charger

Phone conversation 10 am - this morning (Wed Nov 23)

“Dad!  You’ll never guess what just happened to us!”

“[laughs] You got chased by a tiger.” He jokes. 

“Yes!” 

“Really?”

“Yes!”

I just had to tell somebody as soon as we got back!  I was SO happy to be alive!

It was absolutely insane!  For sure the single scariest thing that has ever happened, to either of us, in our entire lives! 

People talk about those moments where your life flashes before your eyes.  All at once I was having one of those moments.  I was certain the moment I caught sight of this beast coming towards us, that this was the end. 

So what happened…

We set out on a safari in Bandhavgarh National Park at 5:45am – the park gates open at 6:15am.  We were joined by a guy named Mark from Holland. Going with a bit of a group decreased the price because you pay per vehicle not per person to enter the park. He had been here for two weeks and on nine such safari’s without seeing a single tiger!  Having discovered this news I was not very hopefully of spotting a wild cat today.  And especially after our first experience I just didn’t want to get my hopes up and then be disappointed again. 

This was a much nicer trip to begin with than the other.  Mark photographs European Birds as a hobby gone wild, he says.  He had some pretty swanky camera equipment. 

We’ve been driving along in a gypsy (an open top jeep with room for six passengers on benches in the back) for about an hour and a half.  The morning is quite cool and the road extremely bumpy.  We’d all settled in and are enjoying a beautiful drive through the jungle.  We’d seen some deer and a few peacocks. 

Blurry short off the back of the gypsy as we
made our escape from the tiger!

All of the sudden a tigress charges out of the bushes, at the gypsy! 

She saw us long before we saw her.  The driver speeds past her and she cools down on the road. 

Then, as the rest of us our catching our breath, the driver slams into reverse.  We all squawk at him to stop and stay put.  He nearly hit the cat!  She gets scared and runs into the bush.  At first I thought we’d lost her but then I can see her looking out at us from the bushes. 

She lay there just within eyesight for a few minutes.  She was just gorgeous.    Her eyes were large and yellow.  It was hard to read her body language.  For a time, she seemed calm. 

I lower the camera. I wanted to look at her plainly, with my naked eye.  I look right into her stunning sunshine eyes.  And at that moment she’d had enough, of being watched.  We locked eyes and then she came right at us again!  (Although if you ask N the tigress was looking right into his eyes at that moment-I guess only she knows.)
It was as though I could feel all this immense beasts power rushing right at me!  Ugh!  It was so terrifying!

Tigress - Bandhavgarh National Park, India - Nov 23

The driver had turned off the car, for whatever reason. I guess tigers are normally okay with being watched.  The driver panicked and scrambled to get the car started again, as she ran at us growling.  He sped away, it seemed just in time.  My heart stopped.  I pretty much was holding my breath for this entire time. 

She was within about two meters of the vehicle!  And clearly not happy! 

At this point she crossed the road and I got some decent snaps of her.

I wanted to maintain my distance, at this point.  She was clearly feeling we had invaded her territory.  The driver, on the other hand, was going to get us our money’s worth out of this safari.  And he didn’t understand enough English to catch our protests.  So he followed after her.  She went into the bush on the other side of the road and we continued to drive on.  It seemed we’d lost her.  Then she came out of the bush behind us just walking.  We drove on watching her.  When the driver slowed down so we could see her a bit closer she started chasing the car again!  He just slammed on it at this point we were going at least 50-60 km/hr, on this sketchy pothole-filled half pavement mostly dirt road.  The tiger was having no trouble keeping up with us.  Now that she’d given us a good enough scare to keep us going, she let us loose her. 

By the time we got to the gate we were all shaking and panting.  Everyone, including the driver and the guide, was just petrified! 

When we encountered some Indian tourists about a half hour later one of the guys translated, for us, that the driver said he would never go down that way again.  He was pretty shaken up.  He told these guys he’d never been charged like that before. 

This was definitely unusual behaviour for a tiger.  From what I understand Tigers are typically solitary.  They have their own territory. 

Mark says, that some of the territorial males get called Chargers because they’re known for charging vehicles, like that.  The guide knew that this female didn’t have any young to be protecting. So it’s not typical for a female to come at a vehicle like this.  The males are about a half size again, bigger than the females.  I can’t imagine one of them coming after you like this. 

It was the craziest thing we’ve ever experienced! 

I thank God on two accounts!  It was fantastic to see such a powerful majestic beast!  And I feel and even more intense sense of awe to get to tell about it! 

Truly a memory we will never forget!