Days 5-7: Sher Bagh (Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright)

When I was planning this trip, I discovered that there were national preserves in India which had become sanctuaries for tigers in the wild. Deforestation, increased population, hunting, and all of those other wonderful things that humans do have decimated the wild population of tigers. Fortunately, the Indian government established the National Tiger Conservation Authority and is committed to helping preserve and re-grow the population of tigers. Since I enjoyed the safari I took in South Africa when I was there in 2007, I thought that adding another safari type experience into our trip would be a nice break for us from all the city life and sightseeing we were doing, and would of course, be a once in a lifetime experience (how many people get to see Bengal tigers in the wild?)

J and I chose to stay at a luxury eco-friendly resort called Sher Bagh. Sher Bagh was first started in 2000, and is a member of Relais & Chateaux which is a very very chi-chi hotel association for independent hotels and small affiliated properties. If you're staying at an R&C hotel, you know you're in for a good time. A friend of mine from law school told me about this hotel association a few years ago, and I've been dying to try it out. Sher Bagh is set up like an old, colonial encampment, with only one fixed building (which is where the library, offices and a small gift shop were set up), but all of the other camp amenities were either open-air, or kept in tents.

I know what you're going to say. "You were just complaining about how bad the budget accommodations were you stayed in Delhi! And then you went to stay in a TENT?!" Just stay with me, folks. 

When you drive up to the property, within just a few seconds, there is someone there to greet you with cold wet washcloths scented with some delicious essential oil. It revives you after your dusty journey. There is also a nice glass of fresh cold lemonade waiting for you. Also very refreshing. You are then escorted to your tent.

The best shower I experienced in India.

A nicer vanity in a tent than I have in my house.

Relaxing on the front porch of our tent.

This is GLAMPING. 

All of the beautiful tents at Sher Bagh.

Ok, so now you understand more about why I was ok staying in a tent. And in fact, very badly wanted to stay in a tent. 

We arrived at Sher Bagh about an hour later than we were told we would arrive (there was a Holy Walk occurring in some of the small villages on the way which held traffic up quite badly), so we were offered something to eat, and then immediately transferred into our jeep for our first safari of the trip! We were assigned two safari mates--D and A, who were both twenty-something Brits. It turns out, that D is a distant cousin of Julian Fellowes, who is the creator of Downton Abbey. And A is cousins with a guy who married a girl I went to high school with. It's really a small world. We ended up being partnered with D and A for all of our safaris throughout the weekend, which was really very fun and a nice way to get to know other people.

Our guides for the safari (and since we ended up liking them so much, for all four of our safari rides), were Shankar, the driver (who has every NASCAR driver beat) and our naturist, Dinesh. They were really just so amazing and if any of my readers end up at Sher Bagh, please please ask for Dinesh and Shankar. They were funny, skillful, and just so great. 

So! Off on our first safari, we were assigned to Zone 4 (the park is divided into different zones and the drivers have to get a zone assignment to make sure that the park isn't overcrowded in one particular area). Since we got a late start, I think that Dinesh and Shankar had received word from other jeeps that there was a tiger in the area, because we started off at a relatively breakneck speed to get in the park.

The very dramatic entrance to Ranthambore

It really makes you feel like you are going into another kingdom

After taking a very thrilling Jeep ride, we abruptly stopped and saw:

Our first tiger!!! It was insane! You would never think that an orange and black striped animal would blend in so well in a forest, but wow are they hard to see! Fortunately, if you really want to spot a tiger, all you have to do is look for this:

I'm just kidding. I know that it takes a lot of hard work, experience, skill and luck to find the tigers in the very expansive range. But inevitably, when you see a tiger, you'll only have a few minutes before other groups do too. Most of the groups were pretty respectful and the drivers let other drivers have turns so that they could see the tiger up close, but there were a few groups that had to be told to be quiet.

After we saw our first tiger, we continued on and saw some other wildlife, then stopped and had a tea and cookie break on a hill overlooking part of the National Park. It was some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in my life.

I know it's a crocodile, but couldn't help chomping at it (Go Gators!)

This is a Rufous Treepie. He' a member of the crow family and was VERY interested in cookies and tea.

Also very interested in Dinesh's hat.

Chital Spotted Deer

I think this was a female Sambar Deer. She was pretty big, but laying down here.

As we drove through, you would just see the deer hanging out, staring at us.

I think a Sambar

Some Bird of Prey, circling overhead. It was pretty amazing.

The scenery was so beautiful.

It's the dry season right now.

On our way out of the park, we circled back around to the watering hole, and got lucky!

That was a pretty good sighting for our first day!!! Overall, I was kind of surprised at just how much like my cats the tiger acts. Pretty lazy, and was looking for a good sun spot to relax. Seeing the other animals gathering at the watering hole was also pretty cool, and made me think about the Lion King, even though I KNOW that's a complete different continent.

We made our way back to the camp, and on the way back, saw some monkeys and some adorable goats being herded down the road.

This one was photobombed by another monkey's tail.

We got back to camp,  where we were greeted with hot wet washcloths and herbal tea. You don't realize how dirty your face gets zooming around in an open air jeep, but I have to admit I was a little embarrassed when I put the wash cloth back on the tray. It was black!

