Chasing Tigers

Our second safari in Ranthambore took us to a different section of the park. The entrance that is presided over by the immense fort that sits on top of a mountain plateau. As we headed into section 3 it became clear that this was the "better" section - the road was a bit smoother and the guide spoke significantly better English then the morning one. And so we proceeded to drive around the lake, stopping to look at a variety of birds, multiple crocodiles and various deer/antelope. Then we parked in a central section and waited, taking in the nature sounds (and no other sounds) until "Hold on!" And off we went. Bumping down the tracks at high speed, halting at a cross section until another jeep passed by, deciding to go off into the other sector ( the one we weren't cleared for) only to see another jeep of people holding their arms in the air giving a thumbs up. Sadly the tiger had just crossed over the road and was now hidden among the thick bushes of the jungle. S back off to our section we scooted patrolling the road on the other side of that patch of greenery hoping he might exit on our side. 

After a while we gave up and went to sit back in a central location. As our guide and driver discussed if we needed to head out a couple of jeeps ahead of us suddenly started tearing off down the track and the command came again "Hold on!" We were off on a tiger chase. Although this time as we tore down the dirt paths dust was getting sprayed up by the jeeps ahead of us. I closed my eyes to protect them only to find that a horrible idea as we took corners at high speeds and hit bumps that sent both mom and I off our seat. Perhaps I needed to keep them open so that I could brace myself against the route. We were in a race against the clock as we were supposed to be out of the park at 6pm, 10 minutes later. As we slid to a halt and turned off the jeep I climbed up on the roll bar and balanced myself (with mom's help) to peer down into the creek bed where a large majestic male tiger was resting. It's a tiger! They are almost mesmerizing  in their regal bearing, capturing your attention and keeping it. We started to leave only to hear that it was beginning to move and so we backed up, watched it sit up then slink through the grass until it crossed the road directly in front of our jeep. Pausing to pose as if to say "Yes, I know I'm the most important thing in this part of the forest." We might have been late leaving the park, and needed someone to open the gates for us (for a bribe? Or a fine?) but I was so excited I was practically bouncing in my seat, the refrain of "We saw a tiger! We saw a tiger!" repeating in my head. 

On safari in Sri Lanka

Another of the stops that we made was a short visit to Yala National Park in the Southeastern corner of Sri Lanka. One good thing about jet lag is that it sure makes it easy to wake up for a 5:00 safari - didn't even require an alarm clock. We headed to Yala because it has the world's (?) largest concentration of leopards. Not that that means that leopards are easy to find. Other animals are much more common…we saw a plethora of water buffalo, several jackals, wild boar, mongoose, spotted deer, peacocks a plenty, crocodiles, an eagle, monitor lizards, lots of colorful birds - including the national bird of Sri Lanka, and finally….as we were getting close to having to leave the park, all but hidden back in the trees a leopard. Or was it a pair? Hard to tell, but at one point I thought that maybe I saw two waving tails. My pictures - poor as they are - are still a better view of it then I had with my eye (its all about the zoom!). At least I was able to leave satisfied, knowing I had "seen" a leopard even if we didn't manage to see an elephant despite being told they sometimes roam through the hotel grounds.

Wild Ass

The real reason we headed up to Ahmedabad over Diwali break was that it was the closest point we could get to in our trip out to the Little Rann of Kutch. "The Little Rann?" I can hear you question. It's a dry, cracked, almost barren desert that is home to India's Wild Ass Sanctuary. Taking up almost 5,000 square kilometers of the state of Gujurat, in the middle of the salt flats, lies the protected area for close to 3,000 Indian wild ass. India has done a remarkable job conserving space for this species which used to roam from western India, into Pakistan, Afghanistan all the way to Iran. Now the ass have a restricted area where they are safe to kick up their heels, graze in peace and provide a fair amount of entertainment for tourists on safari. Of course there continue to be threats to the wildlife, with poachers encroaching on the protected land and an increase in salt farms flooding land that was grazing areas. For now though, the wild ass are prospering along with the myriad of other animals to be found in the desert - nilgais, hawks and other birds which stop at the wetlands during their migration (including flamingos!). It was an unexpected safari of a variety of animals in the middle of the desolate Little Rann.