vardhan.harsh
Member
She lay basking in the morning sun deep within the jungle. We could see only a silhouette of black and orange from the not-so-dense foliage which concealed her body. Aware of voyeurs watching her from a distance, she twisted and turned, flaunting herself, adding to the growing excitement of her admirers. Suddenly a prancing peacock appeared to vex her, and she decided to give up her laziness and give the humans a show they wouldn’t forget for the rest of their lives. She ambled towards her watchers, ever so slowly, swaying her hips. She seemed to look through the tourists, their babbling hardly seeming to perturb her, walking at her own luxurious pace through the jungle of which she is the queen. As she walked, a bump in her belly told us that she was carrying a baby. She paused for a few moments to lick her paw before finally ambling into a different part of the jungle, leaving the humans starry-eyed. This truly majestic animal is T-39, as the forest officials call her, but we will always remember her as the first tigress we ever saw up close. The experience was one of its kind converting cynics like us into believers in a brief span of 15 minutes.
Often the best trips are those which are planned at the spur of the moment with an undecided itinerary. Our trip to Ranthambore National Park was exactly that - spontaneous and unplanned. We had to attend Aarti’s friend’s wedding in Jaipur on the 17th of February, and ever since the wedding date had been finalized, we had been thinking of combining it with a trip. The wedding was, after all, on a Friday, and while we could have driven back home on a Saturday morning, our scheming brains obviously did not agree. This was the perfect opportunity for a weekend trip, and we could simply not let it go. However, we could also not decide WHERE to go for the longest time. Mandawa, Bikaner, Ajmer, Pushkar were all ruled out due to various reasons. It was on a lazy Sunday in January while having brunch that Aarti proposed a trip to Ranthambore National Park. As soon as she mentioned it, we both knew that this was IT. Thereafter, the plan was made in 30 minutes flat and the bookings took an hour more. Ranthambore is a well-visited place and bookings for safaris and rooms are best done before visiting. We booked ourselves into RTDC’s Hotel Vinayak for two nights and also booked 4 safaris on canters. The gypsy safaris had been sold out much earlier.
Neither of us was too excited about the trip though, having visited a circus called Corbett a year earlier, and thus after that Sunday we pretty much forgot about it till two days before the trip when we had to pack for it.
Often the best trips are those which are planned at the spur of the moment with an undecided itinerary. Our trip to Ranthambore National Park was exactly that - spontaneous and unplanned. We had to attend Aarti’s friend’s wedding in Jaipur on the 17th of February, and ever since the wedding date had been finalized, we had been thinking of combining it with a trip. The wedding was, after all, on a Friday, and while we could have driven back home on a Saturday morning, our scheming brains obviously did not agree. This was the perfect opportunity for a weekend trip, and we could simply not let it go. However, we could also not decide WHERE to go for the longest time. Mandawa, Bikaner, Ajmer, Pushkar were all ruled out due to various reasons. It was on a lazy Sunday in January while having brunch that Aarti proposed a trip to Ranthambore National Park. As soon as she mentioned it, we both knew that this was IT. Thereafter, the plan was made in 30 minutes flat and the bookings took an hour more. Ranthambore is a well-visited place and bookings for safaris and rooms are best done before visiting. We booked ourselves into RTDC’s Hotel Vinayak for two nights and also booked 4 safaris on canters. The gypsy safaris had been sold out much earlier.
Neither of us was too excited about the trip though, having visited a circus called Corbett a year earlier, and thus after that Sunday we pretty much forgot about it till two days before the trip when we had to pack for it.
- The Travelers: Aarti & Harsh
- The Vehicle(s): Our very own 4x4 Tata Safari (We call it Kiyang) & Canters for Safaris.