The next king of Ranthambhore? |
Ranthambhore is, in my opinion, the best place on
this planet to watch wild tigers. Some of my most memorable sightings have been
set in these incredible surroundings. Where else can you see a tiger with a
1000-year old fort in the background? Or lazing languidly after an afternoon
nap in a medieval summer palace? Or a tigress regally surveying her kingdom
from a royal ‘chhatri’?
I must confess to a special affinity to
Ranthambhore. It’s where I saw my first tiger and many, many more over the
years, and the bond has only grown stronger. Thanks to my friend and naturalist
extraordinaire, Hemraj Meena, I have closely followed the fortunes of several
of Ranthambhore’s tigers over the last decade, so much so that they actually
feel like family – any good news or new cubs are cause for celebration and any
bad news feels like a punch in the gut.
We went to Ranthambhore twice on this trip. The
first time was more like a pitstop en route to Dudhwa. And the other was the
finale of this leg of my Wildlife Wander. Both times, Ranthambhore outdid itself,
almost as if it taken it upon itself to provide me with the best tiger
sightings across my three month trip. And, in addition to the tigers, we spent
an incredible few days at Hemraj’s Tiger Home with Karen and Simon Spavin, hugely travelled wildlife enthusiasts and incredibly knowledgeable birders and photographers. We also had the privilege of spending time with Nalla Muthu, film-maker par
excellence and probably India’s finest wildlife storyteller. It was fascinating
to see his skill, passion and patience at work. It’s no easy task especially
given that most of the time you have no idea where to find your stars!
Sometimes for days or weeks on end. And even when you do find them, they are
usually in no mood to shoot, or probably give you a few fleeting glimpses. Much
like our Bollywood superstars!
T19, one of Ranthambhore's dominant tigresses |
T19 polishing off her kill |
Big Daddy T28 (or Star Male) licking his wounds after a fight |
A cub mock charges at us |
Mum keeps a close eye on us |
While we were with the cubs, I was thinking to myself, here we are, completely neglecting a huge male tiger, barely 20 metres away. How often are you so spoiled for choice? And then, something told me to turn my head away from the cubs. And to my amazement I saw T28 barely 15 feet from us, walking head on towards our gypsy. No one had seen him come. I was so awestruck, I forgot to line up my camera. He walked up, veered away at the last minute into a bush a few feet to our left, marked his scent and walked alongside our jeep and down the road. I found that I had stopped breathing for a few seconds. It was an absolutely incredible moment.
Brown Fish Owl |
Red vented bulbul having a drink |
Checkered Keelback |
Love the colors of the algae on the water |
And that was our first
Ranthambhore visit. One improbably fantastic tiger sighting, that we reckoned
would be impossible to outdo. But little did we know how much more Ranthambhore had in store on our return leg!
Ranthambhore Trip Guide
Getting
there
Ranthambhore is arguably the 'most easy to access' Tiger Reserve. Sawai Madhopur (SWM), the adjoining town is a major junction on the Mumbai to Delhi/Jaipur trunk line hence train connectivity is excellent. From Mumbai, the Delhi August Kranti Rajdhani is the best option (leaves Mumbai at 17:40 and reaches SWM the next morning at 06:30) and on the way back it leaves SWM at 20:45 and gets into Mumbai at 10:15 the next morning. There are a number of options to Delhi, including the August Kranti.
Jaipur (140 kms) is the nearest big city and airport, a comfortable 3 1/2 hour journey on excellent roads.
Ranthambhore has it all. From budget hotels to home stays to mid range to complete opulence, you can get the whole nine yards.
The
luxury options include Taj Hotels' Sawai Madhopur Lodge, Oberoi Vanyavilas and
Amanbagh.
There
are many many other hotels and resorts, but for me, home is Tiger Home!
Safaris
Other Tips
For
those who prefer a home-like ambience, there is none better than Tiger Home
(www.ranthambhoretigerhome.com) built by Hemraj Meena, a local who is one of
the park's finest naturalists. A personal friend, Hemraj's dream had always
been to have a place of his own where he can host wildlife lovers. And Tiger
Home does exactly that. It's a really comfortable 8 room house with
air-conditioned rooms and all the mod cons. Excellent home cooked food and very
helpful staff make you feel genuinely like you're at home. And the best part is
the company, Hemraj's experiences are incredible and you could well meet Nalla
sir as well and hear all about his stories with Ranthambhore's amazing tigers.
At
the mid-level, two of Ranthambhore's best options are the Ranthambhore Regency
(www.ranthambhor.com) and
Aditya Singh's Ranthambhore Bagh (www.ranthambhore.com)
Ranthambhore
offers two types of safaris - gypsy (6 seats) and canter (approx 25-30 seats)
Unlike most other parks, here the bookings are on a seat basis, so you can book
2 gypsy or canter seats without having to pay for the whole vehicle. All
bookings need to be made on the website (www.rajasthanwildlife.com)
Please do book well in advance, especially if you need gypsy bookings. And always carry your ID proof with you, since there is invariably some checking at the entry gates.
Other attractions
Ranthambhore Fort and the Ganesh Temple - one of Ranthambhore's most distinctive features is the huge fort that looms over the park. This medieval fort also has Rajasthan's oldest Ganesh temple, which attracts thousands of visitors, especially on Wednesdays.
In addition to the core area of the National Park, the adjoining Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary is also very pretty. Open even in the monsoon, this forest has beautiful high mountains and lots of flowing streams. There are tigers here as well as leopards and hyenas. Certainly worth a visit.
Ranthambhore can get really hot in summer, so sunscreen and comfortable clothes and headgear is important. It can get equally cold in winter, so a thick jacket is a definite requirement.
Another factor is the dust, so if you're troubled or allergic, a face mask will come in handy.
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