South Africa 2: The Wildings of Kruger

In continuation from: South Africa 1: Reaching Johannesburg

The pride

A nice 7 hour sleep was all that we needed after the long and tiring journey. This much needed sleep set us up well for our 5-6 hour drive to Kruger. By 6:30 am, we were on road driving our hatchback on the smooth roads of SA. Anxious as I was regarding finding our route, I was carrying printed maps from India, Google Navigation on my phone and a GPS device to avoid any mistakes. Another reason for carrying so many devices was our fear of being robbed/harmed if we try asking for route from any local on any deserted road. However, that ended up just being an overcautious approach as we never felt threatened at any point during our entire 10 day trip. But carrying navigation devices helped as sometimes we would drive for miles without seeing any human to help us.

Brilliant setting for dinner

The drive was comfortable and we reached our lodge in Timbavati Game Reserve of Greater Kruger Park around 1 pm. Considering that our 500km drive was completed within 7 hours with couple of stops in between speaks greatly for the roads and traffic in SA.For most part, we drove through beautiful South African countryside with lush green hills and dense woods to keep us company. The only place where we struggled was when we entered the control gate and were trying to find way to Gomo Gomo Game Lodge. While we were looking for the lodge, we managed to see a zebra and a few impalas in the bush.

Vampirish looking white lion cub

At the lodge, we were received by HJ who was to be our ranger and host during the stay at Gomo Gomo. Some short formalities were completed while we sipped the welcome drink and tried identifying some birds and animals hanging around in the waterhole behind the lodge. Then, we were shifted to our chalet facing the waterhole made mostly by green building materials. Just like last night, we crashed in the beds immediately only to be woken by the smooth sound of drums which was the alarm call for lunch. As we were hanging around at the porch after lunch, we heard the sound of tree branches cracking only to find a herd of elephants making its way to the waterhole. This herd had 5 adults and three young ones. The youngest of them all was negotiating his way to the water through the legs of the bigger ones and still managed to loose his footing only to be helped by the big lads. Our safari vehicles were readied while we were busy photographing these pachyderms and we were called to hop onto them.

A sub adult male lion walks away from us

A pregnant looking white lioness

As soon as the safari started, we looked for the trail of the elephant herd that we saw from our lodge. Finding an elephant herd isn't all that tough as you can always follow the direction in which tree branches have been damaged by these huge animals as they brushed past them. Also, as elephants digest only about 40% of what they eat, their excreta can also help in trailing them. As soon as our ranger, HJ had an idea of the path that the elephants had taken, we were off-roading in the powerful Land Cruiser riding over several bushes and small plants as we moved. Soon, we caught up with the herd who kept on moving while munching on some juicy leaves. We kept on moving besides them with our ranger maintaining caution to not go too close to the herd as the herd can get aggressive when they have young  ones with them. We were with the herd for about 30 minutes and then moved away to let other cars have a closer look at them. In this part of Kruger, the rangers ensure that no more than two vehicles are closing on the animals at any point. This allows the animals to not feel surrounded while also leaving space for the vehicles to move out quickly in case the animals charge at it.

A male Kudu

Leopard turtle

Next, we moved further deep into the forest where our ranger last saw a white rhinoceros. South Africa has two rhino species: White Rhino and Black Rhino. These names could be a bit misleading as these two rhino species have no difference in color with the basic difference being in the shape of their lips. Also, white rhinoceros are the biggest species of rhinos. Once in the area, the vehicle was stopped near a waterhole where the rhino was expected to come for drinking. A few silent minutes passed when an adult male white rhino approached the water. Even after their bulky bodies, these animals can move pretty quickly and HJ maintained comfortable distance from him as this rhino didn't seem all that comfortable with our presence around him. Once we were enough far from him, the rhino started drinking water which continued for quite sometime. After drinking, he posed for sometime to our cameras and then moved in the other direction. We had only moved a few hundred meters when we saw a movement in the bush. As we stopped, a female white rhino with two cubs moved past us with one of the cub's nervousness in our presence made obvious by the twitching in his tail. Interestingly, rhinos are known to fart when they get too nervous.

