Ranthambhore Feb 2018: Tigers galore!

[Zubbie15]

1 hour ago, ice said:

 

So you break this difference down among yourself and the other two travellers? Meaning the difference is per vehicle and not per person?

Sorry if I wasn’t clear, there’s two of us total.  We got the quote for two separate drives per day, and then they said if you prefer a full day  in Ranthambhore it will be an additional $730 (total) on top of what has been quoted.   I never asked how that breaks down between park fees, vehicle fees, etc, so not sure if it would change if there are a different number of people in the group.

[janzin]

4 hours ago, ice said:

@janzin

 

you mentioned that a full day permit cost you 750 US$ - is that per person or per vehicle? And does it include all costs or are there any additional surcharges, like for the car, the guide...etc? How does that compare to the "regular" (half day?) permits?

 

thanks

 

 

Its complicated. I believe the full day permit is approximately $600 extra per vehicle (definitely not per person) but then on top of that you pay the regular permit fee per person. But I'm not sure what that breaks down to.

 

@ice Important to note that the 1/2 day drive is NOT the same as the regular drive. The morning regular drive is from 6:30-10 and the 1/2 day is from 6:30-noon. If you do the afternoon 1/2 day drive, its from noon-6, whereas the regular permit is from 2:30-6.  The 1/2 day drives afford you the same privileges as the full day (no zone restriction and choice of driver/guide)---but just with less hours. The "regular" drive you are restricted to a specific zone and I don't think you can choose a guide.

Edited May 26, 2018 by janzin

[janzin]

9 hours ago, Zubbie15 said:

As mentioned in the 2019 trip planning report, we're going to Ranthambhore next year based on Vikram's suggestions (and after having seen some of you photos earlier on Facebook I readily agreed).  Hopefully we'll have even a portion of the sightings you had!  Out of curiosity, was it ever an inconvenience to have to go back to the gate to pick up your lunch?  

 

@Zubbie15 actually it was a bit of an annoyance at times, because sometimes we were quite a bit far from the gate and it felt like it was a bit of wasted time. Also one day the lunch was late so we kind of wasted 1/2 hour waiting at the gate. On the other hand...it gave an opportunity to use the restroom (at most gates there is a guardhouse or some sort of facility or else you can go behind the building and also it meant a delivery of a freshly made, hot meal and a replenishment of cold drinks. There really isn't that much room in the gypsy for storage so it would be tough to put both breakfast, lunch, and drink boxes in at the beginning of the day. The lunch usually came around 12:30 which was a good time for a break.

[Botswanadreams]

6 hours ago, janzin said:

I don't think you can choose a guide.

Choosing a Guide for all normal safaris can be a arranged by the company. WWI did it for us. 

[janzin]

11 hours ago, Botswanadreams said:

Choosing a Guide for all normal safaris can be a arranged by the company. WWI did it for us. 

 

Okay, that's good to know. I'd read that you can't but probably companies that book there all the time, like WWI, have some clout.

[janzin]

Day 3 (morning--part 1!)

 

The morning of our 2nd full day turned out to be the most incredible of the trip...and that's saying a lot! We saw so much I'll have to divide the morning into early morning and later morning

 

Our Zone for the morning was #4, which turned out to be my favorite...not only because of the fantastic sightings but also because of the varied terrain.

 

It started out auspiciously when one of the first things we saw after entry was a Sloth Bear crossing the road! It took us all by surprise and I wasn't quite ready with the camera, and the light was still very poor--a little before 7 a.m. So the image isn't award-winning but still...our second sloth bear of Ranthambhore!

 

 

The bear actually turned around and headed back into the woods.  Suchil attempted to follow a bit by driving up a rocky river bed that paralleled the path the bear took. I'm not sure if this was technically considered off-road Bumpity bumpity and we were holding on for dear life (and needless to say couldn't pick up the camera!) But soon we lost the bear.  The riverbed actually rejoined the road up ahead (so was sort of short-cut) and we continued on. I was a bit bummed to lose the bear, but Tigers beckoned....

 

Zone 4 is large and Mohammad told us it was the territory of several tigers. We stopped at a few spots, detouring to a few waterholes, but no luck. Its interesting that here in Ranthambhore, for the most part, Tiger searching seems a bit different than we'd experienced in Tadoba, Kahna or Pench. There was much less sitting in one spot listening for alarm calls and much more driving around from place to place. (Not to say we didn't listen for alarm calls but we rarely heard any, even when there were tigers around.)

