India, part 3

   Paul and I are up at 4 a.m. We both do our stretching exercises although the throw rug on the floor doesn’t help soften the hard floor. We arrive at the main building at 5:40 to discover Joy a few others are already drinking hot beverages and eating porridge. Paul and I have a bowl of porridge which is quite good.

    Allwyn reads our names from a list plus the name of the driver we will have today. Our driver/guide is Jay. To Paul and my surprise, a woman from Colorado will be riding with us and it isn’t Joy! We learn that our safari companion today is Elizabeth who is here on her own as her husband doesn’t like to travel anymore.

    Our tour group has been delegated to zone two this morning. A local ranger is assigned to all vehicles that enter the park. Our ranger’s name is Sankari (sp).  At the entrance gate of Bandhavgarh National Park, Allwyn and the other drivers gather our passports and check in with the authorities. Once we enter the park our group of jeeps head in different directions. It makes sense because four vehicles spread out over this large zone will up the odds of finding a tiger.

   Jay speaks excellent English and he tells us what his plans are in searching for tigers and other wildlife. Early in the drive we admire the sun rays creating beautiful shafts of light through the forest trees.

   We see spotted deer, langur monkeys, and wild boar before we have driven very far but Jay doesn’t stop for photos. Jay seems intent on getting somewhere and he and Sankari are speaking to each other in Hindi. Soon they stop the jeep to show us a tiger’s pugmarks and where he laid down in the road. Our guides follow the pugmarks in one direction and then the pugmarks would show the tiger reversing and heading another direction. They try to follow the tracks eventually lose the tracks. Jay explains to us that male tigers spend a good deal of their time patrolling and scent marking their territory. They have to cover a lot of ground every day.

   Jay stops and speaks with a couple of other guides we meet on the road and they tell him where the tiger is or at least was. We drive and turn off on another road where we join a half dozen jeeps whose occupants are looking across a field of tall grass. We sit and wait about ten minutes peering through our binoculars for any sign of the tiger. Jay and Sankari spot the tiger in the grass and with a lot of patience explain to us where the tiger is. Sure enough, we catch a glimpse of the tiger who then cooperates by coming out into a patch of short grass. The big male marks his territory, strolls a bit farther and lays his scent down again before returning to the cover of the dense grass. We wait a while longer, but the tiger never shows himself again.

    The big male was too far away for any photos, but I was trembling with so much excitement my camera wouldn’t have been able to focus anyway! We learned a couple of weeks before coming to India that the government had outlawed cellphones in the National Parks. People were talking on the phones, streaming videos, and taking selfies and it was causing a lot of problems. Allwyn told those with cell phones to keep them out of sight but if no one else was around you could use them to take a photo. Paul and Joy both brought an old point and shoot camera that they had hung onto. Most of the other people in our group including me have cameras.

   We continue to a picnic area, fenced in of course, which has restrooms thank goodness. Jay and Sankari put the breakfast out on a table in a shelter. There are sandwiches, boiled eggs, and other food I don’t recognize, plus coffee and juice. Other members of our group are there, and we learn that everyone saw the tiger. Joy told us that the tears flowed upon seeing the magnificent creature. I can understand that!

   Jay tours us around zone 2 after breakfast where he educates us on the flora and fauna in the park. We see more wildlife and beautiful birds before returning to our lodge. We have time to rest before lunch which is served at 1:15. This is the best meal we have had so far which includes tasty chicken and roasted potatoes. After lunch, Paul and I walk around the attractive campgrounds, listening and looking for birds but also to get some much-needed exercise.

   Our afternoon game drive starts at 3 p.m. and it is hot, but I have my life-saving cooling necklace on, so I am fine. We see a jackal that is not healthy. By the condition of his haircoat I would guess the poor thing has mange. We also see spotted and sambar deer plus plenty of birds. Jay checks numerous water holes which have beautiful reflections from the trees around them but no tigers. Jay informs us that tigers often lay in water to cool off.

