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@KaliCAexciting to see your first Tigers , and well done with your photos. You show really well how beautiful they are. I also enjoyed your photos on the way to the park. Looking forward to the rest!

It's true that we had the full-day safaris on prior trips but I specifically asked WWI if they would be able to select the guide and driver even for regular safari drives and was told yes (this was just this past year when we were deciding whether to return to Ranthambhore or do Central India; we decided against Ranthambhore because they no longer offer full days, and some other reasons but was assured we'd get the desired guides/drivers even with the new rules.)  Similarly in Corbett, WWI arranged our guide in advance and he was fantastic. I've actually always had excellent guides and drivers in India parks, except for one this last trip who seemed to be a trainee.

Shame about the Forest guide problem. It is verging on corruption so no surprise to me.

@janzin you are right that it could be possible to select the driver and forest guide but it isn't only connection from the tour operator it is also about money you are willing to pay for your safari. The forest guide on the rotation system gets payed too from you. As I remember you had mostly the very expensive full day safaris in Ranthambhore. In Khana for example we had a selected driver and naturalist from WWI and both were more or less a catastrophe.  

sorry to hear about your disappointments with the guides in Ranthambhore. This is why it's really important to have a tour operator who can hand-select the guides and drivers. (It is not quite true that this isn't possible--you just need the right connections. :) Wild World India reserved their favored guides on both of our trips to Ranthambhore and we had top guides and drivers both times.   Very glad you found some tigers nonetheless!

Thank you Kit!  I will do this asap. I’ve signed a petition but seems like more urgent action is necessary!

He's 52 I believe. It seemed that 55 was the number where a few super tuskers had passed in recent years so I felt a certain urgency — one I know had been treated for a poison spear wound so I’m sure that was a contributing factor. I suspect at some point those massive heavy tusks become a bit of a liability in terms of longevity but I’m no scientist…

I may have missed it but do you know how old Craig is @gatoratlarge?  

At one point the cub is walking away from the kill.   So lucky that it is curious and looks back.   Then we hear more alarm calls by Sambar Deer and the Tiger Mama comes into view and makes her way to the kill.       Wow! What a beautiful animal! That face!!! Those amber tiger eyes!!! I’m instantly in love with tigers as much as I love lions and leopards.  This is a piece of wood but she is not chewing on it. The kill is in front of her.  So many obstructions in form of trees, leaves, grass…  

@gatoratlarge Totally agree with you. Unfortunately, as long as the Tanzanian government favours instant and rich money from trophy hunters, it will never care about the continuing existence of endangered wildlife. Wildlife has little economical value to them unless they are dead in this instance.    In total, five large male elephants were hunted and killed in northern Tanzania over the last seven months, with a quota of another five more licenses for elephants expected to be granted in that Amboseli-Tanzania cross border area. This is according to Amboseli Trust for Elephants, which added:    "If five more are killed later this year, there will be no males older than 35 left in this part of the population and only a few left in the whole population. This is a crisis. Please write to the Tanzanian Embassy in your country and please write to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to these addresses: scientificauthority@fws.gov and managementauthority@fws.gov."    

Ranthambore National Park: A Highlight  A few impressions from our transfer to Ranthambore NP. The Water Palace outside Jaipur         In Ranthambore, we experience for the first time in person what it means to go on safari in India. CB booked the exclusive use of a Jeep, since I didn’t want to share with people we don’t know. As is, space is limited in the Gypsy, as the Jeeps are called. There is the driver, organized by the hotel and a compulsory forest guide organized at check-in by the Ranger Station. The second bench is occupied by Phil and me, while the last bench is occupied by CB Singh who was more of a true forest guide than the compulsory ones.  A word about the assigned forest guides: A lowlight Sadly, they assign forest guides on a rotating basis, so some of them are not motivated and some only speak limited English. Most of them would check their phones during drives rather than scan the forest for sightings. I would say, “Oh look, Bee-eaters.” And they would repeat: “Yes, Bee-eaters.” It was comical at times. They never found any tigers, leopards, or bears for us. This was so disappointing as I was under the impression that forest guides would know the territory of certain animals and being able to find some.  One even lied to us about getting a text (not allowed!) that a tiger is about to show up. When I ask CB to see if there is a text, there was none, all fake news. you can imagine that I was not amused. Many of them would make up stories and conjecture where and when the tiger would come out and what the tiger is doing now in the forest! They also did not reprimand drivers for behaving badly at sightings.  So, other than maybe two men who were engaged and trying hard, all other forest guides were totally worthless on our safaris and all they did was taking up space and hoping for a tip at the end of the tour.  Ok, this sounds a little harsh, but such was our experience.    Obviously, since this is our first ever Indian National Park, we experience many firsts in Ranthambore NP. We love the scenery with dense jungle, open areas around lakes, narrow valleys with streams. A fortress on a flat mountain, and other old buildings all add to the exotic feeling.  The fortress       Our very first safari, February 29, the leap day, proved to be our lucky day.  On Road 2, our forest guide (one of the good ones) hears alarm calls and we head towards the sound via a side road. Other vehicles are already parked on the side of the road and their guests are looking into a dry riverbed.  A few minutes later, our first ever Indian tiger in the wild is walking down the slope. It is a cub! Our guide says it’s one of three. The cub moves lower and cowers behind a hairy rock. Wait, that’s not a rock, but the hairy rump of a kill. CB says it’s a Sambar Deer, a favorite food of tigers.     

