My Tour through Rajasthan Wildlife Safari

After exploring the great wilds of Jim Corbett National Park we headed towards Rajasthan to explore the treasures of the Sariska, Bharatpur and Ranthambore wild life national parks. We opted for a tour package and got it booked through our travel agent. After arriving at Delhi airport from Mumbai we were received by the tour representative and that very night we stayed in Delhi.

Early morning I, along with my college troop started for our Rajasthan Wildlife Tour. After almost 4-hours drive we reached Sariska Wildlife sanctuary and checked in the forest lodge, after a hot water bath and a delicious lunch we started our elephant safari to the wild.

From the brochures we came to know that, besides its Tiger population Sariska is also home to numerous carnivores including Leopard, Wild Dog, Jungle Cat, Hyena and Jackal. We encounter species like Sambar, Chitel, Nilgai, Chausingha, Wild Boar and Langur. It was really exciting to watch the activities of Rhesus Monkeys that are found in large numbers around Talvriksh. Even after efforts we could not trace tiger- real bad luck. After a full day journey we came back to the RTDC Lodge for over night stay with lot of exquisite experiences at the forest.

Our next destination was Ranthambore National Park, therefore headed towards it with a hope of sighting a tiger. We check in the jungle resort near Sawai-Madhopur, and proceeded to the forest. A well-educated guide accompanied us who himself was a wildlife enthusiast with lot of information at his hand. He told us that the park was included under the Project Tiger Reserves and is best known for its tiger population. We preferred jeep safari due to its hilly terrain, as the park nestles in the foothills of Aravalli Ranges. The guide also told us that there are about 25 tigers and 40 leopards in the reserve. After driving for quite a distance, ultimately we had a sight of the majestic beast- the tiger, for which our eyes were waiting for. The sight left us awe-struck, it was just magnificent to watch this royal creature resting under the cool shade near the Padam Talab (Lake). I could also capture some of these moments through my video-cam. Beside tiger we also encountered the great Indian gazelle, Sambar, Nilgai (blue-bull), Chital.

After previous day full adventure and fun, morning our guide took us to the famous Ranthambore Fort and Jogi Mahal dating back to the 10th century, he told, that the fort is the oldest prevailing fort in Rajasthan and the Jogi Mahal is now converted into Forest Rest House. We were absolutely wonder-struck at the sight of the second largest Banyan tree in India, it was a huge trees spread over a very large area.

After the magnificent sight of tiger we drove towards Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary one of the largest in whole Asia. In almost 4 hours we were in the sanctuary, once the shooting reserve of royal family now famous for its migratory bird population. We shot diverse variety of bird through our video-cam, there are almost 353 species of bird that breed within the park. More commonly sighted were red wattle, egrets, and gray herons, sarus cranes and rosy headed pelican. We were also lucky to enjoy the view of beautiful Siberian crane (migratory bird). It is just fabulous to watch bird flying low over the lakes and ponds with their companions.

Experiencing the great wilds of Rajasthan was a unique charisma in itself. We came back to our forest reserve with some splendid memories of tiger, migratory birds and forts, to be cherish throughout our life.