We were all fascinated with the scenes from our van as we traveled around the cities and countryside. India is highly populated, crowded in many places and bustling with all kinds of activities. The streets are full of cars and busses to be sure, but also motorbikes, bikes, tuk-tuks, people, cows, goats, dogs and whatever. Some images:

Spread in an area of 23 Sq.Km Jhalana is home to 30-35 leopards. Situated just outside Jaipur city, it opened in 2016. The leopard is the apex predator and has little competition. Once a forest reserve, Jhalana has always been home to leopards and other fauna including spotted deer, blue bulls, wild boars and loads of bird life. We spent two days touring Jhalana and an adjacent reserve Amagarh in search of the beautiful leopard, and succeeded in spotting several as well as an assortment of other fauna.

Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It has a population in excess of 3 million. Jaipur is also known as the Pink City due to the dominant color scheme of its buildings in the old city. It was founded in 1727 by Sawal Jai Singh. It is one of the earliest planned cities of modern India. Jaipur is a popular tourist destination in India. The city serves as a gateway to other popular destinations, and has two World Heritage sites of Amber Fort and Jantar Mantar. We visited Jaipur principally to partake in leopard safaris at parks near the city, but we did enjoy a full day of sightseeing.

Jantar Mantar

Located in the heart of Jaipur, Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observatory built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh between 1728-1734.Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site , it is the largest among the other five similar ones built in northern India. It houses large stone instruments with striking combinations of geometric forms to view celestial bodies through naked eyes. The precision and accuracy of these instruments have been very alluring to scientists and historians.

The observatory also features the world’s largest sundial which calculates local time and manages to entice the interest of tourists. The instruments are most accurate at noon.

City Palace

Located in the heart of the old city, the City Palace comprises magnificent courtyards, gardens, cenotaphs and royal buildings. It was conceived and built by the founder of Jaipur, Rajput King Maharaja Sawaai Jai Singh II, and expanded by subsequent rulers. The most prominent sections of the palace are Mubarak Mahal, Chandra Mahal, Maharani’s Palace. Maharaja Singh museum and Bhaggi Khana. The museum contains a unique collection of royal costumes, weaponry dating to the 15th century along with prints and embroidery.

Amber Fort

Amer or Amber Fort is located about 11 km from Jaipur and is located high on a hill overlooking Maota Lake. The palace is a great example of Rajput architecture. Constructed of red sandstone and marble, the opulent palace is laid out on four levels each with a courtyard.The palace was the residence of the Rajput Maharajas and their families. This was begun by Raja Man Singh in 1592 and completed by Mirja Raja Jai Singh.

Jal Mahal

Jal Mahal was built in 1750 by Maharaja Madho Singh as a lodge and hunting retreat. It is a five story palace set in the middle of an artificial lake known as Man Sagar Lake.

Hawa Mahal

Hawa Mahal is a 200 year old monument in the city. Famous for its unique honeycomb design and Indo-Islamic architecture, the five storeyed palace has 953 lattice windows. It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh as a summer palace. This is actually the back of the palace.

Street Scenes

Like many populated places in India, this city is a bustling beehive of activity. A few scenes:

Part I: Agra

Our first full day in India started in Delhi, and began with a 4 hour drive to the city of Agra. Our guide Shayam informed us that it would likely be raining later in the day, and a sundown visit to the Taj Mahal would not be worthwhile. So after an Indian lunch in a very touristy cafe, we checked in and then visited the Agra Fort.

The Agra Fort is an historic fort in the city, also known as Agra’s Red Fort. Mughal emperor Humayun was crowned here. It was later renovated by emperor Akbar from 1565, completed in 1573. It served as the main residence of the rulers of the Mugdal dynasty until 1638, when the capital was shifted to Delhi.The 94 acre fort has a semicircular plan, with 70′ high walls. Double ramparts have massive circular bastions at intervals. four gates were provided on its four sides. Most notable are the Delhi Gate and the Lahore Gate.

Entry is provided at the Delhi Gate, after crossing a wooden drawbridge over the moat.

That evening we rode in Tuktuks, then walked in the rain to get our first closer=up view of the Taj from the back side and across the river.

This was a preview to our extensive tour the next morning to the iconic Taj Mahal. This is an ivory white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of the Shah himself. The tomb is the centerpiece of a 17-hectare complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house (never used), and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenelated wall.

The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been competed in 1653 at a cost estimated today at $500 million. The project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects. The Taj incorporates and expands on design traditions of indo-islamic and earlier Mughal architecture. Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones.The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex. It is a large white marble structure standing on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) topped be a large dome and finial. The o\overall details are phenomenal.

After touring the Taj, we visited a tile shop owned and managed by descendants of the family that did the inlay work at the shrine.

It is true to say that any visitor to India must visit Agra.

Many safari goers favor the leopard as their favorite cat, and I could be swayed in this direction. The leopard is not so easy to find. They tend to be loners, stay well hidden in the bushes or grasslands and pursue their prey very stealthily. They are very beautiful animals with outstanding eyes – the kind that say “I want to eat you next”. Our travel friends love to seek them out, and we always enjoy coming across them. Here are a few images from our last trip.

These are beautiful cats. We were fortunate to see several this last trip.

Always elephants – these are wild!

On another day at Lagoon Camp, we encountered four female lions. All were in the nursing stage. We followed them for some distance until they encountered a fairly wide stream/river. It was obvious they were going to cross; it was clear that their cubs were somewhere over there! Watching their hesitation to get wet was fascinating – they were watchful for crocs! Eventually one went and sat on the other side. It we 30-40 minutes before the other three took the plunge.

On our first safari drive of June’s visit to Botswana, we experienced several hours of a pride of lions typical morning. This pride consisted of two adult females and several cubs. The male did not show up for some time. Here are a few shots of the walk through the terrain.

At a point they reached a hillock, and decided to rest, wait and observe.

And then they sighted a large male kudu in the distance. The kudu saw or sensed the lions, turner at a right angle and ambled away.

The female lions then split. One went to the right while the other, poised, waited on the hillock. Then the females began to rum. Next:

We watched for a while, it got a little gruesome so we left. The next day we returned to find full belly’s, cubs playing and the old male, who waited too long to get a meal!