 

 

 

Eventually (around 8 a.m.) we got to what appeared to be the end of the road (in this zone anyway) and a waterhole. The waterhole was empty...but wait...

 

There was something in the woods just above the waterhole...

 

 

A rather sleepy tiger! This, we learned, was a cub of Laila, about 18 months old.  No name yet, but a male.

 

We couldn't believe our luck as we were, at this point, the second vehicle there. It didn't take long before we were joined by several other gypsys, of course. Somehow word gets around (the drivers don't use radios, but they all have cell phones

 

As we were in a good position right in front, I took lots of photos of this handsome boy. Showing his profile...

 

 

and giving us his beautiful stare...

 

 

We figured that soon he was going to move to the waterhole. Many gypsys were already positioning themselves there, so we decided to move while there was still space. We managed a decent position and waited.

 

While we waited, there were a couple of other visitors to the waterhole.  Many birds...including of course this one...

 

 

As on my prior India trip, somehow I managed NOT to take any peafowl photos! We just didn't bother to stop for them and so this was really the only time I managed one in decent light. Not a very interesting shot but I had to have at least one.

 

Also this mongoose stopped by...

 

 

But we were all waiting for the star of the show.

 

...and sure enough...he soon made his appearance...

 

 

and he was thirsty...

 

 

and still thirsty...

 

 

really, really thirsty.

 

 

Okay, how many photos can you take of a tiger drinking? ALOT! I must have taken 500--you don't want to see them all.

 

After about 10 minutes of drinking he finally had his fill and walked up, over the hill behind the waterhole and out of sight. We attempted to follow but he was heading into an area with no road. So we decided this would be a good time to have our breakfast...we would stay in the area and listen for alarm calls while we ate. The hope was also that his mother, Laila, might make an appearance.

 

By the way...by this time all the other, "regular"safari vehicles had to high-tail it out of here...it was just a bit after 9 a.m. but it was a long way back to the gate. Whereas, it was just time for our breakfast.

 

We went to a shady spot just a bit away, down an side loop road. We shared this spot with another vehicle also doing a full-day safari, from one of the luxury lodges, the Oberoi Vanyavillas. They had a much more expansive breakfast set-up than we did...and were kind enough to share a few of their delicious muffins with us! (Our breakfasts were ample, with hard-boiled eggs, juice, and some stuffed Indian breads, some muffins too. But not as good as the Oberoi's muffins, lol.)

 

The breakfast spot.

 

 

 

 

We didn't hear any alarm calls while we ate, nor did we see any sign of Laila. But the morning was still young!

Edited May 27, 2018 by janzin

[Atdahl]

Wow!  Wow!  Wow!....gorgeous tiger photos (I think I said that on Facebook already) but the Sloth Bear is an outstanding sighting as well.  Still love your D500 I bet .  I think I need to pull the trigger on one myself.

 

Alan

[janzin]

@Atdahl thanks, I do indeed love my D500 but most of the tiger photos were taken with the D850   I had the 500 F4 on the D850 and the 70-200 2.8 on the D500 in Ranthambhore. This seemed to be best because I really wasn't shooting small birds there (only incidentally.)

 

BTW the scenery shots were taken with a Fuji XE-3 and sometimes an iPhone.

[Atdahl]

Ah, OK.  Thanks for the information.  You certainly found a winning combo!

 

Alan

[penolva]

I guess you picked zone 4 yourself? Or are you still allocated a zone but can then cross into another if you want with the freedom of the full day pass. How many in your vehicle with 

 the park staff and the lodge? Pen 

[janzin]

5 hours ago, penolva said:

I guess you picked zone 4 yourself? Or are you still allocated a zone but can then cross into another if you want with the freedom of the full day pass. How many in your vehicle with 

 the park staff and the lodge? Pen 

 

Yes you can pick the zone you want and at any time you can move from one to another. There were days we moved across several zones.  As I mentioned, in some places though there were locked gated or chains across the road where two zones met up. So you sort of had to plan a bit if you needed to get a key. You'll see that come up later Most of the time we just let the guide pick the zone of course, as we trusted them to know best.  A few times they might say, do you want to go back to zone x or try a new zone y etc. They would tell us which tigers had territories in a particular zone, where there were cubs, etc.  But if we'd expressed a preference we could have selected.

