Jonathan & Angie Scott in India, March 2007
India - Land of the Tiger
Not so long ago people often appeared less than enthusiastic when you mentioned taking a vacation to India. You could see the thought of a queasy stomach flickering across their mind; for all its charm India was often perceived as somewhere likely to prompt a visit to London's Hospital of Tropical Diseases in St Pancras (or St 'Pancreas' as it is fondly remembered by former inmates such as myself). The truth is that you can fall foul of an upset stomach anywhere in the world, particularly if like me you find it hard to resist sampling 'street food' - those tasty samosas and spring rolls cooked over burning embers - or have a thirst for road-side fruit or fruit juices, or water that doesn't come out of a sealed bottle. But these days sampling India's mouth-watering and exotic food is all part of what makes a visit to the sub-continent such a unique holiday. Nowhere else in the world provides visitors with such a kaleidoscope of impressions and emotions. The streets of India are alive with colour: women in saris of mustard yellow, saffron, green, mauve and lilac; cows that stand their ground amidst a whirlwind of vehicles; painted elephants trundling along a crowded street where monkeys, temples and Holy men compete for ones attention. So much to see and photograph.
While the hustle and bustle of daily existence gives a vibrancy to city life, the thought of seeing a tiger in the wild is never far from ones mind. India once prided itself on being big cat country - lions, leopards and cheetahs all lived here, as well as tens of thousands of tigers. Times have changed, the Asiatic cheetah has vanished - shot, trapped and forced from the land, with perhaps 60 clinging on in the wilds of Iran. Yet in the 16th century the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great is said to have kept a 1000 cheetahs in his menagerie, and during his 49-year reign (1556-1605) collected over 9,000 of these spotted cats, elegant symbols of speed and grace. Cheetahs were much more than glorified pets, trained to hunt blackbuck and granted the freedom of the Emperor's palaces in the quest to have them breed in captivity (only a single female ever did, giving birth to three cubs). The Asiatic lion has fared little better, with some 350 clinging on in Gujarat's Gir Forest, while the leopard, most adaptable of the big cats, is found in suitable forests and mountain habitat throughout the sub-continent. The tiger is still king in India though sadly in ever diminishing numbers due to the illegal trade in skins and body parts for use in traditional medicine. The demand for these products, particularly from China, and conflict with villagers and their livestock, seems destined to drive the tiger to the brink of extinction. There could be as few as 1500 tigers in India, and it was was tigers that we most wanted to see on our latest vist to India in March 2007, along with the wonders of the regions unrivalled cultural heritage.
India's wildlife boasts more than 350 species of mammals and 1,200 birds, and while Pench, our first destination, is gaining a reputation as a tiger reserve we were keen to return to Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, source of Rudyard Kipling's inspiration for The Jungle Book, and a place we had first visited with Wildlife Worldwide in 2006 as an extension to their third annual Festival of Wildlife. Once again Kanha proved to be a wonderfully rewarding experience - the scenery is as varied as the wildlife and this is certainly a great location for photography, with langurs, chital or spotted deer, sambar, nilgai or blue bull, goar, and the majestic barasinga all on view. A pair of good lightweight binoculars is essential - we use Swarovski - as the birdlife in the park is superb, and we saw tigers from the road and from elephant back. One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to a local village market. In fact we enjoyed the photographic opportunities so much that we decided to forgo our afternoon game drive; the combination of low light and exotic colours was just too alluring. We also took the chance to visit an elephant camp to see the mahouts washing their elephants.
Our next stop was Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh, fabled for its tiger sightings and the source of many of the tiger photographs adorning the covers of travel magazines and brochures. The majority of our tiger sightings were from elephant back, and this is often the case in the tiger reserves.
There is something of the leopard about a tiger - and nothing of the lion. A tiger conjours up the same sense of mystery and secretiveness embodied by the leopard. They are equally as beautiful though the tiger is so much larger, the biggest of all the cats, equally at home among the dappled light of the jungle as it is when merging with the russet gold of head-high grass. Like the leopard, the tiger tends to move quickly when spotted away from cover. But at times you come across a tiger that is so relaxed that you can savour the experience, and as we know from our years of living among Africa's large predators there is nothing like a big cat to draw gasps of admiration from visitors. While the view from elephant back may not always make for the best photographs, it does provide one with the opportunity to spend time in the company of these stunningly beautiful creatures, albeit briefly. In both Kanha and Bandhavgarh we saw tigers on a daily basis.
But India is much more than a wildlife destination. In fact it is the contrast between natures way and man's - tigers and temples - that makes India such a rewarding experience. In this respect a visit to the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh to enjoy the Taj Mahal's luminescent marble more than lives up to its reputation. No matter how many postcards and pictures you have seen of the Taj the reality is truly awe-inspiring. Viewed from a distance (we stayed at Amarvilas, a Oberoi Hotel which offers stunning views of the Taj from your bedroom window) the Taj looks the purest white; you don't see the craftsmanship that celebrates Shah Jahan's love for his wife Arjuman Banu who died in 1630 while accompanying her husband on a military campaign. You can visit for a day - but surely such magnificence deserves more than that, and we spent a second day soaking up the atmosphere and history of the Taj, the Agra Fort and the nearby 'baby' Taj before departing further north.
We ended our trip with a visit to the desert State of Rajasthan - Land of Kings - in northwestern India where Angie's brother David and his family made their home for many years. The scenery and climate - hot and dry - make this one of our favourite regions in India, and once again the Oberoi Hotel group provided outstanding service and comfort at Raj Villas in the glorious pink city of Jaipur. There is an air of East Africa's Masai people about the Rajputs, a warrior caste who defended the area against invaders and exude a regal bearing befitting their status: clear eyed weather-beaten faces crowned by a white turban. Here the camel is king; haughty creatures that mirror the rugged landscape as they move in stately fashion along the roads ferrying goods between the villages. A visit by elephant back to the entrance to the Red Fort, and the chance to shop for textiles and carvings are all part of the charm of this region.
India has a charm and character found nowhere else in the world. We will be offering annual safaris with Wildlife Worldwide to explore one of our favourite destinations.
To sample some of Wildlife Worldwide's India itineraries, please Click Here