Spotting Leopards In The Rajasthan Wilderness

5 months ago

Our Editor-at-Wild spots leopards at Suján Jawai tented camp

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Set deep within the bewitching Rajasthan wilderness, against a dramatic backdrop of granite hills and kopjes, dated over 850 million years old, is Suján Jawai, a luxurious Relais & Châteaux tented camp from which you can discover the wonderful wildlife of this unique region. From here you can go on 4×4 and horseback safaris, race camels, visit local villages, try your hands at ancient artisanal crafts – and even spot a leopard, if you’re lucky.

C&TH Guide to Responsible Tourism

Postcards From… Rajasthan, India

Campfire Nights

A night to remember: watching a Bond film surrounded by candle-lit desert, gin and tonic in hand. Meanwhile, Suján Jawai’s expert staff unpack my tiffin tin of three-day marinated lamb curry, and my children devour the camp’s fresh mango sorbet.

Saddle Up

Suján Jawai belongs to my childhood friend Jaisal Singh, a polo player turned hotelier and now Marwari breeder – the Maharajas’ majestic endurance desert horses. As well as 4×4 safaris, the property also offers horseback excursions, riding in convoy through mustard fields, ravines, and ending with a beautifully catered brunch that would happily be my last supper. We spy eagle owls, king fishers, honeybee catchers, little owlets, vultures, wild boar, nilgai, leopard tracks, and snakes within minutes of each other. This is an Indian idyll, with the local trackers knowing everything there is to know about the land and its ecosystems. And it’s not just horses. e second my children, all keen riders, set eyes on the camels, they jump out of our Jeep, and onto their humped steeds, not to be seen again ’til dinner.

Made By Hand

We spend an afternoon with local craftspeople creating pottery, weaving, and block printing under tented pavilions. With refreshing nimbu pani on hand, the gentle sounds of goats and their herders soothingly close, it’s a welcome break from the frenetic pace of everyday life.

Spot On

Waking up in my luxurious tent at Suján Jawai, with a tray of ‘bed tea’ delivered by my immaculately turbaned and uniformed alarm clock, Jetu Singh, at cold, dark, desert dawn, is simply a joy.

Once dressed, another Rabari tribesman guides me to my open-air 4×4 with his oil lantern, where I am handed a hot water bottle, binoculars, and my species eld notes. We set o into the eerie fog of desert dawn, in this precious landscape, through the thriving wilderness of rural Rajasthan.

We cross steep boulders and sandy waterways to the morning soundtrack of over 250 bird species. We have one goal: to spot a leopard. Here, we are surrounded by pure, wild, nature. No humans, no other vehicles vying to see these regal cats in their natural habitat, just us and this beautiful, raw landscape.