T-58
Where are the tigers?!!!!
(Maya) Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve is home to 59 Royal Bengal tigers. Uncle Kevin and Auntie Penny are visiting us for a week so all six of us went in a jeep together. To get to the gate you had to drive twenty minutes through a little town. Our guide’s name was Punkij. Over the past few days, we have been on three of these three-hour safaris, and haven’t seen anything yet!
Very large fresh footprint
When we got to the gate the guide had to do some paperwork so some locals came up to our open top jeep and tried to sell things to us. We were assigned to Zone 6 and there were 10 zones in the park. The object of the safari is to spot a tiger. We drove about a quarter of a mile a saw a fresh tiger footprint. We followed the footprints, so we followed the path and waited there for an hour and a half, no luck.
Team Roar
We all were looking for the tiger; some had binoculars and some had eagle eyes. Suddenly, we heard the warning call from a spotted deer. The deer was warning the other deer that there was a tiger near so we knew we were in the right spot. We tried to go through a riverbed but it didn’t work out because the trees were too dense. We waited there for another hour and a half. It was getting closer and closer to 6pm, when the park closes, so we were running out of time. We headed closer to the gate.
The alert spotted deer
We waited next to the gate until there were only two jeeps left. The clock reached 6pm and soon the park rangers will come and kick us out. “Crawr, crawr, crawr” the spotted deer’s warning call sounded. “GO, GO, GO, let’s move!” our guide yelled. We sped to where we heard the call. We stopped to hear if the call was still going and it was.
T-58, the shy tiger
Photo creds: Zara
ROAR!! I heard the tiger. “Go – that way go, go, go”. We were shaking we were so excited and driving like 100 mph through huge potholes and over bumps. Finally we were on the road next to the tiger. We didn’t care about the roads we just keep going. Off-roading! There it is. WOW a gigantic male tiger walking steadily through the tall grass. The tiger called T-58, was worth the wait.
Maya, Great job in building tension in the story and giving the reader the feeling of urgency and anticipation-really well done. And Zara when I want a picture of a tigers butt, I’m calling you!
xo Mrs. M
You’re pictures are great! The tiger is amazing too!
Good things come to those who wait. What an amazing reward for waiting so long!!
You gave such a vivid description of the scene it sounded very exciting! Nice pictures too.
Great story Maya. I am glad you got to see a tiger. I would love to hear you do the dear warning call in person. How much do you think that tiger weighed. Its footprint looks really really large! I am looking forward to your next post.
Mrs. Reilly
Hi Maya,
The pictures and your description makes for a scary story. I am happy that you found T-58, the pen-ultimate tiger. I had the same reaction as grandma since you were all pointing in different direction for the team roar. Perhaps it confused T-58. I think you were very kind to acknowledge Zara, the photographer. Nice going Miss Maya.
Papa
Maya,
I miss you so much you look like you have been having a lot of fun.
Great story. That one gave me goosebumps!
Hi Maya,
Your writing is so vivid and descriptive. I almost felt tired, as if I was waiting and waiting with you for so long. But, it was worth the wait, wasn’t it. The pictures are fantastic. Do you think the tiger was hungry? I laughed at the picture of everyone pointing a different direction. Love, Grandma
Wow Maya! So exciting! Were you worried that you would pop out of the jeep?