INDIA 2025: RATHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK DAY 1- KHEM VILLAS AND OUR FIRST TWO SAFARI DRIVES

 November 26-27 (Thanksgiving Day in the United States), 2025

Five or six hours after we left Keoledeo National Park, located approximately mid-way between Jaipur and Agra, we finally arrived at Rathambore National Park, It looks like a short distance on the map below, and it is--just a little over 150 miles--but we were driving through lots of small villages and the pace was agonizingly slow.

Ranthambore NP is large--515 square miles--and was established first as a game sanctuary in 1955 at about 1/5 of its current size, but then was declared as a Project Tiger reserve as part of a wildlife conservation program in 1974. In 1980 it was named a national park.

The tiger population in India has doubled since the early 1970s, but at about 3,700 tigers, it is still woefully short of the estimated 40,000 tigers that roamed the country at the end of the 19th century. Without Project Tiger, tigers would likely be extinct, at least in India, which has almost 75% of the world's wild tiger population.  Today there are 57 protected areas in India that have been designated as tiger preserves.

It was getting to be late, so our driver took us directly to our place of residence for the next few days, the Khem Villas, located ten minutes from the reserve. The place consists of eight luxury cottages, ten tents, and four double rooms. Our group of three couples had tents, but not exactly the kind of tents you think of when you hear that word.

The approach to the Villas is a long, private drive flanked by the property's gardens where they grow much of the food they serve to guests in the all-vegetarian meals. There is a lot of fencing around the gardens, which I assume is to keep wildlife scavengers out.

And here is the local bakery--but I don't think you want what they are baking . . . 

Cow dung cakes, stacked five high after they are dried out and sold as fuel for cooking and heating.

INDIA: KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK, DAY 1

 December 17, 2024

As I see it, there are five reasons to visit Kaziranga National Park: 1) It has two-thirds of the WORLD'S POPULATION of one-horned rhinos, a vulnerable species; 2) It is a Tiger Reserve; 3) It is an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA); 4) It is a UNESCO World Heritage site; 5) It has elephants. I'll go anywhere that has elephants.

Another reason is that although it isn't a huge park--just 25 miles by 8 miles--it also isn't crowded like some of the bigger parks in Africa. 

We left on our first safari drive at around 2:00 PM after having lunch shortly after we arrived in the park. We would have two more safari drives the next day, then two more on the day after that. Typically the morning drive was 7:00 AM - 12:30 PM, and the afternoon drive was 2:00-5:30 PM. Those times include the driving time from our lodgings to one of the entrances to the park, which ranged from 20 minutes to an hour. In between the two drives we returned to the lodge for a delicious lunch.

It's hard to blog about a safari because it's not a linear experience. We typically saw many of the same sites/animals over and over again, and sometimes we drove in loops. After a while, one area begins to look like another, at least to me. 

However, one thing that continued to surprise us was the use of elephants as transportation on the highway and at other places. These photos were taken through the car windshield, so they aren't the best, but you still get the idea, right?

There are several entrances into the reserve, and this is the first one we took. The little white sign under the unreadable green sign says "Kaziranga: 70% of India's wild rhinos call it home."  That is impressive.

They provide a nice photo window where you can pose above seven scary men with big guns who are probably watching for poachers.

Here we go!

INDONESIA - DAY 1 IN KOMODO NATIONAL PARK: LOH BUAYA PARK ON RINCA ISLAND

 July 11, 2023

Komodo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, comprises three major islands--Rinca, Komodo, and Padar--and a number of smaller islands. The park covers about 542,000 acres, or 847 square miles.

Rinca (pronounced REEN-cha) Island, one of the three largest islands but with fewer tourists than Komodo Island, is famous for its Komodo dragons. Just over 70 square miles, the island has a population of about 1,800 people and 1,300 Komodo dragons. I believe that is the biggest population of Komodo dragons on a single island in the park (and therefore in the world as Komodo dragons are endemic to this area). And yes, occasionally someone is killed by one of the dragons. Our guides told us that Komodo dragons are not venomous, but have dozens of fatal bacteria in their bite.  Some scientists insist, however, that there is also venom in the dragon's saliva. A human who is bitten by a Komodo dragon at the very least may lose the limb that was bitten, and may even die. Go here to see Smithsonian magazine's list of the most infamous Komodo dragon attacks on humans. 

