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but it is really a very posh campsite. The accommodation consists of huge white tents, and to protect the environment there are few permanent structures, except for the main building, which also has a roof terrace bar and restaurant. I have camped many times before at music festivals, high up in the Andes in Peru and out on the plains in Botswana, surrounded by lions and honey badgers, but this was very different. These were luxury tents with bathrooms, electricity and a veranda with comfortable chairs and a walking stick in a pot with which to fight off the tigers. As the evening approaches all of the guests wander over to a "bar", a clearing in the forest, for the medicinal gin and tonic. Excellent Indian buffet food was served later in the dining tent.

Guides, transport and a driver were provided by the hotel, for the safari game drives. The guides constantly communicate with each other and with wardens on foot to optimize the chance of a tiger sighting. For environmental reasons the jeeps are usually shared between four guests, with two rows of seats behind the driver and guide. We were driven at break-neck speed through the park for several hours a day, morning and afternoon for four days, chasing the illusive tigers. We rarely stopped for anything else, unless we shouted out and demanded to stop. The monkeys, antelope and other wonderful sights seemed to be of little relevance to our guide. Not a single tiger in sight. Each evening we compared notes with the other guests, and eventually we realized that we were the only four people there who hadn't seen a tiger. Sightings were mostly rare and brief, but at least the others had seen and possibly photographed these wonderful creatures. We were extremely disappointed, and the staff at the hotel arranged an extra game drive on the morning of our departure, but again with no success.

The park is wonderful and the Ranthambore Fort extremely impressive. The accommodation and relaxed evenings cannot be faulted, but the guides rarely spoke and were perhaps the worst I have encountered on my travels. I may however have slightly biased opinion because we really were very unlucky not to have seen a single tiger in four days. I would recommend going to Ranthambore, but bear in mind there is always the chance of being disappointed.

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