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We woke at the normal time but realized that the trek
would have to be cancelled for now as it was raining heavily and chances
of finding any pugmarks not washed out were close to none. After enjoying
the extra hours of sleep, once the rain had stopped, Ram Singh said they
were just going to retrieve some plaster of paris pugmark cast they had
left behind for setting the previous day. We immediately jumped up to
join them and were off for the last time up the Ramganga.
 This morning we set out on the track we usually returned by |
This
time we took the hill road we used to return on normally. As we
were around a kilometer away, we heard a loud warning call nearby.
It was from the direction we were heading in. We came to a point
where a path zig-zagged it’s way down to the riverbed on the
left. Clearly imprinted in the middle of this track were the pugmarks
of a tiger. We followed them all the way down to the river.
|
Sanjay and I decided to wait there while the other
two went and retrieved the plaster cast.
We hoped the tiger would show itself but contemplated what we would do if it did. It was an amusing hushed conversation and before we knew it the other two were back and we were headed back to Gairal. We had decided to spend the night with the guards at Khinanauli that night and decided to have lunch at Dhikala.
We hoped the tiger would show itself but contemplated what we would do if it did. It was an amusing hushed conversation and before we knew it the other two were back and we were headed back to Gairal. We had decided to spend the night with the guards at Khinanauli that night and decided to have lunch at Dhikala.
|
As
we were headed out in the car, we decided to stop at the viewing
spot above crocodile pool and check if the giant gharial was there,
whom we were planning to stalk and photograph again today, had we
gone on the trek this side. He definitely was there. Lying on the
pebbles between the water and the rock we had crept up to the previous
day. We were in for the surprise of our lives as a large rock in
the water right next to him suddenly spouted a trunk and let out
a loud hiss!! It was again our mad dear friend, makhna!!
|
 We couldn't believe our eyes for a while when we realised it was the Makhna lying next to the gharial !! |
He was lying right next to the gharial but neither
seemed to be worried about the presence of the other. We clicked away
as I was quite sure this was probably the only time someone had seen any
animal, other than the reptiles and fish, in crocodile pool. This was
confirmed to us later by the forest staff. After having our fill of the
scene, we carried on to our destination, excitedly discussing what would
have happened had we crept up to the rock today. I think we both chose
not to imagine!! Especially after being informed earlier that this makhna
had actually killed a couple of men further up in the hills!! Later we
went for an interesting elephant ride during which we saw a day old kill.
 It was the first time I had seen the rare sighting of turtles feeding on a carcass |
It was a very interesting sight as it was the first time I had seen
sal forest turtles scavenging on the leftovers of a sambar’s
carcass. Other than that we came across a herd of elephants and
many deer.
That night we were advised by Tripathi ji that it was not a very good idea to sleep on the roof as the weather didn’t look too good. |
He obviously saw something we didn’t as it definitely was an overcast sky but didn’t look any different from that of the last couple of days. Luckily he saw what he saw because that night all hell broke loose! It was a storm like we’d never seen before. Rain came down in buckets, lashed against the windows by the howling wind. The pitch darkness was shattered every now and then by blinding lightning followed by loud thunderous claps. You could hear trees not being able to withstand the wind come crashing down, sometimes sounding louder than the deafening thunder itself. Somehow among all this chaos, we fell asleep.
The next morning, we went for our last elephant ride
with Nishar and Phoolkali for that trip. It was exciting as usual and
we were shown the area where the park authorities were planning to build
a machaan next to Khinanauli.
|
We
were already looking forward to that on our next trip. After a quick
tea and sad byes to all the guys there we headed back to Gairal
to pack all our stuff and bid farewell to the people there too.
It was a terrible feeling to be heading back to the chaos of Delhi after the peace, solitude and enjoyment we’d had for the last eight days. |
 We had a quick tea with the guys at Gairal before sadly leaving for Delhi |
We hoped we’d been able to contribute our bit towards the census work too. Anyone who thinks the census is a piece of cake and the figures aren’t actually worked for but are only guesswork, should go for one of them to see how dedicated and hardworking some of the staff are. It was a terrific experience and Sanjay and I both hope we could repeat it again in the future. For the records, we’d recorded 7 tigers during our walks from Gairal and 4 around Khinanauli. Later we were told that the total figure of the park was a 100 tigers and went up to 130 if one included the adjoining Sonanadi Sanctuary, which comes under the Corbett Tiger Reserve. We hope the figure shows a substantial increase the next time we’re there to take part in the census once again.
| Back to Day 7 |
