Memorable experiences at Ranthambore National Park. Read unique travel experience with wildlife photography in Ranthambore !
Remembering Ranthambore, which is virtuous hold of Stubborn King Hammir. Automatically, it is the desire to see this place in everyone's mind. Now this area is developed as a wild area in Ranthambore. It was the month of November. All members of my family were excited to see the world famous Ranthambore Tiger Reserve which is located in between picturesque ranges of Aravali and Vindhyachal. We all have prepared a program to Ranthambore tour. We decided to go to Ranthambore by car from Jaipur. Ranthambore National park is around 180 km away from Jaipur by road, although you can reach also Ranthambore by train. It is about 132 km by rail. Sawai Madhopur is the nearest railway station of the Ranthambore, it is around 14 km away from the main entry gate of the park and Sawai Madhopur Railway Station is well connected by railway route to other major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kota and Jaipur.
We started our journey from Jaipur around 3.00 pm after healthy and delightful lunch. After about three hours we reached at Ranthambore. We have already booked our hotel which was located at Ranthambore road and nearby sawai madhopur Railway station. Let me tell you that in the family members who visited Ranthambore, I, my wife, my two children were included. We reached there by evening and check in our hotel in Ranthambore, after having delicious dinner at our hotel, we enjoyed with Rajasthani culture program and folk dance at our hotel' garden which is organized by hotel for in-house guest. There are many resorts and hotels in Ranthambore and most of them are located on Ranthambore road and some nearby Sherpur village.
Next day, we all got up at 5 o'clock in the morning, quickly took bath & freshen up and went to Ranthambore Safari Booking Center for Morning jungle safari. Ranthambore Safari Reservation Center was about 2 kilometers away from our hotel. We had to take tickets for Ranthambore jungle safari tour in Morning slot from the safari booking window. There are Gypsies and Canters are available for the Ranthambore tiger safari tour from the booking center. By which Ranthambore Park is visited. We all had reached at safari booking window around at 5.45am. There was too much crowd of tourists, safari agents, drivers and guides at Ranthambore tiger reserve booking Center. There was a long queue of tourists for Safari tickets at booking window. Looking at the crowd at the reservation window, my suggestion is that Ranthambore jungle safari booking should be done in advance. Nonetheless, in the crowd, we have gotten four tickets in Canter for jungle safari tour in Ranthambore National Park. We had chosen canter for safari instead of Jeep because it is also comfortable, height and cheaper than Jeep safari in Ranthambore. It also goes in same area where jeeps go. We boarded the Canter and leave for Ranthambore National Park jungle Safari around 6.30am. Before entering the park, Canter went to some hotel to pick up some other tourists for safari.
Ranthambore Tiger Reserve starts from Ganesh Dham Thiraha of Khilichipur village, which is approximately 10 kilometers from Sawai Madhopur railway station. There is also a check post, which has been made by the Forest department for entry to the park. We talk about things, we reached at Ganesh Dham tiraha , time didn't realize. There were two reasons behind this truth first, our curiosity towards Ranthambore wildlife sanctuary, second, frequently new questions asked by children. By the way, greenness of Ranthambore starts from Sawai Madhopur town but dense forest starts after the Ganesh Dham Thiraha. Our safari canter was allocated at zone no.4 by the forest department. Ranthambore tiger reserve divided into 10 different safari zones for tourist. There was also a registered nature guide allotted by the department in our Canter. Ranthambore Nature guide was explaining information about Ranthambore wild animal and plants also.
As soon as we entered the covered area with greenery, we were all excited to see this beautiful scene. And everyone's faces blossomed with happiness. First of all we saw Mishr Darah gate. We saw flowing waterfalls and saw also water flowing from Gomukh (Gargoyle). It was very scenic view of the Ranthambore. We had an excellent nature guide. He had full knowledge of flora and fauna in Ranthambore. He told that the collected rain water on the upper edge of the mountains is flowing here as a waterfall. During Safari, our guide gave us information about Ranthambore National Park. He explained that formerly the total area of the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve was 1334.6 sq.km. Due to the increasing number of tigers and the tiger's collision, this habitat area has been increased to 1700 square kilometers. Guide provided more information about the Ranthambore tiger Reserve and told us that in the past, the number of tigers was reduced due to tigers being poached. The efforts of the Central and the State Government and the Forest Department have prevented the tigers poaching, after this the number of tigers has increased rapidly.
