Monkeys and Tigers and Mongooses, Oh My!

I tried to post this Wednesday but we have had a very slow connection and then Internet Explorer died and then the power died so all was lost. Now writing it out long hand (what is that?) for later transcription . . .

Wed, Jan 2:
Yesterday we took the train from Agra to the Ranthambhore National Park. Shawne had her shoed shined by an amusing young waif, his tossing, twirling brushes an extra perk to the shinny shoes. Upon arrival at Ranthambhore, we immediately set off on a "safari". This involves riding in an open jeep with nothing between you and the wildlife . . . a bit worrisome given recent events at the San Francisco Zoo. The roads were rougher than any I've been on, bumping, dipping and twisting wildly. A troop of monkeys greeted us, whooping and hollering and growling, staring at the hills a few hundred feet away. It was not us they were interested in us but a pair of leopards sunning themselves on a rock. Our guide was very excited by this since leopard sightings are very rare but to me they just looked like two white dots on a rock though you could make them out fairly well through binoculars. The monkeys were much more interesting. Eventually we tired of waiting for the leopards to come down from their perch and drove around the park. The landscape looks a bit like California hill country with brown grass and short trees. Longer grass and more trees though. We saw lots of deer, antelope and gazelle of various kinds and some wild boars. Lots of birds too, egret, partridges (but no pear tree), and a blue bellied kingfisher among others. The best was a spotted owlet about 8" tall, blending perfectly into a tree. I would never have spotted it (ouch!) if our guide hadn't pointed it out. The sunset was a hazy beauty. A pleasant (though cold) afternoon but not spectacular.

This morning was spectacular. We got up before the crack of dawn to hunt for tigers. Our guide wrangled our way into "Area 3", the best for tigers and with three beautiful lakes to boot. There they were, a mother and three 16 month old "cubs". They were eating yesterdays kill and resting and wandering down the middle of the road. We got perhaps 25' away from the closest ones. Fortunately they had their gazelle to work on, so juicy California cuisine was not so interesting. The tigers were way cool.

After the tigers we drove around the lakes. More deer, antelope and gazelle. A couple of deer were only 10 days old and were cute. The guide called them "tiger chocolates". Lots more birds down by the water including peacocks and a couple of crocodiles pretending to be logs. Finally on the way out there were two mongooses (mongeese?) close by the road. They are very furry and lithe looking fellows. Finally dozens of monkeys at the exit station jumping and carrying on. The only downside of the morning was that it was very, very cold riding around in that open jeep.

Wednesday afternoon resting and relaxing though my usual wanderlust got me up and out walking into a nearby village much to the amusement of the locals.