@TonyQThanks for your kind words! I'm reliving the trip this way, too.

As has been reported, at least two super tuskers were legally shot when they crossed over the border into Tanzania in January, a month before our group arrived in Kenya. a few more large or emerging tuskers have been shot since then.    It’s unconscionable that this takes place in 2024 when there are only 25 super tuskers on the African continent. It’s completely heartbreaking, and you can see from my video, Craig is the most gentlemanly, regal and serene of beasts.  There would be absolutely no sport involved in it. He’s a gentle soul. They are easy targets. The only challenge is that there are so few left!   A few things I learned or relearned—-elephants can be left tusked or right tusked or even ambidextrous—favoring one tusk or the other or both.    The Tsavo Trust does amazing work trying to protect this genetically gifted strain of super tuskers in this part of Africa. Most of the super tuskers are related. They break them down into Super Tuskers, Emerging Tuskers (not quite yet in the club but expected to grow into it in their prime) and iconic cows which are female eles that have long tusks but perhaps not the girth weight of the males’ tusks.    In Amboseli I believe we saw two more super tuskers including Tee Jay. He was following and chasing a female that appeared to be playing hard to get or was reluctant 😂        

Wonderful video of a snoozing Tusker!     Thanks for this TR @gatoratlarge

So af this point our group safari concluded and I bid everyone adieu but this is when an unexpected layoff comes in handy (not to worry 😁 I have a new job which is actually my old one but that’s another story) I realized that I had paid leave and therefore an opportunity to extend my stay. How many chances like that do you get in life?  So with only a couple weeks before departure I began brainstorming with @Sangeetaand Chalo on what to do if I had an extra week in Africa.    I thought about the wild dogs in Laikipia or seeking out the black leopard — but going solo it might have been cost prohibitive —I had also been watching many a YouTube video on the last remaining super tuskers and became intrigued. I decided on Amboseli and Tsavo, two parks I’d never visited (the train to Mombasa doesn’t count 😁)  I set aside three days to find Craig, a super tusker that inhabits the Amboseli ecosystem.  Also I  hoped to spend the night on the Ngulia platform to spot rhinos 🦏 in Tsavo West.    It would turn out Ngulia wasn’t open to the public at this time— rumors of a poaching incident.  Whatever the reason, the reserve inside the park was laying low and was off limits even for a day drive.    Chalo Africa was able to get one of their favorite Game Watchers guides  to pick me up at the Nairobi airport for the drive south to Amboseli. The park is rightfully known for its elephants and occasional views of the snow capped peak of Kilimanjaro when it emerges from the clouds.    I was lucky we saw Kili each day I was there and even while in Tsavo West, something I didn’t think possible. But as thrilled as I was about seeing nice views of Kili, I got that sinking feeling about Craig.   There’s no off track driving in Amboseli and roads are few with swamps all around. I could easily imagine a scenario where Craig tucks in a remote spot for several days and we miss him entirely!  Plus he traverses 100 square miles of terrain and the unseasonably early rain had scattered the wildlife, much of it outside the park and in denser bush in neighboring conservancies.    So my guide talked with other guides at the lodge (Serena inside the park) and called his contacts in the area for leads on Craig’s whereabouts. Everyone was quick to emphasize we’d be lucky to see Craig and to enjoy the park and the search. 😬 My guide got a call back from a Masai tracker late the next morning —-Craig had been located and we headed post haste to a conservancy adjacent to Amboseli tingling with excitement!   What transpired was one of the most moving wildlife experiences I’ve ever had: Clearly played around with black and white, but I liked the effect 😊           The Masai tracker said “come, come” and in a flash I was a few meters away from this majestic creature on foot! We were the only ones around with Craig and a young bull Askari — when Craig began to move, I was instructed to move slowly in reverse.   He reached the shade of an acacia tree and began to nap.   We kept the doors open, and listened quietly to the birds, the gentle breathing as Craig napped, leaning at times on one of his massive tusks to prop up his head!  His Askari laid down beside him and also took a nap!  We had our morning tea and watched on in awe for nearly two hours!