I Was Ready, Tigers Were Not

I was ready. I got up at 5 AM, and set off for the ticket office for the Periyar Tiger Reserve. I was advised to be early, at 5.45 AM, to avoid the crowds. The recommendation was good, I was third in line and about 50 people, all Indian, formed a line behind me.

The ticket process was bureaucratic. You had to give your name, address and phone number plus some more information just to buy an entry ticket to the park. And tickets for the boat safari were not available here.

The bus for the short ride to the park left on time at 6.30 AM. With “Periyar Tiger Reserve” painted all over it held promise of an exciting day.

Once in the park, another line and another form followed to buy a ticket for the boat. Much of the same information was asked for all over again.

Got my ticket and proceeded to the waiting area. I hardly got there before a monkey snatched my water bottle right out of my backpack.

Oh well, I still had the cookies I had bought the night before to eat for my breakfast. But they turned out to be fair game, too. As I held the small package in my hand, another monkey jumped on my back and tried to get them, but I managed to keep them out of his reach and he continued climbing on me. I kept my cookies. And the Indian people praised me for keeping my cool. “Most people panic”, they said.

At 7.30 AM we boarded the boat. There were three double decker boats to take us all out on the lake safari. We all donned our life jackets, and the boats set off.

Each boat had a safari guide to point out the animals. “There” he said, pointing into the distance. I couldn’t see anything. As we got a bit further out on the lake, he pointed to some specks on the shore far away. “Wild boar”. I had my 300 mm lens on the camera, and after taking a photo and cropping in dramatically, I could make out what may be a boar.

We drove around for another hour and a half of complete absence of any animals. We did see a few birds, maybe an eagle. Tigers? Not so much. I later learned that the odds of seeing a tiger is well below 1%, even on the morning safari when the animals supposedly come down to the water to drink.

I was ready for the animals. They were not ready for me.

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