The Global Explorer: Where lions rule. Sasan Gir national park.

As sort of a follow up to the amazing tigersighting I had in Bandhavgahr national park, i went to Sasan Gir (The Gir forest) nationalpark in the arid Gujarat state. The star attraction there is the Asiatic lion. You find some of the same species of larger game here as you do in Bandhavgahtr like sambar and spotted deer-but not in the same numbers. What definitely is the same in both places is the mess in getting permits and get your trip sewn together. One thing that is very important to know, is that there are different routes. Each car is assigned one route, and it is not possible to alter from that set itinerary once started. Some routes are good ones, others less. A high paying foreign tourist don't want to end up on a poor one. But one thing must be said about the guides here-they are on average far more dedicated and professional in their job than the guides over at Bandhavgahr. Over there-they were mostly crap. In Sasan Gir, they were actually able to show us a few hard to spot smaller things.

I sort of liked the village. There are a few local eateries-that close somewhat early-serving the local fare. For me they also provided some past time-as platforms for people watching.

Arrived! The way in and the way out is by bus.

Gir locals. Most of the people there are Muslim.

Typical for the whole region is the mosques with these delicate "dollhouse"minarets.

A lovely leftover from the British era.

Sunset!

My first morning out was a disappointment. No less. I went up 0330 in the morning, to a freezing cold reality-only to be driven trough an area of hamlets and farms. And occasionally honking (!!) local vehicles overtaking us. Needless to say: no lions. Nothing else either. Only the full fare.

Early morning in the forest. It has its own beauty-but it was freezing cold!

Sambar deer wondering who we are.

A kingfisher.

Owls, aren't they just adorable!!

A representative of the minority people living within the park borders. He is leading cattle back to his village to keep them safe from the predators. The white dress is their typical attire.

In the afternoon i had joined force with a Briton, and we got things sorted out to our advantage. We got a good route. Our first catch in the afternoon heat was a relaxing male lion. We stopped some 50 meters away from him, but he didn't care. He really didn't care about us or anything else. He was RESTING! It rested in a place where they very often spot lions, nobody was surprised finding a cat there.
Just around the corner, in a small river valley, we found a female lion resting. She was quite a bit away from us, mostly hidden behind a rock. But she was alert and kept an eye on us.

The king of the animals. Maybe. But what a lazy king!

The kings queen is somewhat more online.

Spotted deer. We love to get them close-but them being so relaxed indicate there are no lions nearby.

Wild bees. We were kindly asked to shut up when passing beneath them.

But it was the next afternoon that became the pinnacle. We got the same route as the day before. Stopping at the same place, Bingo. Only that the ultra sedate male was replaced by a female. She was relaxed but awake-in the brush,almost invisible, her two cobs were resting close to a carcass. Mamas morning kill. On our first visit to the site, we could not really see the cobs-only the mother was fully visible. Then other cars started to pour in, and we left. Not long after, our guide started to talk back and forth with our driver-and on the radio. Then asked us if we wanted to return to the safe spot. We sure did. And were in for a little treat. The site was emptied for other vehicles containing the usual crowd of noisy Indian tourists. We got the site all to ourselves. And there was more to it: we got closer-a lot closer-to the cats. Now the two big kittens had joined their mother.