   I am exhausted when we return to camp. We shower and a short time later are escorted to an outside venue that is lit up with lanterns. The chefs are preparing barbeque for us. The wait staff serves us appetizers and drinks so by the time I finish the appetizers I am full. I still manage to find room for small portions of the main meal. Way too much food! It is a fun and beautiful setting, but we return, via escort, to our room by nine.

   We have the same schedule as yesterday morning. Everyone is riding with the people they were with yesterday, but we have different drivers. This morning our driver is Allwyn. Allwyn is definitely a multi-tasker. I don’t remember our ranger’s name. We have been assigned to zone 3 which is good as there is a female tiger who is raising three cubs in the area. Allwyn drives and drives while the ranger and he look for pugmarks in the dirt road. They find none so the tiger family must have moved on.

    I find it amazing that we are so often alone. It is so peaceful and beautiful this time of day. We see green bee-eaters, and kingfishers along with other birds. We see two healthy jackal which is reassuring. The scenery is gorgeous too.

   We eat breakfast a different rest area than yesterday and there are no covered shelters. Allwyn pulls the jeep under a tree and with the rangers help lays our breakfast out on the hood of the vehicle. Soon all of our group has arrived but one. When the rest of us have finished eating the last jeep of our group pulls up. They have been watching a leopard. Unreal! I never really thought we would have much luck seeing a leopard in this terrain. It just so happens that Jay, our driver yesterday, is the guide that found the leopard. How fortunate the two couples that were with Jay that they got to see a leopard.

    Allwyn has us load up in the jeep and we take off before the rest of our party. We haven’t driven far when all of us spot a tiger walking in the forest close to the road! The local guide saw her a split second before the rest of us, but you couldn’t miss her. Allwyn somehow knows she will cross the road, so he positions the jeep about thirty feet from the stunning tigress. Sure enough, the tigress boldly walks across the road and has no problem staring us right in the eye. Whoa. Allwyn has called the rest of the group and they soon show up. They will have to be content to see the tigress in a distance as she has covered a lot of ground and is walking among the trees.

   Allwyn drives to a water hole that is located in the direction the tigress is heading. He thinks she may be going there to drink. Other guides have the same idea and soon there are an abundance of vehicles. This is when we realize how fortunate we were to have that magnificent tigress to ourselves.

   After twenty minutes, Allwyn leaves the water hole and drives to a nearby stream. When we arrive, there are a few other jeeps lined up and looking at the tigress who is laying in the bottom of a gorge. The beautiful cat is not easy to see but by standing on the seat and peering into the bottom of the gulley we can see parts of her including her head. There is a lot of brush and grass that is hiding part of the tigress. I don’t even try to take a photo. What a wonderful morning!

    We head back to camp. At lunch there is a tasty chicken dish, plus a spinach dish that I really like but most of the rest of the food I pass on due to the spiciness. Joy is on a bland diet ordered by her doctor so the staff must fix her food separately. It is a shame because I think Joy likes spicy food or at least would like to sample the native food.

   Paul and I relax until it is time to leave on our afternoon game drive in zone 1. We park by a grassy field where a mother tigress has been seen with her three cubs that are one and a half years old. Allwyn tells us that this tigress’s two-and-a-half-year-old cubs, a female and male, refuse to leave the area and there are some problems with that because they share in the kills mom makes. That makes a lot of work for this tigress to try and feed six tigers!

   Allwyn decides there is no activity here and begins to drive around. Soon we find a group of jeeps that are watching a tiger. There are two elephant patrol men who are following the tiger. Allwyn says they are trying to see if it is okay. The tiger ends up on the road but since we are in the back of the pack we must stand on the seats to catch sight of what Allwyn tells us is one of the older cubs.

