Ranthambhore - Day 2

This is a link from my blog about my trip to India in 2014
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Ranthambore - Day 2

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Today was an early start – up at 05:30 (please note we are supposed to be on holiday) for our first safari into the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. Up until now I had come to terms with the driving in India but going on a Safari in the reserve is a whole new ball game. The drivers of the jeeps are more manic than anyone else on the road , which is probably just as well as most of the time they are not on the road – think extreme adventure and you are starting to get close! Now the whole purpose of going to the Reserve is to see tigers in their natural habitat. The first thing that you find out is that you have no control as to where you go (the reserve is divided up into ten zones and the vehicles are only allowed in their allocated zone, and furthermore you no say as to which guide you have. Fortunately we were in zone six and had an excellent guide.

We drove for about 20 minutes into the reserve but could only see tiger footprints – but as they were “fresh” footprints there was every likelihood that the tiger was in the vicinity but sadly we never managed to see him – it later transpired that he had moved into an adjoining zone as he was spotted there. We did however see several deer, monkeys and peacocks/peahens. Then there was a sighting in the distance of a leopard so we returned to the accommodation slightly despondent.

We then had a break until mid-afternoon until out next safari and, not surprisingly due to the early start, fell asleep (well we are on holiday so we are allowed)

The afternoon safari arrived and initially we were not overly impressed as neither the guide nor the driver spoke hardly any English and the other passengers in the jeep were locals. Anyway we were intent on making the best of it and off we went into the Reserve – this time into zone one which is where the sightings were in the morning.

We drove around for a while not really seeing anything of any great interest when all of sudden word got round that there was a tiger to be seen. Eventually our drive managed to manoeuvre us into a position where we could see it (it was actually a tigress). She was lying asleep in the middle of the track. She stayed there, moving occasionally for at least an hour – the expectation was that she might just wake up and walk towards the jeeps – sadly that was not to be as when she did wake up she moved off in the opposite direction. One of the interesting things was that this particular tigress was known to have two cubs but she had them well hidden somewhere.

As out time was up we had to return the accommodation and await the next day’s safari safe in the knowledge that we had seen a tiger/tigress.

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