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