Well, what a morning. We are staying in a marvellous place, The Sarai (of which more in the next post), close to Panna, a national park with about fifty tigers. We had arranged a morning safari – involved getting up in the dark (this morning in the very foggy dark), having some tea and biscuits and then getting into our jeep to find hot water bottles and blankets provided.
It was absolutely freezing – apparently the coldest night of the year so far. The jeeps are open so, despite wearing all our clothes and scarves and the hot water bottles and blankets, we were going to be cold:
About thirty-five jeeps are admitted each morning from our gate and formalities have to be completed (passports, tickets etc) before we were finally admitted into the park.
All the animals were too cold to come out, so we spent quite a bit of time driving around with our hotwater bottles rapidly cooling down, Sue getting smaller and smaller as she shrank with the cold until finally we spotted this deer being groomed by a bird (enthusiasts – look it up as I’m not giving the game away):
Our naturalist and guide heard monkey alarm calls and the sound of sambar deer warnings and then we spotted the deer who were looking over to a dense patch in which there was some kind of predator. We hung around for a while until their attention turned in the other direction – so we drove to see what they were looking at. And suddenly, a face popped out of the long grass – that’s the front of the jeep you can see:
The naturalist identified the tiger as one of a litter of three males who were about fourteen months old. The tiger look at us and then we realised that he was trying to stalk one of his brothers:
They had a small play fight in the bush:
and then our first tiger decided to come closer and to give us a thorough inspection and a bit of a show:
He eventually crossed the road and came closer to inspect us:
His siblings meanwhile watched on, debating whether to join him or not:
They eventually crossed the road to join the brave boy:
We spent about fifteen minutes watching these marvellous creatures and then they had a bit of a chat before disappearing into the forest.
We then went to have breakfast and met up with our friends Rosalind and Paul (from Australia) who are also staying at the Sarai. You’ll see just how cold it is from Sue’s outfit:
Another freezing hour of looking at birds and deer and finally we went back to the Sarai to warm up over a wood fire with an excellent cup of masal chai!
That is such wonderful luck!!
Yes! To see three tigers at all is amazing but to see them with no one else around was just incredible!
Wow I thought the photos of tigers were fabulous and then I saw the photos of Sue … no words!
Well, yes, Hermione – I have never been so cold. I’m sure I’ve been in colder places but I’ve always been wearing the right clothes!
That’s so amazing! What brilliant luck (or maybe good naturalist knowledge?). I can’t believe how cold it is. At least during the day it usually warms up by now.
The naturalist was smart in following the sambar deer’s directions but yes, incredible luck! Today ( Sunday) is the first dat at the Sarai where I’ve taken my puffer jacket off. This morning I was wearing an extra jacket loaned by Johanna ( on top of puffer, sweatshirt, T-shirt and scarf).
I sympathise re the cold. But what a joy to see the tigers. Thanks for the great photos!!😀
Tigers are such charismatic animals! Not good news for them in terms of poachers but fabulous to see.
Really exciting – and I love the way you show their gradual emergence from the fog. Your poor fingers and toes, both of you! Has Sue warmed up yet?
It took a while for fingers and toes to recover but today, for the first time in days, the sun has come out and it’s definitely warmer. You’re right about the tigers’ graceful emergence from the forest – elegant and ghostly.
Brrrrrrrrrr
Is that brrr or grrr? Oh, it’s you, Nicky so definitely brrr. Feeling now restored to fingers and toes and the sun is, finally, shining….
What a great experience to see the tigers and brilliantly captured in the photos. I hope Sue managed to get warm again.
I did, Claire, thank you. The tigers – well, the first one, was incredibly close – no more than 4-5 meters – just an extraordinary experience.
Those photos are incredible! You were so fortunate to see not just one tiger but three and not just in the distance, but close! (We’ve been to Panna twice now and not seen a tiger at all, tho’ other people did when we were there last March and I remember how amazing and moving it is from when I saw one in Ranthambore a few years ago ). Hard to imagine the Sorai in such cold conditions, but I’m sure it’s nevertheless still gorgeous. BTW, we did the tour they recommend to one of the Forts (can’t remember the name but it’s the one you have to walk up). It was really, really fantastic and we’d definitely recommend it, tho’ possibly shrouded in fog at the moment. Poor Sue! She looks frozen. xxx
Yes, this was an extraordinary experience – I’m used to straining to see a tiger lying down behind some tall grass or bushes ( ‘ look, look madam! You can see his tail twitching’). To have a tiger so close was amazing.
Just looking back at your last Orchha pix – Sue should definitely have bought some of those woolly clothes for keeping the gods warm. They look like just the thing for a chilly safari.
Thanks, Diana – I’ll bear that in mind for next time we come to India in January – a god cosy shouldn’t take up too much room in the suitcase…
Magnetic tigers. So fantastic.
Did you know it was going to be this cold when you organised the trip for this time of the year?
Sadly, no ( in terms of trip planning) – it’s colder than usual and the weather forecasts ( sunny and 24) have proved wildly inaccurate. Ah well, at least the unused bundles of cotton shirts and trousers won’t need washing when we get home…