This year the winter
holiday took me to a Jungle Trail. My friends and I headed towards Ranthambore in Rajasthan
with all the excitement to spot THE TIGER, whether we did one I shall tell you
later during the post.
I love all the excitement that goes into planning the holiday right from choosing the destination, the hotel, transport, reading all the trip advisor reviews and assuring ourselves that we have chosen the right place and the right hotel.
We zeroed down on Ranthambore looking at three reasons. One we wanted to spot Tigers since in our previous jungle sojourn to Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh) all we could spot was pugmarks. Two we wanted to experience the chill. Three it was Rajasthan. I love the state and have been to almost every nook and corner. Ranthambore was one place I had not been to and it offered me both Tigers and the chill.
Ranthambore National Park is one of the largest game reserves in the country. The park is located in the Sawai Madhopur district of southeastern Rajasthan, which is about 130 kms from Jaipur. The park has varied terrains and contains a huge variety of animals, birds and reptiles within it. Main attractions being Tiger, Leopard, Sloth Bear, Spotted Deer, Sambhar, Blue Bull, Chinkara, Wild Boar, Jackal and Hyena.
This was my first holiday where I happily woke up at 5:30 am every single day, buckled up in all the possible woolens that I possessed with my camera in tow all excited to go for the safari to a new jungle terrain . Our jungle safari’s started with a bang with a Gray Langur (Old World Monkey) deciding to take a ride with us to spot some tigers. It was followed by mad rush through the jungle at 60 km/hour in a gypsy with our adrenalin pumping to catch a glimpse of the tiger. We covered the distance of over 20 kms in just 20 mins. The scene was straight out of a movie, how we survived the drive still comes as a surprise to me given the crazy jungle terrain. In all I went for 7 safaris. Did I spot a tiger? I shall tell you later.
Another thing that I loved about the jungle was that it gave us glimpses of typical rajasthani architecture. The Ranthambore Fort stood majestically atop a hill overlooking the park. Old crumbling walls, ruined pavilions, step wells, chatri's(a typical rajasthani architectural style) and other ancient structures gave us a peek into the past, tigers have often been spotted and clicked in these ruins.
The trip also treated us to some amazing Rajasthani cusine, folk art and culture. While we enjoyed a scrumptious meal daily, we also made it a point to visit Dastkar a store run by the Ranthambore Foundation. This vivid store sells beautiful handicrafts created by the local craftsmen, especially women.
Besides, coming back from the chilly safari, warming our hands over hot cups of chai around the bonfire with endless conversation with my friends and travellers from across the globe was another perfect ingredient to an awesome holiday.
Here are some glimpses
I love all the excitement that goes into planning the holiday right from choosing the destination, the hotel, transport, reading all the trip advisor reviews and assuring ourselves that we have chosen the right place and the right hotel.
We zeroed down on Ranthambore looking at three reasons. One we wanted to spot Tigers since in our previous jungle sojourn to Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh) all we could spot was pugmarks. Two we wanted to experience the chill. Three it was Rajasthan. I love the state and have been to almost every nook and corner. Ranthambore was one place I had not been to and it offered me both Tigers and the chill.
Ranthambore National Park is one of the largest game reserves in the country. The park is located in the Sawai Madhopur district of southeastern Rajasthan, which is about 130 kms from Jaipur. The park has varied terrains and contains a huge variety of animals, birds and reptiles within it. Main attractions being Tiger, Leopard, Sloth Bear, Spotted Deer, Sambhar, Blue Bull, Chinkara, Wild Boar, Jackal and Hyena.
This was my first holiday where I happily woke up at 5:30 am every single day, buckled up in all the possible woolens that I possessed with my camera in tow all excited to go for the safari to a new jungle terrain . Our jungle safari’s started with a bang with a Gray Langur (Old World Monkey) deciding to take a ride with us to spot some tigers. It was followed by mad rush through the jungle at 60 km/hour in a gypsy with our adrenalin pumping to catch a glimpse of the tiger. We covered the distance of over 20 kms in just 20 mins. The scene was straight out of a movie, how we survived the drive still comes as a surprise to me given the crazy jungle terrain. In all I went for 7 safaris. Did I spot a tiger? I shall tell you later.
Another thing that I loved about the jungle was that it gave us glimpses of typical rajasthani architecture. The Ranthambore Fort stood majestically atop a hill overlooking the park. Old crumbling walls, ruined pavilions, step wells, chatri's(a typical rajasthani architectural style) and other ancient structures gave us a peek into the past, tigers have often been spotted and clicked in these ruins.
The trip also treated us to some amazing Rajasthani cusine, folk art and culture. While we enjoyed a scrumptious meal daily, we also made it a point to visit Dastkar a store run by the Ranthambore Foundation. This vivid store sells beautiful handicrafts created by the local craftsmen, especially women.
Besides, coming back from the chilly safari, warming our hands over hot cups of chai around the bonfire with endless conversation with my friends and travellers from across the globe was another perfect ingredient to an awesome holiday.
Here are some glimpses
The Sambhar Deer
Crocodiles enjoying the sun near Padam Talao
Rufous Treepie - A very
friendly bird
Crested Serpent Eagle
Spotted Deer
A group of black egrets
Ruins of an old Chatri
Jungle Trail...
Handicrafts by Dastkar
The Blue Jay taking a flight
Every safari gave us a visual treat and some good shots, but we
still came back disappointed because we could not spot THE TIGER. At one instance we missed spotting the tiger by just about 2 minutes. The moment we reached it made a dash into the jungle undergrowth near by, all we could get was hear him growl.
It's been 11
safari's for me considering my previous jungle sojourn and I have not spotted
the tiger. However, what I did come back is with some beautiful memories and
numerous stories of the undisputed king of the jungle.
P.S - The photographs
of the Spotted Deer and Crested Serpent Eagle have been clicked by a friend of
mine who accompanied us for the trip. He has entered the corporate photography contest. You could click on the
following link and vote for him.
A lucid account of your ‘Jungle Trail’ :) Thanks for transporting me to Ranthambore, even if it meant only till the length of your post :)
ReplyDeleteAnd must say, excellent use of Google images, must’ve taken you some helluva time to hunt ‘em out. Ah, kidding! Absolutely amazing clicks :)
P.S. You must not have seen the tiger but the tiger must have seen you. *dramatic music-effect*
Simply amazng! And the visual delights are beautiful :)
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