Tiger is a territorial animal and make their own territory in the forest. A tigress may have a territory of 20 square kilometer, while the territories of male tigers are much larger than female tiger. The male tiger covers area around 60 to 100 sq km as a territory. The range of a male tiger tends to partly cover a number of females, which provides him a large area of potential mating partners. In the area, when the other tiger is entered, they become confrontational. Currently there are about 60 tigers in Ranthambore.
Thus, beholding the beautiful valleys of Ranthambore, We reached the portal (Singh Dwar) of Ranthambore National Park. It was around at 7 o'clock in the morning. Our canter reached the dense forest area through the main gate of the Park. During the jungle safari, waterfall and stream was adorable with fascinating scenes. As the Canter was moving forward, our curiosity was also increasing. The dense forest of Dhonk trees (Anogeissus Pendula) is a good shelter for tigers in Ranthambore.
First of all, we reached Malik Talab through beautiful valleys of Tamba Khan. A herd of deer was seen along the Malik Lake. There were fawns in the herds of deer. As soon as our Canter reached near the herds of deer they started jumping and bouncing .They were with white spot on golden skin and strangely horny. We have never seen such a wonderful sight. We took lots of photographs of deer. Guide told that this type of deer known as spotted deer or Chital and they are antlers. On the instructions of the guide, Canter moved to lake's dam. Some safari paths in the forest were rough and rocky. Sporadic bad roads had shaken us all. A little later, a lake appeared. My mind got stunned by seeing the marsh crocodiles in that lake, because they were quite big. They were lying down on the banks of the lake to sunbathe. We saw also herds of sambar and spotted deer, troop of monkeys and flocks of the peacocks on the lake's dike. The sound of different kinds of birds was also charming and sweet.
Guide told that tiger can be found by the call of these animals and birds and he told also that special sound of animal and birds are called alarm call or warning call. The most prominent call is believed to be Sambar deer. When the tiger is coming to the area then monkeys and deer make a strange sound and alert everyone.
One thing I noticed during the safari in Ranthambore is that combination of the guide and the driver is very good. Both of them try hard to find tiger in the Ranthambore Forest. According to the Nature Guide, driver took Canter forward. After a while, suddenly driver stopped our Canter. In front of the Canter and near the tall grass, a Tiger appeared sitting in sun. After see the tiger we were very crazy over our happiness. It was sitting with fun in the morning sunlight. The tiger was cleaning his paw with the tongue. The guide told that this place name is Sukhi Talai. Guide identified the tiger as the "Arrowhead". It is daughter of T-19 krishna. The names and numbers of tigers are given by forest department in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, where they are identified. This tigress has been given number T- 83 by forest department. We saw the tigress's fun for half an hour. It was an amazing tiger sighting in Ranthambore National Park. Tiger body was shining in sunlight. Black stripes and white freckle were enhancing the beauty of the tiger's body. Tiger is very careful and alert wild animal. After a while the tiger stood up from there and walked towards the long grass of the forest. When she was walking in the grass, deer were shouting in strange sounds. It was the alarm call for Tiger presence in the forest. After some time she disappeared gradually from our eyes in the clump of bushes. We saw many other wild animals in Ranthambore National Park which include sloth bears, Blue bull (Nilgai), Mongoose, langur, wild pig etc. and many birds. The guide told that there are about 300 types of birds in this forest.
The Jungle Safari timing in Ranthambore was almost nearing completion. We had to exit of the park on time, and around at half past ten we left the main gate of the park. Canter took us back to the hotel. We thanked the driver and guide with good tips. We took yummy breakfast in our hotel. After breakfast we checked out and left for home with excellent jungle safari experience in Ranthambore.
We were very happy to see beautiful views of Ranthambore, unbridled variance of wildlife, especially Tiger. The faces of children were blooming with joy. Looking at children's pleasure, I experienced great happiness.
Photo Courtesy : Wasim Akhtar