Run with your tails up, Warthogs

A giraffe in its most vulnerable position

After this, we moved to a different part of the forest where we got off the vehicle to have some snacks and a drink in the heart of the bush. It got dark by the time we moved from there, and a flashlight was brought out to give us a slight feel of a night safari. A half an drive with the light kept us excited with the hopes of sighting a leopard who tend to come out during the dark. However, all we sighted was a Mozambican Spitting Cobra sprinting across the dirt track. This snake spits venom into the eyes when it feels threatened. Having enjoyed our first game drive in Kruger, we reached back at the lodge where dinner was being readied. As we had informed the chef, that all of us were vegetarians, she took special care to prepare meals for us. For dinner, a number of tables were joined to create a huge circular table with candle lights on each table. Here every group of guests was joined by their ranger for meals and this setting also helped guests interact with each other. After dinner, the rangers escorted the guests to their rooms to ensure their safety in case any wild animal had managed to squeeze between the electric wire fencing. Even though it was Christmas eve, but we slept early to be able to wake up for our early morning safari.

The small family

The darker the colour of the patches, the older the giraffe

Christmas morning came to us with a brilliant gift that a lion pride with two white lions was sighted somewhere near. HJ told us to prepare our cameras as we drove to the area where the lions were sighted. On our way, we saw a solitary hyena which bolted into the bush on seeing us. Soon, we saw about 8-9 lions moving/lying/sitting in the bush. As we approached and crossed the lions, each of them crouched to prepare to attack in case we threaten them. According to HJ, this pride had about 25 lions in all and we were seeing 9 of them here mainly females and sub adult lions. The adult lions are normally patrolling their territory to ensure that their harem remains safe. The two white lions were a female and a cub. This sighting became really special when we got to know that there are only about 7 white lions in the wild all over the world. So, we were actually sighting 25% of all white lion population in the wild. As usual, we were with them for sometime while other vehicles waited some distance away and then we moved out to let them see these majestic animals. Next, we headed to another place where the two adult males of this pride were resting while on their patrol. As we took a turn, we saw a vehicle with the guests and the ranger looking into the bush. On reaching close, surprisingly we saw a leopard moving from one bush to the other to avoid being noticed. We tried to track him for sometime, however it was a really tough task as leopards can literally disappear even while. After a few short glimpses at the leopard, we moved towards the lions. 

View of the waterhole from our chalet

This was all that he came out of the water for us

The lions were pretty far from where the rest of the herd was as it took us almost 30 minutes to reach them and found them lying under a thorny bush. We also saw a single wildebeest, a few baboons, some impalas while we were moving towards the lions. These two were much larger from the rest of the lions in the herd and had that perfect mane that we expect from male lions. As we were photographing them, suddenly the lions growled and got up to take notice of us as a slight movement by one of us disturbed them. After this, we moved some distance away from the lions to have our customary snacks and drinks in the middle of the jungle. While we were having it, we saw a giraffe a long distance away from us. As our eyes adjusted to the distance, we noticed that there were more than one giraffes there. Thus, we had our next target to which HJ duly obliged as he expertly took us to the waterhole around which the giraffes were munching on juicy leaves and having a drink. It seemed like a family of three with one male, one female and one sub adult giraffe. While the adult giraffe was drinking water, I noticed how vulnerable these lanky animals feel while drinking water. This giraffe took almost 2 minutes at the water's edge  looking in all directions and adjusting his long legs before he finally took a sip. After this, we went back to the lodge feeling well gifted on this christmas morning having seen a lot of wildlife in this drive.

The prey: Impalas

The predator: Leopard

Back at the lodge, we had a light breakfast and then went to our chalet to sleep for a while. The usual sound of a small drum being played(sign of the meal being ready) woke us up after some time. A filling lunch of pasta and some boiled vegetable was followed by another short nap before we left for the evening game drive. When we woke up and came out of our chalet for the evening drive, we were told that the elephant herd was at the waterhole again today and we missed it. We hoped to be able to compensate for that in the drive. This time we moved to the area where we saw the leopard in the morning hoping to see it in the area again as the big cat seemed to be out for a hunt earlier. If successful, we should find the leopard still enjoying its meal somewhere there. As we moved towards that area, we crossed a waterhole where we could see the grey skin and nostrils of a hippopotamus emerging out of the water. Hippos spend most of their time inside water because their legs aren't strong enough to carry their weight for long and the buoyancy provided by water puts much lesser weight on their legs. As our vehicle engine revved close to the waterhole, the hippo emerged slightly more out of the water with his entire upper body visible and then went back to the earlier position soon. 

