I went to Ranthambore in mid-November of the year 2021 with the hope to see limitless chivalry with my own eyes. I went there with my family and we booked three safaris, two in the afternoon and one early morning. And to my surprise, we saw tigers on all of the three safaris. From what I have heard it’s rare to spot a tiger even once and I got to see such perfection not once, but thrice.
At the beginning of my trip, I was hoping to get to see a tiger just once but nature had different plans for me and I was left absolutely thrilled as our trip ended. Why wouldn’t I be thrilled? I got to see tigers, up close, in the wild, in their natural habitat and the best part was that they were not bothered by us.
On our first safari, we came across a huge entrance gate all covered in roots. There are nine routes and only one route was through this gate.
And the rest of the day got more and more interesting.
We then spotted a sambar deer and monkeys.
Approximately 15 mins after that, we started our chase to see the tiger. Now in that vast jungle how are we to locate a tiger? The guides are experts when it comes to this. They told us that there are two ways to track a tiger. One is by their paw prints and the other is through animal calls. Basically, when a deer sees a tiger, they alert the other animals by making a sound and this sound is what the guides catch and follow.
We came around this scenery and I was immediately reminded of Disney’s — The Lion King. A tree surrounded by grass.
The guide then asked us to stay quiet and wait patiently. We did and were left awestruck. The tiger jumped out of the grass it was hiding in and the magic began. It was roaming around with such unfathomable stealth. We were left speechless. All I wanted to do was to keep this moment and never let it fade. The whole experience was absolutely wonderful.
It seemed like the tiger was posing exclusively for us.
There is a reason why the tigers are not bothered by our presence in the wild. We are in vehicles and the tigers take this vehicle and the noise to be activities on an animal. They are however bothered by noises that humans make. They can react in fear or agitation to cell phone sounds and human voices.
All the tigers have names, we saw Noor, Sultana and T-160. I am not an expert to distinguish them by their face yet. Please pardon my lack.
On our second safari, the tigress was walking parallel with us. This time she was checking and then marking her territory.
On our third safari, we saw a tigress but for a brief moment. She soon went and hid in the leaves. The grace that they hold never even blinks for a moment. They ooze with elegance and poise.
Our guide told us about a land dispute between sibling tigers and yes I am serious. The tigers indulge themselves in a deathmatch if the fight is not brought to a halt. One tiger there was sent to Sariska Tiger Reserve because of such rivalry. These are just a sprinkle of stories that I gathered there.
We went there after the rainy season. The greenery in the jungle makes it difficult to spot tigers. According to the guides, the best time to spot tigers is from April to June.
We met people on the safari canter who were on their 4th trip and they didn’t spot a single tiger. That was the time I realised how lucky I have been to have experienced this joy on my own. It was a blissful experience and it’s forever etched in my mind.