TIGERS & CULTURE: FIRST TIME INDIA FEB/MARCH 2024

[KaliCA]

@Treepolthanks for your nice comment! I like the word "cross section"!

 

@KitsafariThank you and glad that you are reading along. Nice that you like Kanha as well. 

 

@TonyQGlad to hear that you enjoyed my pics of Haridwar. It was rather fascinating.

 

[KaliCA]

On one of the long car transfers through rural Central India, I wrote down some of my "sightings" along the road.

 

Skinny white cows meandering along the road
Water Buffalo getting fed green weeds by a young girl in an indigo sari. 
A little boy dancing on a patio
A red flame tree next to a green rice paddy
Haystacks under bamboo bushes 
Bright yellow wall of a house advertising "Best Cement"
An ox in a harness, pulling a cart with big wooden wheels
Two women washing bright clothing in a puddle of a brown stream
Green wheat in rice paddies 
Three water buffalo in the road herded by a woman carrying a white sac on her head
A nursing newborn calf in a hard-packed courtyard
Speed bumps and potholes 
Two girls on ancient bikes wearing blue and white sari school uniforms
Water buffalos surrounded by cattle egrets in a dry rice paddy 
Women in colorful saris carrying flat trays on their heads filled with bricks 
A Langur monkey walking on the berm of a dry rice paddy
A father driving and the mother sitting side-legged on a motorcycle with a child in their midst
A scare crow in a green wheat field wearing a yellow sari and a red turban 
A man on a motorcycle with plastic bins and baskets piled high 
A brick-making place with towers of stacked brown bricks and a smoking round oven
Two veiled women on a Vespa 
Vegetable patches and brown furrows lined with banana trees
Cows under a tree next to kids sitting in a circle 
A young girl with a stick herding cows and water buffalo to a water hole in a ditch 
A woman carrying lentil bushes on her head
An orange temple with a banner of orange triangle flags
A well-dressed eight-year-old schoolgirl sitting alone in a tuk-tuk clutching her bag
An older woman taking a break and stretching; two water jugs sitting at her feet
A man in a skirt getting off his bike with a scythe next to a lentil field
A man peeing at the side of the road
Laundry drying on the roof top of a house
A brown cow with a big wobbly hump walking in the middle of the street in heavy traffic
Men in underwear washing themselves and their clothing at a community fountain 
Blue and pink drapes blowing in the wind at a wedding venue
Four women walking with thick branches bundled on their heads
Cows and goats tied to a fence on very short ropes
A truck with the inscription BLOW HORN on its tailgate decorated with flowers
 

[KaliCA]

We have another road transfer ahead of us and this time it's from Haridwar to Ramnagar, the town close to Corbett National Park. On the way through the rural area of the state of Uttarakhand, we see more sugar cane fields and see a man ploughing a field with his team of oxen and a wooden plough.

In the busy town of Ramnagar, we buy some supplies for our stay in the Dhikala Forest camp, because CB is warning us that the food choices there are basic, vegetarian, and with limited choices. I buy bread and crackers so if worse comes to worst, we can eat my Skippy peanut butter we bring on every trip.

We check into The Tiger Camp and get served a custom-made lunch of Indian-Chinese food. Very nice that they are trying to please.

After lunch, we meet our Gypsy driver Alam, and then we head back through town to the Dhela Entrance gate of Corbett NP. 

 

Then a highlight: We see our first ever Indian Elephants in the wild. It's a funny to realize that the females do not carry tusks, so they look rather 'toothless" compared to African Ellis. 

 

They are quite shy and run away quickly

 

 

This part of Jim Corbett is quite wild and untouched. There are wide riverbeds with craggy cliffs, interspersed with meadows and leafy forests. I like it a lot.

 

After a while, we come to a place with quite a few parked Gypsies. There is calling and hollering from the guests and then I can just make out a tiger crossing the road. It disappears into the dense brush. We and others wait a little and pretty soon, there is commotion behind us. Someone has spotted the tiger under the bushes. Slowly, one car after the other is taking its turn parking by the only open spot from where the animal is visible. Then it's our turn. Alam is driving backwards, and I am sitting on the left side of the Gypsy, the side where the tiger is located. We see it clearly and quite closely. I'm taking the next two stills with the tiger crouching low and looking friendly...

 

 

Just as I'm starting a video, his patience has run out. He flattens his ears, kicks up dust, opens his mouth baring his teeth, growls, and then jumps with raised paws in my direction.

