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.