Fatehpur Sikri, Ranthambhore National Park: Jeep Safari's to search for Tigers
From India's Golden Triangle and Nepal Everest Region Trek in Ranthambhore National Park, India on Oct 14 '07
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October 15, 2007 / Agra – Ranthambhore
As we left Agra at 9:15am, we noticed many men on bicycles with milk jugs. Our driver told us that the cows are milked in the morning, the milk is taken to town to be sold, and then men were now returning home with what money they made for the day. We also saw a lot of men biking to work with lunch boxes. Our guide said they work in a local shoe factory. We saw lots of street vendors selling bananas. In the rural areas outside Delhi we saw a lot of animals: monkeys on the roofs of buildings, herds of camels, water buffalo, donkeys, cows, and goats. We saw a little barber shop which was set up in a little shack similar to the size of an outhouse. It was right along the road. No need to advertise.
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On the way to Ranthambhore we visited Fatehpur Sikri (World Heritage Site)-a perfectly preserved red sandstone “ghost town” which was the estranged capital of Mughal emperor Akbar, built in 1569 and deserted when its water supply failed. This is a walled city with 8 gates for the public and one for the king. We entered through the 54m high Victory Gate, which is the highest gate in India and the second highest in the world. There are oil lamps all along the top of the wall. Although it was common in South Asia for rulers to use elephants as executioners, one Mogul Emperor in particular, Akbar (1547-1605), used his favorite elephant as a judge, as well as an executioner. While ruling in the city of Agra from 1570-1585, Akbar came to believe that his favorite royal elephant could discern by instinct who was guilty of an offense and who was innocent. As a result, thousands of people during those 15 years, who were suspected of even minor offenses, were staked out before the great royal elephant and had to watch in horror as it was coaxed to step on them. The great majority of suspects were crushed to death, but on occasion the huge elephant would refuse. If that happened, the suspect was immediately released because, as Akbar noted, there was now clear proof of innocence! When his elephant died, Akbar built a tomb for him. In the distance when once looks to where the river was (now dried up) you see the Elephant Tomb.
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We visited the beautiful Jama Masjid (Dargah Mosque), which was completed in 1571 and contains elements of Persian and Hindu Design. Today is EID Ul Fitr Festival, the festival of fast breaking (the end of Ramadan) which is the biggest Muslim festival. Inside the courtyard is the superb white marble tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti (Holy Man), built in 1581. Inside the mausoleum are brightly colored flower murals and the canopy is decorated with mother-of-pearl shell. People make offerings to the Holy Man of cloths and flowers. The cloths are given to poor women for them to use as clothing. We purchased a cloth and some string which we tied on a carved marble screen around the tomb. We made a wish, a wish for someone else, as we tied the string.
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As we continued on toward to Ranthambhore we saw lots of fields of mustard. It is grown as it does not require much water. As we crossed into Rajasthan we started seeing more and more camels. One camel was pulling a cart with wood. We saw a woman in the field carry two jugs on her head. There are many brick factories in this area. They are not allowed in Agra because of the pollution. This road has a lot of construction and we saw people digging holes by hand. We saw camels and cows in front of homes instead of cars. We saw women with huge bundles of straw on their heads, one with a bowl of dirt on her head and one with a pot of bricks on her head. One woman in a Sari was using an ax to chop up dirt, and some women were on the second story of a home participating in it’s construction. We saw business’s along the road where sandstone carvings were made by hand with wheels and chisels. We saw homes made of straw, homes made of mud and homes made out of tents. Along side the road we saw water pumps with women bathing or doing the laundry.
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Our driver explained that a camel cost 10,000 rupees, black buffalo cost 20,000-22,000 rupees, young buffalo 10,000 rupees, 100,000 rupees for an elephant and 25,000 rupees for a horse.
We arrived at our hotel near the National Park in the afternoon. Ranthambhore is a famous wildlife sanctuary which is said to have the India’s friendliest Tigers and also considered to be the best place in the world to photograph the tiger in its natural habitat, also a wonderful place for bird watching. Tigers are nocturnal but in Ranthambhore they are out in the early morning & late afternoon allowing visitors to spot them. The Pugmark : Cottage room http://www.thepugmark.net/
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October 16, 2007 / Ranthambhore
A jeep came to pick up us at 6:30 am to go on our first 3 hours safari. Our guide was Mina. Only a limited number of jeep’s and canter’s are allowed in the park each day. The park is divided into 5 zones, and the driver choses by lottery which zone your vehicle will be allowed to go in. There are 35 tigers in the park (only 1500 in all of India). You are required to stay in that zone. At 7:17am we saw a big male Bengal. It was just lying in the shade. We did not see any more Tiger’s during that safari but we did see Chital Deer, Samber Deer, spotted deer, eagle, Kingfisher, green parakeet, male Indian Gazelle, Langer Monkey’s, and collared scopes owl. Jeeps and canters cris-crossed the roads in the park searching for animals, especially tigers. The guides and drivers did not use any kind of radio to communicate with each other. If they saw another vehicle would they share what information they had.
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After lunch we made second visit to the jungle. Our guide was Rafeeq. We saw a Deer Fly Catcher on the back on an Egret, Red Waffled Lap Wing Hawk, Partridge, Francolin, Pond Heron, Mongoose, Tree Pie Bird and Stint bird (no photos), White neck Stork, Grey Heron and Jungle crows. About 4pm we saw 3 Bengal tiger cubs. They were not real close, but we could not get any closer as we were in zone 5 and they were in zone 4 and a chain separated the zones, and we were not allowed to cross over. None the less, it was exciting viewing them. We watched as they occasional came out into the open. As it was getting dark they came into full view nearer to us. Dinner, and early to bed. The Pugmark : Cottage room http://www.thepugmark.net/
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