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This Tiger was so comfortable that even my elephant almost walking over him didn't wake him up.
Bandhavgarh: Pronounced (Band-a-gar). This is a relatively new park and one I would classify as the poor man's tiger park. Entry fees were 25 RS per person for locals and 100 RS per person for foreigners. There were no limits on the number of vehicles allowed in, or on the types of vehicles, except diesels were not allowed. Some of the locals drove their own automobiles, but this looked a risky to me, due to the steep hills, river crossings under water, and generally poor dirt road conditions.
Bandhavgarh's habit is heavier that Ranthambore's, making it more difficult to see tigers, but they have elephants. The elephants balance things out when it comes to tiger viewing. I had my greatest number of tiger sightings at Bandhavgarh and one of my three most exciting encounters.
On my last day at Bandhavgarh we were driving out of the park at a few minutes before the 9:00 AM morning closing when we came up on a mahawat and his elephant. My guide had some conversation with him in Hindi and I was invited to climb aboard the elephant. We started off, for where I knew not, but since we were near the elephant headquarters, and headed in that direction, I assumed I was just being given a final fling ride. But no, we turned and started up a rocky hill and the mahawat points, and there, off in the distance, is a tiger laying out in the open in the sun.
This was unusual enough, to find a tiger someplace where I could get good photographs, that I was already excited, when the mahawat holds up three fingers. Oh my god, three tigers! This is the three 18 month old male tiger cubs that I had been hearing about. These might be cubs to the knowledgeable people but to me they just looked like tigers, not cubs. One is laying on his back with all four legs up in the air. As we watch one of the others begins a slow, deliberate, stalk of the one sleeping on his back. He is standing completely over the sleeping one before he wakes. Then he bounds awake and they both leap into the air with tremendous growling snarls. What a sight! Just a couple of brothers playing.
Tigers In India | Ranthambore | Kanha
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This page was last updated: March 15, 2008