Jim Corbett National Park - India

Last December (ie December 2008) I was visiting India. As a part of my Father - in - law's 60th birthday celebrations we went to the Jim Corbett National Park (http://www.corbettpark.com/). The park is home to Tigers (amongst other animals) and it is about a 6 hour drive from Delhi.

We stayed in a hotel called The Tiger Camp (http://www.hoteltigercampcorbett.com/) which is in a small town called Ramnagar. The hotel resort is about a 10 minute drive from the main gate entrance to the park. The hotel itself is a very pretty place alongside the river. You can see them feeding chicken to the Mahseer fish. Amazing, I know i was gobsmacked. The rooms are reminiscent of little lodges and one gets the feeling that one is in the forest. Its all very leafy. The staff are all very friendly and nothing is a problem for them. The rooms are spacious and clean. Modern looking but with a hint of minimalist lodge if you know what I mean. I would recommend the hotel to anyone looking for accommodation in the area. I cannot remember the exact room rate but I do recall all meals being included in it. I think we paid Rs70,000 or thereabouts for three deluxe cottages for three nights, one of which was christmas ie the 25th.The food was of better than average quality and there was plenty of variety and choice in the buffet meals.

Now onto the real business. We were there hoping to see tigers' in the wild. We were also warned that we had come at the wrong time of year and that we would be lucky to see any tigers at all. Due to the weather the animals tend to go deep into the forest. In the summer they tend to come to the edge of the forest as they look further afield for food and water. The best time to see animals is from April to September we were told. True to the information we were given, we did not see any tigers. We did see fresh pug prints on the path. Being the sceptical sort I surmised those tracks were put there for the tourists.

Entry to the park is by ticket only and this is very strictly controlled. Tickets are for 2 hour slots and you have to go in with a registered guide. Do not expect to turn up at the gate and buy tickets. You have to buy your tickets in advance (at least the day before). In the peak season you may find you need to book at least a week in advance. Therefore your best bet is to tell the hotel that you want to go to the park and they will make the arrangements for you. If you decide you want to go on the spur of the moment don't let the lack of a ticket hamper you. What you can do is go to the ticket building which is in the town itself (not at the gate). There you will have to find a guide who has a pass and he will take you in. You will have to negotiate the fee with him of course for both the entrance to the park and the use of his vehicle. I would suggest you use the guide's vehicle. These are usually 6 seater open topped jeeps. Easier to spot animals and stand in than being in an enclosed vehicle and missing an animal because the rear view mirror was in the way. If all tickets are sold out don't despair. You can still find a guide who will take you in your own vehicle or his for that matter for a two hour drive along a back road to Bijrani Gate via Dhikala. This is a road through the forest and is not in the game park. However, animals don't know they are supposed to be in a park and therefore may come far enough out to this part in their search for food. If you are trying to do this on your own you can try calling Mr Lalit Pandey on +919012806213. He kept promising us pictures better than you see on Discovery if we went at the right time of year :-)

So what did we see. No Tigers. That dream will have to live on. We did see plenty of spotted deer, barking deer, langur, a wild elephant and even an eagle. I will just have to go back again.

If you do see a tiger, please let me know, better still send me a picture.

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