Sasan Gir 21/12/08 - 04/01/09 Pt1

Sasan Gir 21/12/08 – 04/01/09
I wrote a poem once, not a very good one I am sure, can’t remember how it went, can’t remember where it might be but I can remember where & why I was inspired to such literary endeavours - tigers, Ranthambore National Park, India 1990, title, “Theatre of the Jungle”. Such a cliché. I can even remember how it began: “The curtain raises on the theatre of the jungle, sunrise & the jungle slowly awakes.” This morning as I wait to explore and see what the jungle has to offer, the same words run through my mind. The anticipation of it all, the sounds, like an orchestra tuning up before a performance, instruments join into the cacophony of sound…. I’m writing it again!!
Lions, king of the jungle, king of beasts, are the attraction on this trip with the ‘theatre’ being Sasan Gir, India. When the subject of  lions is talked about my mind automatically pictures Africa, Kruger Park, The Serengeti but no, Gujarat in the north west of India is home of the last wild Indian Lion  or Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica).
These are the last vestments of the lions that roamed all of Asia, Turkey, Europe; Lions that the Romans would have been throwing the Christians to, lions that gladiators would have pitted their strength & skills against did not come from deepest, darkest Africa, they were ‘home grown’ so to speak and now after the population explosion from the Indus valley civilisation on through the Roman Empire to today’s modern world, here in the one horse gateway of Sasan Gir,
Sasan Gir is home to the last remaining 349 or so wild Asiatic lions (as per the last census in 2005). These once would have outnumbered their African cousins many fold, but are now restricted to a very small corner of India.
I arrived 10 days ago from Mumbai, flew to Rajkot & then a shared car to Sasan for Christmas & New Year (Today is 01/01/09, Happy New Year) in the company of lions. After a week-and-a-half here, I have realised that the question “Why come to Sasan Gir?” is answered by only one word - safari. Lions, leopards, antelope, deer and birds, nothing else here to do.
Sasan reminds me of Pottuvil, my nearest town from home in Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka. In the same way as Pottuvil a one street, one horse, dust filled town it nether the less is the gateway to the beaches of Arugam Bay and the wildlife park Yala East, Sasan is a smaller version without having a beach resort right on its doorstep. Dusty high street lined with eateries, chai shops & ‘hotels’.
First hotel I stayed in, I walked out in disgust 2 days later, after being constantly badgered by the owners to part with exorbitant amounts of cash to ‘arrange’ safari’s & see lions out of the park. Avoid Hotel Umang at all costs, it is an expensive dump. Rajeshiri down the road offers same low quality rooms at quarter of the price without the hassle, £4 v £15!! Or better still ’homestay’ family rooms at Nitin Ratangayra, +919979024670 big help in getting shared vehicles into the park & all round good guy, spent 10days there.

Christmas period not the best time to choose to be here, park charges go up to £50 a vehicle, up from £30 (6 passengers max). They also charge an extortionate £8 to take in a camera but only for foreigners! Government promotes discrimination here as do many Asia countries, Sri Lanka included. However, when you see the well-heeled Delhi/Mumbai middle class show up in their 4×4 speaking well-educated English you do have to wonder. One of the main differences I have noticed since my last visit is how India tourism is promoted to the country’s middle class these days and how many take the opportunity to explore their own country. This does make the ‘tiered’ price discrimination a lot harder to justify. Sasan is no different, place is full of local tourists who will not share a vehicle with a foreigner as their cost will go from £8 to the £50. Those foreigners that may be in the area are likely to be in Diu 60km away, a non-dry area; Sasan is ‘dry’ as Gujarat is a ‘dry’ state by law, as well as a  strong moral/religious vegetarian culture, with only vegetarian fare?!
Couple of us, me and another Steve (lucky Maguire) did find cans of Kingfisher at £6 a can; we bought 8 - what the hell, it was Christmas after all!
To add to its back-country feel, all tea (chai) is drunk out of saucers in preference to cup &… a practice I remember being frowned upon by my mother as I joined in with Tidey (Welsh grandfather) in slurping away at a saucer of tea. I got away with it until the dipping of bread into the tea caused her to strike the back of my head (in the days when parents could admonish their children?!) Another idiosyncracy here is the male fashion of dying the hair ginger - now that has to be weird!
Lions,
Leopard
Mongoose
Jackels
Nilgai (Bluebull)
Chital
Chinkara
Spotted deer
Sambur
Wild Boar
(photo’s in the gallery)