Corbett Adventures

In recent years, I have found myself being more and more attracted to safaris. The feel of wind in your hair in an open jeep, the sun streaming down filtered through trees far older than any human in the forest, and the thrill of the search that involves attempting to predict movement of some of the most dangerous predators in the world. It is a form of disconnecting from the world and a form of connecting with this planet and yourself.

In search of all of those things and more, I found myself in Corbett National Park in North India. There are many great things to say about it – titles it can adorn – first national park of India, established in 1936, an active participant in tiger conservation efforts, the list goes on. It is famous for its wide variety of flora and fauna, from migratory birds to tigers. I was here on the search for tigers, having wanted to see them in their natural habitat for a long time. So, we entered the forest through Ramnagar and proceeded to Dhikala, one of the park’s most stunning areas, the largest accessible zone, and also the most popular region of the park for wildlife enthusiasts.

The welcome to the park was in itself reward enough for the trip from New Delhi; the sun gently touching the forest floor, filtering through the leaves (picture above). And then came the two safaris a day adventure in the forest marked by the seemingly endless search for tigers, and unexpected happy surprises of the jungle. Scenes unfolding before our eyes in the foggy winter morning from elephants walking the jungle with their little ones – silhouettes through the fog, to deer standing still in the chilly morning aware that a tiger approaches while birds circled above chirping incessantly, to the call of the deer warning creatures of predator movement, culminating in the view of a tigress walking straight up to us rubbing her back against shrubbery and showing her immense, unparalleled power through the confident majestic gait and eyes that look right through your soul.