Ranthambore Safari

Where: Ranthambore, Rajasthan

Nearest Airport: Jaipur (~150 Kms)

Nearest Railway Station: Sawai Madhopur (8 Kms from National Park)

When: 11th to 14th May 2011

Group Size: 9 People

Stayed At: Ankur Resorts, Sawai Madhopur (Rs. 2000 per room per night – Non Peak Season Rates)

Transport:
Flew to Jaipur from Hyderabad by Jet Airways & landed at 1:20 PM. Took an Innova to Sawai Madhopur which is approx 150 kms from Jaipur. The Innova cost us Rs. 3,500/- and took almost 4hours. Actually it shouldn’t have taken so long but the driver insisted on taking us via a ‘short cut’. While he may have saved on the distance, it took us longer to get to Sawai Madhopur.

Went back to Delhi on the August Kranti Rajdhani which we took from Sawai Madhopur Railway Station. Boarded the train at 6:30 AM and were at Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station by 11:00 AM.

Camera: Nikon D3000 with a 50-200mm VR lens

Safaris:
Usually the timings are 6:00 AM to 9:30 AM for the morning safari and 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM for the afternoon one. But since there was a tiger census on, the morning safari got delayed by an hour.

Our group was only interested in the safaris, so we booked both the morning & afternoon safaris. While I’ve heard that the walk to Ranthambore Fort is a good one, we opted not to take it. We were lucky to get Zone 2 & Zone 3 on both days.

Day 1:
In the morning, our first safari was Zone 3 which is the most picturesque of the zones with 3 large lakes. Interestingly, we didn’t spot a tiger on either of the days in this zone. But we did see crocodiles, wild boar, spotted deer (Chital), Sambar Deer, Peacocks and many different kinds of smaller birds. Zone 3 also contains the famous lake palace ruins where the tigress Machali fought, and lost to, her daughter for this prize territory. This being my first safari, I got excited with all the animals around and went a little crazy with my camera. And since I was shooting in RAW mode, I ran out of memory space though I was using a 4GB card. A friend had a Nikon Binoculars which really helped us spot the birds, and is a must have on any safari.

We got back to our hotel for a quick lunch, rested for a bit and then headed out for the second safari of the day which was in Zone 2. This time we were lucky and managed to see a leopard at the entrance of the park. I was told that seeing a leopard stalking on the ground is quite rare and most leopard sightings are on trees. Though we had seen deer and crocodiles, the leopard was something else altogether and it really perked up the group. A little later we came across another gypsy and the guide told us that a tigress had been sighted further down the road. As beautiful as the leopard was, the excitement of seeing a tigress made us all forget the leopard. And we weren’t disappointed when we came up to the spot where the tigress T39 was resting. This time I forgot to change my camera settings from JPEG back to RAW, a beginners mistake. Though she was not too far off, there was a lot of jungle undergrowth and hence I wasn’t able to get any great pictures. On the way back, we spotted two owls in the distance and took pictures of them.

Needless to say, the group’s mood in the evening was great and everyone had a good time. Seasoned safari goers tell me that the tiger sighting to happiness ratio is 1:3. Which means that if you don’t see a tiger for 3 safaris, people tend to get cranky. They also told me that you usually see a tiger once every 4-5 safaris.

Day 2:
The next morning we were allotted Zone 2 again. Feeling like a ‘veteran’, I decided to be choosy about taking pictures. And promptly forgot about this when we were told that the same tigress was in the area again. Our guide and driver were old hands at tiger spotting and went to different spots where they thought she might be, including driving along the river bed. Just when we were beginning to think that she had left the area, our guide doubled back to the first spot and told us to be quiet. The thrill that I felt when he leaped up from his seat and shouted ‘Tiger’ was like nothing I have ever felt. The earlier day, T39 had already been spotted by other gypsies and was simply sitting around. This time we were the first group to see her and she was just emerging from some tall grasses on the far bank of a small stream. We were very very lucky as she crossed over to our side of the stream and sat under a tree near us. At one point she was too close for comfort, and though I didn’t realize it then, our guide did and took us away. It is at such moments, that tourists have to trust the judgment of the guides. We tend to forget that tigers are wild animals and shouldn’t be taken for granted. After taking many pictures of T39, we headed to another part of Zone 2 where we were told T17, another tigress, was resting. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see her because of the thick undergrowth.

