Ranthanbore “Eye of the Tiger”

Home to the Ranthanbore National Park, this community hosts thousands of tourists in search of the fabled Bengal Tiger. While a safari is the means of seeking out these magnificent cats it reflects the saying of our tour guide when we traveled to South East Asia, “Same same but different”. We board our 20 passenger open air vehicle called a Canter at 06:30 in frigid and extremely damp temperatures. In the dark, we make the 20 minute trip to the park entrance, huddled under numerous blankets to try and keep out the cold. The ride is extremely bumpy on rocky roads and the twists and turns become more and more uncomfortable as time passes by. We see fresh tracks on the sandy road bed and our guide tries to follow the trail. Unlike Africa, you cannot drive off the trail as the terrain is just too rough and the ravines, too many. The guides, also unlike the African guides, do not use walkie talkies to keep in touch with other guides when one has a sighting, so it is just pure luck and some practical guiding knowledge if you are fortunate to come across your tiger. The park is divided into five sections and it is decided by lottery who goes to which section. Only eight vehicles are allowed per section, so they do try to control the number of visitors. Even so, there are only something like thirty tigers in the five regions of the park. We see white spotted deer, antelope, wild boar, rabbits, crocodiles, peacocks, black face monkeys and different species of birds. The mornings drive was fruitless in spotting tigers and we were on our way back for lunch, when all of a sudden our guide, excitedly points across a small lake and we see a tiger walking along the shore. She was about ½ a km away so though it was visible to the naked eye, it was Andrew, one of our group, who had a telescopic lens, who was able to capture a few good shots of the all familiar stripes with the distinctive gate. By this time there was a frenzy of other vehicles who happened upon us and shouting back and forth between drivers, trying to position their canters for their passengers to get a better viewing. Fortunately for us, we were first on the scene and got the better viewing. A subsequent afternoon safari bore no sightings though we were much warmer and the lighting was terrific for photo shooting.

I should mention that the hotel, as with all the hotels to date, was fabulous. It was like living in a palace and the grounds and gardens were wonderful. It had three separate pools and though the water was very cool and not hospitable to swimming, I made it a point to use all three. Buuuuurrrrr.

Our group is great! We all get along extremely well and I know there are some lifelong friendships that have been forged. The interaction between all is remarkable. Though we still have the better part of a week left together, we are already preparing ourselves when we will have to part ways. It will be sad to say goodbye, because unlike the tigers, who basically keep to themselves except for mating and child rearing, we have become close and dependent on each others company and friendship. Namaste.