The apex predator

Stop disturbing me you humans

Lemme do the Cat Roll

Close to the waterhole, a family of warthogs was grazing which ran with its tail up as soon as they saw us. Further ahead, we saw a vehicle stopped towards the side as another was behind the bush. We understood that this vehicle is waiting for its chance to see the animal inside when the other vehicle comes out. Once we got inside, we saw the leopard was sitting behind a bush with a half eaten warthog near it. HJ told us that this was a female leopard as the male is much bigger in size. On our way back, we saw four lions resting in what seemed like a rain fed river which was completely dry at this time of the year. Of these four, two were adult females and two were sub adult males. We find lions resting most of the time during the day because it takes more energy to move during the day. As these big cats sometimes have to go without being able to hunt successfully for even a week, they try to conserve their energy by avoiding much movement during the warmer part of the day. 

Billabong, a male white rhino in its prime

The herd crossing the tarmac

Next, we were just moving around the jungle tracks as we noticed a slight movement in the bush. As we brought it to the notice of our ranger, a huge male rhino emerged from behind the bush. HJ identified him and told us that this rhino was in its prime and they had named him 'Billabong'. This rhino had an injury over his eye which implied that he was fighting for territory with other rhinos in the area. Next, we saw a few female Kudus who seemed as interested in looking at us as we were interested in photographing them. A bit further, a male Kudu with its strong spiral horns crossed the track in front of us. These Kudus belong to the antelope family and are quite big in size for an antelope. Even after their huge weight of around 250-300 kgs, they are highly agile capable of jumping around 3 meters from a standing position. Back towards the lodge, we saw a big herd of African buffalos crossing the tarmac road while we were moving on it. African buffaloes are known to be born with a bad attitude with their moods highly difficult to understand. For this very reason, HJ maintained more distance from them than what we maintained even with the lions. A buffalo herd is generally led by a matriarch who moves the herd from one waterhole to the other while grazing on the grass around the waterhole. This evening, the weather seemed to be worsening and a thunderstorm seemed to be brewing with lightening all over the place. The beautiful setup for dinner was prepared even today with some contingency plan in case of rain I believe. However, it didn't rain while we had our meal under the cool african breeze and were then escorted back to our chalet by HJ. 

Don't be fooled by the innocent face: African Buffalo

As we woke up next morning, it was drizzling and even in the heart of summer, we felt cold. The seat gloves in our vehicle was provided with poncho for each one of us in them. Even the big cats are known to not like rains and we expected all of them to be hiding somewhere safe at least as long as the rains last. As we moved around the jungle with HJ and our tracker trying to spot some wildlife for us, we covered ourself completely under the poncho to prevent the cool winds from reaching us. After sometime, they managed to find us the four lions that we saw last evening snuggling up to each other while sitting in a tight huddle. The look on their face clearly said that we are not enjoying this downpour. As even we couldn't take much pictures under the rain, we took a few pictures and then sat silently observing the agony of the lions. As we had seen almost all of bigger animals in South Africa by then except cheetah and wild dogs, now I just wanted to see them. Even to this, HJ duly obliged as we were soon tracking a pack of wild dogs. Wild dogs are also fierce hunters as the pack chases the prey until it stops running or is surrounded and then they start to eat the prey even without killing it. Also, as we saw the pack in an area which belonged to some other lodge, so we couldn't go offroad to get any closer to the pack and tried to spot them using binoculars and the long zoom lenses only. As it was still drizzling slightly, we went back to the lodge a little early. While we were getting of the vehicle at the lodge, HJ received message over the wireless that a leopard was being sighted somewhere close to the lodge itself. He asked us if we wanted to go to which we immediately replied in affirmative. While we were closing down to the spot where the leopard was, we saw a lioness ambling around the area. It was clear that the lioness could smell the leopard but was unable to find its exact location. We finally spotted the leopard thanks to another vehicle standing there looking at it and helping us locate it. Leopards are much more reclusive than tigers or lions and rarely sit where you can have a clear view of them. Even this one was sitting behind a bush under a tree. We believed that it was also hiding from the lioness and planned to climb the tree in case the lioness gets any closer to it. The continuos downpour ensured that we didn't spend much time there and went back to the lodge soon.