We cleaned up in the best shower I had experienced in India (and also the cleanest bathroom, which I think speaks volumes), and went out to the campfire that was put on nightly by the staff. I had a very delicious cocktail called Ranthambore Punch (which was also very strong), and the food was served thali style by the pool. I wish I had been able to take some pictures of all of this, but the camp crew strings tons of lanterns in all of the trees and along the path leading to the campfire, and and then puts them all around the pool. It seems very magical. The food was some of the best food I tasted, with several different types of curry (mutton, lentils, baby eggplants, and even carrots, which I typically hate). While we were at the campfire, we made friends with a couple who is from Tampa, and are both professors of medicine at the University of South Florida. Again, such a small world. We hit the hay pretty early since we had to be up by 6 to go on our next morning safari! When we got to our tent, we discovered it was turned down for evening service, and hot water bottles were put in our bed to keep the bed nice and toasty. This R&C deal worked out very nicely.

In the morning, we were woken up by the camp staff, who left a pot of tea and some cookies on our porch. We got dressed, and it was quite chilly in the morning, so of course, the Sher Bagh staff were prepared, and handed out these sleeveless fleece hoodies to place over your regular clothes. Before we got into our jeep, we were given a small breakfast snack of porridge with brandy. That certainly warmed up our insides. Off we went, to Zone 1. 

Unfortunately, we did not see any tigers on our morning drive, but we did see plenty of other amazing sights and animals.

My threepie came back to say hello.

Sambar having a bad hair day.

A "blue bull" antelope. The male have a bluish tint.

This sambar was trying to be stealthy while watching us.

The vistas were pretty incredible.

Keeping an eye on everything.

Banyan trees really lent to the exotic atmosphere.

"When I was a young warthog!"

In the back, two deer were fighting.

I wish I knew what kind of bird this guy was, he was pretty cool

The peacocks there were huge and their colors so vibrant!

In the afternoon, we rested a little bit by the pool. 

The camp manager, Sunil, was also kind enough to give J and I a tour of the organic vegetable and herb garden they keep at Sher Bagh, where they try to source as many of their own vegetables and herbs as they can. It was pretty impressive, even though Sunil told us that the weather had been very unpredictable and erratic, killing some of the plants. I wish that I was able to grow the amount they are there. He also explained to us that Sher Bagh has its own herd of goats and chickens which are kept nearby. He keeps some exotic black chickens, which make eggs with no cholesterol in the yolk. I'm glad to know I was somewhat healthy with all that I ate at Sher Bagh (we are going to ignore all of the clarified butter used in recipes there). 

After four tour, it was time for us to get ready for our afternoon/evening safari. And we struck gold on this one!

A tiger hiding in the bush!

Dinesh and Shankar were good at tracking tigers by finding their prints. 

I liked this guy's antlers.

Another little watering hole.

We saw a mongoose. I almost screamed with excitement and called him "Rikki Tikki Tavi," of course.

Then we came across the tiger who was stalking a sambar. Just out of the range of this photo, the sambar stood very still, and knew something was wrong, but couldn't see the tiger because he was holding perfectly still. Eventually, the sambar caught on, ran away, and gave an alarm call to all the other sambar in the area.

Realizing he wasn't going to get any dinner, the tiger obliged the paparazzi by posing.

"This is a good angle for me."

While this may look fierce, the tiger was simply yawning.

Still pretty impressive yawn, though!

Dinner on our second night was served around the campfire. I expressed to Sunil my interest in learning some Indian recipes, and he arranged (very graciously) for me to meet with the chef beforehand and learn the recipe for the chicken we were making that evening. He has promised to send it to me, and when I get it, I will post it on my other blog, the Epicurean Esquire. 

The resort had far fewer guests the second night we were there, so we spent most of the evening talking to D and A, as well as the resort owners, Jaisal and Anjali Singh. We were fortunate enough to be there while Jaisal and Anjali were around, and they were kind enough to give us some insight into the Rajasthani way of life and the development of the camp. Jaisal is an amazing photographer (he has several books) and  a very successful hotelier, so I was a little bit star struck speaking with him. His wife, Anjali, is also so sophisticated and interesting. She also had some really killer jewelry I couldn't stop staring at. Sunil also spoke with us about different types of Indian cuisine, tastes, and customs (for example, I learned that Gujarati cuisine uses more sugar than Rajasthani cuisine). D also told us that she had recently watched Making a Murderer on Netflix, so we ended up having a very spirited conversation about the American criminal justice system, the death penalty, and proportionality of punishment. Also I had a few more Ranthambore Punches, and J started in on Tiger-tinis. Then Jaisal offered him a cigar and eventually, we stumbled off to our tent. 

Once again, we woke up nice and early for our fourth safari. This time, we went into Zone 3, which is where the Ranthambore Fort is located, so I got some great photographs of the castle and the lake below at sunrise. We also saw a tiger, who crossed our path in front of our jeep. It was a great conclusion to our stay at Sher Bagh.

Early morning mist over the lake

I felt like this could be the setting for a fashion shoot.

There was the tiger, off in the woods on the side of the road.

How did the tiger cross the road?

In front of all of the jeeps.

Peace out, bean sprout.

Ranthambore Fort.

Our hosts, wishing us bon voyage.

After our safari, we cleaned up, packed up, and hitched a ride to the train station in Sawai Madhopur, to take a quick little train ride to Jaipur. We loved our time at Ranthambore, with the Sher Bagh family, and agree that it was our favorite part of our trip. Seeing the amazing animals in their habitats, and the beautiful scenery that was not created by man, but is just a part of nature, was a (now cliche statement) once in a lifetime experience. There was such a stillness and peacefulness in Ranthambore that made so content and happy. Until next time, Ranthambore.

J and I with Shankar and Dinesh, the best guides ever.