Jim Corbett National Park

Tuesday, May 21

We hired the trek driver, Krishna, to continue his service so he drove us to Jim Corbett national park. Along the way we stopped for lychee, bananas, and mangoes, marveled at the cows, and for butter paneer lunch.

Our first safari had the most exotic animals. We glimpsed a tiger moving through the tall grass and watched a leopard lounging in a tree. Spotted deer, sambar deer, and multiple birds featured in the late afternoon. We saw a jackal stalk and abandon a peacock. Sadly we never saw a tiger again.

That night we ate at the Wanderer’s restaurant where mid-80s music ruled the airwaves. Unfortunately that evening, my tummy rumblings returned.

Wednesday, May 22

Our safari driver arrived a half-hour late so we’re going to blame him for us not seeing any tigers. On the return to the hotel, the black clouds opened up and we were drenched and cold. Being cold at that point was a luxury so although it was inconvenient, the cold was fine. The cool part was we drove through lychee orchards!!! I’d never seen them in the wild and was excited to see how my favorite fruit grew.

The Wanderer’s restaurant served us mid-2000s girl pop while I ate my white rice for lunch. The late afternoon safari was as eventful as the morning tour but at least I got a pic of the Clerodendrum flower. For dinner, our music entree was latino bop. Such an interesting musical experience.

Thursday, May 23

Although we saw no tigers on our last morning safari, our guide took us on a road we had never explored and because of the rain on the previous day plus the cool air, the journey was magical. The peacocks were peacocking for the nearby hens so we had quite the show of colorful fathers and energetic dances.

Animals that we saw: leopard, tiger, jackal, boar, aquatic turtle, spotted deer, barking deer, sambar deer, langur monkeys, rhesus monkeys, and domestic elephants. Birds included: jungle fowl, peafowl, gray and yellow beak hornbill, pitta, owl, kingfisher, bee-eater, bulbul, and green fly catcher, paradise fly catcher, and 2 species of woodpecker.

We had always “just missed” some animal.

We saw tracks of: tiger, elephant, Himalayan black bear, and python.

Our Indian safari guide said “there is 100% chance you’ll see a tiger, but 0% guarantee you’ll see a tiger.” The joke must work better in Hindi than it does in English.

Driving back to Delhi, we stopped for a roadside lunch. I hadn’t had digestive problems for a couple days so I tried a soup and lassi. Nausea began soon afterwards so I spent all my energy into not vomiting. 2 hours outside of Delhi, I couldn’t do it any longer and got sick into a trash that I had with me. At the hotel drop off, we piled into tuktuk to actually get transported to the hotel. The tuktuk ride was miserable with horrible smells, heat, vehicle horns, and bumpiness. I couldn’t wait to get to the room only to find a dirty bathroom complete with a trash can filled with the previous tenant’s trash and no soap. I puked anyway. I spent the next 14 hours curled up on the bed trying to sip 7-up and water. 0/10 would not recommend.