Strength in Numbers: African Wild Dog

A rock monitor lizard

Today we were to leave the lodge for our way back to Johannesburg, so we freshened up quickly and checked out of the lodge as soon as possible. Before leaving, we thanked HJ and other lodge staff whole heartedly for hosting us well and fulfilling all that we demanded of them to the best that they could.

We don't like this downpour  

Tips to visiting Kruger:

Kruger is one of the biggest national park in the world covering almost 20000 square kilometres. Normally one has two options when visiting Kruger: 

First is to book himself into a lodge of a private game reserve wherein the lodge provides everything including meals, accommodation and game drives in the area that they own or share with other lodges. As these game reserves share the same forest with the entire Kruger with no fencing to stop free movement of animals, the probability of sighting animals is same in the private game reserves and the national park. However, the cost for these private lodges is quite high. 

Second option is to drive your rented vehicle yourself inside the park. In this case, you just pay the control gate entry fees and try to sight and track the animals yourself which is a fun experience. As you are doing this in your own car, you can drive for as long as you want but the only drawback being that you are not allowed to go off the road in this case limiting your sighting opportunities only to what you can see from the tracks provided. As you stay in government lodges or hotels outside the boundary of Kruger in this case, your total cost comes down tremendously in this case.

My Recommendation: Its very tough to say which option is better out of these two. My recommendation would be to do a little bit of both if you have time. Ideal trip itinerary would be to visit Kruger for a minimum of 3-4 days and distributing your visit between private game reserves and the open part of the park.

Continue reading the next part: The beauty that is Panorama Route

A Pilgrimage Part 3: Bhimashankar: A temple in the clouds

Bhimashankar is also a Jyotirlinga and the legend has it that a demon named Bhima lived here with his mother ages ago. Bhima was tormented as he didn't know about his father. After a lot of coaxing, his mother told him that he was a son of Kumbhkarna, brother of Ravana and his father was killed by Lord Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu. Upon knowing this, Bhima got agitated and caused havoc in three worlds and started torturing sages and gods equally. The gods then beckoned Lord Shiva for rescue who then reduced the demon to ashes and thus ended his tyranny. After this, the holy sages requested Lord Shiva to make this place his abode and he manifested himself here as Bhimashankar Jyotirlingam.

Lush Greenery enroute

Unlimited stretches of fresh vegetation

As we wanted to avoid heavy rush at the temple, so we left real early from Shirdi so as to reach Bhimashankar before 8 am. The drive to Bhimashankar from Shirdi takes you on the Nashik - Pune road till Manchar, from where you take a right turn towards the ghats. From Manchar, its about 65 kilometers. The route is insanely scenic and is as important as the destination to be savored. Most of the route is through ghats with fresh green vegetation to keep you company. I stopped the car thrice just to get out and enjoy the brilliant atmosphere and fresh air. However, the best part comes when you are about 5 kms from the temple as you are literally traveling in the clouds. The atmosphere is full of mist and visibility reduces to less than 20 meters. This part of the journey is through dense forests and is to be covered only during day time. 

Stairs through the clouds

Misty road

Finally, one has to park the vehicle and climb down about 200 stairs to reach the main temple. Even these stairs are covered with mist all around the year. The temple is built with black sandstones which lends it a rustic and ancient feel. It is a modest yet graceful temple dating back to 13th century. A big bell in hemadpanthi structure is a feature of Bhimashankar. Apart from Bhimashankar mahadev temple, there is also a Ram temple besides it. 