 

The guide and driver are in the front and then there are two rows of bench seats. So being that we were just two people, we each had our own row. The vehicles are pretty small and even with one's own row it could feel tight at times. But you'll see tourists, especially Indian tourists, and families, cram three to a seat for a total of six per vehicle.  I certainly would not want to put more than four. There was a photography group staying at The Bagh when we were there and they had four in each vehicle, which looked tight to me, but they were managing.  Coolers for food and drink have to go under the seats which is why I said earlier that there isn't much room for both breakfast and lunch and cold drinks.

 

I found a photo of our vehicle...they are all pretty much the same.  Oh yeah, be prepared for lots of dust!!

 

[janzin]

Day 3 (morning--part 2)

 

After breakfast we checked around the waterhole again (nothing there) and drove around that general area for a bit, but heard no calls so we headed back the way we'd come, checking in all the likely spots. There was one waterhole we'd checked on the way in where we were told a tigress with three cubs likes to cool off, so the guides thought there was a very good chance she'd be there. By now, of course, it was after 10 a.m. so only the full-day/half-day people were still in the park.

 

And arriving at the waterhole (at 11 a.m.), which was off the road and down a steep hill, so not visible from the main road, we couldn't believe our eyes when we saw this.  OMG OMG OMG (yes, I think I said that!)

 

 

Can I say it again?? OMG!  This was Krishna and her three cubs who were about 8 or 9 months old, so much younger than the cubs we seen up to now.

 

This waterhole is essentially a rock bath. There was only one other vehicle when we arrived, I think maybe two more came, but there was plenty of room for everyone and no crowding. Be prepared for a lot of photos.

 

Mother love  

 

 

The three cubs.

 

 

Where did Mom go??

 

 

Oh she just moved to have her own relaxing soak, without the kids pulling at her.

 

 

BTW, Krishna is the mother of Arrowhead who we had seen yesterday. She is about 12 years old and has born many cubs.  There is a good page where all the tigers of Ranthambhore are described, although the sightings are not up to date, its helpful when trying to identify photos and get a bit of history.

 

https://www.ranthambhoreguides.com/tigers

 

 

 

Eventually the cubs started to move out.

 

 

 

Settled in for a bit to dry out.

 

 

 

 

Let's go look for mom!

 

 

Mom's getting out too.

 

 

and coming straight at us.  But she is very calm.

 

 

 

Dripping!

 

 

Time to dry off.

 

 

We're not done yet, but that's enough for one post. To be continued.....

[penolva]

I cannot describe how fabulous these photographes are. The one of mums reflection stunning, everyone in the water must be an award winner ? I can only hope we have even half your luck  next year. OMG is almost an understatement you must be thrilled. Congratulations 

[AKR1]

Janet

Loving your wonderful report and pictures. This truly shows Ranthambore in a different, much more positive light without the usual race to tiger sightings and folks getting stuck behind a line of Gypsy vehicles. Clearly the all day pass is the way to go- well worth the $600 additional per day. Thanks for sharing and for providing all the details which will be very helpful to others. 

Edited May 28, 2018 by AKR1
Typo

[Game Warden]

Just outstanding @janzin Especially now they are not compressed

 

[madaboutcheetah]

@janzin - Interesting that you mention the locked gates and keys to the locks ........ We experienced that too! and were told a big reason we couldn't head back to the lodge for a quick shower when things were slow....... 

[SafariChick]

Absolutely stunning photos @janzin - wow!!  Loving this report!

[xelas]

I wonder how many photos did you took at that waterhole ?! Well not really, and I bet they are all as fabulous as the one shown above !

[janzin]

4 hours ago, xelas said:

I wonder how many photos did you took at that waterhole ?! Well not really, and I bet they are all as fabulous as the one shown above !

 

Well I have 643 of that sighting left after deleting the really bad ones--but not all are sharp. Somehow I have a hard time deleting even blurry tiger photos

[janzin]

10 hours ago, madaboutcheetah said:

@janzin - Interesting that you mention the locked gates and keys to the locks ........ We experienced that too! and were told a big reason we couldn't head back to the lodge for a quick shower when things were slow....... 

 

Hmmm unless I was there for a week I'm not sure I'd take the risk of leaving for a shower, you never know what you might miss!

[Atdahl]

10 minutes ago, janzin said:

Somehow I have a hard time deleting even blurry tiger photos

 

That's a great problem to have isn't it?  I bet you had the same problem deleting Jaguar pictures from the Pantanal...I know I did.

 

The shots from the pond are amazing!!