   The tiger walks into a field of grass and the jeep drivers go crazy trying to get their clients in a good position to watch the big cub. It is like a dang demolition derby! Allwyn eventually manages to separate us from the mob of jeeps, and we drive to a place where we can see the male tiger. The tall grass hides the tiger’s body, but we can see his head. There is also a Gaur in the grass and when the large bovine senses the tiger he begins snorting and walking towards the enemy. The big cat makes a wide berth around the Gaur and ends up walking into the timber. The young tiger roars a few times as it retreats into the forest. Oddly enough Allwyn had told us earlier in the day that one of his most vivid memories while guiding was of a guar charging a tiger. It almost happened again.

   Allwyn drives back to the grass field that we started at this afternoon. This is where people saw the three young cubs yesterday. At one point the three cubs begin to call for mom. Neither the cubs nor mom show themselves. Does hearing three tigers call count as seeing them??

   Making our way back to the gate there is several jeeps that have spotted a tiger. We are lucky enough to see it walking through a clear gap in the grass but there isn’t enough time for a photo. You must exit the park on time or the driver is fined.

Another thing that makes you say hmm is that Allwyn asked what we hoped to see today and Elizabeth said she would like to see three tigers. Wish granted!

   We enjoy another good meal, plenty of dishes without much spice. After supper we pack everything up, but what we will need in the morning. Tomorrow after a morning game drive, we will be driving to Khana National Park.

India, part 2

   Well, being exhausted didn’t help us sleep. I got about two hours of sleep and Paul didn’t do much better. Ugh, jet lag big time.

    We meet Joy for breakfast at eight a.m. in the hotel lobby. There is a buffet and it is huge. The variety of food they offer is amazing but there is no beef, (cows are sacred), and I didn’t see any pork products either.

   After breakfast, Paul and I check out the courtyard where there is a beautiful pool, water gardens, along with plants and trees. We make a few laps around the courtyard to get some exercise.

   At ten a.m. we are picked up by a driver whose name is Aman. Joy booked a tour for us with a company called Delhi Magic where we will tour the bazaar in Old Delhi on foot with our guide. Aman is quite talkative but still seems to maneuver through the insane traffic in Delhi. There are only two lanes, but the small cars and motorcycles turn a two-lane road into at least a four-lane road. The depth perception of Indian drivers must be incredible because I swear there is only a few inches between us and the vehicles next to us. There are several times when I let out an audible gasp because I am sure we will be hit by another vehicle. There is constant honking of horns, but it isn’t angry. The drivers seem to “talk” to each other by using their horns.

   Aman stops in an area where we are to pick up our guide and after a short wait he appears. Our guide is a young man, whose name I can’t recall. Aman continues driving but doesn’t talk much now that we have our official guide who takes over giving us information about Delhi. When we reach Old Delhi, we exit the sedan and begin our walking tour of the bazaar.

   The streets are busy, congested and noisy with cars whose drivers are constantly honking their horns. There is activity everywhere which keeps one looking in all directions. Our first lesson from our guide is that when you cross a street, hold up your hand and the cars will, (hopefully), stop for you. Our guide walks fast and between dodging moving vehicles and the horde of milling people it is hard to keep up with him.

    There are little shops everywhere that sell food, spices, clothing, jewelry, and on and on with the wares for sale spilling out onto the sidewalks. The smell of cooking food mixed with car fumes adds to the overload to your senses. Constant noise in your ears, incredible colors and activity for your eyes, and the smells of a bazaar that offers a variety of goods is overwhelming.  Paul asks our guide at one point how the store owners can get everything sold when so many people are offering the same items in their shops. I am not sure we really got an answer, but when you have 25 million people living in Delhi, I suppose that explains it.

The photos in Old Delhi are mostly Paul’s taken with his phone. A few from Joy. I didn’t even take my big camera.

    It is impossible to walk down the sidewalk without being jostled and bumped by the human traffic. One oddity is that the shoppers and shop keepers all seems to be men.  It is with some relief that our guide turns into an alley, and we continue our walk here. We don’t go far before the noise subsides, thank goodness. The bad part is that this alley is filthy but at least there are less people here.

