A tryst with the Tiger - 2

Nagerhole has about 40 tigers, we were told. It is a relatively small park to hold that many tigers and so the probability to see one is relatively higher. However, tigers roam across a large area and so there is a good chance that they are elsewhere from the safari route.

A 3 hour safari may seem like a lot of time - but is actually not enough time to see even a smaller part of the park. One, is due to the fact that there are no paved roads and we have to drive on dirt tracks which slows us down and that you have to ride slow if you have to have a decent chance of spotting any wildlife.

The evening safari tickets are given out at 10am. So, as soon as we finished the morning one, we have to stand in the queue again. Almost everyone from morning safaris take the evening one as well. Of course, there was a lively fight in Kannada when one of the resort guy (broker?) cut the line and try to book - and he did with the support of the security guys and rangers there anyway. This time, we got tickets for everyone - but in two buses. 

The evening safari starts around 3.30pm. The day was hot and humid. It rained the night before and while the days tend to get hot for 3-4 hours, the weather was mild and rained almost every evening. So, though I was tired, it was also with the expectation that the weather will turn for good and will start rain.

 There were bush fires sometime back and the effect of them can be seen in the forest. Compared to the morning safari, the evening safari started off with an absolutely empty forest. It was difficult to spot even the deer or the peacocks which were roaming all around in the morning. It was, as if, the wild life has disappeared.

Quickly after we started the weather changed and given that the wild life sighting was close to nil, it was difficult to stop oneself from nodding off. The situation was so bad that the bus stopped when a wood pecker is sighted.

However, we drove deep into the forest compared to the morning safari as the waterholes seem to be completely empty. After a while we crossed the highway onto the other side of the park towards the Kabini reservoir. This part of the forest was lush and we can spot the deers and elephants again. The reservoir itself is a huge piece of art with some boats and a lot of elephants on the banks. It was a saving grace.

It was about 6pm and the bus turned back in the way we came and apparently there were no tigers to see. Just when we crossed the paved road back into the jungle, the call came and the bus rushed to the next waterhole.

The drivers of the buses and jeeps keep calling each other on the sightings and it is a good way to ensure that everyone gets to see the animals. The only complaint I've is that they should be using battery powered vehicles as the diesel ones are noisy and pretty bad for the environment.

We reached the waterhole and there he was. Half way into the water, he was cooling off after a hot day and was nonchalant about the bunch of vehicles on the other side of the water hole. I am pretty sure he was disturbed by the noisy approach of our vehicle. As soon as we stopped, he got up, turned and walked back into the forest and lay down a little further into the bush. We could see his tail waggling but nothing much.

The excitement of seeing him in the water was palpable. I almost forgot to pull my poor phone camera to take the picture. Only when he started walking back that I realized that and took a picture. But a tiger is not about a picture. Watching him in his natural habitat, you realize that a tiger much more than just an animal in that place.

He owns the place. He was not perturbed by the noise or the gaze of so many people. He was sure of himself and if he chooses, he knows that he can send everyone there helter skelter. He is magnanimous and elects to walk away. The mysticism of his appearance and the way people react to his presence is something to be seen and felt. A tiger is nothing but a demi-god.

The gushing adoration of  that animal is not unreasonable as the feelings he evokes cannot be said but can only be felt. However, it is to be said that the loss of the tiger population in the forests is real and at this rate, the entire tiger population of the world will go extinct in the next 5-10 years. It is that close. It is a sad thing but unless poaching is contained and the reserves extended, this problem is real.

The exciting safari done, it was back to the hammock at our stay and more musings on that exciting day.

A tryst with the Tiger - 1

"Tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage and that when he is exterminated—as exterminated he will be unless public opinion rallies to his support—India will be the poorer, having lost the finest of her fauna."
- Jim Corbett

I am not a avid wildlife lover. I like going to the forests and farms because I like the quietude of these places. The disconnect that these places bring in is incomparable to any other regular place. And though I've been to multiple tiger parks, have never sighted one and was not much perturbed by that thought as well.

So the big family get together at Kabini was kind of a something to look forward to and the fact that there is going to be so much of hullabaloo in the entire area by the kids and everyone that there was a good chance that we may not even see a dog - let alone a tiger.

The entire safari process in Nagerhole - which was about 18 Kms from where we were staying - is designed in a way to completely discourage visitors to the park - which is a good thing for the animals.

