Ranthambore and Tiger Drive

We wake at 5:30 for a quick coffee and to get ready by 6:15 when the vehicles come to pick us up. We head out in an open-air Jeep for the park which is a 15 min drive away. We enter Gate 1 into the park. The rains have washed out so much, and a lot of the roads are not driveable so only certain zones are open. We drive along the road (as you are not allowed to go off-road) hoping to spot signs of life. About an hour into the drive we have still not spotted much, it has been bumpy, and some spots are hard to pass, as we are working our way further into the forest. We arrive at a lake area where we spot our first signs of life some birds as well as a crocodile lounging in the lake. We continue on for a bit before having to turn around due to the road being washed out. Tigers live in specific territories and make their area with urine scents. We have given up on spotting Nali, but head to another area of Sultan and hope to spot her instead. As we continue along, we spot many other types of wildlife here: peacocks, both males with beautiful feathers and the females with their babies, deer (which are quite a bit larger than deer in the Rockies), two mongoose, and other birds as well such as egrets and parakeets. We round our final curve before the end and see at the end a troop of monkeys. They are sitting all around us in the branches just watching us as intently as we watch them. 

We head back to Khem Villas, along the bumpy road and back through the stone structure that looks like an old forgotten castle gate at the entry to the park. We did not get to spot a Tiger, likely due to the rains still, but perhaps we can return another time. We return to shower and eat a better breakfast and then head out to Jaipur, a 3-hour drive this afternoon. 
This evening we head to the Amer Fort for a special dinner arranged for us in a fine dining restaurant near the roof. The fort was built in 967 before Jaipur even existed and now sits atop the hilltop, shining like a mammoth protector over the city. The restaurant here serves different authentic Indian foods on a large platter to give you a great variety. After enjoying the restaurant. We walk around the fort a bit in the lights, admiring the handiwork of the huge structure.