Ranthambhor Never Fails To Surprise You

How many times have you been to Ranthambhor?

Five.

Must be crazy to go again and again to a forest. Why do you go there?

To be in the forest. And if you are lucky, to be with the tigers.

Do you sight a tiger every time you visit  a tiger Reserve?

No. As a matter of fact, we had our first tiger sighting in the wild after 27 years.

What, 27 years? You must be kidding!

Yes, you need patience for tiger sighting. We did more than 100 safaris over 27 years in Indoa, before we had the first sighting. 

Where was it and when?

It was Ranthambhor in 2013.

That is why Ranthambhor is so special for Ghumakkad. 

Ranthambhor never fails to surprise us.

Ranthambhor is the home of Royal Bengal Tiger in its natural habitat. We were a group of six Armed Forces Veterans and spouses. It was the first time for the eldest, now 80-year-old.

After three hours of a winding, jolting and a dusty ride in an open 20-seater, we all were pretty disappointed. Then, across a gradual climb we saw tens of safari vehicles lined up down a slope. Vehicles were all lined up two abreast. Zone-1 having been temporarily closed, almost 30 vehicles of both Zone-4 and Zone-1 had converged there. 

Tigress Shakti with her two cubs had been spotted across the stream. Hidden in dense grass. Shooting against the sunlight was a challenge. Sharing few pictures below.

Zoom and spot a faint tigress in the grass above.

Another short video clip by Animesh.

The story doesn't end there. As we were on our return leg with failing light, we toom a detour. Suddenly, a co-passenger who runs a wildlife travels business, spotted another tiger. About 50 metres away. It retraced its path. We manouvered closer to it. And again, it appeared from the bushes. This time moving towards our vehicle. If kept coming closer and closer. Like the saluting dias on a parade ground, it majestically walked past us and then took a left turn to cross thr dirt track and disappear into the jungle. It's home. She was Riddhi. The showstopper for us. Pictures and video for you.

See the speck in the centre of the picture above. 

The video below is courtesy Animesh Bhowmick.

The story still doesn't end here.

As we were returning, we saw all the vehicles lined up once again. This time, all eyes on a cliff a km away. A solitary leopard had perched itself on top of the cliff. See our long distance shot followed by  a picture shared by the forest guide.

After sighting the Tigers and a Leopard, a sloth bear also gave a brief 'darshan'. Sloth bears are sighted in the wild, at a lesser probability than the tigers.  So, we were really lucky.

After such an eventful day, a campfire was in order. Few pictures.

Readers can get a feel of the Tiger Reserve as well as our resort in the pictures below.

Sharing the link of our earlier sighting of the fearsome tiger T-24 of Ranthambhor who is no more.

Tiger After 27 Years -  When we sighted a tiger for the first time in 27 years. And that too T-24. See him growling below.

Thanks for browsing. Stay connected.

Do leave a comment,  few words will do.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Ranthambhor/ 19th December 2025

#Ranthambhor #TigerReserve #RoyalBengalTiger #TigressShakti #TigressRiddhi #NavyVeterans #ArmyVeteran ##Veterans #TigerSighting #GhumakkadHarsh #Ghumakkadhb