The purpose of our short holiday to Gujarat , squeezed
between the end of one academic year (for S), and the start of her bridge
course for the next year, leaving us with little choice but to plan a
'vacation' for four days, was to see lions in their natural habitat—the best place
for this being the Gir forest in Sasan, Gujarat.
The first safari on the afternoon of 28th Feb on route 4, saw
only peacocks and deer in large numbers.
It was only on the next early morning safari of 2nd March on
route 6, that we had reason to celebrate. When the safari was almost winding to
a disappointing end, around 8.45 a.m., our alert guide pointed Mr. Fearless
(the word described this beautiful creature perfectly) to us. Short warning
barks of the alert deer resounded as we stood by in respectful silence. I had
the camera and was so excited, I pressed the OFF button instead of CAPTURE. But
we watched him, a beautiful biscuit colored male of about 10 years, his mane
blowing in the wind as he strode towards the other gypsy behind ours (the
person there, Mr. Nitin Vyas, luckily got good shots on his camera). 'Our' lion first stopping by a tree to mark it with a jet of
urine—dignified in this act as only a lion can be. Soon he ran down the path
and reached a small stream where his naturally refrigerated meal was stowed. He
settled down to his breakfast and the odor of the unfortunate sambhar reached
us. His handsome brother joined him and the bachelor party continued oblivious
of the gawking humans.
How fortunate we were to have shared breathing space for a
few minutes with these royal beasts. Our faces said it all! We controlled the
desire to whoop and yell to other tourists, “Yes, we saw two!”