Let me try to explain a bit. You can book through the resort you are staying in (for a price though!) - which probably is the easiest thing to do. However, we were a big party and the resort couldn't accommodate the entire group. So we decided to get the tickets ourselves.

The morning safari tickets are given the day before by 4 PM. There are only 70 tickets available and the queue starts by 2 PM or so. So you have to be early to get bulk tickets. And all individuals who need tickets should be in the queue as there is only one ticket given per person. We were late and by the time we reached the lady officer doing the booking, there were only 12 tickets left (as against the 22+ we were looking to book) and have to take it or leave it. So we took it.

The problem with the wildlife safaris is that you have to get up early in the morning. Managed it somehow and was in the park entrance by 6AM to get into the bus. The safari buses are fixed when you book the tickets - so there is no need to run fast - but to get the best seats, again we've to be there early.

Tigers have a mystic appeal to spot. I've been to multiple reserves to spot tigers and the only success was to spot a lot of tiger shit. And it needs to be understood that they are very difficult to spot and there are people who have been on safaris non-stop without having to spot one.

So it was with a lot of skepticism the morning safari started (at least for me). There was a small group in camouflage - each with about a feet length lens - looking to get a snap of the tigers in the bus as well. They strangely reminded me of Shikari Shambhu. 

We staked out near the water hole in Nangengutta for a long while and while the bus that came behind us has seen the tiger crossing the road into the dry bushes, though we waited for a whole while, all we could see was an yellow outline far away that I was not sure whether it was a tiger or the reflection of the morning sun.

However, the place was absolutely beautiful to behold, with a bunch of birds flying across and an occasional monkey coming down to get some water. We waited for a reasonable amount of time and then started getting into the forest. There were tons of deer and peacocks/peahens to look at but the highlight of the morning safari was the sighting of the endangered Red Fox which with its shiny tail was roaming in packs - obviously looking for breakfast.

The morning safari ended without much of animals or excitement with which the day started out. We were all tired but there was an evening safari to go to.

musings on a hammock

Kabini farm stay - 19 apr 6.45pm

lying in a hammock and looking up at the Areca nut tree - listening to the multitude of birds and insects chirping and returning to nests as the evening falls in, I kept thinking why can’t life be but one long evening of lying in hammocks?

The sway of the hammock in the mild wind , whishing through the grove of Areca nut trees and watching the odd coconut tree standing bewildered, the idea of being idle is but a reality.

The wind picks up as the sky above changes colour - from a light blue to an orange onto a bright red - reminds me of that poet who compared the late evening red sky to the first menstrual blood and wonder why am I thinking of that now?

The silence of the evening is broken by the hesitant start of a bike somewhere in the farm and I imagine the black smoke every time the murmur of that old engine struggles to start and finally it does and the sound fades away.

The sounds carried by the wind are a jumble of human , machines and birds and what not in that early night - as the evening has faded into a light black accentuated by the lights a little distance away.

Someone passes by and stands and watches the silhouette of the man lying in the hammock - furiously typing away his thoughts in a mobile in the dark and probably wonder who that be - I ignore their looks..

Then he notices a streak of cloud in that darkness of the sky , dissolving slowly into the black of the night and watches it fascinated.. the moon - that seems to be missing - is it a new moon day - a sudden panic ensues and he starts scanning the sky between the long leaves of Areca trees and decides the moon must be on the other side - too lazy to get up and look for it, he decides to let it be.. what harm is to fall if the moon is to go missing for a day? Who cares anyway?

He sees a streak of lightning flashing across the sky and the murmur of a distant thunder- the wind suddenly thinks whether it will rain.. the thought tickles him.. he is not going to get up and the thought of getting wet in the hammock excites..

He watches a bunch of kids in uniformed clothes walking by and asks them to give him a pose and take a picture.. one of the kid is his own daughter but the hammock somehow seem to have disconnected him..the kids move on and he is back to his own thoughts..

The increase in the wind chill suddenly reminds him of his often blocked sinuses.. he wonders whether lying here will block the sinuses further..he is not sure.. and decides he couldn’t care less about the damned sinuses anyway..

As he watches the seemingly frequent lightnings and the thunders , he slowly going into a slumber.. he awakens when a voice calls him out to congratulate on his hammock idleness..

He gets down and walk away telling the hammock that he will be back the next day..