A Late Evening Surprise

On a January evening, I was at Kabini, finishing an evening safari. We were already on our way to the exit returning on the main road (this road connects Karnataka to Kerala, and traffic is allowed till sunset). I was on the phone with my wife, thinking there is nothing more to do on safari. But suddenly my driver called out - “Tiger! Tiger!”.

Indeed, ahead of us on our left was a very young tigress, looking to cross the road. Scrambling between my phone and camera, we positioned ourselves for a quick shot, when the tigress decided to make a dash across the road to the other side of the forest. She sprinted across the road even as a goods vehicle approached from the opposite side, and vanished into the thick vegetation on the other side.

It was all over before we could take another breath, and images were blurry and hazy in the low light of late evening, but the rate at which our hearts were pumping ensured we would remember the evening for a long time!!