Ranthambore Day 2

It is my second day at Ranthambore National Park and I am up early.  There are no telephones, televisions or alarm clocks at the resort so my 5:45am wake up call comes disguised as a porter whispering through my window, "Mame, your tea is ready."

We leave for the park at 6:40am.  This morning we are on track 4.  It is a crisp cool morning, great for tiger hunting.  We drive slowly listening and looking for signs of a tiger.  There is very little activity this morning and for the first 45 minutes we only see a few birds lounging around the lake.

Kingfisher

Indian Snake Bird

Just past the lake we encounter another vehicle.  Their naturalist has seen a tiger.  The hunt is on!!!!  For the next 45 minutes we bounce up and down a 1km stretch of road stopping occasionally to listen for warning calls.  We see and hear nothing but the chase is exhilarating.  Eventually we meet up with the other vehicles on the track.  They are all stopped 20 feet away from a bush.  Our naturalist tells us there is a tiger in the bush.  We park directly in front of the bush and wait.  I find the scene amusing, 5 vehicles and 100 pairs of eyes staring at a bush where a man-eating tiger is supposedly hidden.  With all of this human attention certainly no sensible tiger would come out of hiding.  The typical American looking for instant gratification, I suggest to the woman next to me that perhaps someone should go into the brush to roust the tiger.  The words barely leave my mouth when I see a pair of yellow eyes staring back at me.  It's a tiger!!  And she is about 5 feet away from me.  I am so surprised I can barely breath.  "Th..th..there she is," I stammer.   She is beautiful.  She gives us, her adoring fans, a look of utter disgust and irritation before she turns and saunters into the brush.  I am so awed by her presence that I almost forget to take a picture.  The sight of her brings me to tears.

You can barely see the stripes in the middle of the photo.

SHE is T6, Machli, otherwise known as The Lady of the Lake and she is quite famous.  She is the most photographed tiger in the world.  She has her own Facebook page and has been the subject of several documentaries.  She is one of the oldest tigers in Ranthambore at around 15 years of age.  She is the mother of 11 cubs.  She is old and missing several teeth (she lost 3 protecting a cub from a crocodile).  She has turned her former hunting grounds over to her daughters.  It is expected that she will not live much longer so to see her is an honor and a privilege.

The remainder of the morning passes uneventfully (how can you top tiger royalty?) with the exception of the appearance of a rather frightened and flustered Indian hare.

I go back to the hotel to eat lunch and rest before my afternoon safari.  Tiger hunting has left me tired and hungry.

At 2:45pm I am back in the park to tackle Track 5, home to 1 male and 2 female tigers.  We see several herd of Spotted Deer.  They look like Bambi.

We also encounter a group of black-faced Languor monkeys.  I hate monkeys but at least this guys aren't terribly aggressive.  They are kindof cute.

Check out the long tail

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

We stop often to listen for warning calls and drive slowly to look for tiger tracks.  Finally, we find some tracks.  They are fresh, only a few hours old and from a female tiger.

We briefly hunt for her but to no avail.  The naturalist tells me later in private that it is too hot to see tigers this afternoon.  They are all in the brush resting before the evening hunt.

We see no tigers this time but the views are fantastic.

The adventure ends for the day.  Tomorrow I leave for Agra and the Taj Mahal but not before 1 more early morning chance to bag a tiger.

Ranthambore Day 1

Day 23 of my trip and I am off to Ranthambore National Park.  This is what I came here for, TIGERS. 
The park covers 106 sq miles in eastern Rajasthan and is home to 35-38 tigers (they do not have an exact count because cubs are born throughout the year).

Before I leave I have breakfast at my hotel.  While I am eating a notice a man at a neighboring table looking at me.  He seems to want to say something but does not.  Finally, after several minutes he asks, " Are you the American woman travelling alone to Ranthambore today?"  I admit that I am.  He comes over to introduce himself and his wife who has just arrived.  They are Australian, travelling with their daughter and her friend and they too are going to Ranthambore today.  As luck would have it they are staying in the same resort that I am.  We agree to meet later in the day to say "Hello."

