As we were approaching this weekend my father surprised us by confirming a trip to Bera village. It is in the district of Pali about two and half hours’ drive from our hometown Udaipur. I loved these short lively trips which are really refreshing, and we look forward to it too. Well this time we were there to spot fabulous leopard. We were even accompanied our neighbours with whom we developed very good bonding during the COVID pandemic break. We left our snug abode by 2:00 PM and reached there by 4:15 PM. We had an enchanting stay at Castle Bera, which is a princely house of Thakur Baljeet Singh Bera who had such wonderful stories of the place. Beside a cozy room we even had a splendid balcony a lush green garden with radiant flowers and a swing in it.
After sipping up juices and tea with light snacks we were all set to leave for an astounding safari at 5:30 PM. It was turning up to be an exciting adventure chasing the elusive cat in the granite hills of Arravali’s. The hotel had organised two open gypsy’s to take us there. The first one and half hour we went up and down the aged rocky hillscape but could not spot any leopard. Our eyes were tiring looking for the hint of Cat in the gray and greens of the landscapes with few yellow grasses popping out in between. And suddenly our escort and driver found a large male leopard sitting on a flat and tall rock. It was in a joyful mood and was attempting to catch a squirrel moving between the branches of the tree and the rocks.
Did you know that leopards combine the power and strength of big cats and grace and versatility of small cats too? We could see its beautifully designed coat with the spots shining brightly and its long moustaches. Leopards surprisingly have a very wide prey base and love to feast on animals small and large like deer, pigs, gazelles, rabbits, langurs, dogs and often rats and squirrels too. The leopard had a cave nearby and is father of four newly born cubs staying in the cave as was narrated by our escort. The litter was seen playing with the mother a day before and we really wanted to catch the sight of the family together. While we were watching and listening to the tale, the leopard swiftly moved behind the rocks not to return again for the evening.
I hope you know that leopards camouflage with their surroundings and habitat. These cats can even hound down hefty animals like guerillas and chimps too. A remarkable story found out that a leopard had stalked a calf and cow gemsbok for two and half kms before attempting to go for the kill. There is an interesting thing about the leopard that they are very good climbers and are known to take prey twice their weight up to the branches to keep it safe from other big predators. The leopard cubs depend on their mother for between one to two years.
The night was around the corner, but we did not want to leave until we could spot the whole family together. Night fell and lost in the thoughts about the cat we returned home. The sight of the leopard was mesmerising but the uncertainty surrounding the possibility of spotting one in the wild made it such an absorbing memory. We also went through the wonderful ancient Aravalli hill range which had caves to host wild creatures at safety near the villages and fields around humans. And the sunset we watched was such a fascinating sight.
As we reached our home for today at about 8:30 PM we were too weary and hungry and went straight to the washroom to wash our hands and face and just wanted to have dinner which was already laid out for us and was such a relief. While we ate our dinner, we exchanged our versions of moments from the day and the hope to see the leopardess with the litter in the next morning safari. Soon after having the dinner we just went for our bed and were too tired to be fast asleep as we were to wake up early morning at 4:15 AM for the next adventure.
I shall pen down our adventures from the day 2 of the trip which I will publish next week on Wednesday.