Day 1 Continued: Continuing fromĀ Bhangarh ā Experiencing The Paranormal
TD was on the next leg of roadtrip, 140 kms from Bhangarh to Sawai Madhopur (Ranthambore National Park). Soon after crossing Dausa we stopped to grab a quick bite. We reached our Farm resort called Maa Ashapura Farm at about 5 pm. We had our reasons to choose this farm style resort. We wanted to experience farm living the organic way, away from hustle bustle of the city amidst lush green farms and of all proximity to the Ranthambore National Park. Vegetables, fruits and dairy products are home grown in the farm itself. There is a ranch which has 4 mare (Koel, Kamod, Koyal and Chandni) and a Stallion named Rajveer. So there is an option of horse safari available from the farm itself.
We checked in our room which was cosy and comfortable. The farm resort has awesome option of staying in luxury tents and also on elevated wooden cottages (called Machan tents) which seems to be the USP of this place. The farm is very well maintained with nice lush green lawns and clean swimming pool. Thanks to the owner Mr. Vikram and his wife who stay in the resort and ensure they maintain the farm well, they pay special and personalized attention to every guest too. Vikram is also a well established wild life photographer.
Soon after we checked-in, we were trying to get comfortable in the room as it was quite cold outside. And suddenly a knock at the door, a man wearing traditional Rajasthani turban and attire turned up and said ā Hukum aap sabko borne fire ke liye bula rahe hai. The staff at the Farm refers Vikram as Hukum. The people of the Royal family were referred to as Hukum which has been a tradition is Rajasthan for many years. We walked thru the Lantern lit pathway to reach the borne fire.
It was 7 pm and dark already with temperature touching 14 degrees, all guests were seated around the borne fire enjoying soaking in the much needed heat. There were guests from not just around the country but also from different parts of the world. The topic of discussion was tigress Machli (often referred as Lady of the lakes) and Vikramās various encounters with her. Vikram said that Machli was a special tigress, she was known for her poise. She got the name Machli as she had a fish like spot on her body. She enjoyed getting close to humans, oftenĀ showed up during the jungle safaris and loved giving posses for photographs. No surprise she was the most photographed tigeress in the world. Vikram giggled and told us that many times late in the evening Machli would climb the wall behind the farm and roar, this would scare the guests to the core. This lead to a sudden silence and people faces turning pale. Vikram laughed and said Machli is no more and died the age of 20 years in 2016, which relieved the guests but he said that her grand daugther named Lightning now has captured the area of Machli in the jungle. Lightning got her name due to her aggressive nature as she often charged back at the jungle safari jeeps. Vikram also mentioned that Machli was the reason for many peoples livelihood and nearly 2000 people turned up for her funeral.
In true sense, once Machli was the Queen of the Jungle!
It was 9 pm by now, dinner was ready and served hot in the dinning hall. Food was very delicious and had good options in both veg and non-veg. We retired to our bed at about 10 pm.
Next day we witnessed an awesome Sunrise from the terrace of our room. We got ready and spent some time roaming around in the farm and clicking photographs. Breakfast was served at 10 am aside the swimming pool. We enjoyed the yummylicious food soaking in the warmth of the sun.
Post the breakfast we decided to visit the local museum as our Safari was at 2 pm and we had enough time in between. After visiting the museum we had quick lunch at Kanha restaurant in Sawai Madhopur and proceeded to the Safari start point. We had booked the Safari online (through http://www.rajasthanwildlife.in ) few days back and hence did not face any issues. We got the jeep allocated which we boarded at about 2:30 pm. We had chosen the zone 10 which is farthest zone and has the largest tiger. We entered the zone at around 3:30 pm. There is literally no road in this zone, it is extremely rocky, steep and has a very rough terrain which only a 4 wheel drive gypsy can traverse. Next 3 hours we spent experiencing the jungle, its quietness and wilderness. It was confirmed by the forest ranger that there was killing by the tiger on the same day in the early hours near the riverside. We could also smell the rotten meat in the air. We waited near the other side of the river for about 30 min thinking the tiger might turn up for drinking water. We spotted few wild animals but was unlucky to spot any tiger or leopard.
Langoor monkeys in Ranthambore national park
We came back to our farm at about 7:30 pm. The borne fire was already lit and the guests were discussing there experiences of the safari. Few of them were lucky to got a glimpse of a tiger and leopard. Tip: We learned that some of the guests were staying from couple of nights and did 2-4 safariās to increase the chances of spotting a tiger in the wild. Vikram was preparing Lal maas on the traditional mud made chulha near the borne fire. Lal maas is a native dish of Rajasthan made from mutton. We retired to the bed soon after having our dinner.
The breakfast was served in the dinning area the next day. We enjoyed the last healthy portion of organic meal of our trip and checked-out at 10 am.
Sawai Madhopur is also known for super tasty Gauvaās which are farmed in a near by village called Karmoda (Amrudon ki nagri). We stopped to buy large ripe Gauvaās at dirt cheap price on the roadside when we were on the way to our next destination ā Kota!
Ranthambore national park is known for Tigress Machli and also for its historical heritage? Day 1 Continued: Continuing fromĀ Bhangarh - Experiencing The Paranormal TD was on the next leg of roadtrip, 140 kms from Bhangarh to Sawai Madhopur (Ranthambore National Park).