Once we got back to the resort, there was a brief discussion on whether or not we should go for the last safari that afternoon. Some of us wanted to leave for Jaipur but since the majority of the group was still on a tiger high, we decided to hang around for another safari.

This time we got Zone 3 again. Having seen a tigress twice in the earlier two safaris, we knew the odds were against us. So the group was relaxed and we spent more time joking amongst ourselves. In fact, the highlight of the trip was a tourist in another gypsy who got named ‘Burst Man’ since he kept taking pictures in burst mode – even when he was shooting stationary birds. Our guides also realized that we were not interested in the usual discourse and focused on driving us around. We hung around till 6:30 PM and then reluctantly headed back to the resort.

The next morning, some of us caught the August Kranti Rajdhani Express to Hazrat Nizamuddin Station in New Delhi while the rest headed to Jaipur.

My Takeaways:
Ranthambore National Park is very well organized, and my friends told me it is the best run park that they have seen. This was my first safari and based on this limited experience, I would like the share the following points with anyone who is interested in Ranthambore:

1. Listen to your guide. They know their job so please don’t second guess them or tell them what to do. If your guide says you are too close to a tiger, you better listen to him.

2. Be respectful to rangers, guards and anyone working in the forest. It’s thanks to them that we can still see these beautiful animals.

3. Unless you have a very good reason and the park is not full, do not expect that you can argue or bribe your way into changing your zone. Most people want to go to Zone 2 & Zone 3 but each zone has a fixed quota of vehicles and if that has already been met then you can’t change it.

4. If seeing wildlife is your main focus, go during the summer months. The jungle is sparse & animals are easy to spot. Plus, once you’re in the gypsy you don’t really feel the heat.

5. Remember that spotting a tiger, or any animal for that matter, is about luck. Your guide will do his best so that you see a tiger (his tip depends on it), but nothing is guaranteed. If you don’t agree with this, go to a zoo next time.

6. Book your safaris online well in advance. Do not depend on landing up at the park and expecting to get a vehicle.

7. Better to book multiple gypsies, if your group is large, than a canter. Gypsies are more mobile and can go to places where the canter can’t.

8. Make sure that everyone is carrying the same ID proof as given at the time of booking & one indemnity form per safari. You will need to show your ID proof each time before entering the park.

9. If you aren’t carrying a cap or a hat (like me), check with your resort if they sell these items. I picked up a hat for Rs.200 and a photographer’s jacked for Rs. 400. Both were of good quality and came in handy, especially the hat. As a last resort you can always buy it at the gate. But please cover your head.

10. Carry at least 4 litres of water for 6 people. It is unfair to ask the guides or jungle patrols for water.

11. Turn your phones off before you enter the park. It will save your battery as in most places there isn’t any signal.

12. A good binocular really comes in handy on these safaris. Sometimes a bird or animal may be too far away to photograph, but that doesn’t mean you can’t look at it and enjoy its beauty.

13. Most guides will not cross over into other zones, even if it means forgoing the chance to show you a tiger. The reason is that if caught, they will lose their licenses. So please, respect the rules and don’t put someone else’s livelihood in danger.

14. If you can, come via Delhi. Book train from Delhi to Sawai Madhopur. It is cheaper, shorter and lot easier to coordinate. The railway station is about 5 minutes from most of the resorts .

15. Don’t get down from the vehicle. Ranthambore is very strict about this rule and breaking it will only cause trouble between you and the guide or for the guide if a forest ranger spots you doing so.

16. When you are leaving the park, your vehicle will stop at the base of the fort. Be careful at this point as there are monkeys around and since you are tired, you may leave something lying around which they could snatch.

Photography Takeaways:
1. Anything less than a 300mm zoom lens and you’re wasting your time. I was lucky to get decent pics of T39 with the 50-200mm, but a 70-300mm lens would have been better.

2. Use JPEG mode for the ‘regular’ animals – deer, peacocks, birds and save memory space. Use RAW mode when (or if) you come across the rarer animals – tigers, leopards or sloths.

3. ISO 100 is enough for most situations. No need to push a higher ISO unless the light is bad

4. Don’t get so excited about taking pictures that you come in the way of your fellow passengers. Remember, they are just as excited as you.

5. Unless you’ve been on many safaris, there is a good chance that you will take many more pictures than you normally do. So carry extra memory, doesn’t hurt.

Well, that’s it folks. My first safari. Can’t wait for my next one.

If you're interested in seeing the pictures I took, here's the link to my Facebook Album.