Tiger, Tiger, purrrrrr
Adventure comes in many forms; we thought India and Tigers, were an irresistible combination for variety and the unusual.
Corbett National Park, is India’s first national park, located in the foothills of the Himalayas and inspired the India wide Project Tiger programme which started in 1973 and saw the creations of 22 other reserves, the Lonely Planets guide advises. Elephants in national parks are becoming rather special, we believe there are only 3 parks in India that offer the opportunity to tiger spot from elephant back. This is one of the reasons we chose Corbett.
A predawn start, with a cast of many: Guide, Cook and Driver, Peter and I journey by Jeep with trailer to the jungle. Forty minutes later we met up with our elephant (Laxmi) and his two handlers (Mahawats) who washed his back clean of any small stones before placing and tying on the seating platform. Standing four metres high we had no intention of following the handlers who ran up the elephant’s trunk to take our positions. An embankment was found and we gingerly mounted the seat. After swaying around for a while we both noticed our knuckles were white. It is a very odd sensation travelling on elephant back; you are seated sideways and yet travelling forwards.
In our quest to spot a tiger, we journeyed through dense jungle, vegetation that was lush and green, past raging rivers, surrounded by cloud shrouded hills and mountains. Jungle noises a plenty, monkey cries, shrill and alarming, birds, called and sang, a few deer but alas no sign of a tiger. However we kept our eyes wide open and after seeing some footprints in the sand by the river we were a little less casual, about how we hung on to our seat. Imagine a dinner plate, that is roughly the diameter of the tiger’s paw print large and scary, exciting , also the fact that the indentation they were only 12hours old, heightened the excitement .
After a couple of river crossings we pressed on towards the Forest Rest House. Set high above the river, this 100 year old structure was built by the British with 18 foot ceilings and a fireplace in each room. It was rather romantic, dinner by candlelight, warmth by fire and a bird bath from a bucket of hot water, great fun. Being winter we appreciated the log fire with some of the logs being broken by Laxmi, he is a strong boy. Heavy rain on a tin roof and feeling snug seemed a long way from the reality and frantic pace of city life.
We bid Laxmi goodbye, he had a two day trek back to the resort and we pressed on by jeep due to the inclement weather. Fording the swollen rivers was an adventure, to be surpassed only by the narrow tracks around the mountain a couple of hundred metres above the river. To the north lay the foothills of the Himalayas covered by a dusting of overnight snow. India is full of contrasts. Wrapped in blankets to combat the wind chill factor of our open jeep, we took in some wonderful sights of fertile valleys with their terraced fields of wheat and mustard seed, layer apon layer of vivid green and earth coloured soils. Our guide Hem, told stories of local lore, of leopards and the men who went off to the military in order to feed their families. Life is hard here.
Leaving the valley a narrow track took us high onto the hills above the tiger reserve. Fresh Tiger scratch marks on the base of a tree, the liquid sap, caught, the attention of our guide we were given a lesson in animal behaviour. The scratches were from the tiger cleaning his paws after a kill. The marks were long and deep, menacing, you could almost feel the animals power, it is easy for your imagination to run away unchecked, is he up or down the hill, watching us, you expect to hear a low growl.
Safely in the grasslands and a couple of river crossings later we pulled up at another rest house which housed an elephant. We were quick to accept the opportunity of a ride while the cook prepared breakfast.
This time we had a platform to mount the elephant; we were old hands at this. Fifty metres from the clearing the handler pointed to fresh tiger tracks in the creek bed, hearing the monkeys calls signalling danger to the other prey of the tiger, we were off up the creek. We needed little encouragement to hang on and be silent. When the Mahawat, pulled up the bottom of his hat to uncover his ears so he could hear better, we straightened up and hung on. This adventure was removed from our daily lives, our heart raced, this was intense and exhilarating!!!
The elephant made his way around and through the thick undergrowth but alas the tiger was not to be seen. The Mahawat decided the other side of the valley might yield a better result. Not until we got to the river did we realise we had to cross this fast flowing stream. Had we known there were crocodiles around we would have hung on even tighter!! More thick undergrowth, more tiger paw marks in the sand; more sharp shrill alarm calls from the monkeys. The handler listened intently. Our elephant navigated the narrow animal paths and pushed through the straw coloured undergrowth. No doubt the elusive tiger watched us from an obscure vantage point. Meantime there were plenty of deer, monkeys and birds. Even a tortoise swam around in a small pool. Being on elephant back, the other animals did not see us as a threat. We could have reached out and touched the deer. We were really glad we had chosen to ride elephants; this was so much closer to nature than in a motor vehicle and was really a lot of fun. The elephants were delightful, they looked at you with a twinkle in their eyes, I think they shared the fun.
