The Great Indian Summer Tiger Trail - Part II - Jim Corbett National Park

Wildlife trips are never short of uncertainty, excitement and, at times, disappointments. Sometimes, however, uncertainty can turn the excitement in to a big disappointment even before the trip starts. While Ranthambore was an all boys escapade, Corbett was going to be a family trip. One fine morning, a few days before leaving for the trip, the missus called from office, and in a very low voice, informed that she would have to cancel the trip due to some last-minute commitment at work. After a lot of deliberation (and some persuasion) we finally decided that she would stay back and the rest of us would carry on with the trip (part of the reason behind this decision was that none of our bookings were refundable!!). This led to another problem though!! While the two couples and their kids were booked at Club Mahindra in Corbett, the missus and me had planned to stay at The Wild Crest which was around 5kms away from the Club Mahindra property.

As it turned out, this was not that big a problem after all. One, the couples were more than accommodative and hosted me at their place for a couple of nights; and two, I like having some space to myself. We had pre-booked our safaris through a gentleman who is supposedly well known for his knowledge and tracking skilss - Mr. Ramesh Suyal. I had read about him online and was really impressed with what people had to say about him; plus his charges were reasonable and in line with what the hotel and others had quoted. I had left the choice of the safari timings (morning/afternoon) and zones (there are five). He advised that we do mostly afternoon safaris as the chances of spotting are higher around evening, and that we focus on the Bijrani zone that has the maximum density (the best zone is Dhikala, however you cannot enter that zone unless you are staying in the Government-owned Forest Rest House there - highly recommended that you stay there; we couldnt as bookings are done well in advance and we were late). We ended up booking two morning safaris as we also had interests in birding and early morning would be the best time to spot these little beauties.

The Great Indian Summer Tiger Trail - Part I - Ranthambore National Park

This year was going to be an exciting summer. Not only had I planned my jungle trails in advance, I had not one but two jungle trips planned. One would imagine what a summer it was going to turn into with trips planned to two large Tiger abodes - The Ranthambore National Park and the Jim Corbett National Park.

Well, to be honest, the original plan was to go to the very famous Tadoba Tiger Reserve, however, do to unavailability of safari permits, we decided to go to The Ranthambore National Park. A tiger lover paradise, the Ranthambore National Park is one of the largest national parks in northern India. This approximately 400 sq km forest is said to have housed around 50 Tigers once, however, that number is lower now due to poaching - an activity witnessed in almost all big and small forests in our country. Not just the density of tigers, but this park is also known for housing some of the most ferocious wild cats, that have fancy names and even more interesting stories. For instance, one of most recited stories of this park is how Machali (T-16), the royal tigress, fought with a 14 foot long crocodile. And mind you, this is not the only story that you will hear about Machali or the tiger reverse.

This was our first group trip to a jungle; hitherto we had always booked private jeep safaris for the two-three of us friends. However, this time around we decided to join a group being led by one of our most trusted wild life travel arrangers - the guys at Junglelore. Over a long weekend, these guys were taking two groups of around 25 individuals each in a canter (roofless bus) for a group safari. While we were a little anxious and apprehensive in going along with so many people - for a number of reasons: a) it is simply inconvenient to take photographs with 20 other people trying to do the same, b) the canter is generally higher than a jeep and thus you cannot photograph the animal from the eye level, c) more people = more noise (or chaos), and d) we feared that not everyone may be interested in wildlife other than the tiger and that would spoil our chances of photographing birds. Thankfully, none of that was true and it was a fun group to be part of, with enough opportunities to photograph birds and animals alike. In fact, we think that these group trips are a good way to ensure that you can do multiple jungle trips in a season on a tight budget.

OF Disappointments and Unfairness of Life

Disappointments have a special way of showing up just when you don't need them most. That is the first thought to cross my mind as I watched the train leave the platform. We were supposed to be on that train; however, we could only watch it with dismay from across the tracks. It was a holiday that we had been looking forward to for a very long time; I kept thinking as we dragged our bags back home. If only we had left five minutes earlier, if only there wasn't that much traffic on the road, if only the cabbie had taken a different road; if only...this hadn't happened to me.

