We arrived in Rathambore at about 5pm. They had Mango drinks waiting for us while we got checked in. Every 2 rooms are a little cottage all their own; this is a very cute place. The staff is very attentive and polite. I tell you what….American hotel customer service can take a lesson from these Indian resorts. Their attention to you is amazing. After freshening up, we had a little barbeque and they cooked some chicken kebabs for us while a 3 piece band played traditional folk music from the Rajastan area. Then one of the band members rolled a fire torch up and down his arms! Dinner was followed by working on making some arrangements for the next part of our adventure….southern India and Vietnam and we made some progress on that front.

Morning wake up call was 5:00 followed by breakfast and boarding the safari jeeps at 6:30am. We headed to Rathambore Tiger Reserve and as we were driving, I looked up at the tree we were driving under and saw monkeys hanging on….I said, “please don’t poop!” as we drove under them. I did not see poop but I saw pee coming at us. Buzz was christened, both shirt and hat, with monkey pee! (The next day when I opened up the dirty clothes bag, the smell emanating from there was horrible….had to be the monkey pee!)

We drove deep into the jungle. I can’t tell you how many streams we crossed of varying widths and depths. The road was pock marked, rocky, and hilly. I ended up hitting my head on the railing 4 times and getting cut by a passing branch. But it was great fun. We did not see too many animals on the 3 ½ hour morning safari. After lunch and a break in the cool AC, we headed out again at 2:30. We ventured into a different zone of the reserve. They have the reserve divided into 5 zones and they randomly assign different safari groups to different areas so one area does not get too crowded. Our naturalist on board was great and he tried very hard to help us see a tiger but it was not in the cards. We did see a few fresh pugmarks which is what they call a tiger paw print in the dirt. However, we saw dozens and dozens of spotted deer, and sambars, monkeys, giant lizards, peacocks, wild boar, kingfisher birds, a crested serpent eagle, and a sloth bear. We were in the jungle for 4 ½ hours on the afternoon safari. It was very fun but somehow exhausting for sitting on our butts all day. A quick dip in the pool, a glass of wine, dinner, and bedtime rounded out the day’s agenda.

Our tour group has become comfortable with each other and small groups of friends have formed. Overall, everyone is very nice and well traveled so we hear some wild stories. One of my favorites is of the Yemeni couple. He was 27 and had moved to the US at the age of 19. He decided it was time to marry so he had his parents arrange a marriage for him in Yemen. Shahina was only 15 years old. Ebrahim did not even go to Yemen for the wedding; they were married by proxy and her father stood in for him. Then her parents put her on a plane to NY and Ebrahim was waiting for her at the gate with a picture of her and she had a picture of him and then saw each other for the first time ever and they were husband and wife. She told me she cried for many months but now they live in Michigan and have been married for 43 years and she told me that she is exactly where she wants to be. Ebrahim said when he saw his first snow he ran outside and scooped up a cup of it and put it in the freezer…until he realized there was nothing he could do with it and threw it away 6 months later. Another interesting story was from our tour guide, Sandeeph, he once gave a tour to a very important man in the Oman government. He took him to the Taj Mahal and the man was quite unimpressed. When asked why, he said, sorry to tell you but I have nicer art work in my bathroom!