Main Sanctum

This area is a reserve forest and hence attracts jungle lovers as much as pilgrims. Even trekkers flock to this area as there are many trek routes through lush green vegetation such as to Gupt Bhimashankar, Hanuman Lake and Bombay point. The forest is full of wildlife such as panthers, sambhar deers, wild boars etc. If one is lucky, you may spot Giant Indian Squirrel which is found only in this area. A trek through here is highly recommended with endless stretches of greenery mixed with gushing streams and beautiful waterfalls.

More from the wilds of Ranthambore

Indian Hare, the bubbly guys!!

Before the parks close for Monsoons on June 30th, I made another weekend trip to Ranthambore National Park. Another night's drive of around 400 kms in superfast mode ensured that we reached our hotel just in time for our morning safari. However, even the superfast mode didn't give us a minute's time to relax at the hotel as our safari vehicle was waiting for us as we entered the hotel.

T-28, star male

During my last two visits, I have only been to zone 3 & 5. Thankfully, this time I got a change of scenery as we were allotted zone 2 for our morning safari. This is one of the smaller zones and falls into the territory of T-28 male tiger and T-22 female tigress.  With more experience, I have realized that sighting a tiger is totally a matter of luck and now I don't expect to see a tiger every time I am out on a safari.  But I got lucky again, as we took a curve and saw T-28, the star male named so because of a star sign over his left eye, right next to the road about 10 meters ahead of us. Thanks to our driver who couldn't switch gears smoothly and made enough noise to disturb the tiger who drifted into the woods. This same tiger passed before our gypsy the last time I visited Ranthambore without giving us a clear shot. And he did the same thing again. However dominant he might be known as, he surely is camera shy.

After that, we tried to locate him again without any success. Then, we moved further into the jungle in the hope of sighting T-22, which again didn't happen. So, apart from the short sighting and a few dancing peacocks, this safari was pretty dull and we were out of the park half hour before the allotted time. A sleepy breakfast followed and we dozed off to catch whatever little sleep we could before afternoon safari.

In our afternoon safari, we got zone 4. I had wanted to visit this zone for long as the legendary tigress, Macchli now inhabits this zone. At 16 years, Machhli is claimed to be the oldest tigress in the wild and is also famed for having killed a crocodile. At this old age, she doesn't move much which increases our probability of sighting her in her smaller territory.

T-25, a 6 yr old male

However, we were in for a pleasant surprise when we entered our zone gate. A gypsy was coming backward trying to tracking a male tiger. As expected, we also started tracking and after straining our eyes for sometime trying to look into the woods, I saw something huge moving parallel to the road. He came into the clearing and here he was, a huge male tiger over 10 feet long from nose to tail. While he was scent marking a tree to warn other predators of his territorial presence, I could here shutters clicking all around me. If it hadn't been for a well traveled Bengali uncle in our gypsy who literally commanded our driver to stop, the tiger would have crossed the road right in front of us. Still, we were satisfied having sighted such a magnificent tiger. He was T-25, also famous for being the only male tiger known to be bringing up two cubs after the tigress died last year. I wonder why his other name is "Zaalim" even after him being caring enough to think of the cubs and not moving on to some other tigress.

Machhli, the grand old dame of Ranthambore

After the tiger crossed the road and disappeared on the other side, we went further into our zone in search of Macchli. On our way, we passed by Malik Talab which had become just a small pool of water in which many birds like painted stork, cormorant, black headed ibis and spoonbill were found fishing in the shallow waters. We also passed by many dancing peacocks enjoying the slight drizzle that had made the weather in this May afternoon enjoyable.

A paradise Flycatcher

As we approached Lakarda area of the national park, we finally saw Machhli walking across the road. She seemed smaller and whiter compared to other tigers. Probably a result of of old age!! While I clicked a few pictures, she moved nonchalantly to finally lie under a palm tree. From here, she was heard growling for over 10 minutes which probably signified hunger as she is unable to hunt efficiently having lost all four canines in battle/hunting. We then went to the forest checkpost and asked the person posted there to feed the tigress as she seemed hungry. Upon our way out, we saw a dead Civet. Civets are known to climb trees and he possibly fell to his death. We also saw some exotic birds here like Paradise Flycatcher, Green Beaeater, Shrike, Golden Orioles. Paradise Flycatcher was really a treat to the eye with its magnificent orange color which turns to white with age.

