Day 149 (Sun 3 Dec) - Ranthambore

Up again early for our next drive.

We took a route through the park that passed through a very craggy area. There were small water pools around that are often used by the tigers.

Didn't see any tigers but did see other creatures. We feel that we're just not going to have any luck! We did see however another tiger kill that was being finished off by a pack of wild boar. They are very noisy feeders and coupled with the smell of the decomposing animal we didn't stay too long.

Got back to the hotel and relaxed until our next drive.

On the afternoon drive we were joined by two older British couples. Nice bunch, although it was a bit disappointing to hear that they had seen tigers the previous day! We consoled ourselves to the fact that at least we tried and we could always come back another time!

We traveled and stopped on track that passed a beautiful lake ( [1], [2] ). In the middle was a ruined temple. Ranthambore is quite magical as there are crumbling temples littering the park ( [1] ). The fort overlooking the entire park is amazing.

We drove on but with no luck. Did spot an amazing owl though. Towards the end of the drive there was some excitement as a tiger was alleged to be hiding in the dense bushes fringing the lake. We waited with a gaggle of other jeeps peering at the bushes some 400 yards away.

Suddenly we spotted a tiger emerging from the bushes. Absolutely jaw droppingly beautiful! As we watched mesmerized there was a murmur of amazement as a tiger cub cautiously appeared from the bushes, then another and finally a third! The family moved along the edge of the bushes and disappeared into a copse of trees.

We were absolutely thrilled and more than satisfied with this fleeting scene. However our guide was having none of this and got the driver to fire up the jeep and head over to the copse. It was a bit of a keystone cops situation as jeeps all raced along with us.

We got round to the trees at the other end of the lake and peered into the gloom. Nothing. Then suddenly we saw the tigress emerge from the thick foliage. She lay down, unperturbed by the vehicles and soon after her cubs appeared.

We watched them play for a while and then our guide got our driver to position himself some 200 yards along the track. Again jeeps followed us and we all wondered why we had moved.

Nothing happened and then the tigress appeared from the dense bushes some 20/30 yards away! We were simply stunned. As we watched the tigress casually walked towards and in between the jeeps to a point some 40 yards off where we had only just seen a large deer standing her cubs in tow. They scurried after their mother but stopped at the line of jeeps; perhaps a little nervous. After having a little (tiger) think they decided that the bushes would be a better place to be and scuttled back ( [1], [2] ). Awesome.

Mum soon returned ( [1], [2], [3], [4] ) and the family disappeared into the bushes leaving us quite breathless. We'd seen all manner of cats in Africa but seeing a Bengal tigress with her cubs? Well...it just doesn't compare!

We got back to the hotel in a state of euphoria and were so chuffed we decided to celebrate with a bottle of wine at the posh hotel at the top of the road.

Whilst there we met Moin again and he stayed chatting with us for ages. A really nice guy who travels to London occasionally. We sincerely hope that when he next comes to town we can take him around! We're not in to plugging services but feel we have to mention that this guy and his company (http://www.ranthamboretoursandtravels.com) are superb!

Got back to our hotel feeling a little tipsy. Had dinner with Andrea, a Canadian traveler we'd met earlier and the Tiger waiter. She hadn't seen any tigers and so was really keen to see the photos we took. It also emerged that Jo had shot a small video clip that is awesome!

Had a great, great day!