Corbett National Park, is India’s first national park, located in the foothills of the Himalayas and inspired the India wide Project Tiger programme which started in 1973 and saw the creations of 22 other reserves, the Lonely Planets guide advises. Elephants in national parks are becoming rather special, we believe there are only 3 parks in India that offer the opportunity to tiger spot from elephant back. This is one of the reasons we chose Corbett.
A predawn start, with a cast of many: Guide, Cook and Driver, Peter and I journey by Jeep with trailer to the jungle. Forty minutes later we met up with our elephant (Laxmi) and his two handlers (Mahawats) who washed his back clean of any small stones before placing and tying on the seating platform. Standing four metres high we had no intention of following the handlers who ran up the elephant’s trunk to take our positions. An embankment was found and we gingerly mounted the seat. After swaying around for a while we both noticed our knuckles were white. It is a very odd sensation travelling on elephant back; you are seated sideways and yet travelling forwards.
In our quest to spot a tiger, we journeyed through dense jungle, vegetation that was lush and green, past raging rivers, surrounded by cloud shrouded hills and mountains. Jungle noises a plenty, monkey cries, shrill and alarming, birds, called and sang, a few deer but alas no sign of a tiger. However we kept our eyes wide open and after seeing some footprints in the sand by the river we were a little less casual, about how we hung on to our seat. Imagine a dinner plate, that is roughly the diameter of the tiger’s paw print large and scary, exciting , also the fact that the indentation they were only 12hours old, heightened the excitement .
After a couple of river crossings we pressed on towards the Forest Rest House. Set high above the river, this 100 year old structure was built by the British with 18 foot ceilings and a fireplace in each room. It was rather romantic, dinner by candlelight, warmth by fire and a bird bath from a bucket of hot water, great fun. Being winter we appreciated the log fire with some of the logs being broken by Laxmi, he is a strong boy. Heavy rain on a tin roof and feeling snug seemed a long way from the reality and frantic pace of city life.
We bid Laxmi goodbye, he had a two day trek back to the resort and we pressed on by jeep due to the inclement weather. Fording the swollen rivers was an adventure, to be surpassed only by the narrow tracks around the mountain a couple of hundred metres above the river. To the north lay the foothills of the Himalayas covered by a dusting of overnight snow. India is full of contrasts. Wrapped in blankets to combat the wind chill factor of our open jeep, we took in some wonderful sights of fertile valleys with their terraced fields of wheat and mustard seed, layer apon layer of vivid green and earth coloured soils. Our guide Hem, told stories of local lore, of leopards and the men who went off to the military in order to feed their families. Life is hard here.
Leaving the valley a narrow track took us high onto the hills above the tiger reserve. Fresh Tiger scratch marks on the base of a tree, the liquid sap, caught, the attention of our guide we were given a lesson in animal behaviour. The scratches were from the tiger cleaning his paws after a kill. The marks were long and deep, menacing, you could almost feel the animals power, it is easy for your imagination to run away unchecked, is he up or down the hill, watching us, you expect to hear a low growl.
Safely in the grasslands and a couple of river crossings later we pulled up at another rest house which housed an elephant. We were quick to accept the opportunity of a ride while the cook prepared breakfast.
This time we had a platform to mount the elephant; we were old hands at this. Fifty metres from the clearing the handler pointed to fresh tiger tracks in the creek bed, hearing the monkeys calls signalling danger to the other prey of the tiger, we were off up the creek. We needed little encouragement to hang on and be silent. When the Mahawat, pulled up the bottom of his hat to uncover his ears so he could hear better, we straightened up and hung on. This adventure was removed from our daily lives, our heart raced, this was intense and exhilarating!!!
The elephant made his way around and through the thick undergrowth but alas the tiger was not to be seen. The Mahawat decided the other side of the valley might yield a better result. Not until we got to the river did we realise we had to cross this fast flowing stream. Had we known there were crocodiles around we would have hung on even tighter!! More thick undergrowth, more tiger paw marks in the sand; more sharp shrill alarm calls from the monkeys. The handler listened intently. Our elephant navigated the narrow animal paths and pushed through the straw coloured undergrowth. No doubt the elusive tiger watched us from an obscure vantage point. Meantime there were plenty of deer, monkeys and birds. Even a tortoise swam around in a small pool. Being on elephant back, the other animals did not see us as a threat. We could have reached out and touched the deer. We were really glad we had chosen to ride elephants; this was so much closer to nature than in a motor vehicle and was really a lot of fun. The elephants were delightful, they looked at you with a twinkle in their eyes, I think they shared the fun.
Labels: travel
posted by PC and JT at 4:00 pm
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