“The day lies so still
Long grasses of a summer passed
don’t nod to acknowledge the season
Winter’s rest before autumn’s fall complete
An air replete with hue’s and calls as keen birds feast
And starlings gather atop the ash black leaves that chatter
To motion bare branches still.”
Miles Richardson, A Blackbird’s Year
As the opening of Ranthambhore National Park’s nears ever closer, the excitement heightens as we are soon to be back in the forest catching up with our felines & friends.
Like a popular book ending on a cliffhanger torturing the captivated readers as they wait for the sequel, so too do the seasons in Ranthambhore- as the park gates close during the monsoon months and the forest and all that lives and grows there have some private time away from safari enthusiasts & globetrotters from around the world.
“…Some of the best years of my life were entangled with her life. We had shared some very special moments together and I felt her loss just like I feel the loss of anyone I am close to. Memories flood in, the earliest of which date back to 1997. It was autumn, and Machli was a few months old when I spotted her prancing behind her mother at the edge of Rajbagh, a ruined summer palace in the heart of Ranthambhore. Her mother was a favourite of Fateh Singh, the former field director of the park, and he told me then that she would be a star. It was he who coined her name Macchli as her mother had a fish-like mark on her cheeks that became the daughter’s signature feature.”
Valmik Thapar, “The Macchli I Knew” 28th August 2016
Read More Remembering the Matriarch: Machhli of Ranthambhore (1996-2016)
Last week, Ranthambhore National Park closed for the season. Our blog this week shares some snapshots of the end of the summer. The last week was an exciting one, in terms of sightings and images, and the incredible interactions we witnessed. Days before the annual closing – for the monsoon – we received news that Brat, (T19) had been spotted with a new litter of four cubs (her third litter). We cannot wait to see her and her brood once the rains have abated and Ranthambhore is ready to receive visitors again, come October. The residents of the Park now await the monsoons and the dry foliage is almost creaking for rain. We leave you with a few images of some of the resident tigers, taken on our last drives into the Park.
Read More A Week in Pictures: The Last of the Summer Stripes
One of the most delicious and satisfying itineraries available to travellers in Rajasthan over the next two weeks combines the languor and ease of palace life in Jaipur with exhilarating, adrenalin-pumping thrills in Ranthambhore National Park, just three hours away. Join us, as we to and fro between SUJÁN Rajmahal Palace, Jaipur and Sher Bagh, Ranthambhore on a visual merry-go-round this week.
Temperatures in Ranthambhore typically reach forty-five degrees Celsius in May. A particularly unfriendly summer temperature occasionally crosses the fifty-degree Celsius mark and becomes a natural limiting factor for over-growth. Waterholes become scarce and trees like the Dhok, drop off their leaves to ration their moisture levels. Rock surfaces – scattered throughout the park – emit a furnace like waft each time a breeze sweeps their surface and you can feel the heat stroke you, as you drive past them. Animals and birds appear panting and their movements become soporific as they spend time in the shade of evergreens or the oasis that are formed around perennial waterholes; clusters of Jamun, Ficus and wild mango trees, all daytime shelters for creatures of the forest. The wonderful thing is, Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve has several ‘belts’ of such oasis’, tucked away in its folds. No matter how high the temperatures soar, these are the spots you should drive to, and here’s why.
Read More Are Hot Summers the Coolest Time to Visit Ranthambhore?
