Great fun being driven around beautiful rugged countryside at what sometimes feels like rally car speed. Keeping Eyes peeled for any sign of Tigers. The guides vary, but if you get a good one (like Pankaj) he will explain the life of the animals and work hard to find the Tigers. We went on three safaris in two days and saw one Tiger. The fun of the chase and the reward of actually seeing one of the most beautiful animals in its habitat. If you can book a Jeep safari (not a cantor) when you find a tiger the people on the cantors struggled to see past the ones at the front, while in a jeep there is a max of 6 guests so viewing is better.

We had two safari drives in the morning and afternoon. Our family were unfortunately split with 2 people in one canter going to zone 4 in the morning and 1 person in another going to zone 1. Zone 4 we saw nothing but deer and birds it was a very disappointing 3 hours especially knowing that my mum would be seeing something in zone 1 as she's very lucky...we found out on our return she saw a tiger, cub and 2 leopards!! In the afternoon we were together thankfully and visited zone 3 with great luck a tiger and her 3 cubs!! We were ecstatic after a miserable morning for two of us. It really is all about luck on the day as each tiger has it's own territory and I think zone 4 only had 1 male tiger and another crossing zones 4/5 to find that in 20km is impossible as we found out. Zones 1 and 3 were lucky for us. We saw loads of big crocodiles in the afternoon too and a mongoose as well as monkeys both trips. The drivers are maniacs and the canters are awfully uncomfortable bouncing along the tracks but it was worth it to see such beautiful animals in the wild.

Excellent group tour . The guide was excellent. . It gets very hectic. The first route is n the morning just in one zone where there are various species of wildlife . The 2nd trip mid afternoon was where you visited another zone where mainly the tiger is spotted. Long afternoon in very hot sun and open top safari vehicles so make sure you have plenty of water, hat sunscreen and as it is very dusty on route a mask or Face covering Saw 8 tigers in total that was a very lucky day

Tiger spotting in Ranthambore. Ranthambore National Park is about 160 kms from Jaipur. Theoretically, you need to book 90 days in advance on the Rajasthan Tourism website to get into the park since the number of vehicles are strictly limited. However, one can approach an agent and get a ticket. The vehicles are strictly controlled, but it’s possible that the tickets are cornered by the agents. We paid 1300 per head ( the official rate for Indians is 850). Getting a Gypsy at short notice is nigh impossible, so we piled into a 20 seater Canter. The ride into the park at this time of the year is through dry forest with most leaves having fallen off and rugged cliffs around. The park is divided into zones and only a limited number of vehicles are allowed into each zone. We were in zone 3. There are several lakes in this zone and you can see the occasional shikar building which were used till the early days after independence. Abandoned now. One can see some deer ( sambar and chital), lots of peafowl, herons and cormorants and crocodiles. The Canter is a bit of a bone shaker and one is hoping that the spinal discs will remain in place. Suddenly one can see a number of vehicles gathered. There is the tiger! At first a mere shadow, well camouflaged by the grass. Patience pays off. Riddhi gets up and moves across in full view with her three cubs in tow! A word of caution: one needs a bit of luck to spot a tiger. In the dry season, chances are somewhat better because the tigers come near the water. This is also the hottest season (I went in April and it’s very hot). Other methods to increase your chances are to go several times.