Ranthambore - Game Drive III

Itinerary:

"Feb 14: Ranthambore- Jaipur. Enjoy your last safari into Ranthambore in the morning."

Our third and last game drive begins before dawn. Batti Lal Grueyar is again our guide . He meets us at the hotel with a new driver (missed his name) and we are off to Section 3 for our third of three drives (Previous drives linked here and here)

Batti informs us that T17 killed a Sambar deer the night before and dragged its meal into the tall grass near a lake. We, like several other safari vehicles, patrol the area in the hope that T17 would make an appearance. She never did, but while hanging in the jeep we learn abut the interesting and difficult path Batti followed to become a certified naturalist in the park.

As the Ranthambore National Forest expanded over recent decades, it has encompassed dozens of local villages inside its borders. While a few villages remain inside the park today, most have been relocated. Batti was born in one of the farming villages inside the park. When his village was relocated, a school was built in the new site, but there was no school in the village when he was growing up.

As a boy, he was hired by Indian naturalists studying the tiger to change film canisters in the automatic cameras running at night, and generally assist them in their studies. He learned from them, learned English from the tourists, and otherwise was completely self educated. Ultimately he was certified as a guide and naturalist for the park, and n addition to being a great guide and a nice guy, he is also a role model for the kids in his village. They all want to be like Batti.

While T17 never did show up, there were plenty of fascinating animals and birds to see and photograph on the drive. A sampling:

Sanbar in the lake

Piper

Batti and birds

Sambar reaching for a tasty leaf

Kingfisher

Cormorant and Heron enjoying the sun

Big croc

Heron

Owl

Snake Eagle and breakfast

Mongoose

More mongii

Batti and mw

T24

This is T24, a four year old male tiger. Sigrid took this shot from the jeep on our second game drive in the Ranthambore National Forest. The drive started around 2:30 PM. We were in section 1, where a tiger was spotted earlier that morning (probably while we were on a game drive in section 2). Batti and Kaushel are again our guide and driver. Despite their best efforts, including extended stakeouts at several watering holes, our drive was almost over and time was running out. We started on the road back to exit the park. Strike two, or so we thought. We'd have one more shot in the morning. We just met a couple who had been on four drives and not seen a tiger yet. Not very encouraging.

As we bounced along a road near the bottom of a scrub covered hill, we came upon a parked caravan of safari vehicles - at least two jeeps and a convertible bus. The passengers in those vehicles were quite animated, pointing their cameras and looking up the hill. Batti has a brief conversation in Hindi, then reports back 'There is a tiger coming down the hill". We wondered how anyone could spot a tiger in that thick brush. Later we learned that no one spotted the tiger, it was a peacock warning call that alerted the guide. Our jeep pulled up to the end of the line, shut down, and we waited - peering intently into the scrub.

He walked into the clear right above our jeep. I was ready with the video setting on the Olympus:

After stopping to assess the line of vehicles, he sauntered directly behind our jeep, across the path and disappeared into the woods on the downhill side. He passed no further than 10 or 12 feet from where we were standing. After eight hours of bouncing around in the back of the jeep, we had five minutes of tiger, and we couldn't have been happier or more excited. Sigrid got some great stills:

I asked Batti if he recognized the tiger. He answered without hesitation. "Oh yes. T24. A 4 year old male. He is very shy. It is only the second time I have seen him." He proceeds to explain that this tiger had an infected leg injury and had to be tranquilized and shot up with antibiotics. In fact, he said the tiger was tranq'ed and inoculated for seven days. This probably explains why he was a bit wary of the jeeps. We were very happy that he decided to come out of his shell this day.

Of course, there were a lot of other interesting animals and birds we shot along the way, but this post is just for T24. And Batti. And Kaushel. Thanks guys.

Ranthambore - Game drive I

Itinerary:

"Feb 13: Ranthambore. Covering an area of 410 sq. km, Ranthambore runs along the eastern spur of the Aravalli mountain range till they meet with the Vindhya ranges. Ranthambore used to be the private hunting ground for the Royal family of Jaipur. In 1972 it was declared a Sanctuary and was brought under the Project Tiger Conservation platform. Dry deciduous forest covers open valleys with lush vegetation around the lakes in this park, and there are open grasslands on the higher slopes. This varied flora supports a large number of animals including a variety of deer, the sloth bear, the shy caracal, leopards and of course, the tiger. Enjoy wildlife safaris' into the park in the morning and evening.

