Laxmi the Leopard

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Casey :
we stayed in Ranthambore the other day and we got to see a baby Leopard called Laxmi- pronounced-lucksmee. We didn't see a tiger but who needs to see a tiger when you can see a baby Leopard????
We stayed at hotel Vatika and there was a very nice guy there called Vishnu and he gave us a free breakfast on 1 of the tours!-YAY!

Now I'm in Delhi and I bought a book about 2/3 thirds of an inch thick which I read in 2 and a half hours. How annoying.

Wendy:
Yes we did actually make it to Ranthambore Park after a marathon effort from the three of us to stay awake through the various trains, queues, hotel check-ins and outs, etc, etc...
Had a blissful one hour sleep on possibly the softest pillows in India at Vatika lodge before rugging up (literally) and jumping onto the back of an open jeep for our dawn safari. At the gates, touts attempted to sell safari vests and plush toy tigers but no beanies which we would have snapped up - it was freezing out there.
Ranthambore park in the early morning was like straight out of the pages of Jungle Book and all the hassle we had getting there was definitely worth it. We saw spotted and sambal deer, crocodiles and all kinds of birdlife, mongoose and monkeys but no tigers. Pugmarks in the sand were as close as we got. Midway we stopped at a rangers outpost and had hot chai and a little sleep-walk. Before long we were sheperded back to the safe area to watch some of the rangers getting the diesel-fuelled water pump started up.
After another hour or so bouncing around on the jeep in search of the elusive tiger we sped back to vatika for a delicious breakfast of - you guessed it - omelette! but also fruit, coffee, toast, fresh curd. Yum!
Needless to say we slept pretty much for the entire day, ensconsed in plush pillows and cosy doonas. Casey slept for about 16 hours all up, with a brief chappati break in between, and was of course bright as a button the next morning.

Ranthambore was a wonderful respite from the harshness of travelling in India and we stayed four nights there. We visited the park twice more, once to another less visited annexe called Balas where we enjoyed a picnic breakfast of...omelette sandwiches and chai... at the highest peak in the park overlooking the park and neighbouring villages and farmlets. Whole fields of flowering mustard crops like carpet, rocky ravines and little mud homes dotted about. We were also invited to visit with Laxmi, a baby leopard who had been rescued by park rangers after being abandoned by her mother. She had injured one of her front paws but had been fed a specially developed formula and had made a full recovery. She was being taught how to stalk and tear at food with her claws and jaws. This was definitely a big highlight for all of us!

We ventured back to tigerland for another tiger stalking safari, but this time all jeeps were booked out so we had to settle for the canter option, a much larger vehicle, seating about 20. This experience was subtly different from the jeep experience... When the canter arrived to collect us from the lodge, it was full of indian toursists. So, we were directed to take the front seats, out of the wind, with the best views... Then the guide who was a mine of information, not, proceeded to repeat a few basic facts about the park to us in English over and over, whilst not really paying any attention to the others on board. One of his amazing insights, "In the park we have three kinds of white egrets. We have the large egret. We have the middle-sized egret. And we have...the larger egret." Fascinating! When we came across pugmarks or anything of any interest, the indian children were quickly pushed aside so that we could be shown first. It was all really embarrassing. The driver was determined to provide the potentially big tippers with a tiger sighting, so much so, that on returning to park headquarters at closing time he got a whiff of a sighting way back in the park, did a quick uturn and planted it. We were flying back through the park, racing head on towards all the other jeeps and canters who were on their way home, bouncing over the bumps, splashing through the puddles. A wave of excited anticipation spread through the canter. The indians were suddenly quiet. It looked like we might see our tiger after all. But then disaster struck. Around the bend we were confronted by a jeep of stern looking official types and the driver slowed, then stopped, throwing his head against the wheel in frustration. It was no use, if he continued there'd be trouble. The park was closing and the park was managed very strictly. Much to the disgruntlement of the indians, he turned back around and took us all home.... at break neck speed of course.

We also visited the Ranthambore fort, an amazing, massive, crumbling fort, ten kms in perimeter, where we were almost used as a human shield in the war of the monkeys who inhabited the fort, and got blessed by the holy men in the very atmospheric Ganesh Temple held within the fort.
All in all, Ranthambore has been a real highpoint of our trip so far... Off we go now to Agra and the Taj.
Photos to follow.

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Comments

[marty]

laxmi the leopard
Dear All, The safari in Ranthambone must have been quite something. It reminds me of the Jurassic park Jeep chase sequence only with a crazed Indian man in place of Jeff Goldblum. Casey I am a big fan of the Leopard variety of BIG Cat. They are extremely pretty animals and deadly to boot. It is funny to think that they live in the trees where you are. Did you get to the Raj Casey? I heard it is made of Turkish Delight with glazed cherry inlays. Can you confirm this? Don't eat too much of it though, they may notice the bite marks in the mosaic!