Ranthambore National Park
India
Ranthambore National Park is widely considered to be the best destination in the country for seeing tigers in the wild, although the actual chances of this are fairly low. Once the hunting grounds for the Maharajas of Jaipur, the area was converted into a national park in 1980. Due to poaching, the number of tigers dropped to as low as 25 in 2005, but with conservation efforts that number has now increased to above 70. However, given they are often solitary animals and only 20% of the expansive park is accessible to tourists, spotting them was going to be a challenge.
We set off in our not-very-well-protected jeep with our driver, guide and one other couple. I had little faith that we would actually see any tigers here, but when the couple said they followed a tiger for 1.5 hours this morning, my hopes increased slightly. Most reviews I had read said don't hold your breath, but this was a first-hand account that happened today. Maybe we would be lucky.
Ranthambore is split into 10 connected zones, with zones 1-6 offering the best opportunity for spotting wildlife. We entered Zone 4, where animal sightings ended up being more frequent than we expected. Most of the time we were driving through a dense forest, but every now and then we emerged into an arid landscape dotted with spindly trees. Lakes and rivers appeared periodically, where water birds congregated around the dwindling water supply. Occasionally we came across evidence of the ancient Ranthambore Fort, built in the 10th century and used until the British came into power in the 1800s. Now it was mostly ruins. Overall, it was refreshing to see an area of India that wasn't full of rubbish.
We set off at a furious pace, which had us grabbing the bar in front of us frequently as we flew around the corners and careened up and down the hills. Despite this, the jeep was surprisingly quiet along the bumpy roads. The driver didn't bothering stopping for most of the creatures we passed - he was only interested in finding the tigers. Chital (spotted deer) and Sambar deer abounded, the latter being huge in size and sporting gigantic antlers. We passed by 4 crocodiles, ranging in size from baby to daddy. Twice our guide pointed out owls, one a huge brown fish owl and the other a group of cute spotted owlets. Langurs and squirrels weren't so exciting to us, as they had been a common fixture during our travels over the last 3 weeks. Peacocks roamed the land, wild boars gathered around watering holes and a mongoose eyed us warily. Danny's eagle eyes located a jungle cat, one of the smaller cats in the park, but by the time we reversed the jeep it was disappearing into the trees. A sloth bear, notoriously difficult to spot, was slowly making his way through the forest at a distance that was out of range for our cameras.
Suddenly, our guide started shouting 'Tiger, tiger!'. We craned our necks but had no idea what he was talking about. After much staring and finger pointing, we finally saw the source of his excitement: 2 tigers, about 100 metres away through the trees, lounging around in the grass. One sauntered off soon after we arrived, but the other stayed put for the next 10 minutes. It wasn't long before our jeep was surrounded by 10 other vehicles. Collectively, we all silently wished for the tiger to come closer. It didn't. Instead it decided to join its friend and soon strolled away, out of sight. We couldn't believe we had actually laid our eyes on two tigers, after convincing ourselves it wasn't going to happen. And this was just our first safari.
Early the next day, we set out for our morning safari. The sun hadn't even risen yet, and the temps were in the single digits. Despite being rugged up with every layer of clothing we had brought with us, it wasn't enough to protect us from the freezing air as we rode in the open jeep. We noticed other tourists wrapped up in blankets provided by their hotels. Ours wasn't so generous.
We set out for Zone 3, where we immediately entered a jungle-like terrain, with long roots hanging down like curtains over remnants of the former fort. Soon we emerged in a sparse grassland environment intermixed with wooded areas, similar to what we drove through yesterday but with more lakes. From various points we could see the old fort on top of the hill, as well as the shell of buildings that once belonged to the former hunting lodge. Light slowly filled the landscape, but many of the animals we zoomed past were still sitting in the dark.
I wasn’t sure if there were fewer animals in this zone or if it was the time of day, but the variety and number were significantly reduced compared to yesterday's adventure. Our main sightings were of birds, including three different types of owl (short-eared, Indian scops and spotted owlet), grey herons, rufous treepie, ruddy shelducks, a bright blue kingfisher, woodpeckers and a shikra (a very small bird of prey). The deer were back, mostly chital with the occasional Sambar deer thrown in, as well as peacocks, langurs and another mongoose. Crocodiles were prevalent again, although this time we witnessed a few swimming in the water, evidenced by the bumps on their back poking out above the still surface. Danny caught sight of an Indian hare racing across the grass, while sleeping flying foxes (fruit bats) hung from trees above.
Of course, the tigers were our main priority again. Although we completed several laps of the zone and stayed in contact with the other drivers, we were not as fortunate as yesterday. The closest we came was making out a few footprints on the dusty road, but sadly the beasts eluded us. Despite not getting any reward for our efforts, we still loved the game drive. Both of us remarked that we would be happy to return here time and time again in search of the elusive tiger.
At the last minute we booked a third safari for the afternoon. We could only reserve seats in a 20-seater canter, a larger vehicle that can’t go as deep into the park as the jeeps, but it was better than nothing. Compared to the jeeps, the canters were much more comfortable to ride in, but the viewing angles were definitely inferior.
This time we toured through Zone 2, which offered fewer fort and lake views but did contain numerous rocky rivers that we crossed repeatedly. We appreciated the warmth of the afternoon sun, allowing us to concentrate on the scenery rather than our frozen bodies. The canter experience was different in several ways: slower driving, more jostling to find the perfect camera shot, as well as stopping to take photos of all the animals we passed. This included every single deer, no matter how well hidden they were (and there were a lot of them). It didn't give us much faith that we would see anything else.
We spotted the usual creatures: crocodiles, both spotted and Sambar deer, peacocks, langurs bouncing around the trees, a mongoose, a kingfisher. As a new addition we stumbled across an antelope known as a blue bull or nilgai. It’s the largest antelope in Asia, but as it was kneeling down in the grass we couldn't attest to its size. Danny twice spotted owls, both large and small; our guide was oblivious to them both.
As we were driving along a road with a steep mountain beside us, a passenger in our truck shouted out 'Tiger'! The driver stopped and reversed to where the man was pointing, high up on the slope. Suddenly half the car was repeating 'Tiger, tiger' and taking photos, but Danny and I couldn't work out what they were looking at. About 10 seconds later the guide called out 'Spotted deer'. A collective sigh of disappointment passed through the whole canter.
While we didn't achieve our sought after tiger sighting, we did spot an even rarer animal: a leopard. Two other vehicles were already in position, so we didn't have an optimal viewing angle. About a hundred metres and a hundred trees separated us from the powerful predator, but we could just make out its silhouette prowling through the forest. The entire time we were watching it, Danny and I presumed it was a tiger. It was only once it had wandered off that our guide clarified it was actually a leopard. I had no idea how he could tell the difference from that distance, yet my photos proved he was right. We never expected to come across a leopard here, so catching sight of one was a pleasant surprise.
In the end Ranthambore delivered on our expectations in so many ways, and we were extremely glad we added on one more safari while we were here. Given the reviews online, we hadn’t expected much, so we were surprised and overjoyed with just how much we were able to see in our short time here.