    Our guide leads us to a large area where men are unloading and moving bags of spices. He warns us that we will walk through the spice area until we are overcome with sneezing and coughing. I think he is joking but he definitely was not! After a few minutes we are all beginning to clear our throats along with coughing on occasion. Our guide takes us down another alley and we are happy to leave the spice saturated air behind. I can’t imagine having to work in that place all day long. You have to wonder what state those workers lungs are in.

    This alley is full of jewelry stores, some fancy clothing stores, while other shops are selling hats and shoes. If I remember correctly a lot of these shops cater to people who are preparing for their weddings.

   Once we leave this place our guide goes over to a line of rickshaws and visits with a few of the owners. He chooses two of the dozens he could have picked from, I suppose the pair that were selected gave him the best price. He puts Joy and Paul in one and he and I get into the other rickshaw. Again, I can’t imagine spending all day pedaling a bike as you pull a cart weighed down by your passengers.

    We exit the rickshaw after a few blocks, and we now wait for our guide to choose a motorized cart. I guess he wants us to experience various types of transportation in Old Delhi. Several people are trying to get his attention, but he chooses an older man, and we climb into the cart which comfortably holds four people.  Our driver takes off and joins the throng of traffic consisting of cars, rickshaws, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, and humans. Geez. Our guide warns us to keep our arms and hands inside the cart as there is little wiggle room between all the modes of traffic clogging the street.

   Our driver tries to finagle his way in front of another motorized cart and ends up bumping into it. He achieves his goal of getting ahead of his rival but due to the mild contact the offended driver begins shouting at our driver. A loud argument ensues and our driver speeds up. The offended man follows right behind us and continues to yell at our driver. To the relief of all of us the angry cart driver finally turns off on a side street. Our guide never says a thing so maybe this is a normal incident.

   We are almost back to the area where Aman dropped us off this morning when a car begins backing out of a parking space. The car comes within a few inches of hitting us. Really! I am so happy to see Aman waiting to take us back to the hotel. The bad part is he will have to drive through heavy traffic for nearly an hour to deliver us to the hotel.

    I suppose we dropped our guide off where we picked him up but truthfully, I don’t remember. I know we all thank him and give him a tip. When Aman drops us at the hotel we also thank and tip him. It is 2:30 and I am really hungry. We eat at the hotel restaurant where I have, wait for it, spaghetti. Most of the items on the menu are spicy and I am not taking a chance on that. Paul has stir-fried noodles which have plenty of zip. Joy settles for rice and steamed vegetables.  

   We take it easy for what is left of the afternoon. Since we ate so late Paul and I just eat some fruit we brought up from the restaurant and some complimentary cookies that were in the room this evening.

   We go to the lobby for the meeting with our trip leader, Allwyn, and to meet the other members of the group at seven=thirty. We are ushered into a small, doorless room off the main lobby. Allwyn, pronounced Alvin, introduces himself to us and then has us all introduce ourselves. There are fourteen of us in total and I am guessing all of us range from middle sixties to around eighty. Once the introductions are finished, Allwyn proceeds to tell us how to pack for our domestic flight tomorrow. We can only carry on a personal item, all liquids are to go in our checked luggage, and all batteries, wires, anything electrical must be in our carryon packs. When we get to the airport, we must remove all batteries and electrical things and place them in a tub, plus your binoculars must also be taken out of their cases. Great, basically we have to unpack our carryon. Allwyn then tells us what time to have our luggage out of the room and when we must be in the lobby. Allwyn answers any questions we have and after socializing a bit, we head up to our room.

     I slept for two hours and then was wide awake. Paul is awake too and we both reluctantly decide to take a half dose of ambien. That gave me another three hours of sleep while Paul managed to get four hours. Thank goodness for downloading books on our tablets.

