India May 6, Day 7
Sensational Ranthambore Finale
Today was our final day in Ranthambore National Park and although we were on our 5th and 6th safaris here, it seems to have gone by in a blur.Everyone was in agreement to take the morning, in a relaxed, nature emphasized shoot and not “chase” possible Tiger sightings, only focusing in on confirmed visual leads. It was a very peaceful and quiet morning actually quite chilly. No one it seemed had any tiger spottings and we were just fine with that.
We took the last half hour of our safari to walk part way into the Ranthambore Fort, and temple to witness the locals who many come here and walk the more than 250 steps to the top. Nearly everyone was quite accepting of our photography request, with several people asking us to pose for their photos, as we were the ones who stood out!
After over 20 hours of Safaris in the past three days we got confirmation of a youthful tiger in a far section of the territory we could cover. The tiger was doing what they often do and was sleeping, well hidden the branches of the ground cover.
With only sheer minutes until we had to leave the park (they are quite strict on this) the tiger got up and started heading towards the nearest watering hole as our Guide Dinesh and the park Naturalist had suspected. We were in position and experienced a massive young tiger walking straight towards us, only veering off as it came within a few meters of us.
What a magnificent finale after our three days in the park. We sped out, getting to the check out point in the nick of time. It was a crazy fun drive through the hustle and bustle of the nearest town on the way back to the Sawai Village.
We move on the Jaipur, the “Pink City” for the next two nights.