The hills of Ranthambore National Park tumble right down to the town’s edge, and just a stone wall, of varying levels of completeness, separates the wildlife from their human neighbours.

This level of proximity does not come without its complications, and the population increase and expansion of villages into forest land has increased human-wildlife conflict here. Natural habitats are needed for agricultural and grazing land, and wood collection by locals who depend on the forest for cooking, heating and lighting has led to degradation of the forest. More positively, though, poaching in India is not as widespread or frequent as it was in the past, and over the years, tiger numbers have multiplied steadily with increased conservation efforts. But I decide it’s best to adopt an approach of cautious optimism in anticipation of a tiger sighting, to manage my levels of both excitement and potential disappointment.

We gather for our 6 a.m. start in the hotel reception and fuel up on coffee and biscuits before heading out to meet our guides for the day. As we set off in the early hours, the mist is still rising over the surrounding hills and the anticipation grows for the morning ahead. We zip down the road in our open-top jeeps, the fresh morning air blowing away what remains of any sleepiness, towards our area of the park for our morning game drive. 

Ranthambore is split into ten zones, each with its own distinct features, and allocated randomly to the visitors each day to ensure that no one area of the park is not overwhelmed. We visit area 8 which is on the opposite side of the town from our hotel, but our permits are checked quickly on arrival and we are ushered in to start our search for wildlife.

We begin by driving steadily deeper into the park, through bush, scrubby grasslands and up steep hilly tracks. Ranthambore has more to offer than just tigers, and on our journey, we spot sambar deer, peacocks, black buck, porcupines and many species of birds. We stop at the top of the rugged hilltop for a while and get out of the vehicles to admire the view across the surrounding landscape.

It’s time to get back in the jeep to continue our drive and before long, our driver and guide spot tiger paw prints in the dirt, so we set off to try and track them to their current location. Back and forth across trails and hillsides, we bumped along, squinting into the surrounding shrubs in the hope of seeing a flash of orange. Alas, their prints are the closest we get to seeing them this morning, but the experience of searching for them was half the fun. Our first game drive complete, we head back to the hotel for a late breakfast and some time by the pool.

Our hotel, the Juna Mahal, is situated on the north edge of the park and is a beautiful heritage-style property with gorgeous grounds and rooms. A few hours relaxing in the warming sun is much welcome after a long, cold and damp UK winter and it’s an effort to drag ourselves away for the afternoon drive, but the call of the tigers is strong and anticipation of a sighting high! Both our groups are in the same area of the park this afternoon and as it will be our last game drive, we are keeping our fingers firmly crossed.

The afternoon safari starts in much the same way as this morning, with our paperwork being checked on entry before making our way into the park. But after a few minutes, we sense a renewed excitement. Our guide reports that a tiger has been spotted and asks if we want to head towards the area it was last seen. A resounding yes! Off we go!

As we draw closer, the driver slows down. We don’t need to keep our eyes peeled – it’s clear where the tiger is from the other vehicles in the area. The distribution of visitors to different areas of the park aims to minimize the negative impact of tourism on the tigers, their behaviours and their habitat, but of course, any sightings inevitably draw everyone in from that zone. The positive benefits that tourism brings to conservation efforts need to be carefully weighed against the disruption this can cause, and Ranthambore has recently announced the closure of the park on Wednesdays to help ensure the park's ecological balance and the well-being of its inhabitants.

We pull up at the end of a line of jeeps and watch a pair of tigers snoozing in the shade of the trees. Every so often a head pops up to lazily survey the scene, and with it, a smattering of camera shutters pop.

Much to our excitement, the pair start to meander closer to our spot, finding the perfect place to rest in the shade until the coolness of the evening descends. As the shrubbery thins, we get a better view of these spectacular creatures. Their markings are beautiful and their eyes sparkling. They are magnificent and being in their presence is captivating. I could happily have spent many hours just watching and admiring them but unfortunately, our time is limited and it’s soon time to leave. It’s been a wonderful start to our Rajasthan adventure and an experience to remember forever.