At Last!

When we reach the staging location for the elephants it is mayhem - elephants, vehicles and ladders everywhere. One elephant is standing next to a vehicle as five Indian tourists scramble down to the ground. When riding we will sit sideways one on each side facing out but how many people can you fit on an elephant? Obviously the driver but Vijay tells us that the number of passengers depends on the size of the people and then politely adds 'and the size of the elephant' as he instructs us that we will only have two to an elephant.
Our elephant arrives, a ladder materializes, people scramble down. Guides gather round. Hurry! Hurry! Up! Up!, they urge. So I scurry up the ladder onto the 'saddle' throw my legs over the side and get into position as Michael follows (weak ankles, bad knees and fear of ladders and heights all pushed aside for now).
The bar on his side drops down into place like the safety harness on a Disneyland roller coaster and we are off into the forest with the sound of the drivers grunting instructions to the elephants replacing the sound of the motorized chain pulling you to the summit in this analogy of a wild ride.
We are crunching through the forest and then there she is, the TIGER! She is stunning, absolutely breathtaking as she looks about without actually seeing us on top of the elephant not 20 feet from where she lays. By shear luck Michael and the camera are facing the elephant. I can turn and he can get the photos. The tiger is in bushes, of course, which makes properly focusing the camera like threading a needle while moving. The mahawat has done this before, though, so he stops the elephant and says 'take, take, take'. Then he has the elephant take two baby steps. Again, he orders Michael 'take, take, take'. Over and over until we are past the tiger. Then we are off to the road again for the next of the group to take their turn.
We are down the ladder and walking to our vehicle when I stop in my elation to give Michael a quick hug and a congratulatory kiss but suddenly we are being pushed back to car. 'Get in. Get in! The tiger is moving! Get in the wehicle now!
We scramble up and turn back and sure enough there she is walking across the road between the line of waiting tourists' vehicles and then she is gone. In the end, only four and one half vehicles of people (three of our four couples included) got up on the elephants in time. And only a few others caught a glimpse of her leaving.
We are SOLUCKY!