A Heron looking for its prey

Back at hotel, we dived into the pool to get some respite from the dry heat of May. Our hotel was perfect in all aspects including good rooms, nice swimming pool, a good lawn except for food which was tasteless without fail.

A sambhar deer in middle of Rajbagh Lake eating aquatic plants

Next morning, we woke up around 5:30 and hurried ourselves to the hotel gate, where our gypsy was waiting for us. This time we got zone 3 which is the most scenic zone of Ranthambore as it has three lakes which act as perfect habitat of both prey as well as predator. Though zone 3 used to be quite popular for tiger sighting a few years back when Machhli ruled the lakes with her 3 cubs, but I have not seen a tiger in zone 3 in over 3 safaris.

A monstrous Monitor Lizard

Upon entering the zone, we first went inside hoping to see T-19, a female tigress with 3 cubs. However, we were out of luck as the area was totally devoid of any signs of her presence. After that, we came back around Rajbagh lake to find a number of alarm calls warning of the presence of a predator in the area. Finally when we reached the source of alarm calls, we saw a sick cheetal sitting on a rock and a sambhar deer was giving alarm calls while looking at the cheetal. Sambhar deers have very weak eyesight but a strong sense of smell. Here it seemed as if the sambhar had caught the smell of tiger scent from some earlier territory marking and he confused the sick cheetal for a tiger. Standing there with his tail up, he continued to give alarm call for over an hour. Disappointed, we moved around the lake where we saw a couple of small crocodiles lying in the sun while a number of sambhar deers were inside the lake eating aquatic plants without seeming to fear for their life. Also, three monitor lizards were moving along the lake searching for bird eggs to eat.

Biggest Turtle I have ever seen

On the other side of the lake, we saw a giant turtle resting about 5 meters away from the lake. Disturbed by the sound of our gypsy, the turtle immediately put its head inside his shell and moved into the lake. Though, we didn't see a big cat in this safari, but seeing that huge turtle kept us excited.

A female Neelgai

In our afternoon safari, we got the only zone I didn't want to see: Zone 1. This is the smallest zone here and there are hardly any water left in this zone in the month of May. Though this zone falls into the territory of two tigers but both would have moved somewhere in search of water. There are some specific berries loved by bears in this zone which also opens the possibility of a sloth bear here. However, as feared, the zone was totally dry in terms of animals except for a few langurs and spotted deers.

A beautiful Golden Oriole

Monsoons are not really easy for Tigers as water in the lakes increases the reach of crocodiles enhancing chances of a conflict between the two ferocious animals. Also their prey gets more dispersed due to the flooding in low lying areas and availability of grass in higher plateaus. So wishing the 8-9 cubs recently born in Ranthambore all the luck in surviving their first monsoon rains!!!!

Painted Storks in Flight mode

Where Tigers rule: Ranthambore National Park

When I visited Ranthambore last year for a day and failed to see a tiger, I had decided that I will come back here again. I always had a feeling that I missed seeing one by a very slight margin. So I decided to drive to Ranthmabore on a Friday night, have four safaris over Saturday n Sunday and drive back after the evening safari on Sunday. Last year I committed a big mistake of doing these safaris in a Canter, which is like a minibus with its top removed. Though you can still see a tiger but the canter with its inability to maneuver easily and the time it takes in picking up all the tourists reduces the probability of seeing a tiger significantly. So I booked my safaris in gypsy with Ranthambore Bagh. I would highly recommend this place to anyone going there. With the owner himself being a wildlife photographer, this place is built with a passion that won't be seen in other resorts in Ranthambore.

Safari 1: We got zone number 3 in our 1st safari. Its surely the most scenic zone with three lakes here. Also, the chances of sighting a tiger here are good as these lakes provide nice habitat to a tiger with enough water n prey present. Zone 3 falls into the territory of T-28 male tiger, T-17 female and T-19 female with her 3 cubs. However, we were out of luck as this zone was totally dry during our safari. No pugmarks, no warning calls. We had to make do with just crocodiles, deers, monkeys and a number of birds.

