19/06/2016 - Morning Safari, Zone 3
This was the last safari for us before we headed back to our respective homes. Hopes were very high as this most probably would have been the last safari before the parks shut for monsoon.
The day didnt start very well as the safari gypsy, thats suppose to arrive at 0600hrs came and picked us up only about 0700hrs. There was some confusion at the booking office. I usually am pretty calm about such things but my friends were getting impatient and angry. Anyways nothing could have been done.
By the time we entered the park at the Jogi Mahal gate, we realized that tiger sighting was already happening. Thats the good part of entering late, other vehicles find the tiger and you just reach there and click it. But the bad part is that you are last in line and you hardly get a view.
The same thing happened with us, we could hardly see the tiger. Infact it was so bad that I didnt even try to lift my camera and try taking photos. Soon the news floated in that this was Pacman. Now for the last few safari's, I have been regularly sighting this tiger in the same area, so I more or less know his moves and was pretty certain what route would he take. So I told the driver to get out of the vehicle mess and place our gypsy at a point where I presumed we could get Pacman coming head on towards us.
But unfortunately, the tiger decided to sit down in bushes. Suddenly, we saw a few gypsy's zooming past us. In Ranthambhore such driving means that another tiger has been spotted somewhere else. My fellow passengers requested the driver to follow the other gypsy's but I decided to put my foot down and told them to wait for pacman to come out, as I was pretty certain he would. He didnt disappoint me, luckily, and within 10 minutes he was headed straight towards us
With the tiger sighting happening in another area the vehicles here had reduced to half and that meant that we could move slowly ahead with Pacman following us
A fish eye perspective of the Ranthambhore Fort, The Padam Talab and The tiger
Now that we had enough of him following us we decided that we will go and see if we would be lucky enough to spot the other tiger. So we let him go
The other tiger was not very far from where we were. But it was laying and resting in water at a place called Taapman. The tiger was identified as Arrowhead, she is the sister of Pacman
Arrowhead was resting peacefully and I usually lose my patience very fast with resting tigers. I mean, yes you can watch and admire their beauty but still I find moving tigers more beautifull. So we all decided to go and move around in the zone and see if we find anything exciting. The following are the birds that we clicked
Spotted owlet peeping
Minivet
Magpie Robin
As it was time to get out we decided to head back and on our way check on Arrowhead again. She was still laying peacefully in water
In the meanwhile I saw a purple sunbird
We had only about 10 mnts left so we decided to try and move to a better postion so that we can miss the tree, as seen in the earlier pics. This turned out to be a bad decision later. Some other vehicles that were returning back, came and parked behind us.
Suddenly, Arrowhead decided that she has had enough of resting and came out of water and headed staright towards us. We wanted to reverse and be out of her way, but we couldnt
Soon she was no more than 5 feet away from our vehicle
Usually tigers at RTR, will themselves move away if they find a vehicle in their way. But this lady decided to stand her ground and started to growl. This was was the most scary thing that has happened with me in the jungle. We decided to stop clicking and though best was to duck under the seats. The growling went on for a good 2-3 minutes. and I am sure all of us were that close to having heart attacks!!
When I regained some composure, this is the shot that I clicked hiding between the gypsy seats. The pic is thru the windshield of the Gypsy and Arrowhead did seem a bit angry!!
Finally she left us and went on walking. This is when we finally heaved a sigh of relief!!
This also meant that our time was up in the park. We left the park, a bit shaken but highly relieved.
So Long, till the parks open next after monsoons!!
This was the last safari for us before we headed back to our respective homes. Hopes were very high as this most probably would have been the last safari before the parks shut for monsoon.
The day didnt start very well as the safari gypsy, thats suppose to arrive at 0600hrs came and picked us up only about 0700hrs. There was some confusion at the booking office. I usually am pretty calm about such things but my friends were getting impatient and angry. Anyways nothing could have been done.
By the time we entered the park at the Jogi Mahal gate, we realized that tiger sighting was already happening. Thats the good part of entering late, other vehicles find the tiger and you just reach there and click it. But the bad part is that you are last in line and you hardly get a view.
The same thing happened with us, we could hardly see the tiger. Infact it was so bad that I didnt even try to lift my camera and try taking photos. Soon the news floated in that this was Pacman. Now for the last few safari's, I have been regularly sighting this tiger in the same area, so I more or less know his moves and was pretty certain what route would he take. So I told the driver to get out of the vehicle mess and place our gypsy at a point where I presumed we could get Pacman coming head on towards us.
But unfortunately, the tiger decided to sit down in bushes. Suddenly, we saw a few gypsy's zooming past us. In Ranthambhore such driving means that another tiger has been spotted somewhere else. My fellow passengers requested the driver to follow the other gypsy's but I decided to put my foot down and told them to wait for pacman to come out, as I was pretty certain he would. He didnt disappoint me, luckily, and within 10 minutes he was headed straight towards us
With the tiger sighting happening in another area the vehicles here had reduced to half and that meant that we could move slowly ahead with Pacman following us
A fish eye perspective of the Ranthambhore Fort, The Padam Talab and The tiger
Now that we had enough of him following us we decided that we will go and see if we would be lucky enough to spot the other tiger. So we let him go
The other tiger was not very far from where we were. But it was laying and resting in water at a place called Taapman. The tiger was identified as Arrowhead, she is the sister of Pacman
Arrowhead was resting peacefully and I usually lose my patience very fast with resting tigers. I mean, yes you can watch and admire their beauty but still I find moving tigers more beautifull. So we all decided to go and move around in the zone and see if we find anything exciting. The following are the birds that we clicked
Spotted owlet peeping
Minivet
Magpie Robin
As it was time to get out we decided to head back and on our way check on Arrowhead again. She was still laying peacefully in water
In the meanwhile I saw a purple sunbird
We had only about 10 mnts left so we decided to try and move to a better postion so that we can miss the tree, as seen in the earlier pics. This turned out to be a bad decision later. Some other vehicles that were returning back, came and parked behind us.
Suddenly, Arrowhead decided that she has had enough of resting and came out of water and headed staright towards us. We wanted to reverse and be out of her way, but we couldnt
Soon she was no more than 5 feet away from our vehicle
Usually tigers at RTR, will themselves move away if they find a vehicle in their way. But this lady decided to stand her ground and started to growl. This was was the most scary thing that has happened with me in the jungle. We decided to stop clicking and though best was to duck under the seats. The growling went on for a good 2-3 minutes. and I am sure all of us were that close to having heart attacks!!
When I regained some composure, this is the shot that I clicked hiding between the gypsy seats. The pic is thru the windshield of the Gypsy and Arrowhead did seem a bit angry!!
Finally she left us and went on walking. This is when we finally heaved a sigh of relief!!
This also meant that our time was up in the park. We left the park, a bit shaken but highly relieved.
So Long, till the parks open next after monsoons!!