OMG! I'm thinking this is the end of me, and that's not an exaggeration. 

Here a few screen shots from this sequence.

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily, he decides to stop his attack just before he reaches the road. He bares his teeth again, accompanied by loud growling.

 

Notice the huge prank and the claws!

 

 

 

Here are the shots that Phil was able to take

 

 

 

This event took maybe three seconds. The tiger then seems to get scared as you can see from his expression in the last picture, and he is retreating back under the bushes. Alam is screaming at the jeeps behind us 'pishelo, pishelo" meaning "go back, go back" and finally.... I can breathe again. I'm alive and nothing bad has happened! Yay!

But this was certainly too close for comfort!

 

 

 

 

Edited May 30 by KaliCA

[AKR1]

Superb tiger close ups. His sudden aggression must have been real scary from so close. The Gypsies offer little protection 😰. Anyway, ended well. 

I will say this shows a lack of organizational competence by guides/park authorities. The fact that so many vehicles can crowd an apex predator and then inadvertently block a quick escape route in case of an attack, is, to put it mildly, not good. 
Thanks again for sharing your excellent report. 

Edited May 30 by AKR1

[TonyQ]

Well that is quite an introduction to Corbett!

I am enjoying all of the report, but I particularly enjoyed the notes you made of impressions of rural India as you drove along. It really brought up memories of being there.

[wilddog]

Not surprising, given what you describe, that the the tiger had had enough.

 

I loved my trip to the tiger reserves last year but there were times when the jockeying for position.... and the incessant shouting by the drivers, really concerned me.  So much so that at one sighting..... we left.

 

Glad you survived this incredible, but  unwanted, experience 

[KaliCA]

Thank you all for your kind comments! The loud talking and yelling of drivers and guests alike bothered me to no end as well. But not enough to leave a tiger sighting...

 

So, we are two minutes after the mock attack of this male tiger and and Alam is still driving backwards. Then there is loud yelling and hollering from people in front of us and they are yelling, "Ahti, Ahti", meaning elephant! CB can make out that a tusker is in the road chasing after the cars. I can see an Eli head bobbing between people's heads. The drivers come racing towards us, yelling at Alam, since we are facing the wrong way! Finally, Alam can turn around and we leave this chaotic scene. 

 So, two dangerous incidents very close to each other! Like Tony Q said, what an intro to Corbett.

 

Here some pics from other sightings during this PM game drive:

 

When we stop for the Langur, Alam is telling us how he came upon a Langur in a dead tree and that the tiger we just left, jumped up into the tree and grabbed the Langur within seconds.

 

 

 Jungle Fowl: This is one of the toughest birds to photograph, because it prefers undergrowth and doesn't stay still. And it's just a chicken! but very pretty.

 

 

 

 

 

From the back it's pretty, too!

 

 

 

Barking Deer

Not a bad safari day at all! Our first Indian Ellis and an unfriendly Tiger, nice landscape, and some other nice sightings. We drive back through narrow streets in villages, watching the people go about their evening chores.

I am so looking forward to our visit in Dhikala tomorrow and am hoping for it to be a highlight of this trip. 

Edited May 31 by KaliCA

[KaliCA]

The next morning, we have a game drive in the Bijrani Zone and this time the entrance gate Amdana is a little closer to our hotel.

 

 

 

We see some nice landscape on this cold morning. As far as animal sightings go, it's a rather empty drive. We do see some vultures sunning themselves and Alam sees pug marks of a female tiger, but no luck this morning.

 

 

 

My best sighting is at a washroom break, where I discover a stockade with two domestic Elephants. Two men are getting a domestic elephant ready for patrol. They put a cushion on its back and then the mahout holds on to the Elli's ears, steps on its trunk, and gets hoisted up on the elephant's back. Quite the circus act!

 

 

 

We return for a hearty breakfast to our hotel and pack for the trip within the trip: the Dhikala Forest camp.

[KaliCA]

We leave our big bags at the hotel and drive to the Dhangarhi Gate to get to the Dhikala Zone, probably the most famous and most desired Zone in Corbett NP.

 

 

 

It's certainly nice, not having to contend with the bureaucracy of entering a park! Usually, thats my job.

 

CB was able to book two nights for us in this government camp and he warns us again to expect very basic accommodations and food. The drive is taking us along the Ramnaga River, crossing many tributaries during the almost two hour and 35-kilometer trip. On the way, Alam spots some owls, one pair with a nestling.

