27th February - Return to Ramnagar

Our train arrives at Ramnagar almost exactly on time at 4.50 a.m. D takes a call from Ramesh, our host and guide for the next two days, to check on our whereabouts. He is a bit surprised that the train is in already but tells us that he will be with us in few minutes. We sort out our luggage and walk across the tracks and along the platform to the entrance. By the time that we have persuaded the auto drivers that we are not in the market Ramesh arrives on his motorbike and helps us load our luggage into an auto for the short trip to the Swallow Nest Homestay which he owns and runs with his wife. Mrs R makes wonderful black tea with honey and ginger and there is some waiting for us when we arrive. Our room is the same one that we had last year and we are invited to get some more sleep until breakfast at 9. This seems like a good idea.

Breakfast is a south Indian rice dish which we wolf down. Ramesh explains that he has booked safaris for us this afternoon and morning and afternoon tomorrow. He suggests that we might like to take a local walk this morning.  After sorting ourselves out we do just that, going in the opposite direction to the one we took last year. The road is quite busy, mainly with two wheelers, as it follows a deep concrete drainage ditch. This attracts a few birds, including grey wagtails, red wattled lapwings and a common sandpiper.  The bushes and small trees in the fields host bulbuls, both Himalayan and red whiskered, as well as prinias and other unidentified small birds. Everybody we pass greets us and some even shout hallo across the fields. We walk as far as the next village, where there is a bridge over the ditch and a small shop where we replenish our stock of small, orange boiled sweets. In this part of the world they are known as toffee rather than chocolate. By the time we get back to base it is almost lunch time.  Mrs R is no mean cook so we are getting more than our fair share of great Indian homecooked food these days.

At 13.45 we climb into a Gypsy that has arrived. For those who don't know these are a variant of the standard Indian 'jeep' equivalent,  the Maruti, with a raised platform behind the driver's cab. This carries two bench seats that can accommodate about 8 Indian tourists. We have luxury of just having a driver, Ramesh and the two of us so we have plenty of space and good all round viewing. We have to drive out through Ramnagar town to the forest gate where Ramesh deals with the paperwork. The Corbett National Park was India's first national park and is home to tigers, leopards, elephants as well as many smaller animals and lots of birds. Access to the core area of the park is restricted to early mornings and afternoons and all visitors must be accompanied by an accredited guide in an approved vehicle. There is a buffer zone where no new development is permitted and there is no agriculture,  just the collection of firewood.

Formalities complete we take our place in the procession of jeeps along the dusty trail through the buffer zone.  We pass several local women carrying large bundles of sticks on their heads. Ramesh explains that these women have to walk 5 or 6km each day to cut and collect around 50 kg of firewood which they then sell for a couple of hundred rupees. They are also expected to keep house, cook and raise families while their hubands smoke, play cards, maybe drink and usually indulge in a bit of wife beating at the end of the day. Ramesh obviously feels very strongly that some of the poorer local women are getting an extremely raw deal and wants to do something to help. He believes that educating people about their rights as well teaching them skills to improve their lives is the way forward. 

On the way into the forest proper we see spotted deer, a favourite dish for tigers, and a couple of Crested Serpent Eagles, big birds that seem to spend a lot of time perched on branches waiting. We also spot a Grey Headed Woodpecker, so named despite having a vivid red cap on top of its head. Ramesh explains that summer visitors,  such as Oriental Honey Buzzards and Green Bee Eaters are just starting to arrive from Central India as the weather warms up and we are lucky enough to see both. We drive around the reserve looking for signs of a tiger. There is a set of footprints in the sand on the track at one plce but Ramesh thiks that they are quite old. At another spot there are very clear prints in some mud beside the track. Newer but not new enough is the verdict. We see a few more different birds as well as muntjac deer and troops of langur monkeys but no big cats.

We are on our way to the exit when Ramesh hears from another jeep that there is a tiger sighting. Our driver does a three point turn then it is all jildi jildi* as we make best speed to the spot. There are three or four vehicles there already, with people standing up peering into the long grass. Eventually we make out something in a hollow. Not quite the same quality of sighting that we got last year but still a tiger spot of some sort.  Now things are really jildi as we have to be out of the main gate by 6 p.m. We really hammer it on the track back through the buffer zone, hanging on with both hands. D's phone reads 18.01 as we clear the gate. There are a few Gypsies behind us. On the way through town we stop for supplies and then laze around until supper time. 

* Jildi = hurry up. A Hindi word once common in British Army slang.