Being India’s national animal has meant that the Bengal Tiger is always in the news for a variety of reasons – good or bad – and the sanctuaries and national parks that house the tiger are often overflowing with tourists. Even rarer than the tiger is the lion, recognized as the king of the jungle; however very few know where to go if you want see one in India – other than in the zoo, that is. The only sanctuary in India where you can spot the Asiatic Lion in India is the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujrat that had over 400 lions at the last count. We planned a visit there to spot them in the wild and arrived there at the peak of summer temperatures in the month of May. We checked in at the Sinh Sadan Guest House, a government managed hotel bang at the entrance of the Gir National Park in Sasan. It is a very old structure, perhaps dating back over a 100 years. It is very well spread out with plenty of greenery and large rooms. The traditional food that you get here is excellent; and while it is not very kids-friendly, it has lot of open land for them to play and recreate. The big advantage of this place is that all Gir safari trips start from its entrance.

The Gir forest is unique; and the entire forest becomes a different shades of brown during summers. The deciduous trees are devoid of leaves and hence have no green on them. This works as a perfect camouflage for the lions, as they can dissolve themselves into this mirage of brown and hunt down their prey easily. The chances of spotting them during summers are thus pretty strong, even if this means that you must overcome the heat, sweat and fatigue; the common dampeners of a summer holiday mood.

We took the early morning safari and started at 6:30 AM. We started noticing the spotted deer, antelope, gazelle and nilgai and a variety of birds straight away. But for almost an hour, that is all we could see. Then, some other groups who went ahead of us and were returning, told our driver that they spotted the lions way down the road. And so, to catch a glimpse of the Majesty and make our trip fruitful, we rushed through the woods on a bumpy, dusty ride at the best possible speed. And lo and behold! Right in-front of us, crossing the road was a group of 5 – led by a lioness – that also had 2 cubs. One came extremely close to our vehicle and passed by only about 5 feet from us. To watch them up so close was a treat, a delight. Once the troop vanished in the woods on the other side of the road, our guide guessed that they could be headed towards a stream of water, so we again followed them. And found them again, by the stream. Then they probably felt that it was enough of a revelation; and promptly disappeared into the deep. And we came back, stars in our eyes with a sense of satisfaction and mission accomplished.