I found game-viewing in India to be quite different that what I experienced in Africa . It’s much harder to view a tiger than it is the sprawled belly-up lions in the shade of an acacia tree. The tiger is very solitary animal and inorder to find one, we had to scour all the dusty tracks for any telltale footprints or it’s pugmarks. I found I had to become the thing I was hunting. I listened to the jungle sounds, an alarm cry of a monkey here, a cry from a deer there and the rustling of a peafowl feathers. I used my vision with the intensity of a searchlight, scanning among the trees, probing around every rocky ledge and peering into crevices where a tiger might hide. Hoping that I might be fortunate enough to spot one on my very first day. No such luck.
I headed back to my Hotel in Udaipur to cool down and get much needed refreshments. The next morning I tried again. I crossed a meadow where Chital were grazing. This is the tiger’s favorite prey. I passed a conclave of langur monkeys and pack of Seoni wolves, which apparently are even more rare to spot than the tiger. I was amused to see Dhole wild red dogs playing amongst themselves in the forest as if I wasn’t there. I watched them play king-of-the-castle for almost an hour and them bid them farewell as I was off in search of my elusive tiger.
The sun was hot only after three hours into the morning, so I made a stop underneath a Tamarind for a bush breakfast. After a nice refreshing lite breakfast, I went back deeper into the jungle and came upon 5 padded howdah elephants with riders who told me to get on board because there’s a tiger about. As Soon as I am perched side-saddle on the elephant’s broad back, we were off. Suddenly, there was the tiger! Reclining on a throne of leaves. Majestic in all of his orange glory. Even in repose, the sight of him made me gasp. He was huge and his round-eye stare was penetrating. His forepaws were bigger than my head. My legs dangled only a few yards away from his cavernous yawning jaws. He rose to his feet and strode easily through the trees as he growled full-on. An earth-shattering sound announcing his territory. Impressive and scary. I’m so glad I didn’t come upon him on foot! But, all the same, I glad I found my prey and managed to shoot several photos.