 

 

The landscape is getting prettier and prettier.

 

 

 

And here it is: Dhikala Forest camp. It is fenced in, has a reception and a canteen building, and many other buildings for guests, staff, and drivers.

From the way the reception and check in is managed, one gets the feeling right away, yes, this is government bureaucracy. there is no printer, so I have to painstakingly copy all our passport information into a big ledger... reminds me of Botswana!

 

We are shown to our room. We get the middle room of a three-story building with view of the floodplain and ...elephants grazing. Yes!

 

 

 

 

The room itself is below basic and reminds me of the worst chalets in Kruger, old, worn, and nothing nice about it. But... there is a flush toilet, and a water heater for showers and the sheets are clean. Our home for two nights.

 

 

We decide to have a cold lunch today with PB and J and some potato chips, a taste of home.

 

Edited June 1 by KaliCA

[KaliCA]

At 3pm, we meet up with CB and Alam and start our first game drive in this zone along Sambar Road, a one-way road along the river. Not far in, we come upon a few parked Gypsies. There are three tiger cubs playing in the gully around a dead tree, is the information we glean. I actually see some movement and stripes, and then nothing. So, we wait. CB and the other guides are hoping for the cubs to come up to the road.

Then a murmur goes through the crowd. To our right, the flowering bushes are swaying and by and by a big tiger becomes visible. Ooh how exiting!

 

The talking of guests and drivers becomes louder. Shshsh already! But no, excited voices ring out as she enters the open road. (Tony Q, this is Parwali, and could be the same one you saw)

 

 

The tigress is calling in a meowing kind of way and as I'm following the tigress through the viewfinder recording a video, a little tiger enters the frame. A cub! Mother and cub rub heads in greeting and she licks her offspring briefly.

 

As you can tell, we have a front row position to this sighting! Bravo Alam and CB!

 

 

They both stop at the edge of road and look into the gully.

 

 

She lies down and faces us! How lucky are we...

 

 

Then a second cub appears from the right. Head rubbing, greeting, and licking ensues. The cubs are meowing as well.

 

 

But wait! There is more... the third and last cub walks in from the left while the second one moves off. Notice the tip of its tail on the right.

 

 

Phil is grabbing the other camera and can save this shot of all four on the memory card.

 

 

To be continued...

 

Edited June 1 by KaliCA

[janzin]

Wow fabulous luck with the tigers!

[wilddog]

I think that is probably the ST 'best tiger sighting of 2024'. Time will tell of course.

Just fabulous

[TonyQ]

What a wonderful sighting. I suspect they are the same youngster that we saw - but we didn't see them all out in the open like that.

They are really beautiful cats, and a great start to your stay in Dhikala

[KaliCA]

Thanks for your kind words @janzin @wilddog@TonyQ

It was our best tiger sighting, for sure. If THE best of 2024... who knows?

As far as I know, Janzin  will have lots of goodies to share later.

But I felt that after seeing a mother and her three cubs so close up, Dhikala was surely worth visiting. 

 

[Ginny]

@KaliCA My favorite photo is the one of the Mom and cub looking into the gully.  Bravo!

[KaliCA]

@GinnyThank you!

 

So, we are still with this tiger family along Sambar Road, relishing every precious moment with these beautiful cats.

 

Here another flood of tiger pics!

 

 

 

There is still a lot of nuzzling and greeting going on. At one point the mother is getting crowded by her offspring and is teaching one of them some manners.  She is putting her big paw on a cub and seems to be yelling at it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 3 by KaliCA

[Zim Girl]

What an amazing tiger sighting and fabulous pictures!

[janzin]

We had some good tiger sightings but nothing to compare to this one @KaliCA!  This is definitely up there at the top, and you were in such a great position too. Amazing that it was at Corbett!

[KaliCA]

@Zim GirlThanks for your nice comment!

@janzinThank you for your kind words! Can't wait to see your stunning pics.

 

Well, this long and close up sighting yielded quite a lot of photographs, as you can imagine.

Here a few more:

 

It seems that the cubs are as curious about us as we are curious about them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 5 by KaliCA

[KaliCA]

In the meantime, CB has learned that the mother came from a kill hidden from our sight in the flowering bushes. Then there is some movement and the two cubs who were posing so nicely, decide to get up, cross the road and then disappear along where the mother appeared.

