Dadu Aur Madak
Corbett Tiger Reserve
From Haridwar we traveled south and east to the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve. Corbett, the author of The Man-Eaters of Kumaon won favor with the locals for ridding the area of some tigers that had developed a taste for humans. The reserve he founded was the prototype for an India wide project to preserve the tiger. This tropical area, which is just north of Ramnagar, is a departure from the terrain of the Himalayan foothills just a few miles to the north.

As is true of traffic all over India the tie goes to the big guy. Here is a little Video.

Having arrived  a few weeks before their season we were able to get a massive room in a beautiful resort for fifty dollars US with breakfast and dinner included.

Early the first morning we took a little elephant safari. Although we didn't see any tigers we saw two of the several species of deer that they have in the park, and heard a third species the barking deer.

We saw a dozen or so of these Sambar deer (above), and scores of Chital or spotted deer (below).





The reserve is home to hundreds of species of birds including these "bee-suckers," as well as black-faced monkeys.

On the second day we also went for a jeep Safari. About an hour out it began to drizzle, but we could see what looked like heavier rain in the foothills to the north.  When we started back we found that this ford that had been a trickle when we crossed it an hour earlier had turned into a torrent. We were told that we would have to wait an hour or two before it would be safe to cross.


While we waited these guys kept us entertained. The guy at right particularly attached himself to Karen.

This had become a fairly common sight for us in India. We would see these milkmen with anywhere from a hundred and fifty to two hundred liters of milk in these big milk cans strapped on to a one hundred cc bike. After about an hour he decided with the help of four other guys to push the bike across. He made it about halfway across before the current pulled him in. Both he and the bike were totally submerged in some really fast water. Strangely enough the crowd of men that ran into the river were not going to his rescue, but they were racing after the milk cans that were floating down stream. Video II.

Amazingly the driver was unhurt. The same was not true of his motorbike.