BDS
12-29-2006, 11:32 PM
"Tyger, tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?'
--- William Blake
Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, India consists of wild, rocky scrub and grassland, hemmed in by steep crags. Banion trees (cool looking trees with their roots above the ground), neem trees and gum trees grow in the valleys. A tenth century fort sits atop one mesa, overlooking the park.
Entry to the park is limited -- tourists ride in one of the few jeeps or cambers (open trucks seating 15) allowed in each day.
The park teems with sambur, cheetal, nilgai (Asia's largest antelope), wild boar, crocodiles, black-faced langour monkeys, a variety of birds, leopards and (you guessed it) tigers.
We saw them all, on an evening safari, with the exception of the great cats. So we visited the park again in the morning, at sunrise.
There are fewer than 2000 wild tigers left in India, and S. and I saw one of them -- a big male. We were scanning the undergrowth eagerly, because the cheetal deer were chirping their "alerts". Then we saw the tiger, slipping into the underbrush from the side of the road. It was a mere glimpse -- lasting less than a second.
Our driver apparently knew where the tiger was headed, so he detoured around the undergrowth at top speed, emerging in a rocky clearing on the other side. The tiger walked right by us, within 40 yards, and headed down a dry stream bed, unconcerned with our gawking.
I doubt William Blake ever saw a wild tiger. But I have.
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?'
--- William Blake
Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, India consists of wild, rocky scrub and grassland, hemmed in by steep crags. Banion trees (cool looking trees with their roots above the ground), neem trees and gum trees grow in the valleys. A tenth century fort sits atop one mesa, overlooking the park.
Entry to the park is limited -- tourists ride in one of the few jeeps or cambers (open trucks seating 15) allowed in each day.
The park teems with sambur, cheetal, nilgai (Asia's largest antelope), wild boar, crocodiles, black-faced langour monkeys, a variety of birds, leopards and (you guessed it) tigers.
We saw them all, on an evening safari, with the exception of the great cats. So we visited the park again in the morning, at sunrise.
There are fewer than 2000 wild tigers left in India, and S. and I saw one of them -- a big male. We were scanning the undergrowth eagerly, because the cheetal deer were chirping their "alerts". Then we saw the tiger, slipping into the underbrush from the side of the road. It was a mere glimpse -- lasting less than a second.
Our driver apparently knew where the tiger was headed, so he detoured around the undergrowth at top speed, emerging in a rocky clearing on the other side. The tiger walked right by us, within 40 yards, and headed down a dry stream bed, unconcerned with our gawking.
I doubt William Blake ever saw a wild tiger. But I have.