Blogs from Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, India, Asia

Our day began with a jeep safari. We got picked up at 5am and made it to the National Park Gate at some time after six. Luckily by this time we had all woken up, and despite the torrential rain at 4.30, it just about brightened up in time to drive with the roof down! Over the course of about 3 hours, we saw so much wildlife! Spotted deer, birds of all kinds- weaver birds and their nests, green bee eater birds, white throated king fishers, a bird of prey, many peacocks, lapwings, and a hornbill. We also saw frogs, many insects, black faced monkeys and white monkeys! We stopped for a break an hour or two in, and saw lots of monkeys being mischevious; looking in the jeeps and eyeing up our food. Our guide ... read more

This is gonna be a long post. I have just had the most incredible weekend! It all began on Friday night, at 11pm, we got picked up by our lovely driver Kundan, and made our way to Corbett National Park. We decided that we should probably take turns in sleeping, so at least one of us knew what was going on, Karissa and I stayed up till around 2, when we gave up and let the others take a turn, only to be woken up a bit later as we had come to a complete standstill! The main road was chocka-block with so many trucks, all stopped, and didn't look like they were going to move any time soon. In the end we turned around, and our driver followed a different road, but then we came ... read more

Aromas of spice fill the nostrils, colour ignites the imagination and the senses become slaves to India's unique beauty. The gold-plated palaces of the Maharaja’s juxtapose the beggars that surround them, following tourist vehicles like moths to a flame. The confining streets of Delhi make you sweat out of pores you didn't know existed but that's all a distant memory on the Indian-Nepalese boarder, where winds from the Himalayas slice through the humidity and sooth the soul. Don't let me fool you, she is the furthest thing from a walk in the park. It’s tough travelling with confronting situations but I guarantee you'll leave all the better for it. If you’re searching for spirituality, perspective or just something different, India holds its own against any of the world's cultural heavyweights. Corbett National Park is located in ... read more

After the heat of Jaipur and Agra we were happy to start to head north - our destination was a very small village Kottabagh in the state of Uttarakhand. After an overnight train trip we showed up in this tiny village with instructions to go to the local teashop, the owner would help us reach the farm in the hills. Getting more and more excited to see the farm we jumped in a jeep and took off. We were warmly welcomed by Chris a Swiss wwoofer who had been at the farm for a week or so. The owner wasn't there but there were two local guys who were there to help farm and cook . Neither spoke any English but we got the gist of things pretty quickly. Our first impressions were pretty good, the ... read more

On the whole, I had lovely time in Corbett, met many nice and wonderful people, saw places, games which I had not seen on my two previous visits. Most memorable was tiger sighting on three different occasions. A visit to Jim Corbett's summer home in Kaladhungi and nature walk in surrounding area was an icing on the cake. Mr. Ghosh, Oliver and Mohit went out of the way to make my stay memorable, comfortable and delightful. Manoj at the Riverine Camp, Vanghat was a wonderful lad, always smiling, accommodating and helpful. Will I go back again ? DEFINITELY. February 2010 and I am in Corbett again. A word about guided game drive and elephant back game watch in India. I have been to Kaziranga National Park, Assam and Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand. In my view, elephant ... read more

19th. March : Early morning I, Mr. Ghosh, Nirankar and Oliver climbed into our4w Maruti-Suzuki. Mohit drove us to the other bank of Ramganga River. After crossing the bridge, we hit a dirt track. Not too far from the bridge, I saw tiger pug marks on my side of the vehicle, beautifully imprinted. They looked quite fresh; although Nirankar, our guide said it was a male, 7-8 years old but he couldn't tell how long ago these were made. I tried to guess recalling all I have read in all of Jim Corbett's book. But armchair naturalist is no match for a properly trained safari guide. At that moment, I decided to do a 4 week course in a practical safari training school in Kruger Park, South Africa some times this year. On we drove, saw ... read more