Safari 2: When we reached back to our hotel, we found out that people in zone 4 and 5 had seen multiple tigers, so we requested the agents to get us those zones for the evening safari as tigers hardly move during the day. We got zone 5. Its the biggest zone and the ride is quite harsh on your back in this zone. Sundari(T17) The start to this safari was similar to the earlier safari with just deers, monkeys and birds to give us company. However, i still had hope as tigers normally move late evening when its a bit colder. After about 2 hours, we saw a canter and a gypsy parked saying that there is a tiger nearby. We moved closer to them and there she was. Sundari(T-28), a female tigress big enough to ruling a territory as big as male tigers of 40-50 sq kms, sleeping on a rock. After lying there for sometime, finally she got up to move towards the stream. This was our chance to have a closer look at her. With atleast 7-8 vehicles there, our gypsy driver drove in reverse gear for over 100 meters on such difficult terrain to get us probably the second best view of the beautiful tigress. She sat in the water for about 15 mins giving us enough time to take pictures. After that she walked into the woods and we exited the park for the day. Safari 3: Though we didn't want it, but we got Zone 3 again. By now, I had started trusting my luck though having seen 3 tigers in my last three safaris. I actually did get lucky as we had just entered our zone when a gypsy came backwards with the guide announcing the approach of a tiger. After a bit of commotion with all the gypsies moving backward and forth, he came out of the bushes, crossed the road and climbed onto the ruins to analyze his territory before disappearing into the bushes on the other side. T-28, Star Male Fort Territory This was T-28 or Star Male, the biggest tiger of Ranthambore. Though Sundari was big but T-28 seemed massive compared to her. More than that, I just loved the attitude with which this tiger crossed the route totally unperturbed by all the cars around. Rest of the time in this safari was spent looking for T-19, the female with 3 cubs. However, she is known to be shy and not easily spotted. That belief was proved when we couldn't find any trace of her but still came back mesmerized by T-28. Safari 4: I wanted to see the grand old dame of Ranthambore, the oldest tigress in the wild, 17 year old Machli or Crocodile killer or Queen of the Lakes. While male tigers are known to be dominant and stronger, it was Machli's 10 year reign of the highly desired Fort territory of Ranthambore that made her a legend. She finally left the territory for her daughter, Sundari. With her canines broken and a weak old body, she now lives in Zone 4. For this very reason, I requested my agent to provide us Zone 4. However, we were again allotted Zone 5. Though we were pretty disappointed, but our guide almost promised us that he will show us atleast one tiger. That helped in soaring our spirits high. T-39 He didn't have to work hard to keep that promise. We had just entered the National Park and were on the common road for the park and Ranthambore Fort when we saw almost all the jeeps parked. We understood that we are in luck again. It took about 15 mins before we could spot the black n yellow stripes in the woods. It was T 39 and she was walking towards us after drinking water at the stream below. Finally she came out of the woods right next to our jeep and looked towards us. She seemed hungry and our guide concluded that she must have just fed her cubs by looking at her nipples. A forest guard present there was happy to see that as that confirmed that there were new cubs in the Park. After staring at us for a few seconds, she moved parallel to the road before jumping onto it and move into the woods on the other side. She was the closest I could be to a tiger. Anymore closer, she would have been in our jeep. Then we went into our zone hoping to find Sundari again but that didn't happen. We came out of the park after our final safari of the trip and were more than satisfied after seeing 3 tigers from close. RANTHAMBORE TIPS 1. If you are going from Delhi by road, go to Jaipur. From jaipur move on Tonk Road(NH 12) before turning left from Kothun. Continue on this till Lalsot and turn right from there. This is the best route among all you will see on Google Maps. 2. Do whatever it takes to get a gypsy for safari. 3. Do atleast four safaris to enhance your probability of seeing a tiger and enjoy the wildlife. 4. If you still don't see a tiger, go back again!!