Blogs from Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, India, Asia - page 2

19th. March : Early morning I and oliver were driven to main entrance of Dhikala forest where we were joined by Mr. Sumantha Ghosh of Vanghat and Tiger Camp Eco tour arm. More interesting than the tiger sighting, Mr. Ghosh informed us that as per my request, he had bought two bottles of Gin for our frustration and celebration of tiger sighting. But there wa no Tonic water. In Fact, in Eastern India, people haven't heard of Tonic water ! We swapped the 4w Maruti of Eco Tour for 4w Maruti of Forest department. Mohit, the driver, a nice young Kumaoni lad informed us that a few days ago while driving alone on a forest road deep inside the park found a tiger napping in the middle of the road. Mohit took good number of photographs ... read more

16th. March. Woke up early in the morning and after breakfast, accompanied by Oliver, we drove to Riverine Lodge at Vanghat. We went up the mountain, negotiating many hairpin bends. On way, we passed through the village called Mohan. It was here that Jim Corbett shot and killed "Mohan Man Eater", a tiger that preferred human to its more natural prey on its dinner table. I remembered the tale Corbett told in his famous book "Man Eaters of Kumaon". A party of females were cutting grass when a tiger appeared amongst them. The commotion that ensued drove the tiger away but resulted in injury to an old women. She was too injured to be carried back to village by the women's, so a brave young 16 years old girl agreed to stay with her while others ... read more

Way back when I was a nipper my Dad did his very best as the dutiful parent, taking time out of his busy schedule to sit us down each night and read a bedtime story, our own personal Jackanory. I’d sit expectantly with my brother and sister in a semi-circle before him, watching the sparkles of excitement leap from their eyes as they lapped up his slow baritone delivery of The Arabian Nights or Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Personally, I hated it. After all, we had a perfectly good telly in the corner adept at providing endless hours of trashy entertainment without the need for so much as an Abracadabra. Most of the best of the tacky stuff was on ITV, but I had to squeeze them in before Dad got home as he ... read more

We planned to visit Corbett, as we had a week long break and we were already in Delhi then. Corbett National Park is the oldest National Park of Asia and India’s first Tiger Reserve. Situated in Uttaranchal, between Garhwal and Kumaon its the finest national park I've been too. An overnight exhausting journey from Delhi got us straight to Ramnagar in the wee hours, but watching twilight break over the Shivalik range was such a breathtaking view, that the six long tiring hours spend in the train were simply washed away by the rays of the sun. Anyone who knows about Jim Corbett and his heroic stories or has read any of his six books, would relate to the jungle and would want to visit the Corbett National Park. Thankfully, for once the Government of India ... read more

Second India Report Dear All, Greetings from the foot of the Himalayas! This instalment begins with my parents’ and cousin’s arrival in Delhi on 21st October, followed by a very lengthy train journey, through the Hindu Diwali festival, with firecrackers blasting off in every direction, to Dehra Dun, where we arrived with a two hour delay. There then followed a hair-raising car journey through the night to Shaheen Bagh, a most beautiful house run by Bikram Grewal, a well-known birdwatcher and his wife. We spent the next three days here, being guided on birdwatching walks by a charming and very knowledgeable Nepali guide named Hari Lama, relaxing in the wonderful gardens, and generally being pampered. Apparently these gardens had featured as the set for an interesting-sounding photographic book called “The Outdoor Kamasutra”, but sadly we could ... read more