In between safaris' you can visit the jungle fort at Ranthambore. This is one of the finest examples of the ancient Hindu concept of "vana—durg" a fort protected by a jungle. The history of this Fort (first built in AD 944) is a chronicle full of tales of blood and valor. Occupied by the Muslims, Rajputs and Mughals, the insides of the fort today lie in ruins, but there are superb views of the park to be had from the ramparts."

We are up before dawn and meet Batti our guide and Kaushel, our driver for our first game drive in Ranthampore National Forest. We have three drives planned during our stay. Here is the deal. There are 1,411 wild tigers left in India, according to the "Save Our Tigers" campaign. About 40 live in the Ranthampore National Forest, which is close to the maximum population the park can support at its current size of 400+ square kilometers. This is probably our best and perhaps only chance to see a tiger in the wild.

We enter the park at first light on a cold foggy morning. Sigrid and I are the only tourists in an open jeep with room for six. The park is intensively managed, as it must be if the tigers are going to have a chance to survive. Every vehicle in the park must have a guide and driver certified from the park service. Each vehicle is assigned a specific section and time limit that they are permitted to be in the park. We will be exploring section 2 and the drive will last about four hours.

I won't hold The Reader in suspense. We saw no tigers on this drive. It is a fascinating park, and it was a great drive with many interesting sightings of birds and animals. But no tigers.

Some shots from the drive:

Under a banyan tree canopy overgrowing a stone gate.

Early foggy start in section 2

common langur

black kite

Sambar

Sambar are slow, fat and stupid - just the way tigers like them.

spotted deer

peacock (national bird)

nesting spotted owlers

As we exit the park, our guide learns that a tiger was spotted in section 3. He tries to get permission to take us over there, but no dice. Back at the hotel over breakfast, other visitors regale us with the morning sighting. It was T19 (each tiger is identified by a number), a mature female that is one of three tigers in the park wearing a radio collar. Apparently she walked six feet away from the jeep. We knew there was a real possibility that we would see no tigers on this visit, and thought we were prepared to enjoy whatever the game drives offered us. But after listening to the morning stories, we now knew we would be very disappointed if we did not see a tiger.

After breakfast, it was back to the park with Shurveer, for a tour of the Ranthambore Fort.

In the fort

gate

monkey's everywhere

At the top of the fort there is a temple to Ganesh, son of Shiva. Shaveer makes a offering in the temple:
We are hoping it will bring us luck and a tiger sighting in the afternoon game drive.

Road Trip II - Agra to Ranthambore

Itinerary:

"Feb 12: Agra - Ranthambore. You have the option of a sunrise visit to Mehtab Bagh, which is a 500 year old Mughal garden located across from the Taj Mahal on the other side of the Yamuna River. If you do that, you will return to your hotel to freshen up after the visit. Check out of your hotel and proceed for the drive to Bharatpur. Stop at Fatehpur Sikri for a tour. This deserted red sandstone city was built by Emperor Akbar, between 1570 and 1585. Visit the towering Bulund Darwaza (The Gate of Victory), which is set in the south wall. In the northern part of the courtyard is the superb white marble tomb of Shaik Salim Chishti, built in 1570. Lunch is included this afternoon at Bharatpur. After lunch — board the Express train for Ranthambore — a two and a half hour journey. Arrive at Ranthambore in the evening and check in at your resort."

We decided to forgo the sunrise visit to Mehtab Bagh, in order to take a relaxing breakfast on our balcony, where we still enjoy a sunrise vista of the Taj Majal.



Then - on the road again. A couple hours into the drive, we tour Fatehpur Sikri:


Shurveer offers architectural evidence contradicting the usual tour book explanation of the site:

Later we catch the train from Bharatpur to Ranthanbore:




The train is an hour and a half late, but we still get to the Oberoi Vanyavilas in time for dinner, capped off with a drink in our"Luxury Tent" accommodations:




While the luxury is undeniable, I question the accuracy of describing our quarters as a "tent". The only common characteristic with my understanding of the word "tent" is the fabric over our head.

Here there be tigers. We will be up before dawn for our first game drive, and hope to see one during our short stay.