Apr 15 2009

Safari So-goody

(Sorry for the lack of updates but Ranthambhore isn't famed for its Cyber Cafe's or broadband connections.)

Over the last three days we've done five safaris in Ranthambhore in jeeps. I've done one more than the rest of them just to give me one more chance to see the elusive tigers but this safari was done in a clanking great diesel truck which literally drove away any wildlife.

So what was the grand total number of tiger spots we made? One.

It's seems we've been quite unlucky but it's nice to leave this place realising that it's a real national park that contains wild life, not some open air zoo.

Tigers aside, Ranthambhore is a great place for wildlife: the birds (eagles, kites, vultures, treepies, parakeets, kingfishers), crocodiles, mongooses (or is that mongeese?), chittal deer and so on we're plentiful and a lot less elusive than those tigers. I've taken a few photos and hopefully there'll be a few good ones in there.

The Raj Palace hotel turned out to be very nice indeed and it's hard to imagine that you could find staff more friendly and eager to please.

(BTW, I'm sorry if this sounds like one of those everythings-fantastic-Christmas-round-robin-letters (I don't mean you Helen J) but everything is literally brilliant.)

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Apr 14 2009

Ranthambhore Safaris

Ranthambhore seems a nice place to relax a little. Our hotel has a nice pool and nice gardens, the room's okay and the food hasn't killed me yet - I doubt it'll take much to finish me off, maybe just a "wafer thin mint" will do it.

So early to bed as the safari started at 6am, alarm set for 5am, kids set their mental alarm to start moaning at 5:05am that it's too early and they just want more sleep.

We get picked up by our eight seater jeep; four seats for us; one for the driver; one for the guide/naturalist; two for a father and son from 'up north' in Matlock. And we're off, off on our first safari in India. I'm so excited, click my 70-300 zoom on the SLR and I'm all set.

We're been allocated zone 3 which I've heard is one of the best so this just adds to the excitement.

In the park we see loads of deer/antelopes, many species of birds and I'm astounded at how often the scenery changes compared to my travels in the Serengeti, Tsavo and Amboseli.

Click, click, click. And again. And again.

Suddenly word gets around that a tiger has been spotted in the long (8 foot tall) grass near one of the lakes. We wait, and a bit more waiting, followed by more waiting split up by some more waiting. About 30 minutes in total it seems.

Suddenly the tiger leaps out of the grass, two hundred or so yards away, chasing a wild boar, which she misses. Dejected, she goes back to the grass: it's all over in 60 seconds.

Our first tiger spot. Fantastic. I'm chuffed.

Photos are here

 

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Feb 25 2009

Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve

Searching for information about Ranthambhore can prove a little tricky. To start with you've got to know how to spell it and it's open to debate. But the winner it seems is 'Ranthambhore'.

Firstly, let me recommend a lovely photo book, Tiger Forest: A Visual Study of Ranthambhore National Park. I got my copy for about £15, brand new from Amazon. Full of gorgeous pictures it really whets the appetite for a trip to the tiger reserve.

Next, let me recommend the best set of photos I've seen around. Taken by a man name Aditya Singh who runs the Ranthambhore Bagh hotel, which unfortunately is over my budget range. How I would have loved to talk about wildlife and photography with Aditya but never mind, I'll just have to bore the kids. Aditya's images can be found in many places: his blog; his web site; but above all else, his photos on Flickr.

I love this shot of a tiger almost as much as this shot of a leopard.

If I manage to take one shot half as good as some ofthese I'll be a happy man.

 

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Feb 11 2009

Preparing The Kids (Part III) - TV

Luckily, England has a fascination of India and this extends into our television programmes, including documentaries about cities/wildlife/travel/religion/gardens and children's educational programmes.

So armed with a Windows Media Center that will record any programme containing (in it's title or description) the words 'India', 'Rajasthan', 'Tiger' and 'Maha'*, we've ended up with loads to watch over the last nine months or so. Some of this is very good stuff for the kids, others not.

  • Firstly, there's a wealth of regular programmes that have 10 minutes on India. Usually not very informative, they're still worth watching. This include holiday programmes like Holiday Showdown and other holiday shows, one-off wildlife documentaries.
  • Primary Geography is a series of 10-15 minute children's educational programmes all about kids in India. There's an overview programme, one about Kerala, one about Rajasthan and many more. The Rajasthan one included footage of a boy who lived in the area near Sam/Khuri desert and another part featuring the niece of the current Maharaja of Jodphur.
  • Paul Merton In India was quite a good series where Paul saw some of the more unusual/eccentric elements of the country. I thought it was done quite well as at he always promoted the activities with an open eye, daunted at first, respectful at the end.
  • Tiger, Spy In The Jungle was a series following tigers within Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharastra. As with all BBC and Sir David Attenborough the quality and content are superb.
  • India with Sanjeev Bhaskar. For me the jury is out on this one and it's interesting that the first site I found (linked in on the left) felt the same way. I like Sanjeev as a comedian but as a documentary lead I just found him a bit too up himself. Unlike, Merton, he didn't seem to want to get too close to the locals, apart from when he was retracing his ancestry to Pakistan. Still, there's great footage includingn interesting time spotting tigers, in Pench, where it took him two weeks to find a tiger. Funnily enough this series was shown on TV at the same time as Tiger Spy In The Jungle, so perhaps Sanjeev should have followed Sir David around, he may have had better luck.
  • Michael Wood The Story Of India. A bit too old for the kids but we showed them the more interesting parts.

The BBC has a list of India & Pakistan related shows, most of which are finished but are bound to be repeated.

I thoroughly enjoyed most of the TV shows listed above too, but I was on a roll with the title 'Preparing The Kids' so I couldn't rename it halfyway through!!!


* keyword of Maha was included just in case Mahabharata ever turned up again on telly. Having read the book in 1996 it's never been back on TV.

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