Cats Calling

Catching a tiger by the trail: top, two Bengal predators cooling off in the water; above, an aerial view of the Oberoi Rajgarh Palace. Two new opulent Oberoi hotels in Madhya Pradesh provide a front-row seat for spotting India’s elusive Bengal tigers By Marcia DeSanctis Seconds after my departure in pre-dawn darkness for a game drive in Bandhavgarh National Park, the sky released such heavy rain that my sunscreen ran down my face like paint. The open-top Mahindra Scorpio safari vehicle was quickly soaked, as was the wool blanket on my lap. As the water came down, my chances of seeing a tiger diminished with it. “Tigers can be a little unpredictable in the rain,” Suru Thakur, my naturalist guide, told me. They can also be trickier to spot in fog, which enveloped us.A tiger safari has little in common with a safari READ ON