Tigers

As I write my India blog, I've been keeping a close eye on Matt Hysell's 2020 Ecuador trip blog on Birding Berrien and Beyond.  Just as I was leaving for India I saw his February 17th entry, Down the Shiripuno river and I was a little envious.  Typically, I would have been on this trip, having gone with Matt's group the past 6 years to Central and South America.  I love Matt's trips because they are typically pretty adventurous and energetic, (ex: the past couple of year's we been freezing at 15,000 feet in Ecuador), and this year seems to have been no different.  Matt's blog can be pretty spare on narrative, but Ecuador 2020 is more descriptive, probably because of the experiences they had.  I definitely recommend following Matt's trip blog.

But in a roundabout sort of way this India trip called to me and I had to switch course for this year.  However, in most ways, my trip was not energetic or even particularly adventurous.  Riding around Ranthambore in a 4 person jeep is not particularly energetic unless I count absorbing the bumpy trail roads and keeping my camera safe as energy-consuming.  Each day was like being able to bird all of Point Mouillee in an open car.  Sweet birding, but not high-level physical activity.

I digress.  Back to tigers.  We left the hotel in the dark and entered the park just at dawn.  Again, within a very short time, another tiger.  This time we were one of the first jeeps to arrive and, although the tiger was obscured by grass, we had plumb viewing.

Another young tiger.  After drinking, it jumped across the water and began to walk through the grass. 

Two tigers!  We were told they were siblings.

Playful sparring

Slowly walking away.

It had become crowded with other tiger viewers and, between the prior day's great viewing and this morning, we felt like we could leave and let others in for closer views.

After driving around and finding birds and other things our guide, Jyoti, got bored and wanted to go back for more tiger viewing.  We were glad he did because this time we came upon the family of three; mother and the two siblings.  They were most often not very visible, but we could hear their growls at they sparred in the bushes.  There was a thought that there was a kill hidden in the bush and that they were taking turns eating.

It was after this second viewing that we began to hypothesize about Jyoti, who seemed to be one of the park's senior guides.  More about this later if I can work it into the narrative.

One might think that tiger viewing, as we experienced it, is easy at Ranthambore.  At this point, we thought it was.  However, we later learned that we were very lucky.  Many other visitors did not see tigers. If you had only a couple of safaris scheduled, your chances might be slim.  We learned that, Bob, our trip planner and our guide, Ansar, had scheduled six safaris to enhance our chances and because Ansar knew it was possible not to see any tigers at all.  Since there is a lot to see at Ranthambore the six safaris was always well-spent, with or without seeing tigers.  For our remaining safaris we always looked for tigers but never again saw them.  We had been lucky.

Finally, it is possible also to see leopards at Ranthambore, but much more difficult.  I and a few of us did, fleetingly, see a leopard (some even got a couple of photos) at the end of one afternoon safari.  It was thought that the leopard had came into the open to collect a dead langur that had been killed in recent territorial fight.  We missed the fight, but saw the dead langur lying at the edge of the road.  Later when we returned along this same route, the dead langur was gone.  It was shortly after that we saw the leopard very near this same area.

This ends post #5.  Next post:  Ranthambhore birds  

Tiger

We left Agra just as the day was dawning for the six hour drive to Rajasthan.  Between Agra and Rajasthan we were treated to endless sightseeing from the van window.  We stopped for bathroom breaks and even these were sight-seeing treats.  Technically speaking, this is a birding blog, which my India trip will challenge and change, but for now, I'll add these bird photos to represent the sightseeing.

Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)

Singing Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius)

Tailorbird with rusty cap visible

We arrived at our hotel, the Ranthambhore Kothi, checked into our rooms, had lunch and then immediately jumped into open cars and went to the national park for our tiger hunt.  Ansar said, "don't stop for monkeys, deer, antelope, birds or anything else.  Focus on the tiger."

That's Jyoti, our guide, standing with hat and scarf.  Within less than an hour we were viewing a tiger sleeping in the dry grass.  As you can see by the number of jeeps, it was a challenge to remember we were seeing a wild tiger.  Probably 200 others were doing the same.   

We were told she was a yearling female, with a twin, and that her mother and sister were probably somewhere nearby.

These are the smattering of the 50 or 60 photos I took of the sleeping, and then waking, tiger.

She was a stunningly beautiful creature.

After about a two hour wait, she got up and began a slow walk.  She walked closer to us to a stream and began drinking water.  (I took a few photos and then switched to video.  To my dismay, my computer software was not adequately updated to download the video.  Still working on this.)

Note:  I have found Ranthambore and Ranthambhore used somewhat interchangeably on-line, hence the two spellings.

This ends post #4.  Next post: Tigers

Taj Mahal

So beautiful, so iconic, the Taj Mahal needs no introduction or words. This was the first official day of the start of our trip and, after our drive from Delhi to Agra to get here, we spent the rest of the day touring the Taj Mahal and the Taj Fort. 