Even if this had to happen, I wish it wouldn't have happened today. No!! how could we have missed THIS trip!! The mind wouldn't stop calling this unfair and curse life for being unjust at times. 'At times?!?!'...a second thought smirked its way in. 'Are you not lucky that life is unjust to you only at times. Don't you feel lucky to have so many things come so easily to you?' An image hurried across my mind.

Every time I passed through the market to pick to the missus, I saw this couple sit near a turning. Weary faced, probably in their 80s, this couple sat by the road selling petty things like combs & draw strings; things that don't cost more than 5-10 bucks and things that you would buy only occasionally. How much would they be making daily? 50-60 bucks? or 100 at best? I wonder how fair life would feel if at 80 you are to sit on the road daily to earn 100 bucks in an expensive city like Mumbai.

A Wild Nesting (Wildernest) In Goa

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

- Marcel Proust (French Novelist and Author)

View of the valley en route to the resorts

Think of a holiday in Goa and the mind immediately renders images of  serene beaches, clear waters, cheap booze(!!), bike rides and wild parties. Never does one imagine hilly terrains, gushing waterfalls, winding roads and wild creatures. However, just like the country that the state resides in, Goa offers much diversity beyond beaches, booze and minerals. Owing to its location between Maharashtra and Karnataka a part of the Western Ghats passes through Goa, providing a biodiversity to the state.

Inside view of the cottages

View from the room

The Western Ghats frame the Eastern and Western borders of Goa, and stretch into Karnataka. Somewhere in the midst of these hills, on a road connecting the capital of Goa - Panaji - to Belgaum in Karnataka lie two secluded natural abodes - Swapnagandha & Wildernest. Nestled 700-800 metres above sea level, these eco friendly resorts are concealed by thick forest covers and offer beautiful views of the forest, valley and a couple of majestic waterfalls. Staying close to nature while offering all the comforts of modern living (except air conditioners) is the key attraction of these mostly word-of-mouth publicised resorts. Guests are logged in to mostly similar looking eco-friendly wooden cottages, with the difference being mostly the view offered from these cottages (one of our rooms had this magnificient view of a pair of 143 mtrs waterfall). While the cottages are eco friendly and made out of wood, they offer enough comfort and amenities for a good stay, with the only exception of an air conditioner.

How I (Nearly) Got Kissed By A Lion At Gir National Park

Asiatic Male Lion

It was a rather quite Saturday morning, our fourth day at the Gir National Park. While my earlier (and first) trip to the Gir National Park was just before the busy season ( in October of 2010, just before the Diwali holidays; read here for details), this time around we chose to go in the busiest season – the summer holidays – as it also  happens to be the best time to spot the wild cats. As it turned out, in the first three days, we had a fairly good amount of sighting of birds, lionesses and cubs, an old male lion and a cheetah!! Boy were we lucky or what?

But greedy as we humans are, we wanted to see a ‘Young Male Lion’ as we (my friend actually!!) weren’t satisfied with what we shot of the ‘Old Male Lion’ two days back. So we started our penultimate day with the usual chore of getting up at 3 and waiting in a queue since 4 in the morning outside Sinh Sadan (the forest department office where permits to enter to the Gir National Park are issued). Finally at 6:30am we managed to get our permits and stacked our tired selves (since were following this routine of standing in long queues twice a day for the last three days) in to the gypsy. We instructed our driver and guide that we had seen enough of most things and would only focus on spotting a ‘Young Male Lion’ in this trip. So they made some calls to find out where this dude was last seen and figured that he was probably somewhere near the end of our trail (each safari permit entitles you to visit one trail, and in one direction i.e. you cannot turn around or travel in the reverse direction, nor can you jump to any other trail).

Dancing Peacock

A Pair of Green Bee-Eaters

Lesser Flameback Woodpecker

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

A Fleeing Cheetah

A Pride of Lions