Our quest for the Royal Bengal Tigers lead us to Ranthambore
this time . Ranthambore is unique much
like its name derived from Ran-war,Tham-pillar,Bore-Dawn! It is marked not just
by the wildlife sanctuary but gives one
a feel of the rich amalgamated Rajput and Moghul history with resorts
resembling
walled fortresses with carved minarets and meenakari painted walls .
We started our excursion by visiting the
Ranthambore fort . With peacocks adorning the rampants of the fort ,langurs on
the walls and the occasional crocodiles on the moat ;our sojourn exploring the
jungles between the Aravalis and Vindyas had surely begun.
Our safaris to the core zone started early next morning .
The Ranthambore sanctury is divided into 10 zones . The zones are alloted to
the visitors by the forest officials and we were given the zone 2.
With a bunch of enthusiastic tourists and a
forest guide we began our safari through time- worn
banyan trees forming canopies
We were greeted by sambar and spotted deer all along getting alerted with the arriving canter .
Birds like the Indian treepie,
jungle babbler, forest owl,eagle,parakeets, peafowls made their appearance at
regular intervals.
While the birds and herbivores
maintained our enthusiasm,all of us were really wanting to get a glimpse of the
majestic tiger especially after witnessing fresh pugmarks! As we approached the
exit gate our hopes started dwindling .
Just then ,about 50 metres from the exit gate we saw a majestic male tiger
relaxing royaly; as if ready for a
photo op.
All of us were completely
mesmerised by its aura .
We were alloted Zone 7 for the
afternoon safari. This time we preferred a gypsy over a canter. Each zone is
marked by a distinct terrain with this one taking us on an undulating, pebbled,
barren path marked by steep ascend and descend as opposed to the dense and flat
terrain of Zone 2. As we marvelled at our guide’s driving skills, we spotted
some similar creatures though this zone was not as populated as the other. Knowing beforehand that the wild cats
preferred to rest in the afternoon in a sheltered area close to a water
body…….lo and behold! We witnessed not one but two of them…..a male and female.
We soon realised they were in the midst of a mating session. They mated,
relaxed, approached, cajoled, rolled and mated again.
Their tryst exposed us to the milder side of theses animals who are
generally projected as ferocious predators. The couple was oblivious or rather
unfazed by the “ silent” interference. Having had a hearty rendezvous with the
courting pair we returned reminiscing the images of these majestic creatures
which unfortunately had a diminishing population not too long ago.