    We pack everything we can, then Paul and I take a few laps around the courtyard before going to eat breakfast with Joy. We go back to the room and finish packing and set our luggage outside the door. We leave for the airport at 9:15. Allwyn, gathers all of our passports and checks us in, then hands out the tickets. He also checks every one’s luggage in. I would assume this might help keep all our luggage together. After we unpack our backpacks to get through security we have a short walk to our gate. We board the plane shortly after arriving at the gate and after an hour and a half in the air we land at Jabalpur airport. It is a small airport out in the country, and we don’t have to wait long for the luggage to appear. We exit the airport and there are five SUV’s waiting to drive us to Bandhavgarh National Park. Nope, I can’t pronounce it or even remember the name. Joy too, has problems saying the name of the park. Paul on the other hand has no problem pronouncing or remembering the name.

   Joy, Paul, and I walk over to one of the SUV’s and lay claim to it. The driver’s name is Bonsei. He is a very nice man, with limited English. He proves to be a good driver, and he doesn’t excessively use his horn. On our four hour drive we pass through many villages even more colorful than usual since the people are celebrating Holi which is a Hindu festival celebrating color, love and springtime. I looked that up😊. One of the ways they celebrate is painting their faces with various colors and splashing each other with paint. We even see some dogs that have joined the celebration whether they wanted to or not, their coats splashed with red or blue paint. For some reason I did not capture any of the villagers that were covered in paint, but Paul did get one great photo with his phone.

    After some heart-stopping moments during our drive, we arrive at Bandhavgarh Jungle Lodge by late afternoon. The staff was waiting for us with big smiles and waves as we drove into the parking area.

   After being shown to our comfortable rooms, Paul and I get somewhat organized and then shower before going to supper. Paul ordered a beer which is the biggest bottle of beer I have ever seen, a whole liter! I share a little bit of the beer as we listen to the manager of the lodge give an informative talk about the park’s history and the animals that can be found here. That of course includes tigers!

    Once the presentation is over and questions from members of the group have been answered we proceed to the buffet. I quickly learn that most of the food is too spicy for me so thank goodness they have Naan (flat bread) which is delicious. Other members of the group love the spicy food; a few are like me and can’t tolerate it while others like Paul can eat the dishes that are somewhat spicy but don’t set your mouth on fire.

    Allwyn gives us our instructions for tomorrow. We are to be at the main building by 5:45 where the staff will have tea, coffee, and porridge ready for us. Shortly after 6 we will load up for our first game drive. I can’t wait.

India, part 1

   Paul and I were invited by his sister Joy to join her on a tiger safari in India to celebrate her turning eighty years old this year. How can you turn down an invitation to go on a trip with Joy, the world traveler, especially when the adventure is focusing on tigers! All of us have been to India before and were lucky enough to see the magnificent cats back then. It has been seventeen years for us, and I believe ten years for Joy since our last India adventure, so we all decided it was time to return to India. I will add that Paul and I will be celebrating our fiftieth wedding anniversary this year so this will be our gift to ourselves!

   A couple of days before our departure I am having second thoughts about going because of the chaos in the middle East. In fact, I tell Paul I am not going and he informs Joy, who like Paul is disappointed. They decide they will still go although Joy is a bit uncomfortable with the situation too.

   I then call Katy, from Wilderness Travel, to break the news to her. Katy listens patiently then proceeds to explain to me that the company is in constant touch with their people in India and the consensus is that there are no problems in getting to India from the USA. That was my main concern. A couple of the people coming from the USA have had flights that had to be rerouted, but our flight was fine. I ask if anyone else in the group has canceled and she said only one person and it was due to health problems. After listening to her calm and kind explanation I reverse my decision and decide to suck it up and go to India.

    Paul and I have booked the Wabaunsee County transport van to deliver us to KCI. We requested that our friend Chuck drive us and to our delight he agreed too. It is a great service provided by the county at a very reasonable cost. The best part is we don’t have to drive to KCI and pay to have our car parked there for nearly three weeks.

      Chuck picks us up before 8 a.m. and then he picks up another woman who lives in northern Wabaunsee County. We arrive at the airport at ten a.m. and thank our friend for bringing us. Chuck is a great driver, and we appreciate him giving up his day for us.  Thanks Chuck!

