What an adventure!

March 14, 2012

Peahens. Peacocks, deer, a leopard, and…

With our hosts, Vikram and Beena Sanghani, along with another Rotary couple and their 14-year old daughter, Bob and I had another adventure today. We went to the Gir National Forest preserve located several hours south of Rajkot. En route we stopped for a lovely lunch at the Hotel Lotus in Junagadh, Beena’s home city.

Once at the forest, we requested a jeep for the 7 of us and since there was a long queue, Vikram managed to obtain a lovely , large room where we rested awhile until the jeep was ready. For some time a negotiation took place to secure just one jeep, instead of extra cost for two vehicles. We were a bit squeezed however the experience was well worth it.

The first wildlife we saw on the dirt road--where we saw at least 10 other jeeps–were some peahens (the female of the peacock pair). We saw a number of spotted deer and at one point the guide stopped the jeep to point out the tiny face of an owl in a small knothole. I saw the big eyes and tiny head and then the owl hid again within the tree. The guide said it was a rare sighting.
We continued to ride through the dry forest with some dust and bumpy roads. We saw a number of deer and gorgeous, large peacocks with their long feathers extended behind them. We were probably an hour into the ride when I wondered if we might not see lions. As we came to a more moist area, I felt something important was about to happen.

Indeed, it did. We saw two other jeeps stopped at a place that seemed like just a dip in the road but there were three other jeeps parked. Vikram told us to look left and there was a sleeping lion! The lion was not behind a fence—just lounged on the ground next to a small drying stream. We stayed parked for while and saw the lion stretch and eventually get up! The male started to walk toward the jeeps slowly, elegantly, and turned up the road. He was quite close to the jeeps (about 10 yards)and we were all in awe.

We continued on the road, all happy about seeing the lion, of course. We saw more deer and peacocks and the driver stopped again. The guide sitting to the left of the driver pointed to his left and told us to look for a leopard! Sure enough, a well camouflaged leopard was lounging in the sun. The only time I could see the animal was when he turned his head to toward the sun. We kept watching and eventually the leopard stretched, got up, and stalked slowly away into the forest, quickly disappearing in the dry leaves colored like the leopard.

With happy hearts, we were content and as we continued on the road, Vikram noticed to large motorcycles and two jeeps that had driven off the road. He told us that lion spotters had located another king of the jungle and we followed the other jeeps to the spot where we saw him—this time stretched out in a way that showed a quickly heaving belly. As we continued to watch, he stretched his legs upward, just like a cat of course, and turned toward us—without moving further.
Our safari was successful! We were driven directly to the Gir Bird Sanctuary where we are spending the night. We watched a lovely, gentle sunset from a balcony of the small lodge and after more negotiations, were escorted to our rooms which are small cottages. Lovely! What a keen adventure in a part of India we knew nothing about!

Photos will follow.