Spotting tigers in India has been a dream for me (Daniëlle) since childhood and as a child, I really wanted to cuddle with a baby tiger and even had a tiger-themed room. Before I met Amit, I knew little about wildlife in India. He introduced me to the diversity of wildlife here. I learned that India has around 20% forest cover, which is around 700,000 km2. By way of comparison: the whole of the Netherlands is just over 40,000 km2. India accounts for 7-8% of all recorded species on Earth, including more than 45,000 plant species and 91,000 animal species!
And finally, I went to the Indian jungle!
In 2018 I went to India with Amit for the first time, however, this was in August, not a good time for a safari due to the monsoon rains. The national parks are closed during the monsoon period due to excessive rainfall. This time we arrived in India at the perfect time. All national parks open around October-November. We chose to drive to the nearest one, Jim Corbett National park, about 250km north of Delhi. You will find about 110 species of trees, 50 species of mammals, 600 species of birds, and 25 species of reptiles in this protected area. Furthermore, the park has about 500 different species of plants and a wide variety of fauna. The national park is spread over more than 500 km2 and has no fences. Furthermore, around 250 tigers live there, the most of any national park in India.
After a long drive of almost 9 hours, we reached our hotel around 4 in the afternoon. We didn't do much except try out our new drone to take some aerial shots of the beautiful surroundings. We then had a nice meal and went to bed early so that we could wake up in time for our morning safari, which was scheduled at 6 am.
The jungle safari experience!
Although Amit had seen tigers in the wild before, he was the one who woke me up and wanted to leave on time for the pick-up location. We reached there before time and had to wait for our driver who came to pick us up with an open jeep. We had a private jeep, which was very nice! We drove into the park during sunrise which was really beautiful. At the gate, our IDs were checked. Indian rangers are very strict about who enters the park and there is a limit of 15 jeeps in each zone. Each open jeep can hold up to 6 people.
We just missed the tiger!
After witnessing a beautiful sunrise, we continued inland to the zone for which we had booked our safari. After spotting some wild peacocks, we made a small stop at the river to observe a herd of deer. Soon we got to know that a tiger crossed the road minutes after our jeep passed. Two jeeps behind us had just caught a short glimpse of the royal bengal tiger. I was so close to spotting this majestic animal in the first few minutes of my first safari! A little disappointed, we continued our safari deeper into the jungle. Soon our disappointment turned to excitement when we saw a snake crossing the path a few meters in front of us. The driver turned off the engine and after close observation, our guide confirmed it was a King Cobra! It is so rare to spot this reptile in the wild in Corbett that even our guide and driver had never seen one in the hundreds of safaris they have been on. This really made our day. We waited for the big snake to disappear into the bushes before continuing further. We will always remember this moment, when we saw the largest snake in the world up close. This really gave everyone in our jeep an adrenaline rush!
Rounding up our first safari
In the last hour of the 3-hour safari, we saw several deer, both spotted cheetal (favorite meal of the royal Bengal tiger), and the sambhar deer. We saw a jackal known as the cleaner of the jungle and finally a group of hanuman langur monkeys. While driving out of the National Park, a wild elephant appeared to have blocked the way for all safari jeeps that had finished the morning safari. Our driver wanted us to see the elephant up close and drove through traffic to get closer. In the end, there was a chance that the elephant would stop by the road and we could drive past it quickly. We managed to click some nice pictures and make videos. However, the elephant was not so kind to all vehicles. It lashed out at the vehicle behind us, prompting it to act quickly and push the accelerator backward. This experience really marked the end of an unforgettable safari, even though we just missed the tiger. The rest of the day we just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day in the middle of nature.
Our second safari
The next morning we had booked another safari, this time in a different part of the park. More tigers lived in this area of the jungle. However, we didn't come across any this time as well, as they seem to be very elusive, and shy.. We did see many new footprints and claw marks on trees. It's a really beautiful area, but the jungle here is very dense and the chances of spotting a tiger are slim. They are so well camouflaged in the tall grass and among the trees that you just have to be lucky enough to see them cross the road. Our guide told us that tigers can be seen on the riverbank during peak summer. However, the monsoon season had just ended which meant that the jungle was very dense and water is everywhere. That's why my search for this amazing animal continues. With a lot of patience, determination, and visits to several national parks I hope that one day I will get to see one of my favorite animals in the wild.
If you also want to spot tigers in the wild and are planning to go on safari in Jim Corbett National Park, you can make a booking via one of these websites: https://www.corbettnationalpark.in/ or https:/ /www.corbetthelpline.com
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