    When we enter the airport and go to the check in area for United, we are approached by a staff member. The woman takes us to a kiosk and proceeds to do everything for us. Great. I breeze through the Precheck line, but Paul’s artificial knee sets the alarm off as usual. He is used to this and is prepared for the going over the TSA person gives him.

   Our KC flight leaves on time so we land in Dulles on schedule. The flight information board shows that our flight to Newark is on time, so we are feeling good. I happen to look at the flight board sometime later and now it shows our flight has been delayed and will be leaving fifteen minutes late.  The next time we check our flight the delay is up to thirty minutes late. I go to the desk and ask a man what the problem is. He explains that Newark is fogged in and they are having to slow the incoming and outgoing flights down to be safe.  He checks the passenger list and tells us there are ten people that are on the same flight to India as us. The helpful fellow admits that they probably wouldn’t hold the plane up even for that many people. Great. We end up boarding the plane more than an hour late. The pilot gives the usual “welcome aboard” talk and tells us approximately what time we will land. We will land about the time our plane to Delhi is to be closing its doors.

    This is a short flight and as soon as we land, we begin asking people in front of us to please let us by as we are hoping to make a connection and have very little time. We go from row thirty to row eleven before they start allowing people off the plane. That was a big help, and we were thankful for people understanding. We rush to the shuttle with eight other people who are of Indian descent. Once everyone is aboard the shuttle Paul tells the rather bored driver to “drive”! He complies with Paul’s request. Our companions, who I assume have taken this flight often, are confident that we will make it to our gate before the doors are closed.

   Once off the shuttle, Paul and I take off running. Well, Paul walks really fast and I run if you can call it that. We both have a backpack and a carry on but at least my big case has rollers. A young woman that was on the shuttle with us blows by us like we are standing still. Before long, my heart rate is crazy and I am gasping for breath, so once in a while I have to slow down to catch my breath. Paul looks back often and asks if I am okay. He doesn’t seem to be having much trouble.

    I see our gate and am elated when there are eight or ten people still lined up to board the plane. I walk right past them telling them we are in boarding group two. I asked them what group they were in and they replied group five, so I feel like we have the right to go to the front of the line. I thought Paul was right behind me, but when I look back after scanning my ticket, I see him standing at the end of the line with Joy! I didn’t even see Joy as I was so fixated on getting on the plane. Paul catches up with me and tells me I got a couple of dirty looks when I cut in line. Oh well. I need to sit down and get my heart quieted down.

   We have the two front seats in economy plus and is it nice to have all that leg room! Joy is seated right behind us. Across the aisle from us are a group of monks dressed in their saffron colored robes. I don’t know why I should be surprised but I am when I see them working/reading on their laptops, tablets or smartphones. It just doesn’t fit my image of monks!

   The fourteen-hour flight to Delhi is fine, with only a few instances of minor turbulence. I think the three of us slept more than we thought we would which is good. Once in the Delhi airport we have no problems, it is just very slow to get through customs. Not because there are a lot of people, the process is just time consuming.

    As we exit the customs area, we see a man holding a Wilderness Travel sign up with our names on it. We wave and approach the man who introduces himself as Sandy. I believe he is somewhat amazed that each of us only have two pieces of luggage. None of us checked any luggage which helped get us through the airport quicker.

   We follow Sandy to a small van and after the luggage is stowed, we are taken to our hotel called Andaz. It is just a few minutes’ drive from the airport thank goodness. We got to the hotel at midnight but the process to get checked in to our rooms is very slow. I think it took longer to get checked into the hotel than it did getting through the Delhi airport!

   Joy and our rooms are on different floors, and we drop Joy off first. The rooms are very nice. I shower plus hang clothes up for tomorrow, etc.  We get to bed about two a.m. completely exhausted. It took us 24 hours from leaving our house to arriving at our hotel in Delhi!