Ranthambore Tours, Rajasthan

Ranthambore, near the township of Sawai Madhopur, serves as a National Park. Once the private hunting ground of the maharaja of Jaipur, it saw the launching of the project tiger. The park is spread over an area of about 400 sq km.

Above one of the hills is the strategically built 10 th century fort, the Ranthambore Fort. Within this fort are some spectacular monuments. The terrain has some steep rugged rocks bordering the lakes and rivers, surrounded by dense forest and thick bushes. The forests have deciduous types of trees with 'dhok' as the most prominent tree. At the foot of the fort starts the forests. Located here is the Jogi Mahal, which houses the second largest banyan tree in India. The forest houses the Padam Talab, the Raj Bagh Talab and the Milak Talab. The forest displays the old time battlements and spillovers of Ranthambore scattered throughout the forest, symbolising the region's glorious past.

Ranthambore serves as the best park for wildlife photography. Since the implementation of the project tiger, tigers can be spotted easily, lazing around in the sun, or hunting near the sambar lake. No other sanctuary provides such a good view of tigers in broad daylight. Panthers are also a part of this forest. Sambars, marsh crocodiles, hyenas, jungle cats, sloth bears, chital, nilgai and chinkara are also residents of this forest. A number of birds can be seen here. Many birds, especially a variety of ducks migrate to this park during winters.

The best time to visit the park is between Oct-June.