Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Realizing that the monsoon season was fast approaching and that many of the national parks would be closed come July, I decided to make an effort to make it to at least one during.  So my second weekend in India became the designated weekend for seeing Indian wildlife. Because the plans didn't come to fruition until a few days before the weekend, my friend Dustin and I ended up hiring a car (the trains that would work with our schedules were booked) to take us to Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan.
The driver arrived at my house about an hour earlier than we had anticipated. Luckily Dustin had planned on arriving a bit earlier so we were able to get an early start. We departed for our approximately 9 hour journey at around 9:30 p.m. If you were to look at Google Maps, it would suggest this drive would only take about 6 hours, but Google Maps is wrong! I don't think Google Maps takes into account the fact that this is India - a land where traffic is insane, you have to stop in random places and search for the government officials that you need to pay tolls or taxes to, and the road is not nice and paved for the whole journey. In fact, while I'm talking about traffic I should mention a little saying that the driver told us about driving in India. "For driving in India, you need four things: good brakes, a good horn, good luck and a good doctor!" A very wise and accurate saying indeed.
The car was comfortable and our driver was very reliable, friendly and helpful. Despite being comfortable with his safe driving, it was still hard to get much sleep on the journey (since the actual paved road often disappeared or random traffic would appear). He successfully navigated us from Delhi to Sawai Madhopur (the town nearest Ranthambore National Park). There he dropped us off at our hotel at 6:30 am. By that point, Dustin and I were exhausted and hungry. We had breakfast at our hotel (the Raj Palace - which was lovely) and then decided to sleep for a few hours. Our first safari into the park was scheduled for the afternoon and we wanted to be well rested.
Upon waking, we decided to go for a little stroll around Sawai Madhopur. This decision was a bit of a mistake. Our driver had sort of warned us about strolling down the streets of Sawai Madhopur, but the way he explained it we thought he meant that the shopkeepers would try to sell us overpriced junk. So we left the hotel and strolled down the road. There we were greeted with camels pulling carts of bricks and other materials and people carrying on their day to day lives. We visited a statue of the Maharaja and then headed down another street towards a temple. At this point we encountered young children begging for money. This is something you get used to when you are in India as certain young children will come up and follow you around, sometimes pinching your arm in an effort to get money. Although it is sometimes tempting to want to help the children (they are clearly impoverished) we've been warned frequently that this is a trick and that no money should be given because it only encourages begging instead of learning a craft, trade, or other profession.
The children's begging, while annoying, was nothing like what we were about to experience. As we continued walking along we suddenly found ourselves faced with three teenage boys. At first it seemed like the three boys just wanted to see foreigners up close, but then it became clear they were casing us and looking for a way to steal our money. Although neither Dustin nor I speaks much Hindi, it was apparent they were making lewd comments and trying to distract Dustin while they looked for a way to steal our belongings. It was an uncomfortable situation. We reached the temple and headed towards the entrance to see if we could lose them. They followed us inside the gates. Then we attempted to wait and try to return back towards the hotel while they were washing up. This plan worked to keep them away from us for a bit, but they followed us on the return. But eventually as we neared an intersection near the Maharaja statue (where there was a police officer stationed) they turned off and left us in peace. From that point forward we decided we'd stick to the hotel (there was a pool so plenty to keep us entertained).
After returning to the hotel, eating lunch and swimming it was time to head on our first wildlife safari. We were picked up by a jeep and went on the first tour with a nice Indian family. The first tour was a wild ride - the driver sped down the roads taking turns as quickly as possible. There were no seatbelts and I was glad for the bars on the back of the seats in front of us. I affixed a death grip as we were jostled and bumped along the road. In my head I distinctly remember thinking the line from Jarassic Park, "hold on to your butts!" The guide was knowledgeable and provided us with information about the park. The primary draw of the first safari was a tiger that had been spotted earlier on the trail we had been assigned (the park limits how many jeeps and trucks can enter during the morning and evening times and specifies which trail each is to use). The guide had the driver take us as quickly as possible past the ruins of Maharaja hunting lodges and "tiger supermarkets" (herds of deer) to the banks of a small lake where a tiger was resting. As we watched a tiger there (which was at a bit of a distance) the guides learned that another tiger had been spotted nearby so we sped off in that direction. Lucky for us, the tiger crossed the road right in front of our jeep! He was nonplussed by the gaggles of tourists looking at him and snapping photos and he was a majestic sight to behold. The tiger nonchalantly walked across the road and into the trees to the side of a herd of deer. The deer watched nervously. The did not run, but they moved swiftly away from the tiger's path and then cautiously creeped to the edge of the trees to watch for the tigers next move.
We weren't able to watch the tiger too long because at that point the storm clouds were fast approaching and our driver began to speed down the road towards the exit. Despite the swift speed of the jeep, we were unable to outrun the rains. The storm dumped rain on us as we continued to race for the exit. At the exit we tried to take shelter under the gates to wait out the storm. Eventually we had to give up and get in the jeep while we headed back to the hotel. Dinner, a shower and sleep were great ways to finish out the evening and prepare for our second safari on day two.
Safari number two began early in the morning. We left the hotel at 6 am and ventured into the park with a different driver, a different guide, and different group of tourists. We were assigned a different trail (and unfortunately we learned that there was a tigress waiting on a kill on one of the other trails) and were taken off to explore a new part of the park. The driver on day 2 drove slower and we were able to appreciate the scenery a bit more. That day (at least in the beginning) we were not as lucky with the animal spotting. We saw plenty of peacocks, other birds, and deer, but no tigers or leopards or jackals or hyenas. Then after driving around for a few hours we spotted a sloth bear. We watched the sloth bear amble about. Unlike the tigers, he was a bit more disturbed by our presence and seemed to try to get away from us as quickly as possible.
We were not fortunate enough to spot any other animals, but we did come close. As we were departing the park our guide noticed that a monkey was in a tree giving a warning call which signaled to the others there was either a tiger or a leopard approaching. We waited for a few minutes to try to spot what the monkey was warning about (or maybe the monkey was just messing with us) but were unsuccessful in spotting the predator. Our safari time had lapsed and it was time to return to the hotel for breakfast, a shower, and then a departure for our long drive back to Delhi.
Overall it was an incredible weekend. It was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of Delhi and experience fresh air. And seeing two tigers during safari number one and a sloth bear during safari number was truly lucky!

Dustin waiting for safari number one in front of our hotel.

An old gate to the Ranthambore fort and the Ranthambore park.

The tiger's supermarket.

The various groups on the safari. Each jeep with a different guide.

The tiger closeup - let's call him Shere Khan!

Looking a bit like drowned rats after the rain began.

Seeking temporary shelter from the rain.

Safari number 2.

Me standing in front of the jeep on safari two.

The landscape of Ranthambore.

Sloth bear - perhaps named Baloo.

Peacock.