Introduction
Aman New Delhi
Aman-i-Khas / Safari in Ranthambore National Park
Amanbagh / Activities around Amanbagh
A few days ago I wrote a review of my incredible stay at Aman-i-Khas, the luxury tent resort located in Ranthambore, India. The highlight of the area is Ranthambore National Park, one of the largest national parks in Northern India.
During our stay we went on one morning safari and one afternoon safari. Ranthambore National Park has seven “tracks,” and unfortunately you don’t know which one you’ll be on till you get to the gate. This means in theory that you could end up taking the same track twice, though fortunately that didn’t happen to us.
Anyway, on the whole I found the safari to be rather underwhelming. The issue with Ranthambore National Park is that besides tigers, there’s not really any other interesting wildlife you wouldn’t see in my backyard in Florida. And the issue is that there really aren’t all that many tigers in the park, so your chances of spotting one aren’t great. Our guide indicated he hadn’t seen a tiger in over a week.
So while the hunt was exciting, it was a bit disappointing to not actually see any tigers.
Jeep that took us on safari
Old town of Ranthambore
Old town of Ranthambore
Park entrance
Ranthambore National Park gate
Ranthambore National Park
Ranthambore National Park
The wildlife we saw was limited to deer, small crocodiles (there are bigger ones in my backyard), and a python just having consumed a large meal and being immobile for a week (eek!).
Crocodile
Full pyhton
Bambi
Bambi #2
The one part of the safari that was absolutely stunning was the sunset. I felt like it was straight out of “Lion King.”
As the day drew to a close we stopped at one of the “resting points,” where a bunch of the other jeeps stopped as well. An Indian family approached me and said “since we didn’t see any tigers, can we at least take a picture with you?” Houston, when I’m the most interesting thing to photograph in a national park, we’ve got a problem. 
Loading ...
February 25th, 2012 at 10:18 am
D said,
For mind blowing safaris, you should definitely head for Kenya+Tanzania
February 25th, 2012 at 11:08 am
The Weekly Flyer said,
They couldn’t have expected to see a Tiger if they took you on the tour in that jeep. With no cover on the back, what would he have done if you all saw a hungry Tiger?
February 25th, 2012 at 11:26 am
Murphy said,
I wasn’t aware that Tigers liked to eat Jeeps
February 25th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Jamison said,
lions, tigers, and lucky…. oh my !
February 25th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
ikonos said,
Unfortunate part of Indian national parks/forests is ease of access. The ones that you can easily access, wild life has been poached and hunted. Good ones don’t have easy access. You would have to hike on foot for them. Yeah not really appealing to see a Tige
February 25th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
ikonos said,
Tiger I mean
February 25th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Peter said,
Well you’re kind of “exotic” for India!!!
February 25th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Tisha said,
I hope you did a fake “roar” in the picture! =)
February 25th, 2012 at 5:42 pm
Jonathan said,
Lucky, that was a Land Rover not a Jeep. It’s OK, we know you’re not a car guy.
February 25th, 2012 at 11:20 pm
Ron said,
Jonathon,
Apparently, you aren’t a car guy either. It’s a Maruti Suzuki that is pretty common in India.
February 26th, 2012 at 12:49 am
Bacc said,
Also saw no tigers in India. We were in Kerala and a “taxi-guide” conned us into a full day car ride over dreadful roads to a tiger park that had been closed for a week– early closing due to a very early onset of 100+ weather. Had better luck in the DC zoo. At least you got the sunset. For some reason my husband was also considered an exotic photo op in India and also in Java. So interesting must be in the eye of the beholder.
February 26th, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Kagehitokiri said,
in india there is also Taj/&Beyond’s Banjaar Tola
February 27th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Papa Smurf said,
@lucky You have crocodiles in your backyard? I think you meant alligators.
March 3rd, 2012 at 2:16 am
HockeyCoachBen said,
@Papa Smurf The American Croc population is surging in the southern half of Florida. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_crocodile
As a matter of fact, Southern Florida is the only place on Earth where crocs and alligators coexist in the wild.
While rare, crocs have been spotted around the Central Florida/Orlano area with the right weather and water salinity conditions.
March 6th, 2012 at 5:36 am
Ricki said,
We saw many tigers at Aman-I-Khas. But you need to do more drives than just 2. We did 5 drives and saw tigers (close, beautiful pictures) 3 times.
March 12th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Barbara said,
Heading to Aman New Delhi here next week for two nights then onto Aman-i-khas for 15 nights. Our 4th year in a row and we are totally crazy about Aman-i-khas. Always stay in tent #5. Usually go on Safari twice while we’re there and have seen tigers almost everytime and more than one tiger. I think the morning safari’s are better. The staff at Aman-i-khas is fabulous and our Batman, Mukesh is great. The Aman Delhi is wonderful as well and the rooms/suites are amazing. Love getting in the plunge pool with a bottle of wine and looking out at Humanyan’s Tomb. Both venues are worth staying at if you’re heading that way.
Add A Comment