A Tiger Before Breakfast

We have just come back from the spectacular Corbett National Park.

Looking to the foothills of the Himalayas.

Where Prof arranged for two safaris. 

One by jeep...

...which I was not allowed to drive...

...and one by elephant.

Atop our Indian Queen, Rani

We did the elephant safari first, natch.
Setting off before first light (~6:00 am) was achingly beautiful.

View from atop Rani, making our way into the jungle.

We forded a rushing stream of the Kosi River.

The other two elephants in our convoy.

We could really feel the pull of the strong current! 

Rani loved the water and dilly dallied awhile before getting out.

Enjoying the view upstream from Rani's vantage point.

After we left the stream the others in our party veered off to the right, and we to the left.

The only sounds were the early morning birds, calling monkeys,
and Rani's gentle snorts. 

We were riding about 10 feet up in the treetops with the 

chattering red-faced and black-faced monkeys.

Red-faced monkey mum & tot.
I know they are carriers of disease and masters of mischief,
but they are adorable!

The Park is home to four types of deer: 

spotted (chital), Sambar, barking (Munjac), and hog deer.

Beautiful Sambar doe

Chital doe & stag shyly looking the other way.

I love Rudyard Kipling's stories of Mowgli, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,
and the others in The Jungle Book,
 and could just imagine the adventures taking place all around us.

Of course, what every visitor to the Park wants to see is a Bengal tiger.

After pottering around the jungle for awhile
identifying various flora & fauna,

our guide told us that the previous morning he had come across a freshly killed deer.

The culprit was obviously a tiger, but he was nowhere to be found.

We visited the spot where the kill had been discovered.

Finding tiger pugmarks and the evidence of dragged prey.

Pristine print (pugmark) in the centre!

We had managed our expectations of tiger-spotting before embarking on the safari...

but, now we were starting to get excited!

Near the markings, high in a tree,
was a solitary black-faced monkey making very distinct chatterings.
As though he was sending us a message.

The sentry on the look out.

 Rani seemed to understand and plodded on into the bush, 

while our guide explained that he was looking for the tiger.

Now our blood started pumping.

Suddenly, our guide announced in hurried, hushed tones  

that there were rustlings, different than the others,
in the bush ahead.

The movement was coming from right there in the middle!
Look - you can spot him!

Rani moved in a little closer...

and all of a sudden,

with a ferocious R O A R,

which we could feel as much as hear,

the tiger leapt out towards us.

(Into the clearing just to the right edge of the photo.)

He was about 20 feet away,

baring his terrible teeth, 

and growling menacingly

Our guide yelled.

I screamed.

 I had visions of Rani rearing and de-howda-ing us into the tiger's lair.

But, Rani was calm & cool as the morning air.
She circled back slightly, as if to say,
"Okay, okay...just let them take a couple of pictures,
and we'll be off."

Which we did.
Or, the Prof did, once I passed over the camera
with trembling hand.

Our tiger retreated back into the bush...
growling all the while.
Watching until we left.

It turned out that we had been extremely lucky

 as only up to ten percent of visitors actually see a tiger, according to the Rangers. 

Others have told us that it is more rare than that.

Our guide had never been in such a situation,

and immediately relayed the message to the his friends

with great excitement and animation.

The next day at the jeep safari,

we found that everyone had heard of our unique encounter.

A tiger's roar can be heard up to three miles away.

As we were only twenty feet or so from it,

we experienced its full power.

Volume, vibration, and vigor.

There was nothing cute about this cat.

The tiger is huge, at around 500 lbs.

It is powerful.

And it is to be feared.

But, he was so fiercely beautiful.

His colours so rich.

His markings exquisite.

Here's a nice little clip that shows a bit more of this King of the Jungle.

The elephant safari would have been a highlight of our trip to India with tiger or not.

There is no better way to experience the jungle.

We felt the beauty and wonder of nature at such an intimate level.

And felt safe.

Apparently, it was no surprise to Rani that the tiger was there,

as elephants can sense them from 50 feet away.

Peacocks out for a morning stroll.

We returned from the safari cold, wet from the morning dew, but exhilarated.