[janzin]

34 minutes ago, Atdahl said:

 

That's a great problem to have isn't it?  I bet you had the same problem deleting Jaguar pictures from the Pantanal...I know I did.

 

The shots from the pond are amazing!!

 

Indeed, and cheetah, lion and leopard too. Any cats are hard to delete

[janzin]

So we aren't quite done yet with Krishna and the kids.  She got out of the water and started walking towards the woods. Luckily here the terrain wasn't very dense, more open scrub.

 

 

She sat down and did a bit of grooming.

 

 

Came between us and another vehicle.  There only were two other vehicles there this entire time.

 

 

The cubs followed her into the woods.

 

 

Following Mom!

 

 

Meeting up with Mom on the road!

 

 

 

Awwwwww.....tell me this isn't adorable!

 

 

I really wanted to get all four in the frame. Our guide Mohammad was egging me on..."all 4! all 4! Take the shot!!" It was tough because they were heading into the grass but I got this...

 

 

 

They headed away and up, back towards the main road--soon we lost sight of them in the woods. We decided to see if we could head them off back on the main road.

 

We drove up the hill back to the main road...so did the other vehicles...we were trying to figure out where they might emerge from the woods.  Looking behind us, we saw them!

 

 

Very shortly they headed back into the woods and away. Very hot now, they would be resting in the shady wood somewhere. 

 

Exactly noon...Time for us to head back to the gate and pick up our lunch.

 

[janzin]

Day 3 (afternoon)

 

A shorter entry, because this afternoon wasn't quite as jam-packed as the morning.

 

I'll take this opportunity to post a few random birds and scenery shots.

 

While we waited at the gate for our lunch to arrive, the ubiquitous Rufous Treepie joined us, hoping for crumbs I'm sure.

 

 

 

There were some Jungle Babblers angling for a drink at this leaky pipe.

 

 

Some Sambar hanging out.

 

 

As we drove around, we saw our 2nd Jackal of the trip (the first was in Gir, so that will be in a different report.)  He ran off into the woods very quickly, but I managed a few shots.

 

 

 

I was surprised at how few jackals we saw. And try as we might, no hyenas either, which was a disappointment. Apparently there are Striped Hyenas in Ranthambhore, and we spoke to some guests who saw one the week before, but no luck on that one for us.

 

We had taken our lunch back into Zone 2 as there was word a tiger had been seen. While eating our lunch alongside a very small waterhole, we got word from a passing gypsy that there was a tiger up ahead. So off we went (lunch finished thankfully.)  Unfortunately, this road was above a gully with very thick vegetation and the tiger (apparently!) was down below in the gully...somewhere...we couldn't see anything.

 

And the road was very narrow, so no passing possible.

 

 

Somewhere to the left and down there was a tiger.  This photo was actually taken after several of the vehicles in front had already given up and moved off.  For a long while, it was a long stretch of vehicles and we were in the middle of the line.  We could see that some of the others--behind us actually--WERE seeing the tiger, as photos were being taken, people were standing, etc.  But we could see nothing...and we couldn't move one way or the other!

 

Well this went on seemingly forever and it was quite frustrating.  I comforted myself reviewing photos from the morning   Eventually the line started moving forward as folks gave up.  As we got into a wider section of road, news came that there was another tiger up ahead.  We came upon the crowd watching the tiger down a river bed.

 

Well being at the back of the line, and it was already late afternoon--around 5:30-- there were lots of gypsys, and we couldn't get much of a view. Turns out this was one of the young Noor cubs stalking a Sambar!

 

 

But this is all we saw! We watched her eyeing the deer and creeping closer for several minutes. But then it was time for the exodus! One of the major frustrations of Ranthambhore is having to be at the gate by 6...this really means, depending where you might be, pulling out by 5:30 or so.  Mohammad and Suchil were pretty good about letting us cut it really close and we were often the last ones to leave but its really frustrating as its just when the tigers are getting into hunting mode and the light is still lovely.

 

The fort as we headed out...still plenty of light at 5:43.

 

 

 

So, we never even found out if this tiger got her deer or what might have happened. I have a feeling she didn't get it as the Sambar seemed aware of her and she was a young tigress but...we'll never know.

 

No matter...an incredible day, how could the next one even come close? We'll see....

 

 

[offshorebirder]

Wow Janet - SUPER morning you had!

 

Too many good photos to comment on individually, but I really like the one with water streaming from Krishna's tail as she leaves her bath.

 

Thanks for this TR - and another Sloth Bear photo.