Mar 24:
On March 24, 2024 Jim and I left Jaipur to travel down to the Ranthambore National Park in India. Our mission for this part of the journey was to hopefully photograph the tigers there.
Ranthambhore National Park is home to the largest population of tigers in India, and is 1300 square kilometers; but only 20% of it is open to the public, and of that part, it is divided into 10 zones. The Park service assigns a different zone to each vehicle for each drive. There are 80 tigers in the park, so you can see the magnitude of the challenge. Add to that the fact that safari vehicles are strictly limited to the roads, which mostly consist of a single road going in one direction through the zone. The National Park Service tightly controls access, and only let game drives take place between 6:30 am and 10, and from 2:30 to 6 pm. Plus, Tigers are solitary hunters, making it a greater challenge We’re feeling a little daunted by the challenge of spotting the tigers, yet this is supposedly the place with the highest likelihood of seeing tigers in India.
We arrived at our lodging for the next five days, the Aman I Khas resort. Nothing could be more unlike the world outside the resort. Everything within its walls appeared, orderly, clean and well-maintained. For our stay, we are staying in a tent, which is probably over 1000 ft.². it is also fully air-conditioned, which we appreciate since the temperatures will be in the high 90s for our entire stay.
Immediately, upon our arrival, we were greeted with cool towels, and refreshing lemongrass drink, which really hit the spot in the heat. We sat down to lunch on the patio, overlooking the property under a shady tree. The menu here is divided into the Indian side and the continental side, so hotel guests always have a choice Between either type of cuisine. After lunch, we stored our gear and I got my cameras ready promptly at two our guides arrive to pick us up in our Safari vehicle, and we drove to the entrance of Ranthambore National Park. What a zoo! Guides are allocated to a different zone for each safari drive, and for this afternoon, we were in Zone One, and so we set off.
These are my observations: first of all, being only allowed to set off in the full heat of the day is idiotic, as any naturalist will tell you that all the animals are hiding in shady places and sleeping, so you can’t spot them by their movements! But the Indian park officials seem to be indifferent to the experiences of their visitors. There are rules on top of rules, and none of them designed for anything except the officials’ convenience. Moreover, they let huge safari vehicles into the park, with between 20 and 30 passengers each, which pretty much guarantees an absolute scrum around any significant animal spotting. There was also trash everywhere, and the Indian officials do not enforce the anti-littering rules. As we drove back and forth along the main road through Zone 1, there were far fewer animals than we have seen in other game parks in other countries.
In this Zone, we passed by some lovely watering holes, but they were not as active with wildlife as would be the norm outside of India. Still, our guide, Madan, and our safari driver, Vijay, seemed very knowledgeable, and had a good rapport with each other. We managed to spot some good waterfowl, and a crocodile in one pond. Also, unlike other safari areas, the guides were not employed by the resorts, but were separately contracted by our safari operator, so the coordination you usually expect between the resort and the guide staff was suboptimal. Madan told us that tigers love to cool off with a swim, but none of the ones in this zone use these particular watering holes. We did pass several Sambur deer cooling off in some of them.
After about three hours, we passed a comfort station. There, we received the news that two juvenile male tigers were playing in a river bed near the entrance of the Zone. However, by the time we got there, about 8 huge safari trucks were on the road ahead of us.
A wild chase through the jungle ensued, as Vijay showed his driving skills. He went back around the road the other way. But when we arrived, there were about 10 vehicles lined up, and we couldn’t even see into the river bed. The biggest trucks hold 32 people, and none of them had gotten the message about viewing quietly. People were yelling to each other, and small children and babies were crying. They were the only wildlife we saw. We waited for a while hoping to see the tigers, but then we had to leave to make the mandatory exit time before sunset. The final ride shock about safari in India is that no sundowners are served!
Fortunately, after returning to the lovely oasis which is the Aman I Khas, showering, and enjoying our delayed G & T, my mood lifted considerably. After cocktails, the resort staff invited us to participate in the beginning of the Holi festival by joining them for a bonfire on the resort property. There was singing and dancing, and we are looking forward to celebrating the Festival of Colors tomorrow after our first game drive!
Vaya con Gringos 
no sun downers, I wouldn’t of went… Very COOL tent……
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