Event #8: Corbett Wildlife Reserve!

This is the last of the many event posts...except that we just had a GREAT day today that I may have to include in while. :)


We had a WONDERFUL quarter break, filled with lots of new experiences and great time with friends. We left on Thursday night (at 8:30) to taxi down to Dehra Dun and catch a night train to Kathgodam. This was our first experience riding an Indian night train....and DEFINITELY our first experience on a 3rd class night train. :) It was unbelievably dirty, but also extremely cheap and relatively safe. Overall, a very enjoyable experience! (Sorry for the millions of pictures, but I just couldn't decide which ones to cut!)

We went with Kate, Jenny, Stephen, and the Nagarwalla family (Darab, Naz and Vanu). Darab is being his smiley self below. This trip would NOT have happened without his
expert travel agent skills!

Got the name wrong. :)

Our rooms were AWESOME! All the structures were made of mud, and were extremely cool (despite the VERY high temperatures). It was a GREAT place to stay!

We went into the Corbett National Wildlife Reserve two different days. First we went to the section of the park called "Bijrani". This section was really vast and open, and we could see a really long distance.

There were elephant rides in and around the park...but it felt really sad. The whole park was designed to allow wild animals to maintain their natural lifestyle and habitat, and yet so many elephants subjected to a life of servitude. It took a bit of the fun out of it, and I'm not sure I want to ride one anymore.

Ready to go!

Doesn't he look cool?! A real safari man. :)
We saw a tiger print! Even though we didn't ever see an actual tiger, it was exciting to see such obvious signs of their presence.


Tiger scratches on the trees...


These are termite hills. There were TONS of these, and all so cool looking!


We saw a herd of 8 elephants just roaming about!

Lovin' life on our jeep safari!

From a look-out tower

Just wandering the park on his elephant

The second day we went into a section of the park known as "Lohachour". This area was exactly like I had pictured...full of tall trees and hills and fallen leaves. It was picturesque! We didn't see as much in this section, but it was so beautiful that it didn't really matter. :)

We left for this safari at 4:45 AM. WHOA! This was our packed breakfast to-go.

Our group of drivers and guides, hanging out while we took a long look.

Our jeeps!

A cool hawk. :)

We saw a wild boar! And, since wild boar can actually kill tigers (they get underneath them and stick their bellies with their huge tusks), I figure it's COOLER that we saw a boar than a tiger! Doesn't it look like it's superimposed on a background? I promise it was real!


We saw multiple peacocks...so pretty!




The beautiful scene in "Lohachour"

After the Lohachour safari we visted "Camp Forktail Creek", a place that Woodstock-ians usually stay during their time to Corbett. It was all filled up when we were booking, but it was really fun to see it! This tree was right in front of the camp, and we had some climbing fun.

After our last safari we came back to our hotel spot, went for a swim, read for a few hours, and were on our way home again (via another night train). When we finally got home around 5:40 AM, we were quite exhausted. But, it was a GREAT trip!