Day 9 – Dec.25 – We arrived at our hotel near the tiger sanctuary after four hours of driving over rough, dusty and unfinished roads.
We saw many small villages and throngs of people, going about their daily business.
Finally, we arrived at our new hotel in the town of Sawai Madhopur at the feet of the Vindhya Mountain range. It is designed as an Indian Palace. It covers a large expanse of land and is very impressive. The grounds are manicured and there is man playing a horn of some type, no, it has strings.
Our room is huge and interesting. The bedroom is a step up from the living room and separated by a shear curtain. The back wall is curved so that the room is a half circle. The bathroom is off to my right if I have may back to the front door and the bedroom is directly in front of me. The apartment is as big as my condo, or nearly so. I don’t know what the other rooms look like, but I assume they are all similar. This place is something else. It is impressive.
We ate lunch and piled into an open jeep. We then climbed into the mountains and searched for hours for a tiger over cold and dusty roads. There were tiger prints in the soft dirt at the edge of the road we are now driving upon, many. He has come this way looking for something.
The park is made up of a hundred square miles of deciduous forest and several large lakes. It was a hunting ground until 1970 for the Maharajas.
There are black faced monkeys watching our progress. It is very cold and a few jeeps have come by with new information as to where the tiger might be.
We spotted him as we were leaving. He was sleeping sixty feet off into the forest. His belly was toward us and we could see the white and black stripes there on his side. He is resting after a nice meal perhaps.
A game warden was eaten here not too long ago. One must be aware of your surroundings and be on your toes. The tigers have the edge here, even though they are nocturnal animals.
There are more than an ample amount of deer here for the tiger to eat. Several different types wander through here for a varied menu.
We watched the deer and monkeys as they watched and wondered about us. It is very cold here, but no snow. I am cold through to my bones. I didn’t wear enough layers and the wind is very strong as we ride in the jeep. Something for you to think about if you come this way.
We made it home and I was asleep by 7 p.m.
It is 7:30 a.m. now. I have just woken up. Looking for tigers is hard work. Talk to you again soon.