19/05/2024
DHELA
A zone form Corbett that I visited for the first time this summer, in all these years. Dhela was an unplanned visit, as I had a few days of holidays before my night stay bookings at Dhikala zone. Luckily we found a room at Dhela FRH for one night and decided to pick it up. What happened after that is history...
On our very first safari (afternoon) we were on the main road that runs through the heart of Dhela zone.. It is a very unimpressive & unassuming sight with field like open areas on both sides of the Tar road that runs from the middle. These open areas are actually grasslands, the grass of which has been recently burned down as a measure of controllled fire, so that new grass can emerge thus providing feed for the herbivores.
There are about two, three man made water bodies in this area, which are visible from a distance..
As we were waiting on the main road, not much was happening and we took short rounds on both sides just to escape the heat and boredom. It is when, I spotted something black coming out of the waterbody at a distance of about 500 Mts.. As we drove towards it, our guide said it was a sloth bear,, but I was not convinced and I asked Mama, to drive a little faster.. which he did and within seconds I saw that the Tiger had just come out of the water and was shaking the water off with a final confirmation of the twirl of his tail which formed up the much familiar pattern of water in the air above him. Thus confirming his presence.
We had very little time to position ourselves to get this shot, with the back light and an amazing experience of seeing a male tiger walking straight up.
Shot with Nikon D850 & 500f4