Rathambore National Park 5/6 - 6/6

We’ve spent a couple of nights a town adjacent Rathambore National Park. There’s not much happening within the town apart from a few shops for tourists and other hotels so we’ve spent a bit of time catching up on rest in our room. The first night we went to a small showroom that houses work from some of the local women, they sell it as a collective. We got to see some hand stitching being done and had a bit of a chat to some of the staff about how the collective helps support the community. Yesterday morning we headed out on our first safari at 6am, we were in a little Suzuki Sierra set up with a couple of bench seats on the back raised slightly for viewing. We were sharing these with two other couples, a pair from the UK and a pair from the US (both of whom were working in their respective embassies in Delhi). We were out for about three and a half hours and saw a fair bit of wildlife - birds, deer, monkeys and lizards but no sign of the tiger, the main reason for going on the safari. The park is pretty dry at the moment (as is everywhere in Rajasthan) although there are still quite a few waterholes (some artificial). Our guide was saying that the whole park will return to greenery within a few days of the monsoon starting. We came back to the hotel for some breakfast and a bit of rest, the next safari was scheduled for 3pm that afternoon. Kirsten wasn’t feeling up to it (the ride was very bumpy) so I headed out to reception only to be informed it was cancelled due to the heat. I accepted this without question as it was pretty hot, only we found out later that the staff had been lying (we’re still not really that clear on their motive - perhaps just to avoid having to run an extra jeep). We only found out as Pal asked me why I didn’t go - I was pretty annoyed so Pal sorted out everything with the staff, we were due to go again for another run in the morning and drive to Agra a little later than we planned. So I headed out this morning, Kirsten’s back was still too sore from yesterday, so that made four of us in the jeep - quite comfortable. We went on a different run around the park, only 40% is open to the public and there’s only a few main areas accessible by jeep. We had been out for a couple of hours, not seeing anything different from yesterday apart from a vulture and a monitor lizard. We had headed back to a base in the park and were going to finish for the morning when our guide decided to give it another go, apparently there were some new tiger tracks found that morning. As we headed around a bend, our guide pointed out the fresh tracks - we sped off with him standing up out of the jeep following the tracks. About a kilometre further down the track, two jeeps were parked on the road, the tiger was resting in some shade by a waterhole. We were able to park within four or five metres, it was fantastic. I think I took about a dozen photos, the camera died after that but I didn’t mind too much, it was great just to sit and watch (and one of the couples said she’d email some of hers to me). We were there for about ten or fifteen minutes when some more jeeps and a couple of really large trucks rocked up, the trucks carry about 20 people and make a hell of a racket. This part of the safari was poorly organised as all the noise and commotion spooked the tiger and she got up, looking like she would leave but after everyone managed to shut up for a while she settled down and rested again. We headed off ten minutes after that, leaving the hordes too it. Despite this small issue, it was amazing to see the tiger in person, it’s a rare thing so I’m really chuffed. We headed to Agra after that, a very long drive but worth it as we go to see the Taj Mahal tomorrow morning.