India’s “Palace on Wheels”

by Victor Emanuel, President, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours

There are only a few times when something you have anticipated for a long time turns out to exceed your highest expectations. My trip to India on the "Palace on Wheels" was one of those rare experiences. The idea for the trip came about far from India itself, in a Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas. I was visiting with my friend Raj Singh, owner of an Indian travel company, and he said to me, "Have you ever thought of chartering a train for a tour? In India, you could take people on a train to the best places for viewing tigers, birds, and other wildlife." Such an idea had never occurred to me but I immediately responded, "Let's do it."

That conversation took place three years before the event itself finally materialized. Raj told me that given sufficient time, he could charter India's premier train, the "Palace on Wheels," and get authorization for it to take a group of travelers to the best areas in central India for viewing tigers, birds, and other wildlife. He suggested we plan the trip for late March 2001 since our chances for seeing tigers would be greater then than during the winter months.

Because Raj Singh is the most reliable and competent ground agent I have ever worked with anywhere in the world, I trusted him completely to make the arrangements for this exciting journey and knew it would run as smoothly as possible.

A couple of weeks before the trip Raj called me and said, "This is going to be a fantastic trip. Everyone is so excited, including the Minister of Tourism and the Wildlife Division. This will be a groundbreaking trip of tremendous importance for India and its wildlife." Our kickoff dinner at the Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi was a memorable event.  

Many Indian wildlife officials and tourism officials attended including Mr. Lalit Panwar, the Secretary of Tourism for the State of Rajasthan. The Palace on Wheels, a newer version of the Maharaja's original train, had been his pet project. He had watched it being built. He shared Raj's enthusiasm that for the first time it would be used to visit some of India's top wildlife areas and the Taj Mahal.

The next morning was thrilling as a group of 72 participants and 10 tour leaders were shuttled to the station to board "our" train. We all settled into our compartments and ate breakfast as we headed south. During the day we had an opportunity to become familiar with the train and watch India roll by. The wheat was ripe in northern India, and it was being harvested by teams of workers. Dr. Robert Fleming, who co-authored The Birds of Nepal with his father, gave our first lecture on the history of India. As we traveled south into Mayda Pradesh, we had a chance to study the birds we hoped to see. The tour leaders conducted a review session on the birds.  

David Bishop, a tour leader who specializes in Asia gave a lecture on the biogeography of the Indian subcontinent, world renowned wildlife painter Robert Bateman gave a lecture on his art, and Peter Matthiessen, author of The Snow Leopard--a classic of modern nature writing, gave a lecture on tigers.

At noon the next day as our train pulled into the station, we were astonished to see over a thousand people on the platform waiting to welcome us to Gondia! This welcome had been organized by the Gondia Lions Club. A band was playing, flower leis were put around our necks, and a big banner read, "Welcome to Gondia." Both television and print journalists were there.  

It was almost overwhelming. Raj said to me, "This is a great day for Indian wildlife." These people were there to greet us because having the Palace on Wheels, the pride of India's railway system, come to their town was equivalent to the Concorde landing in Albuquerque to bring 90 people from overseas to see the Bosque del Apache Refuge and its wildlife. It was a major event tied to wildlife viewing.

Will we see a tiger?

The first wildlife area on our itinerary was Kanha National Park, India's largest tiger reserve. After our first game and bird drive, we assembled to hear a talk from the Park Director, Dr. Rajesh Gopal, on Project Tiger. After his talk we presented him with a check for $11,000 for the Staff Retirement Fund. These funds are used to support the families of rangers who have spent much of their lives trying to protect the tigers and other wildlife of Kanha. Dr. Gopal told us that his staff would do all they could to make sure we saw a tiger.

The following morning we divided into small groups to explore the great park in jeeps. We soon learned that the park staff had located a tiger which had killed a gaur calf the night before. The gaur is a huge bovine resembling a dark red oxen. Since the tiger was about 200 yards away from the road, we were taken on elephants to view it. The entire operation was perfectly organized by the park staff. All jeeps were assembled at a central point. Lots were drawn to establish the order in which each jeep would drive to the viewing area. I drew number two.  

We drove through lovely Sal forest to the place where the elephants and their mahouts were waiting. There were two elephants, each of which could carry four people to the tiger and its kill. After walking up a ladder you took a seat in the houdah. The mahout sat on the elephant's neck with a bare foot touching the back of each ear. As the elephant walked toward the tiger, the mahout communicated with the elephant using his feet as well as vocal commands.  

Soon we were looking down at a tiger. Holding down the gaur carcass with its front paws, the tiger tore off big chunks of meat. It was oblivious to our presence. Sitting on our elephant, with the air perfumed by the blossoms of the sal trees, and listening to the sounds of the Indian jungle, we each looked down on one of the world's most magnificent animals. It was a marvelous experience. One of the people with me said, "Life doesn't get any better than this – seeing a tiger from an elephant!"

We spent a part of three days in the park. During that time we saw a wonderful assortment of wildlife and birds including treepies, kingfishers, parakeets, storks, scimitar-babblers and much more. A few lucky groups saw a dhole, or Indian wild dog – an animal seldom seen.

Many people go to India's tiger reserves and never see a tiger. It is said that a thousand tigers see you for every one tiger you see. Thus, we were surprised and delighted that by the time we left Kanha, every person on our trip had seen a tiger, and most had seen more than one. Some lucky participants saw wild dogs early in the morning and later saw two tigers sitting in a pool of water. Others saw a tiger that was only 30 yards from the road.  

By the time we left Kanha as a group we had seen six tigers, prompting one of our local guides to remark, "It is raining tigers!" When we planned this trip, we hoped everyone would see a tiger, but in our wildest dreams we never imagined the success we would enjoy.

A big crowd – and even George Plimpton – shows up 

When we returned to Gondia station, another crowd of a thousand people had gathered to bid us farewell. They gave us copies of the newspaper that contained the article about our arrival.

Although we had enjoyed our time at Gondia immensely, we were all excited to board our train and head north. The ride itself was as pleasurable as our earlier adventures. In addition to the luxury of the train, and the amazing scenery, our tour leaders made the journey a special one. Being that it was the first day of the fourth month, we were treated to an amusing April Fool's talk by George Plimpton, something I'm sure we'll all remember with great fondness.  

The next stop was Agra where we visited Agra Fort and watched the sunset from the Taj Mahal, the world's most famous and beautiful building. Then it was on to Ranthambore, another national park. There we saw more tigers including a mother with two cubs, and a glorious assortment of birds. A few lucky people saw a leopard.

We ended this historic trip with a visit to Jaipur, one of India's princely cities. There we saw the Maharaja's Palace and toured parts of the palace that are normally closed to tourists. The Maharaja's son-in-law greeted us. It was the end of our tour and spirits were high. Raj called it the best trip of his life.  

What pleased me most was that we were able to share the wildlife, birds, culture, and history of India with so many people while supporting India's conservation efforts. In addition to our contribution to the Kanha employee's retirement fund, we were able to donate a jeep to the Desert National Park and a pair of night vision binoculars to the Ranthambore National Park.  

That evening we had an outdoor dinner at a private estate in the country. As we entered the estate, each man was given a turban and each woman a shawl. "Welcome Victor Emanuel Nature Tours" was spelled out beside the entrance path in marigolds. It was a very festive evening that included a sumptuous buffet, fantastic folk-dancing and music, fortune tellers, craftsmen, elephants, camels and a fireworks show.  

I had never been on a tour that enjoyed such a regal finale. Although, admittedly, after a week on the Palace on Wheels, we had all come to feel like kings and queens.