So with the help of our fellow passengers, we figured out where to get off and headed to the rickshaws. Rickshaw-wallahs are very variable, but the guy we chose was one of the gems. He asked us if we were married- like I said before, we get that a lot- and when we said 'no', he said 'maybe next year, you come back married.' Comic pause. 'Maybe next year, you come back with three members!' Cue hearty laugh showing off paan-stained Indian teeth.
Arriving at our hotel, we were made to wait about an hour for the manager to show up. This actually worked in our favour; when he eventually rolled up on his scooter, he felt so bad for making us wait that he let us haggle him down to 150 rupees a night! Score! This of course meant more money for beer, so we spent the rest of the day up on the rooftop, enjoying a beverage or two and enjoying the sunset.
The next day was TIGER DAY! Our safari was in the afternoon, so we chilled in the morning and prayed to the tiger god that he would thrust some beasts into our path. Up on the rooftop, we got chatting to some travellers- Benjy, an American bird-watching guide, and Jules, an English fella- who decided to join us last minute on our afternoon safari. So at 1.30 all four of us traipsed down the the tourist centre, with the other two trying to get in any jeep that had space. We were shown to our guide, hopped in our 6 person jeep, and we were off, all fingers and toes crossed that we'd see one of the 38 tigers Ranthambore had to offer.
The park itself is actually beautiful- a few colourful woodpeckers and kingfishers dotted around, as well as baby crocs by the river and peacocks crossing the dirt tracks. We often passed two types of deer peacefully grazing, the big samba deer and the more elegant spotted deer, or 'tiger chocolate' as the guide fondly called the latter! As beautiful as they were, you could feel the desperation for a tiger to come and pounce on one of them- how amazing, if slightly barbaric, would that be? Suddenly, just as everyone was beginning to lose hope, we'd hear a kind of 'caw-caw' sound, apparently from a deer who had spotted a tiger. 'Alarm-call!' the guide would say excitedly, and the jeep would bomb along the road towards the sound. This was one of two ways the guides detected the tigers- the other was by fresh footprints. Then it was time to play the waiting game. So we'd wait...and wait...and wait some more, along with other jeeps, willing with all of our power for a tiger to rear his head from the grassy bushes. After about 5 minutes our guide would admit defeat, and say 'chello' to the jeep driver ('go' in Hindi).
Unfortunately, this was the story of our first safari trip. Only two vehicles saw a tiger that day- of course, Benjy and Jules, the guys we'd met at our hotel, were in one of those jeeps, lucky sods. So, instead of seeing our own tiger, we had to make do with seeing their photos when we got back. With those two guys celebrating their tiger victory, and us comiserating our failure, it was always bound to turn into a fairly drunken night, with more travellers joining the party through the night.
Sadly, our day was about to get a bit more unlucky. We were actually bound for Bundi that night, at the ungodly hour of 1am. I'd been feeling a little achey all day- however, as the evening progressed, I gradually began to feel worse worse until I felt feverish with stomach aches. There was no way I could travel with the way I was feeling, so we made the rash decision to stay another day...and then another...
Although we missed out on spending time in Bundi, this didn't turn out to be such a bad thing- it just meant we had enough time to go on ANOTHER safari! Second time lucky, maybe? So along with a Dutch couple we'd me, we headed down at 5am to try and squeeze onto any jeep that was available. It wasn't looking hopeful- until suddenly two sets of spaces appeared on two different jeeps. Happy for another chance to see a tiger, we jumped in and headed towards Ranthambore once more.
Our guide the second time was so much better than our first. We were taking a different route to before, and this second one had a lot more wildlife that the guide was generally more knowledgable about. Of course, it was the same deal as before- alarm call...quick-drive...wait...wait...disappointment. And it nearly turned into the same story ending too, as our allocated safari time was up and we headed back to the park entrance.
BUT THEN! Just as were about to turn onto the direct entrance path, we saw the gateman pointing excitedly in the opposite direction. Our guide turned to us with sparkly eyes- 'A tiger has just been spotted on the road up here!' Hearts racing, jeep racing, we reached the alleged apot where the 4-year old tiger called T17 (original) was roaming. So we waited, but this time with more hope. Jeeps kept giving up and leaving, but our guide stayed strong, determined to catch a glimpse...Then, out of nowhere, a swish of a tail behind a tree! It was hard to see because of the bushes, but we continued to wait, knowing she couldn't stay behing there forever...and FINALLY! We were rewarded! Patrick saw her lift her head before me- I just managed to see an orange-and-black striped body walking away from us through the bushes. It wasn't close enough for a picture, it wasn't particularly clear. But it was a TIGER! And that's all that mattered! We waited at the end of the road to see if she'd pop out of the bushes, but unfortunately she was distracted by a nearby samba deer. No matter! WE FINALLY SAW A TIGER! Happy, happy days!
Jubilant in our victory, we went back to our hotel and got ready for our afternoon train to Bundi- the first time we were going to try to get on a train with an unreserved ticket! More on that VERY interesting journey very soon!...
No comments:
Post a Comment