Next stop Ranthambore National Park.
The whole tour after Delhi was around the state Rajasthan. This literally means 'the land of Kings' so despite me saying we were all a bit 'forted-out', the forts really were immense. Ranthambore National Park was one of the things I was most excited about. I was convinced we would see a tiger. To give me my due, people do travel from far and wide to this park to see tigers. As you can probably tell from my tone, we didn't see a tiger. So if that is all you tuned in for, you better just stop reading now.
In the meantime, Faye and I had been busily discussing Aladdin and where it was meant to be set. The palaces and forts we had seen did suggest India, Jasmine definitely looked Indian, has a pet tiger and there were street monkeys. Furthermore and moreover, Lonely Planet had talked about Grand Viziers and Jafar was one of them. It was only much later when I pointed out the opening song was 'Arabian Nii-iights' that we slightly piped down on that front. I still don't believe that there are any tigers in the Middle East, but to be fair, neither were there any tigers in Ranthambore National Park.
Early in the morning, a canter came to pick us up and the safari began. I 'did' some more views.
Genuinely though, the scenery was beautiful. We saw samba deer, gazelles, alligators, water snakes and many a monkey. There were yellow grasslands (which reminded me of The Lion King*), lush jungle greens, rocky plains, waterfalls and woodland. There is a Hindu temple in the middle of the park which is in Ranthambore Fort, a magnificent fort set high up in the hills. Which the Hindu people were walking to. Through the tiger jungle. Sheer madness.
Round 2.
We were in a jeep.
We meant business.
Tigers had been sighted.
Four in fact.
More importantly, we had eaten a packet of Tiger Crunch biscuits.
There was no way we wouldn't see a tiger now.
The first false alarm was a squeal from Faye. But she was squealing because she had seen a hippo.
The hippo was in fact a water buffalo.
The second false alarm was a squeal from Faye. But she was squealing because she had seen a deer that she thought was a tiger.
The third false alarm was more exciting. A REAL TIGER'S FOOTPRINT. It had to be close. Must have been there only minutes before.
The fourth alarm was another squeal. No, it wasn't Faye. It was a monkey. They have a special alarm call to alert other animals that a tiger is coming. It's kind of a bark. When all's said and done, I'm a bit scared of monkeys. When I went to India with my family a few years back, a monkey took offence to my dad (we didn't blame him) and took chase. They are really quite vicious. Anyway, the call meant the tiger was in the vicinity. Unfortunately, hard as we tried, and try we did, we just couldn't see it.
I blame the fool driver of a neighbouring jeep who was just driving far too loudly in an attempt, I felt, to show-off.
By the fifth false alarm we had already lost hope. We trudged (or rather drove, but this doesn't capture quite how dejected we were) through the park and then, all of a sudden, one of the members of our group squealed. The driver slowly reversed the jeep. (This wasn't for dramatic effectiveness. He was just really slow.) We waited with baited breath.
But it was a tree stump.
Then said member of group squealed again. I'm not sure we can count this as a false alarm because she was squealing because she was excited to have seen an exotic bird. I was not excited to see a bird. If I had had a gun, I may well have shot the bird.
I was heartbroken. Faye was heartbroken.
Please note our heartbroken (/we are really cranky we did not see a tiger) expressions.
So no. We did not see a tiger.
But the night had much in store for us.
And the sunset was to conjure with.
*I don't know why I keep talking about Disney films. India just made me want to watch Disney again. Those magical settings old Walt dreamed up are actually real.
And they are India.
The whole tour after Delhi was around the state Rajasthan. This literally means 'the land of Kings' so despite me saying we were all a bit 'forted-out', the forts really were immense. Ranthambore National Park was one of the things I was most excited about. I was convinced we would see a tiger. To give me my due, people do travel from far and wide to this park to see tigers. As you can probably tell from my tone, we didn't see a tiger. So if that is all you tuned in for, you better just stop reading now.
In the meantime, Faye and I had been busily discussing Aladdin and where it was meant to be set. The palaces and forts we had seen did suggest India, Jasmine definitely looked Indian, has a pet tiger and there were street monkeys. Furthermore and moreover, Lonely Planet had talked about Grand Viziers and Jafar was one of them. It was only much later when I pointed out the opening song was 'Arabian Nii-iights' that we slightly piped down on that front. I still don't believe that there are any tigers in the Middle East, but to be fair, neither were there any tigers in Ranthambore National Park.
Early in the morning, a canter came to pick us up and the safari began. I 'did' some more views.
Genuinely though, the scenery was beautiful. We saw samba deer, gazelles, alligators, water snakes and many a monkey. There were yellow grasslands (which reminded me of The Lion King*), lush jungle greens, rocky plains, waterfalls and woodland. There is a Hindu temple in the middle of the park which is in Ranthambore Fort, a magnificent fort set high up in the hills. Which the Hindu people were walking to. Through the tiger jungle. Sheer madness.
Round 2.
We were in a jeep.
We meant business.
Tigers had been sighted.
Four in fact.
More importantly, we had eaten a packet of Tiger Crunch biscuits.
There was no way we wouldn't see a tiger now.
The first false alarm was a squeal from Faye. But she was squealing because she had seen a hippo.
The hippo was in fact a water buffalo.
The second false alarm was a squeal from Faye. But she was squealing because she had seen a deer that she thought was a tiger.
The third false alarm was more exciting. A REAL TIGER'S FOOTPRINT. It had to be close. Must have been there only minutes before.
The fourth alarm was another squeal. No, it wasn't Faye. It was a monkey. They have a special alarm call to alert other animals that a tiger is coming. It's kind of a bark. When all's said and done, I'm a bit scared of monkeys. When I went to India with my family a few years back, a monkey took offence to my dad (we didn't blame him) and took chase. They are really quite vicious. Anyway, the call meant the tiger was in the vicinity. Unfortunately, hard as we tried, and try we did, we just couldn't see it.
I blame the fool driver of a neighbouring jeep who was just driving far too loudly in an attempt, I felt, to show-off.
By the fifth false alarm we had already lost hope. We trudged (or rather drove, but this doesn't capture quite how dejected we were) through the park and then, all of a sudden, one of the members of our group squealed. The driver slowly reversed the jeep. (This wasn't for dramatic effectiveness. He was just really slow.) We waited with baited breath.
But it was a tree stump.
Then said member of group squealed again. I'm not sure we can count this as a false alarm because she was squealing because she was excited to have seen an exotic bird. I was not excited to see a bird. If I had had a gun, I may well have shot the bird.
I was heartbroken. Faye was heartbroken.
Please note our heartbroken (/we are really cranky we did not see a tiger) expressions.
So no. We did not see a tiger.
But the night had much in store for us.
And the sunset was to conjure with.
*I don't know why I keep talking about Disney films. India just made me want to watch Disney again. Those magical settings old Walt dreamed up are actually real.
And they are India.
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