Of the dozens of photos I took, below are just a random smattering and are in no particular order.  The photos do not cover how much there is to see here. 

Must have been drunk when I took this

Rhesus Macaque

Five-striped Palm squirrel

Cattle Egret

Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)

In training for Trump visit

There is a story attached to this.

We visited on Sunday, February 23rd - the day before Donald Trump's visit.  Everywhere the streets were being cleaned, barricades put up and ubiquitous signs like the one above hung from every lamppost, fence and building.  Most of the signs were of  Trump standing alone or juxtaposed with Narendra Modi, India's Prime Minister.  The Indians certainly had Donald Trump's number.  Once inside the Taj Mahal grounds a few of us were sitting on a ledge waiting for our guide to rejoin us.  Out of nowhere, a young woman with a microphone in her hand came up to us and asked where we were from.  Carli proudly announced "California" (six of ten in the group were from California.) The reporter asked if we would mind commenting on Donald Trump's visit for their news story.  When she walked away to get her cameraman we were in a panic.  Oh my god, what are we going to say?  We knew we couldn't say anything uncomplimentary.  We didn't have time to think about it because she was back in seconds and was holding the microphone up to Carli.  "He's going to love the Taj Mahal.  It's so beautiful.  We love it."  Moves to the next of us who repeats the same thing.  Next, the same; next the same.  Finally she gave up.  The reporter must have thought she was interviewing a bunch of dummies.  I hope they didn't show it on their evening news.

One of the signs, however, did show something which I liked very much.  It showed Modi and Trump standing together with the following words written above, "The world's oldest democracy meets the world's largest democracy."  I liked the sound and the feeling of that.

For our very early departure the following morning even more barricades were up and our van had to find a way around these.  It was obvious that men and women had worked through the night to finish the spruce-up and were still at work in the early morning.  It was touching to see how nice everything looked.     

Sleeping bats

Architectural detail

Spotted Owlets from the Taj Fort grounds

Our north India group!

Of course, the Taj Mahal is now closed secondary to coronavirus.  But it will reopen one day.  One cautionary note, I learned from a colleague that the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays.  So, if you go, don't plan your visit for a Friday.

This ends post #3.  Next post:  Tiger

Old Delhi

February 21, 2020:  To get to Old Delhi we had to take a car through some parts of Delhi to our bicycle rickshaw transfer spot.  Here I include a smattering of photos, in no particular order, from our full day of sightseeing.

The only time on the whole trip that I recall seeing an open road.

Catholic Church in Delhi

The Red Fort

Street dog sleeping amongst the throngs of visitors to the Red Fort

A pair of Rosy-ringed Parakets - we saw these every day.

Boys with special religious symbol at the Red Fort.

Our Old Delhi tour group:  Me, Ansar Khan, Jay and Susan.

Transfer to our bicycle rickshaws

The back of my bicycle rickshaw driver.  My fellow passenger was our guide.

Now we are in Old Delhi

Market stall

Police taking selfie

Trip participants Jay and Susan in their bicycle rickshaw

Shoe market street

Another food market stall.

Check out the electrical grid.

Above and below:  Two more market stalls.

Above and below:  On the street

Yet another market stall.  The fragrance from the spices was lovely.

Street scene taken from the stairs of the Jama Masjid mosque in Old Delhi, one of the largest mosques in India.

Jama Masjid mosque

Boy climbing Jama Masjid mosque stairs with flip flops in his hands.

On the left, our guide Shirook - spelled incorrectly, walking up mosque steps.  He was hilarious, every time he was in a photo he had to put on his reflective lens sunglasses.  Good guide.

Following our visit to the mosque, we left Old Delhi in a car without having the opportunity to say goodbye to our bicycle rickshaw drivers. Upon arrival at the mosque we hopped out of the rickshaws and ran up the mosque steps not knowing our drivers would be paid and dismissed at that point.  This made me sad because I would have liked to thank them personally.  They really looked out for us and did not allow us to get lost in the Old Delhi crush of activity.  Cost of our two hour rickshaw ride - 500 rupees; by my crude calculation about $7. Obviously, I would have liked to tip them more.  It was a great visit, made all the better having experienced it from a bicycle rickshaw.  

Following our departure from Old Delhi we had a lunch at a terrific traditional restaurant of which I, uncharacteristically, neglected to take a photo. No photos of the great food either.  There was so much to see and everywhere I looked something new was happening.  It was hard for me to always be cameral ready.   

Above and below:  Lotus Temple

Asian Pied Starling (Gracupica contra) on the grounds of Lotus Temple

House Crow (Corvus splendens) on the grounds of Lotus Temple

Finally, above and below, India Gate a memorial to Indian soldiers who fought in World War 1.

One of the final photos of the day, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi leading his followers.

This ends post #2.  Next post:  Taj Mahal