Focus on the small stuff

Yes we’re staying in a tent but not one of those pop up jobbies that they use at festivals. No this is a luxury tent with a wooden floor, hers and hers sinks and a lovely shower. It has a nice verandah where we have our pre-safari morning tea brought to us by a nice man as our wake up call. Khem Villas is a lovely property just outside the Ranthambore National Park- famous for its tigers. So it does feel like we’re getting a little bit of luxury. To be fair though we have just complained to our guide that it isn’t really quite up to what we’d expected. It’s hard to pinpoint what’s wrong the nearest we could get to it was to say that they didn’t serve muesli at breakfast when their booklet says they will and we had to ask twice to get them to fix the hot water!! Oh and they serve juice at breakfast which isn’t fresh and is served out of the carton. It’s just not quite the luxury we’ve been spoiled with at similar places we’ve stayed at in the past.
Or maybe this slight disappointment in Khem Villas has more to do with two other things. Firstly, I’ve still been rather unwell since we got here – now developing a nice cold to go along with the dodgy tummy. Perhaps even more – it’s because I am afraid to report that after our 4 safari drives we have failed to see a single tiger. The whole reason for being here. It’s terribly disappointing especially for Jane.
We’ve been out on the jeep 4 times in the last two days with our guide Nafis -twice with Joyce and Enid and twice with a Canadian couple staying at Sher Bagh next door. The way the system seems to work is that the guides get allocated specific sections of the park that they are to go to at each session and they have no choice in the matter. There are 9 sections all together and we visited section 3 twice yesterday and then sections 8 and 4 today.
Section 3 yesterday morning was very enjoyable and we saw quite a few animals and birds and the scenery is really lovely with a great big lake and hunting lodges etc. Doing it a 2nd time with the new people was a bit boring- oh yes there’s the same baby crocodile that we saw this morning in exactly the same position…and no tigers….
Then this morning we were due to go to section 9 but as this is an hour an a half drive away before you even start and there were two sickies on the jeep our guide managed to swap us to section 8 which is nearer. Good news – except that this looked mysteriously like farmland as there were men on bicycles riding around and cattle with cows bells trundling about. Not quite the ‘prime tiger territory ‘ that Nafis was trying to convince us it was! It was also sadly rather empty of wild animals and definitely no tigers. We did have an interesting incident when we arrived here though as part of the deal of the swap of the section was that we had to give a senior ranger a lift. At one point we were driving through a small village and he and Nafis suddenly jumped off the jeep and went up to this poor man carrying a big bundle of sticks and pushed him over. The senior ranger grabbed an axe off him and went for the man with it as if he was going to strike him. They then untied his bundle if twigs and told him to move along. Apparently this was all because the man had chopped down the tree wood within the national park and it was tiger habitat which is protected. Blimey.
This afternoon was our last chance to see the tiger and so when Nafis told us we were going back to Section 3 Jane got a bit stroppy with him and said we wanted to go somewhere different. The good man made this happen and off we went to Section 4 where ‘only the best drivers can go’. What this actually means is that you’ve been sent to the punishment section for tourists who get stroppy as it was the rockiest, steepest, bumpiest bit of track in the whole park. That and an upset stomach are not a great mix. And still no tigers.
So the good news is that my previous training with Laura as a Game Ranger has taught me not to just look for the big stuff. Safaris are generally much more enjoyable if you focus on the small stuff. So we had a lovely time on the first morning watching a sambar deer take a spa bath in some mud, we watched a family of monkeys leaping in turn from one tree to another and the highlight was watching the battle between a cormorant and a big frog. The cormorant won! You can see Jane’s pics of these events below.
However, to finish I have a quiz question for you. Which of the following is NOT a bird that we saw on our 4 safari drives:
1) Black Drongo
2) Jungle Babbler
3) Great Tit
4) Damson Headed Parrot
5) Yellow Footed Green Pigeon
6) Crested Serpent Eagle

Journey to another world

So I left us all wondering what on earth were we contemplating catching another train for? Well it said it on our itinerary and so that’s what we had to do. Needless to say some fairly firm conversations were had with the guides in Agra about checking whether the train existed and would be on time.
But before we depart here’s a few words about our stay at Mr Singh’s homestay. It was a lovely old villa which used to belong to an English Army Office and Mr Singh’s father had bought it in 1954 and the family had lived there ever since. It was a big spacious house and Mr Singh and his various Sikh family members were really lovely. We ate at the family dining table and Mr Singh liked to tell us about all the good things the British had left behind….like the railways…….the road system…..and the hospitals (which we still hope not to have to experience based on the other two).
Unfortunately my real memories of the stay will be lying in the bedroom feeling rather sorry for myself.
As a result of this I didn’t get to see the Red Fort at Agra and so I am going to let Jane loose on the Blog just for a bit…
At the gates of the Red Fort imagine my surprise when we instantly recognised the American couple we met in Varanasi at our hotel. Having reacquainted ourselves with them Lisa asked if we minded them both joining our group for the tour which of course we didn’t,
It was lucky for me that Lisa’s husband was a tour swot and paid constant attention to all that was being said and kept Mujeep busy by asking lots of questions (usually Julie’s role) while I wandered off taking photos. Mujeep did say however that he missed Julie. I thought the fort was very impressive and on the occasions that I was listening I can tell you that it was the home of Shah Jahan and the Mumtaz (for whom he built the Taj after she died) and their 7 children. She had 14 children but only 7 survived (2 girls & 5 boys). Each little girl got their own palace which was built either side of mommy & daddy’s palace. I also remember the lines of defence for the fort which were as follows:-
1) A moat filled with snakes and crocodiles
2) A wall full of soldiers
3) A forest area filled with three different types of wild animals all kept in separate sections so they didn’t kill each other (lions, tigers & wolves).
Apparently many tried to attack but no one succeeded, I’m not surprised!
It was very impressive with lots of separate garden areas one used to be a vine yard and another area that was a fish pond. Overall it was a really good visit and I can see why it has been given a world heritage status.
Right so there you go- that’s Jane’s little memory test over with for today!
After their visit they came back to the house and picked me up. I was literally dreading this journey. In theory one and a half hours by road to Bhartpur Station and then train to Sawai Madhopur. However, the road journey was quite rural and scenic we even stopped to buy some oranges from a very smiley man with no teeth. And then the station…….it could not have been more different. Our train was due at 3.50pm and the nice guide who met us there just to put us in the train said the train would arrive at 3.48pm. Early? Can you believe it?! We went onto the platform and here there were lots of Indian people having a really good stare as us. down at the end of the platform it was basically occupied by the Brits. Two great big tour groups and a couple of v posh Americans. Then the train arrived and on we got. It was a crazy mad scramble to get everyone on as the train didn’t actually seem to stop. We were luckily in our seats but the other Brits were screaming as they weren’t all on and they couldn’t see their bags. It was a bit dangerous as some of them were quite elderly and it was quite a climb up into the cab. However, once in, it was unbelievably different to our previous experience. Think a 1950s version of Virgin. We had seats, we had air conditioning and we even had a table. Yessssssss!
Of course in the end the train did run a little bit late but we arrived at the station at about 6.30pm. The Carriage guard organised us all, to get off safely including our luggage, with military precision. Something else the Brits obviously left behind.
And here we are now in Khem Villas. We’ve left Joyce and Enid at their hotel Ranthambore Forest Resort for a couple of days whilst we retire to our Rajastani tent.