 

 

 

I'm guessing that they are hungry and are going back to the kill. The mother and the last cub are looking down into the gully. After a moment, they, too, get up and disappear into the gully. There is some rearranging of Gypsies and we get a last glimpse of the mother and cub walking in tall grass towards the river.

We decide to wait and see if any one of them will reappear. It sounds to me as though CB is telling the drivers to leave a wide swath of road open, in case the tiger family will reunite.

A few minutes later, the bushes are swaying and one of the cubs appears. It crosses the road, throws a last look at the onlookers and then it, too, descends into the tall grass and bushes of the gully.

 

 

A moment later, the second cub appears in back of us and is running quickly across the road and enters the gully as well.

 

 

I hope that the four of them will eventually find each other down there. 

WOW! and double WOW! We high-five each other and every one of us is smiling a huge smile.

We are heading back to camp, grateful and happy to have seen a few precious moments in this tiger family's life.

Edited June 5 by KaliCA

[michael-ibk]

Really enjoying this! You had fantastic sightings here and in Kanha, and a (slightly too) thrilling start in Corbett. Also really like your posts about the ceremony. And your photos are beautiful. 

[KaliCA]

@michael-ibkThank you so much for your kind words!

 

After our best tiger sighting yet, we have a date with CB to have dinner together in the cafeteria. This will be only our second dinner together. I think all this "driver and guide" eat and stay at different places is surely a left-over from colonial times and it's a little strange for us Americans. The cafeteria is serving vegetarian food only, but somehow, it's all fine and filling.

 

On the sidewalk, we meet a couple from Oregon and chat a little. A concerned Indian man is warning us not to stay out in the dark because, "a man-eating tiger has been around camp." Well, the camp is fenced, and I think he is making it up to scare us. We all shrug it off. Yeah, right, sure...

Later, in bed, I'm just about to fall asleep, when my head snaps up. There is a tiger roaring very close by! I jump out of bed and open the window. The roaring is louder now and quite close by. I can also hear elephants trumpeting. What's going on out there in the wilds of India?

After hearing those sounds, I fall asleep with a grin on my face. Yes! this is why I love going on safari.

 

 

 

 

[KaliCA]

When we wake up its especially cold in our room and there is heavy dew and fog in the valley. As we leave camp, I ask CB why none of the Jeeps veer to the right along the reservoir. He says that a worker has been killed by a tiger back in November and so the road is staying closed. I'm understanding that there were two dangerous tigers, but that only one was removed and the other one is still around. If you check the web, there is indeed talk of a worker being killed by a tiger in Dhikala. So the Indian man last night did not make up a story! I stand corrected.

I love the early morning atmosphere along Sambar road.

 

 

 

 

Some gypsies are waiting at yesterday's sighting spot, but there is no news. We continue and find some pheasants along the dark forest road. 

Well, it's dark for pictures here and cold, so I propose to go to the floodplain where the light and sunshine is and see what we can find.

A little while later, I call out, "jackal"! but no, it's actually a Jungle Cat in hunting mode. I'm very happy to see this cat as it was on my wish list.

 

 

 

 

 

[KaliCA]

We cross the Ramganga River via a wooden bridge, cross the floodplain and then climb via a serpentine road up into the jungle. We see some Gypsies parked at a cement bridge and the guests are focused on something in the riverbed. There is a Tiger and a cub. sadly, the two are quite far away, but with the binos, I can observe their loving playing. The cub is throwing itself on the mother and then they wrestle a little. Many tiger legs are up in the air. Very cute!

 

As you can tell, this sighting is beyond what our equipment and/or our skills can do and so here are some video stills as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This tigress looks a lot more mature and massive to me than the one we saw yesterday.

Somehow, we find out that earlier there were FOUR cubs present. Oh well, timing is everything on safari and we missed the whole family, but at least we are having a second Dhikala tiger sighting.

 

[Botswanadreams]

17 hours ago, KaliCA said:

This will be only our second dinner together. I think all this "driver and guide" eat and stay at different places is surely a left-over from colonial times and it's a little strange for us Americans.

 

A LEFT-OVER FROM COLONIAL TIMES - what you are talking about? The guide and the driver when ever possible choose a much cheaper accommodation and meal as for there guest booked. The only reason behind this to save YOUR money. Maybe you are not able to imagine that you have to pay for all there expenses on the trip.