Travelogues
Photo Gallery
Upcoming Destinations
- Har Ki Dun
- Ladakh
Ask Me
About Me
A Mukherjee World View | ||
|
|
||
|
Gotcha! Well, Almost...
We returned to “camp” for a late breakfast and an early lunch, happily growing fat and lazy on a surfeit of good food and complete lack of exercise. That afternoon, rubbing the midday sleep from our eyes, we set out on the third of our four safaris. I was well resigned to sighting nothing more than herds of deer, monkeys and perhaps a lone tusker or two, but Amit was all keyed up. We were sure to see “something” this time, he said. “Something” meant a tiger. He called it premonition. I called it optimism. But, quite early on in the safari, he was proven right. We saw a tiger, we really did! The guide saw it first, of course, and he pointed it out to all of us. What excitement! At last: a real, live tiger! Little matter that the creature only turned its long body parallel to the jeep, gazed at us steadily over its shoulder for a moment, then turned its back on us and trotted off. Disappointment! Not a single photograph had we managed between the two of us in those few seconds.
Despite our patience and regardless of a number of warning calls from langurs and spotted deer in the neighborhood, our tiger declined to reappear and pose for photographs. Greatly disappointed, we all clambered down from our various perches and set off again. It was almost dusk and our safari was drawing to a close when the jeep’s radio crackled once – unintelligibly – causing our driver to take off like a trained racehorse at the starting gate, with never a thought for the standing passengers who were tossed back like a torn pair of socks, and some of whom were almost deposited on the dusty roadside in the process. His lunatic driving lasted all of eight-and-a-half minutes, and finally ended on the main road, which is the state highway to Kerala. Here, several other safari jeeps had pulled up and everyone in them was staring with rapt attention at nothing in particular in the bushes on the roadside. A leopard had been there, we were told in hushed tones. But, with all the goodwill in the world, we could see no leopard, or carnivore of any kind. Nothing but jungle. Again, we waited. But nothing appeared. Eventually, we gave up – the leopard had evidently found some other form of entertainment.
When you want to see tigers, you see tigers everywhere. Innumerable times was I on the verge of exclaiming: Stop! Tiger!! Luckily I bit my tongue and later realized that what I had thought was a tiger was in fact a spotted deer, or a mongoose, or a log of wood, or – worse – a figment of my imagination. I wasn’t the only one though. The driver and guide also, apparently, were suffering from delusions of tiger and raised our hopes a couple of times only to sheepishly admit their mistake a moment later. So, after staking out a watering hole for a good 45 minutes and listening to the repeated warning calls of spotted deer, we finally came to the conclusion that tigers were in the neighborhood, but were not in our kismet today. We returned to camp, to another hearty breakfast, and then it was time to leave. Amit and I had promised ourselves that once we saw a tiger at Kabini, we would not return. But, as we drove away through the forest, still looking through the undergrowth on both sides in the vain hope of spotting “something”, we agreed that that was a promise we were likely to break. Soon. |
|
|
|
Comments and information welcome. Write to
anamika dot mukherjee at amukherjeeworld dot net |
The next morning a dull grey sky greeted us, so we hadn’t high hopes of sighting anything very exciting. The safari was much the same as the previous evening, with the added attraction of some wild boars (which, quite frankly, I could have done without) and a small group of elephants that wandered across our path. The morning outing included an elephant ride (a “jolly ride”, implying no serious game sighting and on tame elephants to boot) and a boat ride to break the monotony.
We waited and waited and waited some more, hoping his majesty would reappear. All of us were perched in some strange fashion on parts of the jeep not strictly made for sitting (or even standing) on. The guide was somewhat precariously balanced atop the jeep, legs spanning the back seat and stocking-ed feet resting on two round metal bars. The driver, who at the word “tiger” had abandoned the steering wheel and jumped on to the bonnet of his jeep without blinking an eye, had a few seconds later maneuvered his way above the windshield and settled himself comfortably on the rolled up canvas top, which had sheltered us from the sudden downpour the previous evening. The rest of us used our god-given padding to soften the inherently uncomfortable seats we had chosen, which consisted primarily of metal bars (the seats, that is, not the padding). Some of us were less fortunate than others in this regard (the padding, that is, not the seats).
The next morning was our last safari of the season. We had been disappointed to learn that another jeep had found another tiger the previous evening, and had taken “mast” photos of it to boot! We set off to search for this other tiger, our tiger, or the invisible leopard. Amit had slept soundly all night, with not a single premonition – despite my stern admonition to him to “premone” – but I was full of hope all the same.