Tigers in Ranthambhore, Rajasthan

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Tigers are a symbol of India and we wanted to have a National Park visit as part of our travelling with Ian and Daniel to see if we could catch a glimpse. It is not something you can bet on. We had met several travellers who had been to Ranthambhore and seen none. We had tried to see wild elephants in Rajaji and seen none.



We booked two tours on the internet; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. You ride on a 'canter', a 20 seater four wheel drive jeep. The drive itself is as good as any roller coaster. We got good advice to take the back seats. It meant we could stand up without disturbing others and got good views of wildlife from the sides and back.



We were amazingly lucky. In the morning we found a tigress with two one year old 'cubs'. In the afternoon on a different route we had good views of another tigress with her three 'cubs'. At one year old they are not really cubs and are only a bit smaller than the adults. The tigers are breeding well and there is starting to be a problem as males run out of territory.



An afternoon bonus was two crocodiles basking by a lake and two offspring on a nearby log.



On the morning canter we had the company of a British Canadian who was an animal nutritionist from McMasters University. He and his wife were entertaining and knowledgeable. We exchanged photos as birds invaded our canter and stood on people's heads.



The National Park is where it is because for many years in was the Jaipur Maharajah's private hunting ground. Hence it was protected and since the hunting stopped the wildlife is flourishing.



Right at the entrance is the magnificent Ranthambhore Fort. It stands on the hill top and is huge. There is a wall completely around the outer edge will steep drops below. It was first occupied in the 5th century and abandoned some time after the Mughals lost power in the eighteenth century. It has mosques and temples to various deities. The Ganesh temple is one of four regarded as special because the Ganesh has three eyes. It attracts hundreds and thousands of pilgrims in September. We wandered around just a part enjoying the wildlife and views. One shopkeeper showed Dan how to get a monkey to feed from your hand. We could have spent more time there because we only covered a small part.



This was our first taste of Rajasthan. We hope you like the photos.

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Photos

The morning Ranthambhore safari - 7am
It was jolly cold!

Dan's bird hat
Note the bird at the very top is on the tree. They are not two up.

One of the many Samber deer.
India's biggest deer.