Christmas Toast with a Tigress!!!

...the morning sun had only begun to unleash its full potential. We could feel the chilly winds across our faces as we stood on the railings of our canter. It was nothing short of the anxious wait for the curtains to fall. With every passing moment, our anticipation grew, and then just when we thought the show got canceled, there she was...

December is one of my favourite months to travel and explore. With all the havoc created by Covid-19, it is more important than ever this year. It has been a long wait, but as they say, Patience is a bitter plant with even sweeter fruit. With our bags packed and our hearts filled with joy, we headed straight for Jim Corbett National Park.

Before I jump right into our exciting journey, let me first introduce you to the characters of this madness!

A smile could easily be the best way to start any conversation. Abhijeet, with his ever-charming smile, knows this too well. If there is one guy who knows how to crack some seriously well-timed one-liners, you have got to believe it's Manas. And then we have a sweet tooth and the lady luck (Gaj Kesari) of the group, Sagorica. Stringed together via our College, this crazy group of a Scientist, a couple of Analysts, and a Software developer was bound to be a perfect mix!

We kicked off early in the morning from Delhi. Soothing music, green fields full of sugarcane and mustard flowers, and crazy chit-chats packed up the enthralling journey.

Every time we hit the road, we witnessed some breath-taking picturesque - whether it's the glowing sunrise, the overloaded tractors with sugarcane harvests, or the bullock carts filled with people. All of it mesmerises and relaxes our souls. And my love for road journeys keeps on growing.

It took us about six hours to reach Ramnagar, a small town in the foothills of the Shivalik Ranges of the Himalayas. A peaceful place with beautiful people, which acts as the gateway to the national park.

Without boring you with the specifics about the oldest national park in Asia, let me tell you that this tiger reserve is split into various zones where one can spot diverse wild and plant life in their natural habitat. We had targeted two zones for this visit – Bijrani for the afternoon safari and Dhikala for the morning safari and accordingly reserved our permits. As the clock crossed the noon mark, we were on our way to our first safari ride in the Corbett Reserve.

After about fifteen minutes of ride from our homestay, we took seats in our private safari jeep outside the Bijrani entry gate.

Sharp at 1330hrs, the gates opened for us to enter the National Park along with other riders.

The noisy crowd radically transformed into silent trees. Well-crafted roads got transfigured into rough patchy roads.

Some of these roads ran right between the streams. It felt as if we had entered a beautiful world that had gotten lost in the digital era we live in.

One could feel calmness and freshness quite profoundly in this place, affected at a minimum by human interference. We felt not just peace but also excitement around us. All the tall trees around us hid numerous jungle secrets.

Occasionally we would spot a Sambar deer or a Cheetal (Spotted deer) among other animals. We could even see why this place is famous among bird observers as we sighted a few species of them in this short period.

Tiger footprints noticeable in the dirt

But it was the Star of the evening that was missing, the Royal Bengal Tiger. Our guide enlightened us that the sound of the monkeys and vegan animals helps track if a tiger is nearby or not. Every time we heard such cries in the thick jungle, our sensations arose but alas! To our bad luck, we did not spot a tiger that evening.

Even though we couldn't observe a tiger, Mother Nature did bless us with some marvellous sights and views. I have to admit that the safari was worth all of it. And as Jim Corbett himself said,

'The book of nature has no beginning, as it has no end.'

The following dawn, we woke up to freezing weather. We headed for our final safari in the most famous zone of Corbett park, the Dhikala Zone.

This zone lies pretty deep in the forest and requires visitors to make a night-stay inside the park for a safari. The only other way to visit this zone is via a canter ride, which we had opted for. Our canter ride began early in the morning.

Like yesterday, we witnessed many flora and fauna but no tigers. We reached the Dikhala camp just as the sun started to beam somewhere around nine in the morning. By then, we had already begun losing hope of getting a chance to see a tiger.

After a short break, we began to retreat, and then something happened.

Just outside the Dikhala camp are the large bushes of elephant grass. It is widely popular as the hunting area of the tigers. And as we started to head out, we got a piece of optimistic news that a tigress along with her cub was spotted entering the grassy area. The news spread like wildfire, and suddenly, all the canters and jeeps headed straight for the road between the wilderness. Given the size of the hedges, it is almost impossible to spot anything in the bushes. The best time to see the tiger is when they cross the road.

With a huge crowd ahead of us, it became difficult to see the road from inside the canter. Our supervisor asked us to climb on the railings of the canter. With cameras in our hands and excitement in our eyes, we all began waiting patiently. The morning sun had only begun to unleash its full potential. We could feel the chilly winds across our faces as we stood on the railings of our canter. It was nothing short of the anxious wait for the curtains to fall. With every passing moment, our anticipation grew, and then just when we thought the show got canceled, there she was.

There she was in all her glory as she made the walk across the road. For us, it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. But for her, it was like a regular walk in the park. Such was her class. You could feel her power even from a distance. Watching an animal up close in a zoo is never as intimidating or surreal as watching it in its natural habitat, especially when it is in the mood of hunting. The moment we all had been waiting for finished within seconds but kept playing back in our minds.

And with that climax, our jungle safari came to a magnificent conclusion. Jungle safari was an untrodden road for all of us yet, we all enjoyed it to the fullest. Not only did it live up to the expectations, but it also gave us many reasons to try it again very soon.

But wait, our journey does not end here!

The trip continues to the gateway to the Char Dham Rishikesh in the next post. Do enjoy some crazy pics below til you wait for the next post!!!

Until then, Namaste!