Ranthambore

The drive from Delhi to Savoi Madhopur took about 10 hours and not 6 as most people claimed (via Alwar). The road was nasty from Dausa to Lalsot but smooth otherwise. Ranthambore is a Stone's throw away from the resorts in Savoi Madhopur and there are quite a few to suit every taste and price range.

There are jeep safaris and canter safaris in the morning (7 to 10) and afternoon (14.30 to 17.30). Jeeps are of course better as lesser people and more speed and maneuverability but if you haven't booked 2 months in advance then canters are another option. We paid a little extra to an agent to get jeeps but could manage that for only 4 of the 6 safaris. The park itself is divided into 5 zones, the newer ones are outside the core zone. 1 is generally considered the worst followed by 5 and 2 while 3 and 4 are said to be the best. We hit 1 in 1, 2 in 3 and 3 in 4. Either ways each zone has plenty to offer and the guides do their best to find a tiger (pugmarks and deer and monkey calls).

Winter chances of a tiger are lower so I figured I would get lucky in atleast 1 out of the 6 safaris. In the process I managed a variety of birds, migratory and others, quite a few deer shots, lots of crocs and also saw a leopard on the cliff. Each trip had a something new to offer. The other areas to visit around are the fort with a famous Ganesh temple inside and a couple of other temples around. Zones 2 and 3 are quite close to the fort while 4 and 5 are on one side halfway (Sinhdwar) with 1 the other side. On the way are some watery areas where crocs laze during the day. A Collared Scops owl roosted on a tree at the Sinhdwar as well every time I passed by. Also the treepies here are so used to people feeding them that they actually would eat off your hand if you wanted. Never seen that anywhere else, most treepies are quite shy. Since the zone allocation is mostly random there is not much choice there.

As for the tiger sighting, I finally saw one near the main road while returning back on the last safari. Prior to that we would see pugmarks, hear calls, miss it by 5-10 minutes but in the last 15 minutes of the last safari, we saw the crowd waiting for T24 (a male tiger) to stand as he had lain in tall grass for 2 hours. Having a lens the size of a person's arm does have advantages as I got invited to the best seats in the closest jeep and that was when he stood up turned around and went to sleep not giving a damn about his audience. In almost near darkness I was just as happy as everyone to just get a bad shot as without that the entire trip would have been a good joke without a punchline.