Jungle safari

In pics: Chasing the elusive big cat and jeep breakdown add to thrill in Kolkata boy’s Sariska safari

Deer, peacocks, monkeys, nilgais, boars among other fauna spotted on peaceful jungle trails in the Rajasthan jungle

By Arnab Nandy | Published 23.05.24, 03:33 PM

No, we did not spot a tiger or a leopard though Sariska Tiger Reserve has around 30 tigers, not counting leopards. At one point, we were apparently quite close to a leopard — according to our guide — but all we heard were monkeys screaming even as the big cat chose to remain behind the bushes. I didn’t mind not having seen it. The thrill of the chase — on a couple of occasions we vroomed ahead on bumpy roads when someone called the guide to say a tiger/leopard seemed to be around — was worth the safari. My friends and I chose Sariska for a weekend trip from Delhi because it was the closest, the distance being a little more than 200 kilometres. We set out in the afternoon, and reached our stay late in the evening. The highway is great and we got breathtaking sunset views

All photographs by the author

A view of Tehla fort from my stay. The Tehla gate is the less popular entry to Sariska Tiger Reserve. It's a small village overlooked by the abandoned fort, which locals say, is home to monkeys and small leopards. It is possible to hike up to it, and even get inside. It's not risky, the locals say, but recommend that you go in a group

A dental clinic at the village of Tehla

The door of an abandoned building in the village

View of a part of Tehla from the Kalbhairav Temple, which is located on top of a hill, next to the fort. A priest at the temple claimed he frequently sees leopards walking down for a drink in the stream flowing down the valley behind the temple

A peacock and monkeys inside the reserve forest. We saw hundreds of peacocks

Some trails are peaceful and spooky like this one. There is a temple inside the forest accessible to the public twice a week, when private cars are allowed to use the main road in the forest, but not these trails. Unfortunately, at times, there are so many cars going up and down — like the day we went — it can be annoying when you are trying to look for an animal and trying to be quiet

View of deer from our vehicle near a water body. Friends who visited this water body the following day saw a tiger, which hung out there for a full fifteen minutes

Our car broke down on the way and even though we are not supposed to get off the vehicle in the forest, we were forced to because the engine was smoking profusely. Thankfully, the driver could sort out the problem quickly and we were on our way in 10 minutes

This is a post inside the forest. One of the tigers has a transmitter attached to it and it is possible to track it if it is within a certain radius. The man with the tracker is visible here. Sadly, the tiger appeared too far away and we couldn’t find it. On the way back, we saw some wild boars that reminded me of Asterix and Obelix

A nilgai at Sariska forest

In tiger country, we encountered this old man walking with his buffaloes, armed with nothing but a sickle. The guide said it was illegal but the villagers did it anyway, and there have been instances of tigers attacking buffaloes

We made a stop at the infamously spooky Bhangarh fort on our way back to Delhi

Tags: Jungle safari Bengal Tigers deer wild boar wanderlust nilgai Bhangarh Fort leopard Peacock jungle trails