Jawai Leopard Camp

Kumbhalgarh Fort    

The amazing walls

Top of the wall from the fortress

Monkey hitchhiker 

Inside our tent

Bar

Cocktails around the fire 

We left the Lake Palace Hotel and began the drive towards our next destination: Jawai Leopard Camp. Along the way we diverted to see Kumbhalgarh Fort.

On our last visit to India, we planned to visit the fort, however it was raining that day - so we skipped it. Today the weather cooperated, it was perfect. Kumbhalgarh is an imposing huge fort set amid massive ramparts and surrounded by hundreds of temples. The fort is the creation of one of Mewar's legendary heroes, Rana Kumbha. It is enormous with incredible massively thick walls. The forts walls are renowned for both their height and thickness. It is almost like a 2-lane road on top.

As we Vijay drove us, we stopped many times to take pictures of the monkeys sitting by the side of the road. When we stopped they would climb on to our car and look at us through the windows. Monkeys are nasty creatures but fascinating to watch.

We drove off the narrow 1-lane highway, on to a dirt road where we were met by Shantaram who will be our driver. Our luggage was off loaded into his open-air jeep and we were driven down dusty trails that barely could be followed. It was a very bumpy ride. We finally arrived at the Jawai Leopard Camp, where we were escorted to our luxury tent. It is like no other tent we have been in, full shower, working toilet etc. We were warned to keep our tent entrances closed and leave no food exposed because monkeys and other animals that will follow the scent to the food.

Once we were acclimated we walked back towards the Camp’s outside bar. Our tent is away from the central area of the Camp. We each were given flashlights to illuminate the path. There are hundreds of lanterns everywhere and local guides that lead you from your tent to where ever you want to go.

We were told an interesting story that there was a caste of people who were traditional lantern lighters. The people of this cast would go from house to house cleaning lanterns, refilling them with oil and lighting them every night. With the advent of electricity, the people of this caste migrated to the city, as the only way to find employment. This camp employs 3 people whose only job is to clean, fill and ignite the hundreds of lanterns. These three people have returned from the big cities like Mumbai and returned to the village and their traditional jobs. Apparently, they prefer this village life to the hectic impersonal city life.

There are 19 guests at the lodge right now. They are from all over the world: China, Australia, Canada, England, Germany, etc. Chairs were arranged around a large campfire. Drinks and appetizers were served as we mingled and got to know the guides and a few of the other guests. The night is quite cold but the fire was large enough to keep us warm.

We then all moved to a dining area under the stars. Braziers were lit to keep us warm. A traditional Rajasthani thali dinner was served - it was quite good. We were then escorted to our tent by guides with flashlights. Cathy had a slight cold and decided to skip the 6am wakeup call for our first Leopard Safari. All night long we heard strange noises from animals creeping around our tent.