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Travel Journals
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The Tigers of Rathambore
—by Nathaniel Waring
Ranthambore National Park lies east and south of the great Rajasthani capital of Jaipur, far enough away to be a real voyage for the erstwhile Maharajahs who made this beautiful deciduous forest set in rolling hills, lakes and cliffs, into their tiger hunting grounds. I arrived by train at the nearby Sawai Madhopur Railway Station. This was my 3rd visit to Ranthambore over the last twelve years and I eagerly anticipated the cool early morning drive amongst the large trees and soft yellow grass that shimmers like a lake in the bright rising sun. I looked forward to seeing the Nilgai, a very large deer and possibly the chinkara, a very tiny gazelle. I even anticipated seeing the small packs of langurs, fuzzy gray monkeys that sometimes venture close enough to vehicles to be a nuisance. I most expected however to not see the tiger. After all they are shy animals, more nocturnal than the lion, and exceedingly well camouflaged amongst the golden browns and yellows of Ranthambore's dry season.
So I set off with my fellow travelers in our "gypsy" 4 WD and stayed quiet when they began to grill our naturalist guide Rafiq about our chances of seeing tiger. With my many years experience in writing our travel brochures I was great at describing our "quest for the elusive tiger," or the "search amidst the jungle for the mighty Bengal tiger," never actually describing a real encounter lest a client believe that they were guaranteed a sighting. We all know former President Clinton saw a tiger, the young "Bambooram" on his one and only brief outing in the park. I'm convinced that this poor tiger was spotted days before and watched over until Clinton's arrival.
Rafiq however had other plans for us. He boldly stated that he would show us a tiger, in fact tigers, three of them, nine month old cubs! I sat silent, not wanting to dampen the growing excitement that hovered over our open vehicle as we sped along smooth dirt road up and down the rolling hills of south eastern Rajasthan.
Apparently, three cubs and their mother had taken to a certain watering hole and had been seen there almost every day for the past week, sometimes in the morning when the mother was still away on her hunt, and sometimes at dusk when the mother awakened to begin her nightly prowls.
But Rafiq, in the tradition of the famed African Naturalist Guides, built the anticipation with several hours of driving before finally bringing us to the watering hole. Two other vehicles who had been assigned our routes (vehicles are assigned different routes to avoid congestion and maintain the appearance of wilderness) were already there and the people sitting in the other jeeps slowly turned away from where they were looking and looked at us, a look of smug serenity all over their faces as they watched our frantic search into the thick banyan tree that was the object of their gaze.
And, under the tree, some 80 feet from where we stopped were three tigers, huge cubs, great splotches of surreal orange, lying down and slowly moving about the tree, ignorant of us, and intent solely on whiling away their day. Tigers! In front of me! Alive! We stayed there for close to an hour. I took only two pictures, preferring to soak up the movement and color and shapes.
Over dinner that night at the gorgeous new Vanyavilas Resort and Lodge most everybody traded stories of their tiger sightings of that day. This was my 5th visit to a National Park in India over the years and certainly the best. I look forward to writing our next year's brochure where I will re-visit the tired phrases born of continuous disappointment.
To attempt to duplicate my experience look at our Classical Journey to India and Nepal which features two nights at Vanyavilas and four excursions into the forests of Ranthambore. Keep your fingers crossed!
Do you have a C&K travel story you would like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Submit your travel tales and reflections to tours@coxandkingsusa.com.
Travel Journals
Laos, Land of a Million Elephants
Nat Waring's North Island, Seychelles Report
Memsahib in the Kitchen
The Tigers of Rathambore
Life Along the Ayeyarwady
North Island, Seychelles
Our Honeymoon To Kenya
Our Stay at North Island
Bali and Sumba Islands, Indonesia
Peru and the Inti Raymi Festival
Northern Thailand & Myanmar
Going Native in Malaysia
Bhutan, Nepal, Cambodia & Thailand
Exploring Ethiopia
Falling in Love—with India
A Perfect Safari to Kenya and Tanzania
A Thai Wedding
Indochina Sojourn
Family Safari to Tanzania
Exploring Malaysia
Our Dream Family Safari to South Africa
Safari to Botswana
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