After my first encounter with the tiger cubs at Pench Tiger Reserve in India, I had retired to my room at a nearby resort at midday. I elected not to go on safari that afternoon and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Two days later, I would return to the park once more.

I embarked through the cool mist of the forest on another cool morning, my eyes and ears sharp to the sights and sounds of the forest. If a tiger moved, we would know. I remained vigilant, standing in the jeep and scanning the surroundings.

The jeep slowly traversed the meandering dirt roads of the forest for what seemed like an eternity and we emerged in grassland where the rising sun was setting the fields aglow. Materializing out of the mist was a set of buildings. We had arrived at an elephant camp.

The driver stopped and casually set forth on a bathroom break and afterwords started a conversation with one of the camp staff.

I started to get anxious. I looked back across the field into the forest. We certainly weren’t going to see any tigers at the rate events were unfolding. I made my point by staying in the jeep, hoping others would get the hint. We eventually crept back into the dark forest, where morning light was penetrating through the trees.

We met other jeeps periodically and after drive-by chats, we found out that no one had seen a tiger yet. This increased my anxiety. The first tiger I saw had left its mark on me... I wanted more, like a drug-user in need of a fix.

We turned onto a path that seemed scarcely used and soon after we heard the silence broken by the trumpeted cough of a sambar warning call.

There was a tiger out there...and it was on the move...