Having visited several animal parks in East Africa, I was interested to see how India handles its wildlife heritage. The one animal Africa does not have, is the tiger. Unless poaching can be stopped, India probably soon won't have any either.

Corbett Tiger Reserve is one of the oldest and most successful conservation parks. But visiting is made difficult for travellers on a budget. The first morning I got up at 5 AM for a morning safari, and waited by the park gate to hitch a ride with a group of Indian medical students, who were very generous to share their jeep with me View image. It was a beautiful landscape and idyllic forests View image, but there were no tigers willing to show themselves. Back at the park headquaters, I took this picture, just in case it was to by my only tiger photo: View image.

That afternoon, I managed to book a dorm bed at a camp in the park's deepest epicenter, and was lucky to find a nice Indian family from Chennai, who were happy to share their jeep with me, and share the costs of the trip View image.

As we arrived at the camp towards dusk, we heard of a tiger-spotting not so far away, so we headed out immediately, to a nearby riverbank, where we found a crowd of ten or so vehicles, all full of tourist with their binoculars trained on the opposite bank View image, View image. Every now and again, we could see some orange movement in the deep grass... which later turned out to be real "grass" or cannabis plants!

Apparently there were FOUR tigers lounging in there, and we waited while two mahout-driven elephants, the only way for people to interact directly with the tigers, came to flush them out. As they approached, one of the tigers suddenly charged the elephant, with tourists on top, roaring threateningly. Both the elephants trumpeted loudly in return. The tigers all dispersed (slowly, with dignity) in different directions, and we were able to see them all!

I was able to get a couple of good photos with my little camera, despite the distance. The first one shows the two elepants approaching, and in the right foreground, the tiger watching them and preparing to attack if they come closer: View image
The second photo shows the tiger charging the elephant: View image.
This photo shows one of the other tigers sitting in the river for a bath nearby, in the background are Sambar Deer, who are frozen to the spot, waiting to see whether the tiger might try and hunt them or not: View image.

We were very lucky to see so many tigers, and then a large heard of wild elephants came by, crossing the river together:View image, View image.

Then, if that weren't enough, as we drove back to the camp in the fading light, the car in front of us came head to head with some very large Sambar deer, standing in the road, waiting to see what we would do: View image.

The accommodation conditions at the main camp were awful. The dorm looked nice enough from the outside View image, but inside it was like a concentration camp. There were bunk beds which were nothing more than planks of solid wood, with plastic covering stretched over them, never mind any padding View image. That was it -- if you wanted a blanket or sheet (no pillows), you had to rent them for extra money. As I lay there trying to get to sleep, I thought that it was a disgrace to humanity, for the fourth biggest economy in the world to have such conditions in its flagship national park.

Bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, I got up at dawn (View image) to bag a place on an elephant-safari, climbing up the stairway to heaven View image, View image, to get on the big beast's back. This was the highlight of the park visit. I love elephants and it was my first time in such proximity. I enjoyed the relaxed swinging movement of their enormity. I was glad there were two elephant groups, because it allowed us to look at our situation from the outside as well as the inside, and to take photos of more than just the elephant's back! We waded back across the same river, looking to see if the tigers were still in the same area View image, they weren't. We wandered through the deep marijuana fields, wondering how something worth millions of dollars in one place, is just weeds in another View image.

Here are other pictures from the elephant safari; View image, View image, View image, View image

GOATS
On the way back to Rishikesh on the motorcycle, I stopped to see a herd of goats with two brand-new kids, still wet from having just been born. The herder was happy to show me the animals, and placed the babies by their mother to suckle for the first time in their lives. The mother turned to lick her babies, and the two kids were so new they could hardly stand up!!!

View image, View image, View image, View image, View image.

Arriving back in Rishikesh and my own room at the Divya Hotel, it was a bit like coming back to a nice home. Here is what I looked like after 5 hours drive through Indian pollution and truck exhaust: View image