Crocs Peacock

Ranthambhore National Park is about 4 hours drive away from Jaipur. After spending couple of weeks with my family there, we started from Jaipur. The plan was to start as early in the morning as possible. Target was to get out of Jaipur by 8am. But after a heavy breakfast and bidding goodbyes got us to start by 9:30 am. The route was scenic with mustard fields on both sides of the roads. Road conditions were not too bad and we reached our resort by 1pm. Our next safari was due in another 90 minutes. All formalities were hurried up and we had a almost quick lunch. Almost quick I say, as I had underestimated the power of great food. Excellent food from our hosts was to blame for the delayed start of our first glimpse of the magical place. On my special request, and my luck, our host arranged for a truly excellent guide for us. His name is Salim and he is the best guide for Ranthambhore. I am going back only if Salim is available for guiding me. We had 2 gypsies booked for our party so we had enough freedom and it was great for photography. There was no need to jostle with 20 strangers in canter to get a good view of anything. On my first drive, I was assigned Zone 3. Zone 3 is the most picturesque zone that I saw. With lakes and great birdlife, it was buzzing all around. As we had a baby with us in our Jeep, we decided to take it slow on the first day. We took our first stop at Padam Lake. Aditya (our host) pointed our attention towards a croc sleeping on a rock. Honestly I would have missed it completely had it not been shown to me. Just a few meters away from us was a Snakebird (Anhinga) basking in the sun. You can find cheap jaipur delhi flights if you ever plann to visit Ranthambhore in Jaipur by kingfisher Airlines, its a great airline to travel there by air.

A hopeful egret was looking for snacks in the shallow waters. Parakeets were making sure they were heard and in general I was hoping that time will freeze and I will be there forever. Moving on from Padam lake, we went further in Zone 3 and came across a family of spotted deers grazing. I was wondering how others will pass these creatures, knowing that you can find them everywhere. Spotted deers can be found everywhere in Ranthambhore (from what I saw) but everytime I see them, I want to stop and enjoy being with them. Specially if they have young ones around. As we moved further on, we came across a pair of spotted owls. It was love at first sight. Really, for me they are just as majestic as eagles or falcons. As we watched, both of them cuddled up together and looked curiously at us. We decided to move on and not disturb them. Unfortunately I could not get any keepers here yet. Further down the road we came across a Grey heron in breding plumage. A black headed ibis was around for the company. As we moved on, we came across a fresh kill or rather remains of a fresh kill. A peacock was ambushed and killed. Looking at the scene it looked like a battle ground. Colorful feathers all around telling the story of what happened. Our guide told us to be silent. "Must be a cat’s work" he said, "If you keep quite, you may hear bones crunching". There was a loud thumping sound. Heartbeats are irritating sometimes. There was a rustling sound in the bushes. Tension was mounting. Salim said "Must have been a carcal" and my head became dizzie. A Carcal. Beats tiger anyday. Alas, that was not to be. We waited for about 20 minutes, but nothing came of it. Excitement of being so close to a kill was the reward for me. As we drove back, we stopped at Rajabag lake. An egret was standing at the far end of the lake. The usual suspects were around the edge looking for food. We took out a pack of biscuits and broke one in the hand. All of a sudden we were getting mobbed by the over friendly treepies. Oh yes, I am guilty of feeding a wild animal and ashamed of it but it felt to darn good to have such a close encounter. This is where we concluded our first day at the park. We drove back reluctantly and under the threat of heavy fines. As we drove back from the park, we realized how hungry we were. Spent the first night with good food, folk music, bonfire, bad jokes and most important with great friends. As the next safari was scheduled at 6:30 am, we all dragged ourselves to the rooms by 11:30 pm.