Spices n Secrets

Jungle safari is extremely adventurous. From the rustic locales of safari to the resorts and its décor, jungle safaris are fabulous for those who crave forests and not-so-posh hotels and modes of commute.
  

Mid-March 2018, we went for one such jungle safari in the Indian state of Rajasthan called Ranthambore National Park. Located in the Sawai Madhopur District, Ranthambore since 1973 has been a tiger reserve/sanctuary.

Not wanting to waste a day in travelling, we chose to have an overnight drive on Friday at 11pm and reached our resort after several halts mid-way next day at 9am.
Route Taken: NH 48
Distance from New Delhi: 391 kms
Time Taken: 9 hrs without halt
Number of Halts We Took: 4

The road to Ranthambore is good. However, some parts are rugged especially when the Rajasthan city and its lanes are crossed. Morning we stopped at a restaurant called Tiger Treat. This place has many handicraft items that are all for sale. Slightly over-priced.
Driving with the help of Google Map, let to a bit of dismay when the location of our resort was not correct and we reached a wrong place. Nevertheless, the locals shopkeepers, auto-walas and residents are helpful enough to guide us.

We Pre-booked the Tiger Moon Resort. With 2 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 evening tea and 1 dinner, each room cost us 7500 Indian Rupees. The resort has many cottages with 3 rooms. Two below and one on its terrace. The dining hall cum restaurant is separate where we went and ate all our meals.
Must say that the resort location, maintenance of the property, the rooms and bathroom are all beautiful and worthy to recommend others.
Inside the resort, there is open swimming pool, cleaned everyday and made ready for the guests in the morning. There are hammocks for relaxation. There is an amphitheater type area built with a bonfire in the middle and plenty of chairs surrounding it. And, a Macchan or roof top for sight-seeing.
There are a variety of spa available (extra charge). There is a pottery making section for those interested. One can request for organizing day excursions at the reception and with some nominal charge, the guests can go for different tours like fort visit, nature walk, lake visit, shopping, safari, etc.

I could not go for the jungle safari because of my baby, others in our group went for it and I do not see any reason to not share their experience through pictures. A canter came for all the guests to take them for safari at 7am.
Besides exotic birds and deer, they were lucky to spot a tiger!
The food and the service was excellent. All meals were buffet style with a live counter. Morning we were served cornflakes with milk and fruits, toast with butter and jam, choice of eggs (made at the live kitchen), puri-sabzi, poha, tea, coffee and juice.
The lunch used to be of dal/pulses, mixed vegetables, paneer/cottage cheese gravy, chicken, rice, chapatti and salad. The dinner had soup and rest of the items were same but different recipes. All meals were fresh and nothing to complain about it.
Sunday afternoon we checked out and were super glad for the lovely hospitality that the resort and its employees gave us.

For Delhi, we chose driving via Bharatpur-Hindaun-Gangapur Highway and Taj Express.
Distance: 403 kms
Time Taken: 11 hours with halts.
We suffered a bit because there was no food joint for lunch on the way. We had to buy fruits like apples and bananas to satisfy.

Evening when we reached Mathura, we saw a lot of options and sat for a somewhat okay restaurant and fed ourselves South Indian cuisine - dosa and tea.

A 15-20 minutes of more patience could have treated us with better food options in the Yamuna Express Highway.

Anyways we reached home tired from the long drive at 11pm. 

Concluding remarks:
This tour has been an awaited one. We enjoyed a lot in the resort and swimming pool. There was absolutely no problem in terms of security of our baggage and car. Upon entering we inquired about how safe from animals is this place considering that we have a baby who is less than 1 year old and another kid of 2 years. They assured us about the safety and precautions.

We have now fond memories of this place and wish to go again and again. And, the next time I am sure to go for the Safari along with my kid!

*Head over to the ULTIMATE SURVIVAL KIT FOR JUNGLE SAFARI for my top 10 essential items in your baggage.