My driver tells me the road from Jaipur to Ranthambore is pretty good.  I settle in for the 4 hour drive.  I am not settled for long before I am bounced out of my seat.  The road is a mess, destroyed by the monsoon.  This is going to be a long 4 hours.

We arrive in Ranthambore in time for me to check in and get my tent organized before my first safari.

The Aussie family (their names are Rod, Vida, Jo and Jacque) arrives just after me and we eat lunch together. 

After lunch it is time for the safari.  Ranthambore has 7 tracks on which to divide the vehicles on safari.  Today I am on track 1.  We drive along the track looking for telltale signs of tiger activity, paw prints, urine spray and warning calls from monkeys, deer and peacocks.

 The landscape is fantastic:

We see some male Sambar deer

We see a few peahens hiding in the grass



We do not see any signs of tigers. 

Finally after 2 hours, success!  We find a tiger print.

This is the print of a female tiger as evidenced by the relatively small size and narrow forepaw.  This female is known to have 2 young cubs.

We spend 45 minutes searching for the tiger but to no avail.  There will be no tiger spotting today.

We exit the park under a gorgeous sunset.



Tomorrow I have 2 safaris, morning and afternoon.  Perhaps I will see a tiger yet.

Jaipur - Day 2

Today I tour the city of Jaipur.  Jaipur is directly south of Amber, which I saw yesterday. 
When the area around Amber became overpopulated the capitol was moved to what is now the walled city of Old Jaipur.  Jaipur was built in 1727 by Sawai Jai Singh II.  It is considered India's first planned city as it is divided into geometrical blocks and streets.

Our first stop for the day is the Palace of the Winds, Hawa Mahal.

 

The "palace" was built in 1799 by Sawai Pratap Singh.  It is dedicated to Lord Krishna and is designed to look like the crown frequently worn by the god.  The building is not really a palace but rather a facade built into the wall surrounding the City Palace.  The purpose of the facade was to allow the ladies of the palace to observe the streets below without being seen.  The jalis are angled to give ladies the best view down to the street without allowing people in the building directly across the street to see in.

Next stop, City Palace Museum.  The palace was built between 1729-1732 and was expanded up through the 20th century.  A portion of the palace is reserved for the royal family who still resides here.  The remaining portion has been converted to galleries that feature Rajasthani art, textiles, and weapons.

The yellow portion, known as Chandra Mahal, is the residence of the royal family.  The red sandstone walls delineate the public section of galleries and shops.

 Pritam Chowk serves as a buffer zone between the two areas.  Known as the "Court of the Beloved" the courtyard features 4 beautifully painted door ways representing the seasons.

 

This elaborately carved gate separates 2 public areas.  The elephants were a gift to the current head of the royal family.  They were presented to him for his 1st birthday.

One of the highlights of the City Palace is the silver urns.

The urns (there are 2) are 5"2" tall and weigh an impressive 750lbs.  The Guinness Book of World Records lists them as the world's largest sterling silver vessels.    There are made out of 14000 silver coins and hold 4000 litres.  The urns were made for Maharaja Madho Singh II to carry sacred water from the Ganges on his 1901 voyage to England.

After the City Palace I take a rickshaw ride through Old Jaipur.

After the rickshaw, we head over to Jantar Mantar, a celestial observatory.  The observatory was built by Sawai Jai Singh II between 1728-1734.  It is the home of 16 instruments used to tell time, forecast the weather and determine the placement of planets in the sky. 

 This is Laghu Samrat Yantra, the small sundial.  It is accurate to within 20 seconds.

 This is part of Jai Prakash Yantra.  Rumored to be invented by Jai Singh himself, this instrument consisting of 2 sunken hemispheres can be used to verify the time of the spring equinox.

The Rashivalaya Yantra is composed of 12 pieces.  Each piece represents a sign of the zodiac and faces a different constellation.  This piece represents Cancer.

Finally we take a drive through the new part of Jaipur, the part outside the city walls.

I see,

Albert Hall, the State museum for Rajasthan.

I also see the home of Parliament or the Vidhan Sabha, the state legislature.

A few more spins around the town and it is back to the hotel to pack.  Tomorrow I am off to Ranthambhore in search of tigers.