Corbett Tiger Reserve

I had to take the government bus to get to Ramnagar, near Corbett Tiger Reserve. The bus had no AC, and it was hot! They pack people on even if there are no seats available. There are people crammed together and many people even have to stand. At one bus station I even saw a crowd of people rushing to get onto a bus literally pushing and shoving each other out of the way. It was a 7 hour bus ride each way, and I was lucky enough to have a seat both times. It was a great way to experience India! I was the only westerner on the bus. I love looking out the window while travelling here. You can catch a glimpse into people's lives. I travelled through many rural areas, and many Muslim villages. There were as many ox or horse drawn carriages on the road as there were cars. I've seen many crowded market places with street stalls selling all kinds of foods and crowds of people rushing around. I've seen families gathered around a fire cooking, women carrying huge bundles on their heads, people lining up to get water from a pump, or young boys playing by the road, or women washing clothes in a river. There is never a dull moment while travelling here.

There's a lot of suffering here. I've seen many slums. Small communities of make shift shelters and tents. These shelters are made of sticks, plastic, and sometimes metal. I can't believe the poverty here. I've never seen anything like it. Little children covered in dirt, with matted hair, and half naked, running around with no shoes. These people literally have nothing. It's heartbreaking. They can't even afford shoes, and don't even have enough water to bathe. I've seen many very elderly people, and very young children begging for money. I've seen sidewalks packed full of people in rags trying to sleep in the shade. There's many beggars without limbs living on the streets. There's garbage everywhere here. Everyone litters. I've seen huge piles of garbage that go on for miles. There's gutters full of raw sewage. I've seen people who were manually digging out the foundation for a building. Young women and men carrying loads of heavy rocks on their heads all day in the hot sun. People who break rocks with a hammer all day to make gravel. It's interesting because one person's job might be to break rocks, another person's job is to sell bananas, or souvenirs. People spend all day just hoping that they sell enough, bananas for example, to make enough money. That's why so many people try so hard to sell you things on the streets.

Life is so hard for so many people here! It seems like with so much poverty and so many people that it's just a rat race for survival for many people here. Even animals have to suffer a lot. Horses and ox carrying heavy loads in the hot sun or skinny dogs, cats, and cows trying to find scraps of food amongst the garbage on the streets. Seeing all of these things has made me so much more grateful for all of the abundance I have in my life, and for simple things that are easy to take for granted, like shoes. We are all really so blessed compared to the majority of the people in the world. 40% of the population here lives on less than $1 a day. So many children have to go to work at such a young age, because their families just can't afford to feed them. It's not all suffering though. There's so many beautiful people and things here as well. In fact, many people seem quicker to smile, laugh, or sing than most of the people in the US would be, even though they have so much less. India is such a place of extremes and dualities. I've seen the most beautiful things of my life here, and the most disturbing things. It's hot and cold, happy and sad, rich and poor. That's what makes it such an interesting and beautiful place.

I stayed at a nice resort full of rich Indians at Corbett. It had a swimming pool, which I didn't get to enter because women are required to wear special Indian swimming costumes which I didn't have, and I didn't want to buy. I didn't see any women in the pool while I was there. I don't think that women swim very often here. The swimming costumes are conservative. Long shorts/jumpsuits. The resort was full of paths lined with beautiful flowers that smelled amazing! There was a floral fragrance in the air in the evenings. There were mango and guava trees. It was on a river on the edge of the jungle. It was like a peaceful oasis, but there wasn't a lot to do. I spent a lot of time laying in the hammock and reading. I also crossed the river and went on a little walk in the forest with a tour guide friend that I met named Rishap. We both got our feet wet crossing the river. It was fun!

The reason I went to Corbett was to go on a safari. I've always wanted to go on a safari. I left at 5:00 am. I had a driver and a guide. I was the only one in my jeep! It was amazing! I had a very successful safari. I saw so much wild life! I have to give all of the credit to my guide. He's been doing safaris for 12 years and knew where to go and what to look for. He had a great eye for spotting wildlife. He even pointed out tiger tracks in the road several times. They were huge! Apparently, early morning is the best time to see wild life. The Tiger Reserve was beautiful. It's exactly what I would imagine a jungle to look like. There were a lot of trees in some places, tall grasses in others, watering holes, and it was very dry. Monsoon hasn't hit yet. Some of the animals that I saw were; an owl, 2 eagles, a buzzard, storks, king fishers, horn beaks, tons of peacocks, and many other exotic birds, 2 types of monkeys, 3 types of deer, and a wild boar. I saw all of this within a 3 hour time period. There was wildlife everywhere!

Just when I was giving up hope on seeing a tiger, we saw one! It was so exciting! It was a small tiger. My guide said it was about 1 1/2 years old. It was walking slowly in the distance coming in and out of view, but when it was in view I could see it perfectly. It walked up a hill and laid down in the shade next to a big termite hill. We watched it for 5-10 minutes. My guide said that I was very lucky to have seen a tiger. He only sees one about every 3 days, and he goes on safari twice a day every day. There are 160 tigers in the reserve, but they're very territorial and there are only 12 tigers in the area we were in. I really am so lucky! It was so cool seeing all of that exotic wildlife in their natural habitat. It was well worth by trip to Corbett Tiger Reserve!