Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LOOKING FOR LIONS IN SASANGIR
NATIONAL PARK
An Afternoon Game Drive
At 3:00p sharp, it was into one of Lion Safari Camp's open jeeps (all jeeps that enter
Sasangir are open). We jolted over the dusty, rutted road into Sasangir town to take care of
the formalities. Camera fees, 500 Rupees per camera if it is more than 5 pixels; authorit-
ies look at your camera to see how many pixels. A ranger joined our jeep, before entering
into Sasangir on Route 6, the afternoon's allotted route.Again, there is no off-roading in Sas-
angir;
you must stick to your route with no deviations
.
Route #6 is 40 km/25 miles long and takes approximately 2-1/2 hours to complete. At
least
10-20 vehicles took Route #6 along with us, creating huge amounts of dust that we then
sucked up. Black-faced monkeys, a Kingfisher, a gazillion Spotted Deers, Nilgai Antelopes
commonly known as "Blue Bulls' because of their coloring, owls, but no
lions.
This was
very discouraging. Over rivers, peering through heavy teak foliage, it wasn't until the end of
the game run, that
four
of the only Asiatic lions in the world, casually sauntered through the
brush before disappearing into the trees. Yes! Invigorated, refreshed and excited that we saw
lions, the jeep moved along. (All vehicles must be out of the park by 6:00p.) The ranger and
driver were even happier. When
happy
tourists see lions, they tip better!
The temperature was beginning to drop as we headed towards the park exit. Suddenly,
our driver came to a stop. Two park rangers stood in the road staring into the bush, with
jeeps lined up behind them. What was going on? Six lions, were taking a late afternoon si-
esta under the trees. Impossible to see from the road, the rangers were collecting an extra 200
Rupees from each jeep if you wanted to drive
off-road
to see the lions. Guide Niru asked,
“Do we want to wait and pay?”
Hell, yes!
Visitors
are
allowed to get out of the jeeps to pee, first looking, carefully, in all direc-
tions. With 400 lions in the park and, supposedly, many leopards (chances of seeing one in
this very tree-filled forest was slim to none in my opinion), a person can't be too careful.
On the other hand, no one else worried about being on the lion's dinner menu. We patiently
waited our turn to see the lions, while still more jeeps pulled behind us.
Our turn, and there they were, six lions spread out under the trees, paws up in the air.
In such a deep sleep, they almost looked dead. Only one lion was remotely interested in
the jeeps around it. What totally blew my mind though was the rangers. They casually sat
