I’ve {Mia} always been an away-from-the-wild girl, brought up in the city and stayed pretty much there. Put me out in the jungle, or even the Hunger Games for that matter, and I’d be the first one shredded alive. I have zero survival skills, apart from knowing how to swim in standing water. So, when the prospect of “enjoying” my first safari came up, in March this year, I was beyond excited.
The safari started in the afternoon itself, since every jeep had to make its way to base by 6 in the evening. The timings get stretched by half an hour during summer, but it was still pretty cold in March. Myraa and I were kicking ourselves for not carrying any clothes that would qualify as warm.
No sooner did we enter the jungle, and our driver was explaining the terrain and relating stories, two baby elephants suddenly crossed our paths. This was not on plain ground, and on an incline, we braked hard. We let out a collective gasp. No sooner did they rumble on to the path, did they hurry on to the river bed. Who knew that elephants could really be so fast? Our driver said this was a lucky sign, getting to see something the minute we’re in the park, but I scoffed at him. Myraa had spotted a tiger on one of her safaris before, but I hadn’t (I did mention this was my first safari, didn’t I?). Though I secretly wished for a lucky sighting, the pessimist in me knew it would all come to nothing.
We reached a point where we came across a herd of elephants crossing the narrow path ahead of us, and the last one to cross was the male. Our driver, despite my protest, revved the engine and tried to goad the elephant to turn around. Well, let’s just say it turned around all right, but that was not all. No matter however much of Animal Planet and Discovery channel you watch, witnessing a fully grown Indian tusker charge at you while trumpeting can be ‘shit-in-your-pants’ scary. Not a wonderful sight. Yes, Myraa and the driver had a good laugh at my behest, but what could I do? I’m pretty much like (or worse than) Courage, the Cowardly Dog!
After a while, post the excitement of the elephant charge, we ambled on, and I couldn’t help but admire the many shades of earthy green and subdued browns, the different types of plants and wildflowers (I love wildflowers), while the massive ant hills were quite interesting. One could only imagine the minuscule tunnels bored into them and the intricate architecture the ants/ termites had created.
A bumpy ride in the gypsy was quite incredible too, although the intense jostling did leave me sore in some places for a few days. As instructed by our driver, there are certain designated areas where we can leave the jeep, otherwise, not even one footprint must be left anywhere. We drove by monkeys and langurs, peacocks in their splendour and peahens running about, kingfishers and wild boar, pheasants and vultures, barking deer and the wonderfully vibrant jungle fowl.
The region was filled with Saal trees, and courtesy our chatty driver we now know that each tree is known to cost well over five lakh rupees, and are mostly used to make railway sleepers. Corbett National Park consists of largely different kinds of terrain, but for me, I loved the Savannah the best, the portion near what the drivers and guides call – the Tapu (island).
Whenever we drove through the savannah, I just had to get up in the jeep, looking over the vast expanse of golden yellow, long thin strips of grass that were perfect to shelter any big cat, stare at the large herd of deer and elephants, while wait impatiently to get near to the reservoir… all the while holding on to the rod for dear life.
In the evening, almost fifteen minutes before the evening safari was to come to an end, our driver took us down a path that already had one gypsy parked to the side. Everyone in that car immediately told us to shush from a mile away. Our driver eased up beside them, and soon, almost ten heads were busy craning over to the side of the hill. The photographers in the other jeep, with their bombastic lenses, could pretty much see the tigress, and one even showed me the tip of her ear peeking above the stone. But sans the lens… nothing!
Soon a third gypsy came up behind us, loaded with more over-enthusiastic photographers, and within the next minute, the tigress cat-walked down the side of the hill, crossed our path (barely a jeep’s distance away), stopped across the other side for a moment (enough for the cameras) and soon vanished into the jungle.
It was a “proper sighting” on my very first safari, not one of those where one gets to see the tip of the tail or a bit of the ear. It was indeed beginner’s luck for me :)
RUM AND CHEESE 