Safari Logs

I can't believe we've been back from India for two weeks. Last night I dreamt of tigers. I woke up craving Indian food. Luckily today is our cheat day so we'll be having plenty of Paratha, Curried Cal, Pakora, and Samosas. Describing India in words is limiting because it's the colors, the smells, and the tastes that make it such a dizzyingly wonderful experience.

On this last trip, we went on the equivalent of eight safaris, four in Kanha and three in Bandhavgarh. It's hard to say which were the best. We had the best tiger sighting in Bandhavgarh so that's definitely the one that stands out the most. Here's what that sighting looked like, as shot by our uber awesome naturalist Shiv:

Make sure you listen with the sound up, this sub-adult tiger was very vocal which really added to the intensity of the sighting! To see the footage that we shot. you'll have to wait for the film to come out.

This sighting came at the very end of a long safari day where we had one nice sighting in the morning and then a mother and her cubs teased us mercilessly for the better part of the afternoon. Time and time again, we would see their fresh tracks where she was leading her cubs, one by one to the watering hole. Her prints would be on our fresh jeep tracks. I hope one day we get to film a tigress with her cubs but for this trip, it wasn't to be.

If you plan to visit India in January for Safaris, dress accordingly. It can get down to freezing in the morning and then back to the high 60's or 70's by the afternoon. That's a cold ride first thing in the morning in an open gypsy! I can't imagine what trekking in Siberia would be like. Maybe one day.

I know I need to record more of these safari stories so I don't forget them. Next time we'll talk about first sightings, you truly never forget them!