Incredible India 2 – The quest for the Tiger

Our Incredible India Journey continued in Ranthambore National Park.  Ranthambore is one of the finest tiger reserves in India and  is considered the best place to see a tiger in their natural habitat.

Having loved all of our safaris that we have been on in Africa and wanting to give us the best opportunity to see the tiger we opted to stay in Ranthambore 3 nights and go on 3

        morning and 3 afternoon safaris.  We took cantor safaris which are like an extra-large safari vehicles.  The similarities between Africa and India continue with the  incredible amount of wildlife that the area offers.  The similarities stop, however, with the other guests on in the vehicle.  The Indian tourists that come to the park are only interested in seeing tigers, not interested in any other wildlife.  They also are NOT quiet – children of all ages are allowed to come on safari so there is yelling, screaming and crying while we were looking for wildlife.

The safaris were full of wildlife and we were lucky enough to get a glimpse, however so brief, of two tigers on the very first night. The mama tiger and her cub were resting in the shade just inside the entrance gate.

On our final night safari we were fortunate enough to have a great viewing of the tigers.  In total we saw 5 tigers on 3 different safaris.  In speaking to other western tourists we saw significantly more than anyone else we spoke to.

We saw a wonderful amount of wildlife and were sad to leave – even though on safari it was over 100 degrees every day.  Our next stop – the holy city of Varanasi and the Holy Ganges River.