After being ferried onshore at Rinca Island by Elfrid in his motorboat . . . 

. . . we were greeted by this very large statue of fighting dragons--something we would have loved to see played out in real life.

Bob was about to live the dream he had as a little boy--to see a Komodo dragon in the wild.

PORTUGAL: COIMBRA

 June 27, 2022

From Batalha we drove about an hour north-northeast to the university city of Coimbra, where we had a private tour scheduled. We had about an hour before we were supposed to meet our guide and were starving, so we found a parking place within walking distance of our meet-up point and conveniently located near the Café Santa Cruz. We lucked out because this café has been open since 1923 (although the building itself dates back to 1530) and is a Coimbra landmark. 

Photo from here

We arrived at lunchtime and the place was packed. They had a buffet-style set-up, and they couldn't keep the dishes stocked, so the line was moving pretty slowly. We paid 18€ for both of us, and that included drinks, and when we finally got through the line, we discovered that the food was quite good. The tables were full of what looked like university professors and students, and it was fun to be in that atmosphere.

Photo from here

Just outside and perpendicular to the restaurant was a wonderful "trash art" mural of a baby owl by the Portuguese artist Bordalo II. The left side is more or less traditional, its claws digging into an old wall, and the right sight is much more futuristic.

TEXAS, AUSTIN: CONGRESS AVENUE, THE BULLOCK TEXAS STATE HISTORY MUSEUM, THE MAGNOLIA CAFE, AND A BAT TOUR

 March 24, 2021

I mentioned that Austin is a walkable city, which we know firsthand because we did a LOT of walking. 

One of the main thoroughfares of the city is Congress Avenue, which runs from the state capitol building to the Congress Ave. Bridge, passing by lots of interesting architecture.

The Colorado River bisects Congress Ave. No, not that Colorado River, but another river by the same name that has both its source and mouth in Texas. Turns out it is 862 miles long--the 18th longest river in the United States--and I had never even heard of it.

TEXAS: LONGHORN CAVERN

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

One of the things I enjoyed about this particular trip to Texas was seeing the evidence of work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, a group established during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt to rebuild both the economy and the country's physical infrastructure.

One CCC project in Central Texas during the 1930s was clearing a huge underground cavern of 2.5 tons of debris and building stairs and walkways into and inside the cavern to make the cavern tourist friendly. They also built the scenic byway that led to it and facilities within the park, now known as Longhorn Cavern State Park. 

Longhorn Cavern is a limestone cave formed thousands of years ago by an underground river that no longer exists. Before the CCC turned it into a tourist attraction, it was used by indigenous people, Confederate soldiers, outlaws, and speakeasy operators.

We joined a group of about 20 people on a guided tour of the cave.

SRI LANKA: ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS IN PERADENIYA

On Day 6 of our Sri Lanka Adventure, we had planned a trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens, a stop suggested by our guide. I was excited, but Bob was actually not all that thrilled about it. Let's just say it greatly exceeded both of our expectations.

Before we left our hotel, and being in a "botanical mood," we did take notice of a tree that especially caught our attention because of its awesome name:

It's unlike any tree I've ever seen, with flowers and fruits popping out of the trunk:

It is very unique, and the flowers are so beautiful:

So, on to the botanical garden. Located in Peradeniya, a suburb of Kandy, it covers147 acres and has over 4,000 species of plants. We've been to some incredible gardens around the world, such as Kirstenbosch Garden in South Africa,  Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, the gardens in Versailles, the Los Angeles Arboretum, the Huntington Library, and others. We rank this garden right up there with the best of them.

One of the things the Royal Gardens is known for is its collection of over 300 orchid species. We followed Sanjay's advice and went to the orchid house first.  WOW. Nothing more can be said.