had to get up quite early and get ready the first. Well, I got ready and came out of the complex with my camera. Climbed a small hillock as I wanted to catch the onset of dawn & the rising Sun.

My Jungle gear



The first rays



Golden hour



Sunrise



The gypsy came and the guide informed that we would be going to Zone 1. This guide was different from the one who was with us the previous evening. He said that T-13 had crossed over to Zone 1 from Kundal Ghati last night. I asked him for his source of information and he said he got this info from the villagers residing inside the forest.

As mentioned earlier, Zones 1 to 5 are approached from one gate and after making entries at that gate, you drive and reach a junction of sorts. Straight goes to Zone 2 & 3, left to 4 & 5 and right you go to 1. This junction is called the Singhdwaar. One has to make entries here as well.

As we made entries at the first entrance gate we heard a very heartening news from the forest guards manning that area - T-13 with her two cubs spent the entire night near their camp till 4 am and then got up and crossed over to Zone 1 area. We saw the female's pug marks and the tiny cat like pugmarks of the cubs. A new male had wandered from somewhere and he would prove a threat to her young cubs, she moved closer to human habitat as that would be safer.

With a song on my lips we entered Zone 1.

Road leading to Zone 1



Roamed around, heard a few Sambhar & Langur calls indicating that T-13 was constantly on the move in the thicket looking for safety for her cubs, waited patiently at a few water holes but no luck at all. This picture would say all..

Forlorn



We had to return by 10:30 am as the park would close and reopen at 3 pm. On our way back saw these two.

Peacock



Langur



The lush green shall indicate how good the rains were and this provided fantastic cover to most wild animals.

to be continued.../-

[Sha]

I was there at same date, but i did see Tiger.