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The Thrill of the Chase – Part 2

As the morning progressed, I couldn’t help but compare this safari experience to the ones we’d experienced in Africa. The first big difference was that there were far more cars around this time—it was very rare that you’d be the only one viewing an animal. The park guide who rode with us wasn’t armed here, which made me a teensy bit squeamish. The animals were also fewer and farther between, so we had to drive for longer periods before seeing something. And finally, the drivers/guides didn’t have radios, so they couldn’t alert each other to a sighting, other than when we passed another vehicle on the road. I didn’t realize it at the time, but our African safaris (especially the ones in Zambia’s South Luangwa park) had set an unrealistic standard with their constant parade of exotic animals and the relatively private viewing we got to enjoy.

Since the popular animals like tigers and leopards were tough to spot (some 4-hour drives yielded no sightings), it meant you had to work hard for the privilege of that viewing. What do I mean by work? Well, tigers spend lots of time in the thick underbrush and once they enter that, the only way to figure out their position is to actively track them by listening for alarm calls. The two most distinctive calls are from the Sambar deer, which releases a guttural horn-like call and the Langur monkey, whose call sounds more like a bark and differs slightly for leopards vs tigers. The prey animals use these alarm calls to warn their fellow animals as to where the predator currently is and that it is on the move (which likely indicates it is hunting). The closer the calls are together, the more active the animal is.

How this would play out is that every so often we’d stop the car and listen for calls. If we heard one, we’d have to determine the direction that it was coming from. We’d then turn the car around, if necessary, and drive in the direction of the call. The sighting window is usually pretty short, typically you see the tiger crossing the road between two sections of thicket. That makes it all the more crucial that you interpret the calls well so you don’t miss the brief appearance.

Around 9 AM we heard a call that was relatively close. The frequency of the calls was such that our guide believed we had enough time to make it there before the sighting happened. “Hang on,” barked our driver, executing a quick three-point turn. We took off in the direction of the call, butts flying off the seat as we hit bump after bump without slowing, determined to have our first tiger sighting after striking out the afternoon before. The frequency of the calls and speed of our vehicle seemed to grow in proportion, the tension mounting to a palpable level in my body. Were we really about to see a tiger?

Our spotter was standing up despite the ever-increasing speed, anchoring against the jeep frame while scanning back and forth methodically with his binoculars. We crested a hill and found several other parked jeeps, indicating that we were likely in the right place. We jostled for the best position amongst the nine other cars, trying to anticipate which section of underbrush the animal would emerge from. I had my camera at the ready, feeling in my gut that this was going to happen!

The calls were fast and frenzied now and VERY CLOSE. You could feel the anticipation among the crowd, everyone poised and ready to click as soon as movement was detected. “There, did you hear it? There was a rustle over there!” our guide whispered excitedly, pointing to an area about 30 feet away with a clear sight line from where we were parked. Less than 60 seconds later a gasp went up from the crowd as the tiger slinked out of the underbrush, it’s vivid orange body sashaying across the road. Our guide identified the tiger immediately because of the limp she had. “That’s Langada. She is named after the Hindi word for limp.” She was only visible for about 30 to 45 seconds but totally and completely captivated her crowd of fans in that short time. She was truly magnificent, making all that work well worth the time and effort expended.

So, after 16 hours of cruising the park over a 48-hour window, we ended up with two tiger sightings, two leopard sightings and a myriad of bird, deer, monkey and peacock sightings. It was a fun experience, made all the more special by Nia’s delight with it all. She’s really becoming an animal aficionado and is quite skilled at identifying various species. After so much time spent indoors these last two years, we all savored this opportunity to immerse ourselves in nature. It did not disappoint.