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This was Sanjay’s first time to Corbett and I told
him to keep a look out for tuskers as it was the month of May and in this
heat a lot of elephants moved into these jungles. I think he thought I
was joking but I didn’t need to convince him at all because not even
a kilometer ahead I brought the car to a gradual halt. To the left of
the road was a mother elephant with three babies. Both of us quickly took
a couple of snaps and then watched them for a while, all the time keeping
a lookout for more elephants that might be in the area. Then the mother
stood up, spread her ears and sniffed in the air towards us. I knew it
was time to get out of there and gradually moved away. As we had gone
some fifty feet down the road, I saw her come out onto the road and make
sure we had no intentions of turning back. Although our bookings were
for our favourite Gairal huts, we drove straight to Khinanauli and met
Tripathi Ji.
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I introduced Sanjay to him and he welcomed him to the world of Corbett
in his usual warm and friendly way. He informed us that the treks
would be starting the following morning and we could go on the elephant
ride this evening.
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We drove on to Dhikala for lunch and also met up with
Mr. Pant, who was in charge of that area. He also informed us of the driving
restrictions from the following day. After a hearty lunch at the outdoor
canteen there, we went and sat for an hour or so at the Machaan close
by. The ten minute walk to this machaan is normally the only section of
the park in which walking is permitted. As we got to the uppermost story
of the machaan, we saw what fires around Garhwal and Kumaon the newspapers
had been talking of.
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All around us from various parts of the jungle, huge
columns of smoke rose up into the air. It was clearly evident that the
fires were still blazing underneath as even in this bright sunshine of
the afternoon, the smoke wore an orange tinge to it. We saw some animals
below, including a huge tusker crossing the riverbed between the central
and northern ridge.
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We drove back to Khinanauli and went for our evening ride on Phool Kali
with Nishar, the mahout controlling her. We had only just got down to
the riverbed at Getheryo when the sharp, short and loud alarm call of
a sambar cut through the air, warning the rest of the jungle folk of the
presence of the ultimate predator, a tiger. It was coming from the hillside
across the river and we were now headed directly for it. Halfway across,
we spotted our first fresh set of pugmarks for the trip.
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Nishar immediately tracked them all the way almost to the opposite side
when we spotted the tiger sitting at the water’s edge, looking in
the direction of the calling sambar. It was a handsome and very large
male named Jeetu by the locals. He had grown tremendously since the last
time I’d seen him a couple of years ago. He turned and looked at
us every now and then, making sure we made no attempt at getting any closer.
I looked at Sanjay’s expression of complete awe and I knew that here
was another person, changed for life.
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After our ride and a cup of tea with the staff at Khinanauli, we drove
to Gairal, excitedly discussing our sighting. On the way there, we saw
a large herd of elephants below Sarapdulli. Fortunately, they were at
a safe distance from the road. Just short of Gairal though, we had a pretty
close encounter with a makhna (male elephant without tusks) whom we passed
hurriedly even as he swerved around to face us. On reaching Gairal, we
were greeted by Chhimbal, Ram Singh, Hira Lal and obviously Shiv Charan.
Anyone who might have stayed at Gairal before 1999, would know why I made
a special mention of the likable Shiv Charan here. Later, we sat up in
our balcony, silently observing the track ahead, glowing eerily in the
bright moonlight. The soup, followed by the snack and drinks felt tremendously
refreshing. Soon the fatigue and lack of sleep caught up and overpowered
the desire to sit up and look out for animals. A little later we hit the
sack amongst chital warning calls, rustling bushes and the sound of the
crackling fire on the blazing hillside across the narrow river.
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