The Lady of the Lake

Monkey's heckle us as we drive through the main gates and become engulfed by the jungle. Eyes peeled asthe jeep creeps along, hunting for a flash of orange and black. We arrive at the top of a rather large hill at a sharp drop off point which marks the end of the trail. Binoculars out, focus on, we look longingly into the distance, hoping beyond all hope that one of the (approximate) 25 tigers living within Ranthambore National Park will appear.

Suddenly, the guide perks up and starts talking quickly to the guide in the jeep that had just pulled up next to us. They exchanged only a few words before the other guide started looking intently through his binoculars towards the area to which our guide was pointing. Excited he exclaims that it is a tiger! Binoculars turned towards a ravine, sure enough there is a Tiger approaching a pool of water, taking a drink before entering the water to relax. Camera clicking like mad, I was so excited to be seeing a tiger in the wild. (Even though it was so far away you could only see it with binoculars.)

10 minutes passed before the tiger left the water. However, instead of wandering back towards the area she had come from, which was unreachable in the jeep, she crossed the water and started in the other direction. In a blur, the jeeps (there were now 3 of them including ours) whirled around and began racing down the hill. Holding on to the rails for dear life, we flew towards the road where the tiger was headed, suddenly slowing down to make a turn and then crawling towards the tiger the rest of the way.

Once again the guide got excited, (this time his excitement seemed more genuine, like he himself was in awe of this stunning creature before us) this was not just any tiger, this was Machali, the queen of Ranthambore, the Lady of the Lake and one of the oldest tigers in the park. She was so unbelievably beautiful, walking with a majestic strength that both intimidated and intrigued. In fact, I was so utterly bewitched by her magnificence that it actually took me a while to realize that the reason she was getting so much bigger with every step was that she was walking directly towards us.

Sitting in an open top jeep with no doors and no where to run or hide with a wild tiger heading straight for you is terrifying! My heart was pounding so hard I swore she could hear it. Once she was close she turned ever so slightly to walk directly past us. She was so close that if I had reached down from my seat I could have actually stroked her. I was so excited and nervous that I didn't realize until she had passed us that I had been holding my breath.

The jeep slowly rolled along next to her so we could watch the Lady of the Lake while she decided to be in plain sight. I was so focused on Machali that it wasn't until she crouched down low and crept next to one of the other jeeps that I noticed several sambar deer drinking from a pool of water on the other side of us.

Machali used the jeeps as cover as she prepared her assault, ever muscle tensed as she moved slowly to the last camouflaging jeep. Pausing for a few seconds, waiting for the perfect moment, when suddenly she was gone in a flash. (Click here to watch her in action!)

The group took off running, but it was too little too late for one female sambar who had ventured too far from the herd. Machali sunk her teeth into it bringing it down is a single bound. Ensuring her catch was indeed dead before daring to let go. It was a few minutes before she began to move. It was obvious that she wanted to drag her kill off into the jungle, but the dead weight of the full grown sambar was too much for her to drag out of the water so she dug in right in front of us.

According to the guide, this was a massive victory for this royal tigress as she had not had a recorded kill in quite some time. In her youth Machali was the most dominant & most famous tiger in the park due to her impressive figure and strength. She was even caught on film taking down a 14 foot crocodile. An absolute legend of the park, making even the strongest of males back down, the guide was obviously sad to see her getting old & pleased to see she could still obtain such a substantial kill.

We sat talking, learning all of her most epic stories as we watched her until twilight (well past the length of our tour), only leaving to get out of the gates before they are locked for the night.

The strength, beauty, power, grace, and mystery of this legendary tigress is an inspiration. She continually triumphs, against all odds, surviving. No longer the super power she once was, she lives on, just as strong. Machali is proof that where there is a will there is a way, and I will never forget that as I will never forget her.