My visit to Ranthumbore National Park, and Fort at Swai Madhopur

My visit to Ranthumbore National  Park, and Fort at Swai Madhopur

I was in Gwalior on 4^th to 5^th February afternoon to attend one of nephews wedding. He got married to Sneha.  Several relatives of mine had come for the wedding and we had a gala time.

After lunch in the afternoon I went to Swai Madhopurr to visit Rathumbore National Park. I took a train at 3.30 pm from Gwalior to Mathura. Around 9 pm I took another train from Mathura to Swai Madhopur and reached around mid-night. Fortunately my hotel people had sent me a pickup.  Swai Madhopur is on the Mumbai and N.Delhi rail route. I stayed at Hotel Green View which is around 10 km from the National Park.

6^th February, 2015

Since I checked in around 12 mid-night, I took rest in the morning as my safari was in the afternoon from 2.30 pm to 6.00 pm.  After my breakfast, around 2 pm I was picked up by the safari jeep accompanied by a guide and we entered the park around 2.30 pm after picking up others.  Our guide was an excellent person with good knowledge. Straight away he took us to Zone 3 near the lake. Suddenly he noticed a female tiger named Krishna (T-19)  sleeping in the lake.  This  tiger had delivered four babies 10 months back.  Out of four babies, I was told one baby died and other three are in tact.  This tiger was lying down and in between she used to get up. Since we need to get out of the park at 6 pm we left the place but we were lucky to spot one. She made us wait for three hours in the same spot and did not get up till we left the place.

A brief about Ranthumbhore National Park and Fort

Ranthambore National Park is one of the biggest and most renowned national park in Northern India. The park is located in the Sawai Madhopur district of southeastern Rajasthan, which is about 130 km from Jaipur. Being considered as one of the famous and former hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur, today the Ranthambore National Park terrain is major wildlife tourist attraction spot that has pulled the attention of many wildlife photographers and lovers in this destination.

Ranthambore National park contains a huge variety of animals, birds and reptiles within it. Primarialy the population consists of...

Animals: Tigers, Leopards, Striped Hyenas, Sambar deer, Chital, Nilgai, Common or Hanuman langurs, Macaques, Jackals, Jungle cats, Caracals, Sloth bears, Black bucks, Rufoustailed Hare, Indian Wild Boar, Chinkara, Common Palm Civets or Toddy cat, Coomon Yellow Bats, Desert Cats, Fivestriped Palm Squirels, Indian False Vampires, Indian Flying Foxes, Indian Foxes, Indian Gerbilles, Indian Mole Rats, Indian Porcupines, Longeared Hedgehogs, Ratels, Small Indian Mongoose, Small Indian Civets and Common mongoose. –

The park also has a large number of marsh crocs Reptiles: Snub Nosed Marsh Crocodiles, Desert Monitor Lizards, Tortoise, Banded Kraits, Cobras, Common Kraits, Ganga Soft Shelled Turtles, Indian Pythons, North Indian Flap Shelled Turtles, Rat Snakes, Russel's Vipers, Saw-scaled Vipers and the Indian Chamaeleon

Safari Timing

Timings for entry into, and exit from, the park vary according to the season. In winters, due to the shorter duration of daylight hours, the morning entry time is later and evening exit time is earlier.

After dropping others in their hotels, we reached my hotel around 7.00 pm.  Since I was very tired I had my dinner (as I did not have my lunch) I had my dinner around 7.30 pm and went to sleep early as I had planned to have one more safari on the month of 7^th at 6.00 am.

7^th February, 2015

I was picked up another jeep with another guide at 6.00 am. By 7.15 am we entered into the jungle and went to Zone 2. Unfortunately we did not see any tiget in Zone 2 but we saw several other animals/birds which was excellent.

Around 11.30 am I reached my hotel and I had my breakfast. Again skipping my lunch around 2 pm I was taken to Swai Madhopur Fort where I was told there are three famous temples – ganesha,  jain , and Laxmi Narayarana.  Fort is very steep and returned around 3.30 pm to the hotel.

Ranthambore Fort

This fort stands majestically atop a hill overlooking the entire park. The walk up, one of the only places this mode of transport is possible, is a very refreshing and exciting one as even the big cats have been spotted up there! The view of the surrounding keeps getting better and better as you go up but the view from the fort itself can only be described as breathtaking. It is advisable to take along a good pair of binoculars and if possible a camera with a very powerful lens when visiting the fort.

The soaring Serpent eagles, vultures and other birds can be seen at eye level. Many animals can also be seen along the edges of all the water bodies, which are all visible from here. The fort itself also offers many interesting architectural and historical sights worth viewing and photographing.

In this fort, there is a ganesha temple which is very famous. Also a Jain  and Laxmi Narayaran temples.

Since I had no plan to go out I saw two old hindi movies in the T.V  Around 8.30 pm had my dinner and went to sleep.

8^th February, 2015

After my breakfast around 11.30 am I went to the Swai Madhopur  station to take a train to Ujjain at 1.30 pm.

Overall my trip was excellent. Food in the hotel, and  their services were fantastic. Mr. Rathore who runs this place is a nice guy who is also a professional guide. Most likely within three to four months he is planning to start his own resort.  He is from hotel industry and worked with Taj, Swai Madhopur and other hotels for several years.  In case you plan to visit this Nation Park you can get in touch with him. He contact number is 09251086627/09414726616.