Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/03/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well, you used your non-tiger time effectively, Howard! Cheers, Nathan Nathan Wajsman Alicante, Spain http://www.frozenlight.eu http://www.greatpix.eu http://www.nathanfoto.com Books: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=wajsman&x=0&y=0 PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog On Mar 25, 2010, at 10:09 AM, H&ECummer wrote: > We arrived in Ranthambhore too late for the afternoon safari so we had > dinner and went to bed early with high expectations about the morning. > The knock on the door at 5:30 came awfully fast. Tea or coffee plus > cookies were served in the lodge foyer and by 6:00 everyone was in their > jeeps, wrapped in blankets against the cold and provided with towels to > shield the cameras from the dust. The gate to the Reserve opened at 6:30 > and all the jeeps and canters (trucks that take about thirty passengers > each) rush into the park to get to places where the tigers are still > roaming. They drive fast over the rough tracks and raise a lot of dust - > thus the need to protect the equipment with towels. > By 9:30 or so the tigers have all settled against the heat of the day and > everyone leaves the Reserve. We head back to the lodge and have breakfast > and download pictures and, and rest up for lunch. Lunch is at 1:30 and by > 2:30 we are back in the jeeps, this time in shirt sleeves and hats because > it has warned up to plus 30 degrees C, and with a fresh towel to protect > the equipment. The drive into the reserve is more leisurely in the > afternoon because the tigers usually don't stir until later and everyone > has time to get to where they think the tigers may stir. The driver and > guide stop the jeep every so often and turn off the motor to listen for > warning calls from the deer and the monkeys that a tiger is on the move. > Then we move in the direction of the calls. By 6:30 it is dusk and you > come home to the lodge, have a drink (Kingfisher beer) and a shower and a > late dinner and fall into bed about 9:30 - exhausted and waiting for the > morning wake up call so you can do it all over again. I did this for three > straight days and did not see a single cat. I did get lots of pictures of > other wild life - see below - but no Tigers. I was beginning to think that > Jayanand and the entire Indian subcontinent was fooling with me as > everyone around me at lunch and dinner talked about "tiger this and tiger > that". But not me - I was coming up dry. :-( > > Here are some pictures from my no tiger days: > > The langur monkey - there were many of them and they were helpful in > warning where the tigers were - even if not for me. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/TIGER/Langur+Smile.jpg.html > > http://tinyurl.com/ybtusg8 > > Two more langurs and a baby - it was the birthing season and there were a > lot of monkey babies around: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/TIGER/2mnkbabeW.jpg.html > > http://tinyurl.com/yc7bkdr > > There were lots of birds that I didn't know. > > Here's the Treepie - which is very bold and will fly at you and eat > cookies from your hand > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/TIGER/TreepieW.jpg.html > > http://tinyurl.com/ylj6ub3 > > The Treepie is bold with the deer as well as you can see from this picture: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/TIGER/TreePDeerHW.jpg.html > > http://tinyurl.com/yhqdfc7 > > There are lots of water birds around the water holes too, > > Here is a white egret on take off - this is an uncropped full frame > picture taken with Jayanand's > 200 - 400 zoom. I don't think I could have taken the picture with the > Telyt or the Nikkor 300 unless I > was very very lucky. I think this may be my best non tiger picture of the > lot: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/TIGER/CraneFlyW.jpg.html > > http://tinyurl.com/yetbwzz > > And here is a low flying crane - closely cropped - taken with the 400 > Telyt: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/TIGER/CraneFly1W.jpg.html > > http://tinyurl.com/ydksed2 > > Jayanand took pity on me by day four and invited me to ride in his jeep. My > luck then changed and tigers started to appear in front of my lenses. > My first tiger pictures are in the next posting. > > C & C always welcome > > Cheers > > Howard. > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >