India

Kanha National Park

Following our major tiger success at Bandhavgarh, our luck seemingly abandoned us for the first two days in Kanha. Despite the best efforts of our highly experienced naturalist guide Tarun Bhati, we only had the barest glimpses of two tigers hidden in thick vegetation. We did have views of a couple of new mammals for the trip including barasingha deer and an otter. I also finally managed to get a decent photo of a red jungle fowl. 

It’s a lesson that we learn and re-learn on every wildlife safari: animals move around in real time and are not guaranteed or destined to be in specific places at specific times. Any manner of external factors can adversely affect wildlife activity and distribution. In a tiger reserve these run the gamut from a sudden cold snap, rain, wind or other change of weather, an animal census bringing pedestrians into a park, smoke from controlled burning to the presence of the firebreak control personnel. So don’t be disappointed if you have a slow day on safari in India or anywhere – it happens every now and then and it is nobody’s fault, least of all your guide’s. Your guiding team is doing everything possible to get you within sight of tigers quickly and regularly. When the animals are hard to find it’s just nature. 

By day three our luck turned and we had a great view of a female tiger crossing the road, after we had remained in essentially the same area for a good hour and a half. Finding tigers is equal measure skill and patience. The following morning we enjoyed a great sighting of a large pack of Indian wild dogs, numbering all of 22. Looking nothing like their African counterparts, the Indian wild dogs are quite similar in terms of size, family make-up and general behavior. It was a new mammal sighting for all of us. 

During our second swing through Kanha we had several more excellent tiger sightings:

• By 7:30 one morning we had seen two different tigers, a large dominant male – Pattawallah – and a pregnant female MV3.  
• A full day outing (special permit required) started with a bang. The same female tiger MV3 walked right by our vehicle, right at 6 am. Note to night owls: a tiger safari requires quite a bit of lark-like early morning activity. 
• Observing the DJ9 female tiger with a guide who was familiar with her habits and preferences resulted in her being nicely lined up for photos twice in the span of 10 minutes. Had we been even three minutes away, we wouldn’t have seen anything. 
• An afternoon game drive started on a promising note when we saw an older female tiger in a dam. Things got really interesting when the subadult daughter showed up and interaction ensued. Unfortunately the pair walked into thick cover so we had to abandon the pursuit. 
• A series of alarm calls and seeing spotted deer running got us into just the right spot to see a female tiger emerge from the forest and walk right by the back of our vehicle. 
• Later that morning we observed another female subadult on the edge of a dam taking a serious interest in some spotted deer. To the extent of mock stalking them but clearly with almost zero chance of success. By the end of our stay the tally was 14 sightings of 12 different tigers.

Kanha Jungle Lodge was every bit as delightful as on my first visit. The food and all round hospitality were impeccable with most meals served al fresco under the trees. The lodge layout is quite pleasing with a large covered central area and a separate drinks/cocktail lounge. As at the other lodges on the trip, the rooms were effectively air conditioned. The Kanha rooms also had plenty of space, showers with sufficient water pressure and more than ample packing space and lighting. 

On arrival – after a rather long drive – it was refreshing to take a nice walk to the river with co-manager Dimple Bhati, followed by dinner in the forest. A civet sighting was a pleasant surprise. 

Pench safari camp

From Kanha, another longish drive along yet another series of winding roads through a few small villages took us to Pench Tiger Reserve in the southern part of Madhya Pradesh State. It was just a few hours’ drive from Satpura National Park where I had started my safari a couple of weeks previously. 

Pench is predominantly teak forest habitat which by the late March timeframe had lost practically all of its leaves. This made for great visibility in much of the park. The Pench River runs along the western boundary of the park and a large reservoir seasonally backs up into a large part of the reserve, attracting good numbers of wildlife in the dry season. 

Over the course of a couple of days we had several tiger sightings including one young male walking through the woodland in really good light, a female on the edge of a small reservoir and a female tiger with three young cubs crossing a road. We also had a glimpse of a leopard, saw plenty of gaur, spotted deer, sambar deer, langur monkeys, rhesus macaque monkeys, jackals, forest hogs, and many interesting birds. Of those the best ones were the Malabar hornbills and several raptors including the spectacular honey buzzard, a real show stopper. 

Camp manager Priti and head guide P. P. and their team maintain an impeccable standard of hospitality, food and all round experience. 

Among our top Pench moments:

• On a morning game drive: rushing towards a tiger sighting and flying over a small rise in the road, we surprised a young leopard right in the road. It crouched down and moved quickly into grass cover just off the road. A fleeting yet memorable encounter. 
• A distant sighting but a first for the trip: a female tiger with three 8-month old cubs. We watched from across a small creek as first the female and then two of the cubs emerged from a thicket and walked out in the open along the embankment and down into a ditch, disappearing from view. 
• From there we drove to a small lake where a female tiger was lying down in the water, almost totally submerged. A few minutes later she sat up, walked along the bank, got back into the water and swam a short distance to a grassy peninsula where she got out of the water again. 

From Pench it is a relatively easy drive to Nagpur from where we flew to Delhi. One last night at the very nice Andaz hotel at Delhi Airport worked very well. We had time to say our goodbyes, ordered room service pizza and gulab jamun and departed back to the USA via Istanbul the next morning.

Kaziranga National park – Assam 

Visiting Kaziranga National Park in the far flung eastern Indian state of Assam was another reminder of the extraordinary diversity and beauty of India. The Assamese people look different, speak a different language and I’m sure there are many other things unique to the area and culture which would take more than a few days to discover. I almost immediately discovered the wonderful tea of Assam and now drink it at any opportunity I can get, just not all day long. Due to its relatively high caffeine content, Assam tea is considered a morning beverage. 

One-horned rhinos and a golden tiger

Kaziranga is a beautiful and diverse park, with the far western zone being the most interesting of all, with mature riverine forest, patches of woodland, hills and some grassland. This part of the park, which we visited first, is known for regular sightings of gibbons. We heard them twice, but never saw them. 

Seeing one-horned rhinos in Kaziranga NP is as easy as falling off a log. With more than 2,600 rhinos in the park, getting some great views and good photographs are a sure thing. Beyond the rhinos it is a good park for buffalo and elephants as well as barasingha and hog deer. Hog deer, which replace spotted deer in this part of India, are abundant with as many as 40,000 present in the park. Tiger sightings seem to be hit and miss, more of the latter than the former. I did get lucky with a rare golden tiger though. There are only a handful of these in India so it was a definite highlight. Even though the view was relatively long distance, I could see it very well in my binocs. 

Kaziranga has a diverse landscape with significant open plains for grazers, there are patches of elephant grass and lots of water as the park encompasses the confluence of the Diphlu and the massive Brahmaputra river. With that much water around, it’s no surprise to have river otters around, and naturally a profusion of water birds including ducks, storks, egrets, herons and several waders. 

My very first game drive, just after I had been given an introductory chat and shown to my room, actually took place along the main road with dozens of giant trucks and tankers sweeping by. It was disconcerting at best, closer to downright scary at worst, with our driver-guide abruptly slowing down on the main road, when something interesting was seen or heard. Unlike me, everyone else there was clearly quite used to this peculiar setting for wildlife viewing.  

In addition to many one-horned rhinos, the drive into the western section delivered many excellent sightings, including Himalayan giant squirrel, hog deer, water buffalo, a 5-foot-long water monitor lizard and soft ground barasingha deer. As we were to witness elsewhere in the park over the next couple of days in both the central and eastern areas, there were abundant rhinos to be seen in the water and along the water’s edge. One of the one-horned rhinos even swam across a river. 

Kaziranga is a birding hotspot and over the course of just a few outings, we compiled quite a list of local and regional specialities such as Pallas’s fish eagle, spot-billed pelican, Asian openbill, greater adjutant, blacknecked stork, green-billed malkoha, grey-headed fish eagle, and Oriental pied hornbill.  

Kaziranga is very different and quite fascinating and it makes an excellent addition to a trip which includes mostly Madhya Pradesh tiger reserves. 

Diphlu River Lodge

Diphlu River Lodge itself was top notch, starting with a thorough introduction by the affable lodge manager. The food was consistently excellent with both Western and more traditional, regional Indian options available for all meals. The high tea which is served at 5 pm after the conclusion of game drives, likewise had a variety of intriguing food and snack options. On one of the days we enjoyed lunch outside under the trees on the bank of the Diphlu River.  

I was very fortunate to have Jugal assigned as my local guide; he was excellent, always enthusiastic and he also happened to know all the birds. As a result I added a bunch of life birds to my growing India list. If you’re headed to Kaziranga one of these days, be sure to request Jugal!

The road to Kaziranga 

The way to almost anywhere in India runs through some neighborhoods where everything would look a lot better with a fresh coat of paint. You’re not going to find much of that on the asphalt road leading out of Guwahati, the biggest city in India’s far eastern state of Assam. Rather, the road is lined with seedy hotels and bars, Tata car dealerships, bike shops, and grandiose signs touting hole-in-the-wall restaurants, also known as dhabas. Everywhere, there are weirdly designed buildings painted in unusual colors, at least from the perspective of an American visitor. Many of the buildings seemed to have been under construction for years. 

Driving along Route NH27 out of Guwahati when heading for Kaziranga National Park paints a rather bleak picture. There’s very little in the way of making things look ‘nice,’ as American eyes would see it. It’s utilitarian at best and clearly the inhabitants have priorities which do not include winning the yard of the month award. Dotted along the route are small general dealers with not a lot of inventory, to hardly any. Also the odd hardware store where paint is not a best seller. Just my guess. Occasionally, in marked contrast to their plain Jane neighbors, there would be an unusually large, extravagantly colored home or apartment block with an elaborate facade and balconies all round. Further east, close to Kaziranga itself, the views improve with vivid green tea plantations on the right hand side of the highway and floodplain on the left.  

One thing which Assam clearly has in common with much of the rest of India, is the crazy driving. Around every corner you’ll see a procession of heavy trucks and fuel tankers, one after another trundling down the highway and livening things up with their peculiar two-note honking sound. Many of these large trucks are colorfully festooned with ribbons and tassels and most of the drivers are Punjabis, or so I was told. Trucks by themselves are not necessarily a hazard. What makes the situation untenable are small pickup trucks and vans overtaking the large trucks in a manner which is often reckless and occasionally borderline suicidal. Obscured vision, blind rise, sharp corner ahead? No problem. Fortunately our professional drivers consistently adopted a defensive driving mode. 

Kaziranga timing issues

Diphlu River Lodge clearly has no control over it, but the fact that all of India has one time zone, coupled with the odd operating hours of the park itself, negatively affect the overall experience. For one thing, Assam and the other far eastern states should clearly have their own time zone. Drive from Mumbai to Assam, all the way west to east and your vehicle will have 1,750 more miles on the odometer at the end of the trip. On March 30 this year, the sun rose over Assam at 5:16 am; over Mumbai first light was at 6:35. A good two hours of daylight are essentially wasted in summer in Assam.

More importantly – and probably something that at least has a chance of being changed for the better – is the gate opening time at Kaziranga National Park. Right now the park opens for two elephant-back riding excursions at 5:00 am and 6:00 am respectively, and then only at 7:30 am for Jeep safaris. By 7:30 am the sun has already been up for well over two hours. The early morning ‘golden light’- so sought after by photographers – is practically gone by then. Bird and mammal activity is at a peak in the early morning hours right after sunrise and by 8:00 am it is already tailing off.  

So Jeep drives should ideally start at the same time as the first elephant-back safari at 5:00 am and certainly no later than 6:00 am. 

For information about our Fish Eagle Safaris March 2026 small group trip to India please contact Bert at bert@fisheaglesafaris.com, or leave a message with our answering service at 1-800-513-5222 or at 713-467-5222.

Lodge photos courtesy Kanha Jungle Lodge and Diphlu River Lodge

Bandhavgarh National Park

Madhya Pradesh – a large central Indian State – is king among the tiger regions of the subcontinent. And there’s little dispute about its crown jewel – Bandhavgarh National Park. With nearly 90 Bengal tigers prowling its mix of sal forests, rocky outcrops and bamboo thickets, Bandhavgarh is where you may see several different tigers over the space of three or four days. 

By the end of my third visit to Bandhavgarh I realized that finding  tigers and enabling guests to take awesome photos of them is not something that just happens organically. You don’t just show up and drive out to find tigers, like oranges on a tree. To the contrary. In the pantheon of wildlife guiding, consistently being able to find tigers is in the masterclass category. It is a skill which requires acute sensory capabilities, a keen sense of anticipating animal behavior, loads of local knowledge and experience and the temperament and ability to be an effective team member or leader. Put all this together and you have your ‘born’ naturalist guides who can make quick, correct decisions as to ‘what happens next.’ The hallmark of an expert guide. 

During my last two trips to Bandhavgarh I was privileged to work with a team consisting of Bandhavgarh lead naturalist Sadhvi Singh, forest guide Bharti Shukla and two different drivers, Dipak and Sanjay. As a team, they were simply phenomenal and I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that every one of us on their vehicle had the time of our lives.

In retrospect those few days with the crack Bandhavgarh team scouring the forests and glades were among my most enjoyable experiences ever on safari. Not simply because our guiding team were so phenomenally good at finding tigers, but also because we connected with them on a human to human level. 

In barely a couple of days we found common ground (our shared love of the wilderness and wildlife and the great outdoors) and we quickly realized that we enjoyed each other’s company. Every morning and every afternoon game drive was like opening a new gift, like being invited to a special, exclusive party. It was exciting, even exhilarating. Nonstop fun. Mostly because we were successful as a team in experiencing some extraordinary tiger and other wildlife sightings. But I think also because we realized how fortunate we were to be together in that special place, at just the right time of the year. 

There are many opinions about the best time of the year to visit the tiger reserves in central India. From what I’ve experienced so far, the mid- to late March and early April timeframe is hard to beat. Most importantly, the forest undergrowth is not nearly as thick then as it is in the post-monsoon months. Which makes all the difference. Notably in being able to see a tiger at a distance coming and going. Not just a brief glimpse of it walking out of the forest, crossing a dirt track in a matter of seconds and then disappearing on the other side.  

Also, by later in the dry season many of the tigers and other animals – including their prey species – tend to concentrate around remaining sources of water which improves the likelihood of seeing them. Unlike other big cat species, tigers positively like water and can often be seen cooling themselves on the edge of a lake or river. Or even swimming – as we were fortunate to see on one occasion. 

My two recent outings to Bandhavgarh had many highlights. Here are a few of the signature tiger sightings, by name.

Bajrang

Bajrang – one of Bandhavgarh’s magnificent dominant male tigers – happened to be their first ever tiger for several members of our party. We initially saw him stalking an adult gaur – which was exciting unto itself. Predictably the tiger gave up on that risky proposition. Check out the horns on a fully grown gaur and you will know why. Opting for a graceful exit, Bajrang  started to move from our left to our right, strolling slowly through a grassy area. 

By that stage a squad of vehicles had moved ahead and around a corner, anticipating the tiger’s movement. And so it was. In full view of the admiring guides, drivers and visitors, Bajrang emerged from the tall grass, majestically striding towards and then right by us with barely a sidelong glance. Conversation ceased abruptly as everyone watched every footfall, one languid step after another, as the tiger demonstrated his absolute confidence in being master of his domain. 

Silencing the entire crowd, Bajrang jumped across a gap in the path (I missed the shot) and then slowly disappeared into thicker vegetation. I felt like I had been holding my breath the entire time and I don’t think I was the only one. Even lead Bandhavgarh naturalist Sadhvi Singh proclaimed that no matter how many tigers she’d seen before, she still stands in awe every time it happens. 

DM

On the afternoon drive on our first day in Bandhavgarh we experienced what may have been an even better sighting. A large and extraordinarily handsome male – DM – was spotted sitting in the water behind a dead tree at a distance. Our driver hastened to the spot and we got ourselves into what the guiding team thought would be a good position. They were right. Barely 10 minutes later, DM stood up from the water, gave us a few looks and then walked directly towards us, momentarily stopping to shake first his left and then his right front paw. 

We had ample opportunity for some dead-on head shots before DM walked down an embankment. It’s over, I thought. Not so fast. Turning on a dime, DM walked back up the wall and then away from us and around the lake. Providing us with yet another opportunity to admire him, the tiger then stopped and looked up before crossing the lakebed. We had come practically full circle as he was once again walking almost directly towards us. Eventually DM moved past us and into a forest, at which point we  let him go. A tiger sighting for the ages.

Pujari

On an uncharacteristically rainy and overcast day we initially didn’t have much success, until we saw a female tiger lying down at a distance, again close to water. Even from far away we could discern some of the telltale differences between male and female tigers. Females are smaller and more slender, they also have noticeably smaller heads and are generally more orange in color than males. 

That afternoon we observed yet another one of Bandhavgarh’s dominant males – Pujari. In the water, right below a dam wall, with his backside towards us. It took some patience on the part of our team but once again they made the right call by sticking around. After maybe half an hour or so, Pujari got up from where he was cooling off in the water and walked up and over the dam wall. His distended stomach told a tale of a successful hunt. Thirty or so minutes later, we saw Pujari again as he re-entered the water in pretty much the same spot.

Jamhole 

The following day our team’s strategic decision to delay the start of the game drive by half an hour or so paid off handsomely. Knowing that yet another dominant male in the area – Jamhole – habitually frequents a specific water spot a bit later in the afternoon, it was much more than luck when we found him there. Almost all the other vehicles had driven much further into the park by then so we had Jamhole all to ourselves. Jamhole – the first tiger I ever saw (in January 2023) – was looking a little beaten up with a visible facial wound and some puncture marks elsewhere on his body. None of us were surprised when Jamhole got into the pond. We were happy when he got out of the water though, crossing the road right in front of us. There were no other cars around for the duration of the sighting which lasted a good 15 to 20 minutes.

Buffer wali – and more 

A bit later we found the Buffer wali; wali being the Hindi word for female. Initially spotted sitting up in an open firebreak, the tigress soon  walked into the thick bush, which is when all the other cars took off. We did not. Within 10 minutes or so our patience paid off as the Buffer wali emerged from the bush and crossed the road from our right to our left, giving us a couple of good looks. Another good photo op? Check. Except this time you had to be ready and prepared with a relatively high shutter speed to stop the motion. 

The afternoon game drive that day was a riot. It started with a female tiger sleeping in the grass. Not our best view ever but it didn’t really matter. Not that day. Minutes later we spotted a male tiger walking across the road. And then proceeding to lie down in full view of his grateful audience, in good light. It was Bajrang doing his best rock star tiger routine. 

The next 45 minutes or so produced sightings of three additional tigers: a subadult male and female on walkabout, and another tiger on a rocky outcrop as the light was disappearing and we were making our way back to camp. All our tiger sightings that afternoon were within a kilometer of each other.  

Earlier in March – on the first of two back-to-back trips – we had experienced several equally amazing tiger sightings at Bandhavgarh:

• A dominant male tiger ended up in full view, reclining on a flat rocky spot at the top of a ridge. It took an hour of patiently hanging around before he made his move from being hidden by vegetation to posing for what turned out to be one of the best photos of the trip. 
• A large female tiger which had been lying about 10 meters off the road eventually got up and walked first parallel to and then across the road. 
• A family  group of four tigers – a female with three youngsters – provided us with some tantalizing images walking at the edge of a forest.

When we were not seeing tigers, we were looking at some of the many other mammals and birds to be found in Bandhavgarh. A highlight one morning was a female leopard fairly deep in a forest, nicely positioned on some logs, a few feet off the forest floor. The spotted cat was about 50 meters from the edge of the road. While I got some pretty good photos of the leopard, they could have been much better. My mistake? Not using a monopod in order to keep the shutter speed as low as possible in poor light conditions. 

Yet another memorable Bandhavgarh tiger sighting was of a female tiger and her subadult daughter walking parallel to the road checking out some scent markings on a tree stump and then moving on. A little while later we relocated the mother who emerged from the forest where she provided us with yet another good photo. 

And finally, a family group of five tigers emerged from the sal forest and crossed the road right in front of us. It wasn’t so much a photo opportunity as it was a reminder of the vagaries of wildlife viewing. Had we gotten to that spot five minutes later, we would have seen – nothing.

Getting to Bandhavgarh 

Getting from Delhi to Bandhavgarh takes the better part of a day. It starts with a morning flight of about two hours from Delhi to Jabalpur Airport. From there it is a  3.5 to 4 hour road transfer to Bandhavgarh. Driving on mostly narrow winding asphalt roads, the trip is not without some highlights. Passing through several small villages along the way it is impossible to avoid the crowded streets – particularly on market day. Streets in many parts of India – notably in rural villages and towns – are so much more than roadways for traffic. Mostly they seem to be extensions of the sidewalks. Clogged with careening motorcycles, bicycles, tuktuks, pushcarts, pedestrians, dogs, cows and even domesticated buffaloes. Colorful displays of goods for sale – of every description from fruits and vegetables to shoes and saris – spill out into the roadway.

Bandhavgarh Jungle Lodge rooms and dining 

Bandhavgarh Jungle Lodge has two types of comfortable air conditioned rooms, a large lounge and dining room area with an open upstairs balcony. Dinners are served in various locations including an outdoor area at night. Over the course of three different stays at Bandhavgarh over the last couple of years, we’ve found the property to be professionally managed, the staff exceedingly friendly and the meals varied and nicely prepared. 

Dinners are usually preceded by some finger food snacks like chicken tikka or paneer or something similar, perhaps with a pre-dinner cocktail or soft drink. Next up: a soup of some sort (vegetable mostly) and then a selection of buffet items including chapati and other breads, various salads, a couple or more vegetarian dishes and some chicken and fish. All tasty and flavorful and not overly spicy in the ‘hot’ sense of the word. A dessert is served separately and it could be a fresh fruit salad, a caramel custard, gulab jamun or jalebi. 

One of the most fun activities on a tiger safari is the mid-morning breakfast. Around 9 am or sometimes a bit later – quite a bit later if the tiger viewing is hectic – the safari vehicles congregate at an open-air campsite. Everyone gets out and walks around a bit, maybe for a stop at the rest room facility, or simply to stretch their legs and check out the surroundings.  

Meanwhile the camp team sets out an absolutely splendid breakfast spread, usually on the bonnet of the safari vehicle. There’s freshly brewed coffee, hot tea, juice, sandwiches, cookies and cake, some fresh fruit and boiled eggs. Plus a typical Indian breakfast offering such as samosa, aloo bonda, vegetable cutlets, or parathas with chutney and pickles. 

At Bandhavgarh the picnic site has several vendors preparing a local favorite- a noodle dish which goes by ‘Maggi’. It is essentially ramen noodles doctored up the Indian way with fresh chilies and onions. Be daring and try the hot version!  

All national parks are closed on Wednesday afternoons, so we had one afternoon free. At around 5 pm we went off to the nearby village of Tala to check out the local market. Walking around the open market with most of the items spread out on blankets, we observed the vendors doing brisk business in fresh vegetables, fresh fish and goat meat, some prepared foods, clothing, shoes, grains and spices. It was colorful, authentic and quite fascinating. Adding a peculiarly India note: having to dodge a wandering cow in the narrow aisles between the vendors. 

For information about our Fish Eagle Safaris March 2026 small group trip to India please contact Bert at bert@fisheaglesafaris.com, or leave a message with our answering service at 1-800-513-5222 or at 713-467-5222.

I think many first-time visitors to India are pleasantly surprised to find such rich culture, friendly people, diverse landscapes, culinary delights and simply stunning historical sights and artifacts. Yet at the same time they may find the experience to be overwhelming, due to its intensity and the borderline chaotic atmosphere with crowded streets, unfamiliar customs and potential health concerns.

Full disclosure: I had some misgivings about visiting India for many years. Only now, having visited the country twice and planning to go back, do I realize that it was mostly due to a lack of knowledge. After two different visits and spending several weeks cumulatively in the far north (Ladakh), the western ghats (Mumbai), the far east (Assam), the golden triangle (including Agra and Jaipur), the holy city of Varanasi on the Ganges River and in four major tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh in central India, I do know one thing. The country is underrated as both a cultural and a wildlife destination. The secret of course, as is the case almost anywhere else in the world, is to travel with a local tour operator who can match your expectations with the actual experience. Or at least get pretty close. Maybe India isn’t for everyone and every prospective visitor has to be prepared to be challenged to some degree, whether it’s culture shock or simply naivete about life in a developing country. 

If you can handle being outside of your comfort zone and you relish experiencing things and sights and people and experiences that may shock you a little but also exceed your wildest expectations, then by all means go to India. We would love to talk to you about arranging your own customized itinerary or joining one of our small-group trips focused mostly on the tiger & wildlife experience. Call us at 713-467-5222 or 1-800-513-5222 or email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com for more information. 

The Tigers

Three thousand six hundred and eighty two individuals is the current estimate for the Bengal tiger population in India. A significant increase from previous years and in fact one of the world’s great conservation success stories. Seeing a tiger in the wild is the single most exciting and impactful wildlife encounter I have experienced anywhere. The suspense of looking for them and then finding them and seeing these awesome, larger than life, striped cats confidently striding through an Indian jungle, is near impossible to convey in writing. If I’d known how magical a tiger sighting would be, I definitely would have made my way to India a long time ago.  

The people, culture, traditions, religions, diversity and cuisines

While tracking tigers in the wild is likely the most compelling reason to visit India – at least for wildlife devotees – there are many, many others. India’s rich culture, traditions, its diversity and its incredible variety of regional cuisines make for a truly unforgettable journey. As do its people.  

Most visitors to India get to meet and interact with just a tiny fraction of the country’s one and a half billion inhabitants. Which is too bad as they are infinitely fascinating and diverse, colorful, and unfailingly friendly and welcoming to strangers. I found that connecting with Indian people on a human-to-human level became easier by the day, with the least bit of effort on my part. Whether they were school children or college students, young professionals, retired workers, restaurant employees and owners, roadside vendors, shopkeepers, naturalist guides or hospitality industry professionals, farmers, fishermen, city guides, taxi or rickshaw drivers; the Indian people I’ve met on my travels were curious, spontaneous, warm and polite. Even in the face of sometimes overwhelming language barriers, I had a year’s worth of memorable ‘stranger of the day’ encounters in just a few weeks. You can too!

Mumbai

What does one even say after spending just two days in the megalopolis that is Mumbai, India’s largest city and home to more than 20 million people? I think my enduring memories will include the stunning sunset views from Harriman Point over Back Bay and the Arabian Sea, with the city skyline bathed in a golden-red early evening light. Also visiting the intriguing Afghan Church, the physical embodiment of a lesson in history that several modern leaders have disregarded at their peril. 

The Lalbaug spice market was fascinating, particularly observing the step-by-step process of making custom blends of garam masala. Engaging with a few local ladies – one of whom had her son with her – turned into a watch party of sorts as we joined them keeping an eye on their chosen mix of red chilies being roasted on large, firestoked pans (tawas). Don’t stand too close: a whiff of the acrid smoke will singe your nasal passages like never before. Once the chilies had been toasted to the patrons’ specifications, a separate mix of additional seasonings such as bay leaves, coriander, turmeric, cumin, black pepper and mustard seeds was scooped onto the hot pan surface. After the roasting comes the grinding – almost constantly going on in the background – and in no time you can be on  your way with your own unique masala mix. After some rupees have changed hands of course.    

Often (still) referred to as Bombay – even by its own inhabitants – my short visit to Mumbai was simply delightful. This megacity is likely best known for being home to India’s thriving Bollywood film industry. It has more billionaires than any other Asian city. There are state-of-the-art bridges, a stunning oceanside drive, a skyline crammed with gigantic skyscrapers, architectural masterpieces, and marvelous old churches and palaces. Dharavi – Mumbai’s well-known slum area – is one of the most densely populated areas in the world with an estimated density of nearly 900,000 people per square mile. In popular culture, Dharavi was most notably used as the backdrop in the award-winning 2008 British film, Slumdog Millionaire. 

A few of the other highlights on my day-and-a-half of guided touring in Mumbai included these:

• The Chhatrapati Shivaji rail terminus. This architectural marvel, formerly known as Victoria Terminus, is known for its unique blend of Victorian Gothic Revival and traditional Indian styles. Designed by Frederick William Stevens, it is replete with pointed towers and turrets, and a massive central ribbed dome. The station has a unique place in Indian history, being the spot from which the first train in India departed in April 1853, travelling a distance of 25 miles. Nowadays nearly a million people pass through the station on a daily basis. Be sure to look for the spot where the still missing marble statue of Queen Victoria once stood. My guide Heer and I (from No Footprints Mumbai) hopped on a local train to Byculla for a light lunch at Bombay Sweets. This ‘sweet shop with a twist’ takes familiar Indian sweets and creates something entirely new. Fancy some gulab jamun dressed up in the shape of a Mexican churro? This is the spot. The restaurant also serves some healthy street snacks, if sweets are not your thing. 
• The Gateway of India. This rather dour-looking victory arch was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. Opposite the much more imposing Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel overlooking the Arabian Sea, the Gateway of India is the emblem of Mumbai tourism. The Gateway was built as a symbol of the power of the British. Ironically, the monument also marked the end of British rule, as the last infantry left Indian shores from the Gateway in 1948. From the Gateway we took a walk to the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, the beautiful Dhanraj Mahal (an Art Deco Palace) and the Maharashtra Police Headquarters.
• The Afghan Church should be a mandatory stop for anyone with even the vaguest of interest in the invasion Afghanistan. It was built by the British between 1847 and 1858 to commemorate the dead of the First Afghan War and the disastrous 1842 retreat from Kabul. In this fiasco the British army lost 4,500 troops, along with about 12,000 civilian camp followers, the worst British military disaster until the fall of Singapore a 100 years later. A memorial inside the church also records casualties from the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The impressive edifice was constructed using locally available buff-colored basalt and limestone. 
• Worli Fishing Village and Sassoon Dock. Best visited early in the morning (when the fishing pier is literally buzzing). After a drive-by glimpse of the colorful fishing village, we spent some time taking in the dock area, with several trawlers alongside, having just off-loaded their catch. A sea breeze helped but did not entirely succeed in masking the overpowering smell of heaps of drying prawn shells, leftovers from the morning’s auction.    

• Mumbai’s famous bazaars. I spent half an hour or so perusing the Crawford Market, a bustling hub of organized chaos. It’s a treasure trove of surprises – jewelry, textiles, decorations, and sadly, even pets. Strolling through the narrow lanes, dodging push carts and motorbikes, this is the place to get a real ‘slice of life’ glimpse of Mumbai’s street culture and human interactions.  
• The Laundry District area where the laundrymen, more popularly known as the Dhobhis, wash the clothes of Mumbaikars. Again, best to get there early in the day to  see the Dhobhis at work, flogging and beating the clothes tirelessly. With nearly all of the city’s washing done here, it’s hardly surprising that these guys are known as the ‘Washing Machines’ of Mumbai.
• The Dabbawalas. We stopped, chatted and took some photos with a few of the approximately 5,000 dabbawalla workers who deliver around 200,000 hot lunches from homes and restaurants to office workers in Mumbai. The lunchboxes are picked up in the late morning and are delivered using bicycles and rail transport. Even though many of the dabbawalas cannot read or write, their distribution system is practically flawless, using abbreviations for collection points, color codes for starting stations, numbers for destination stations, and building and floor markings for the dabbawallas who make the ‘last mile’ delivery to the offices.  

Satpura National Park

In a conversation at a breakfast spot on my second day at Satpura, a seasoned tiger aficionado remarked that Satpura National Park was fast developing into India’s single best park. By the time I left two days later, I knew exactly why he said what he said. Satpura is beautiful with an enviable mix of tall sandstone mountains, narrow gorges, ravines, waterfalls, streams and dense forests. The park’s all too evident diversity starts with two unique species of trees – sal and teak. Add to that a wide variety of ferns, mango trees and a host of other trees, shrubs, bamboo, climbers,  grasses and flowers. Its biodiversity is enhanced by the presence of several natural as well as anthropogenic grasslands, created by the relocation of a host of villages from the core area of the reserve. The grasslands support a sizable population of herbivores which in turn support a steadily increasing number of Bengal tigers. Satpura National Park has an abundance of butterflies, birds and reptiles, and it has good numbers of mammals. Among those that are readily observed are several  typical central Indian species like spotted deer, sambhar, sloth bear, leopard, wild dog, tiger, gaur, Indian giant squirrel and more. My best advice is to go and see Satpura soon, before everyone else discovers it.

Bori Lodge

Mumbai may be an Indian megacity but here’s one thing you cannot get at the airport: decaf coffee. Ask and all you’ll get are questions and odd looks. I settled for tea. Getting from Mumbai to the first tiger reserve on my schedule – Satpura National Park – involved an Air India flight to Bhopal (the capital city of Madhya Pradesh state), followed by an uneventful 3-hour private road transfer to  Bori Safari Lodge. 

Bori Safari Lodge is located on a farmland estate neighbouring Dhapadamal Village, close to the park entry gate. From Bori Lodge, guests can do game drives, walking safaris, night drives, bird watching and anthropological walks. The expert staff naturalists are well versed with the landscape and are ever ready to bring the experience alive for you. 

Bori Lodge has eight modern rooms with more than ample space. The rooms – each of which has a private viewing deck – have both inside and outside showers and a partially outside bath. The central courtyard is for recreation and socializing, with a separate dining area, lounge (which had slow WiFi) and a library. There are a couple of options for outdoor dining as well, and an infinity pool for the hot days which the area experiences from about March onwards. The food is excellent, as I experienced right away over a late lunch around 3 pm on my day of arrival. That evening, I joined a few other guests over sundowners, at a high rocky spot overlooking a mix of teak, crocodile bark and Indian satinwood trees. 

The following morning we departed early on a game drive, entering the park at 530 am, spending a good couple of hours driving through the park to Zone 1 in the core area. It was initially quiet, but as soon as we entered the core area we started to see good numbers of wildlife. These included wild boar, monkeys, langur monkeys, nilgai, sambar deer, gaur and more. 

By late morning we came upon a party of 3 subadult tigers. My first tigers for the trip! While it wasn’t my best view of tigers by any means, the excitement was running high and we did get some good looks at two of them, and managed to take a handful of useful photos. On the way back to camp we got really lucky with an excellent sighting of a leopard, always a somewhat unusual and very special occurrence in the Indian tiger reserves. Before it slunk off, the spotted cat spent several minutes sitting in a heavily shaded area, apparently looking around for signs of prey animals. Getting a perfectly exposed photo was more than challenging but I was thrilled to see my first tiger for the trip, on my very first game drive.

Our afternoon game drive was even better. This time, our destination was Bori’s Zone 2, not nearly as long a drive from the camp as Zone 1. Also the area is relatively new so it does not attract quite as many vehicles as Zone 1. This afternoon, our luck held out and we had simply superb views of a female tiger in good light. The tiger gave us every opportunity to get our shots as she emerged from behind some rocks into the open, walking right in between two trees and directly towards us, and then taking a detour into the bushes before emerging again and giving us yet more looks. Every photographer in the area was smiling. Zone 1 had lots of general game and some great birds as well. All in all a near perfect day in a tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh!

Reni Pani Lodge

The following morning we set off on a road/boat transfer from Bori to Reni Pani. I made a rookie mistake by not keeping my big camera with me, not realizing that all luggage (other than what you were carrying) would be transferred to the destination lodge separately, by road. So when we came upon two sub-adult tigers on the edge of the lake, all I had to capture the action was my iPhone. Fortunately we did get pretty close up and one particular sequence – when the young male walked over to his sister and then started to show some interest in the boat – was best captured on video in any event. An incredible sighting. I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful lake scenery en route to our next stop in Satpura: Reni Pani Jungle Lodge. 

Reni Pani Jungle Lodge turned out to be an older but clearly very popular lodge located in forest habitat typical of the Satpura Tiger Reserve. Reni Pani features twelve comfortable if somewhat rustic cottages, all built using local material. All the cottages have  viewing decks, large bay windows, sturdy doors and well equipped bathrooms (with showers and separate toilets). The air conditioning was 100% effective, an important consideration in Satpura where it can get very hot (well into the 90’s Fahrenheit) by mid afternoon from March onward. The central area or meeting place has a unique design with a dining area, bar, library and lounge all under the same cover. Over the course of my 2-night stay, I enjoyed a good variety of mostly buffet food, heavy on vegetarian options but not exclusively, with both chicken and fish starters and a goat stew on one of the nights. Also plenty of paneer, and an excellent range of fresh salads. 

Reni Pani’s large stands of teak forest and its heavily wooded, rugged hills are typical of the terrain one should expect in the Satpura Tiger Reserve. It is a true forest environment with adjacent patches of agricultural land. The area around Reni Pani is known for consistently good sightings of animals like sambhar, cheetal (spotted deer), nilgai, wild boar, barking deer, black buck and occasionally leopard. The abundance of Reni Trees (a type of berry) and other fruit-bearing plants  attract good numbers of sloth bears to the area. The area around the lodge is particularly rich with bird life. 

A night drive into the buffer area on the afternoon I arrived was a bust. We hardly saw anything and when we eventually did find a nocturnal animal – a civet – the naturalist’s spotlight was not strong enough to make the animal visible. The morning drive the next day more than compensated for that lapse with my first-ever sighting of a sloth bear – actually two of them – in good light and in an open area. Sloth bears are notoriously difficult to photograph, but I lucked out as at least one of them had its head up and the autofocus managed to lock on to the snout. Totally black animals can play havoc with autofocus due to the low-contrast situation.   

My stay in the Satpura area ended with yet another highlight – an extended sighting of a small jungle cat – yet another first on my now rapidly growing list of Indian mammals. Uncharacteristically it did not immediately run away or hide, and I had more than just a few seconds to get some pretty good images of this dainty little animal – which looks uncannily like a regular domestic cat.

Yet another first for me in Satpura was observing and being able to photograph a large marsh (also known as mugger) crocodile, alongside a stream where it was lying with its gape open. These medium-sized crocodiles are found in many parts of India, but their conservation status is considered ‘vulnerable,’ due mostly to habitat loss.  

Agra – The Taj Mahal 

If you’re carrying even a moderate amount of electronic gear on a trip to India, resign yourself to getting unwanted additional scrutiny from their equivalent of the TSA. They never made me take off my running shoes but more than made up for that ‘lapse’ by rifling through everything else. Checking in for my flight from Bhopal to Delhi I had to remove my binocs from their case, and was instructed to open every small bag with batteries, GoPro camera, cables – the works. It was a solid  20-minute process.   

My evening was spent at the comfortable Andaz hotel at Delhi Airport. We’ve had to spend quite a few nights there over the last couple of years and it delivers a first-class experience every time. Dinner was room-service pizza (perfectly edible) with some gulab jamun for dessert. The following morning Kathy and I literally spent less than an hour together (she had just arrived in Delhi from Istanbul) before I had to get myself and my stuff downstairs for the train ride to Agra. Just like my last train trip in India in January 2023 (which was from Delhi to Jaipur), the journey to Agra on the Gatimaan Express (India’s first semi-high-speed train) was an easy and relaxing ride of just over 90 minutes. Considerably faster than a road trip which takes close to four hours. Fortunately we brought along a packed breakfast as the breakfast served on the train was pretty mediocre. The Gatimaan Express isn’t first class by any means but it is a fast, safe and comfortable way to get from Delhi to Agra, or vice versa. 

Our local Agra guide Sanjay Mudgal accompanied us in a small deluxe tour bus on our day-long sightseeing outing in Agra, a city of 3 million inhabitants of which about  75 percent are Hindu and 20 percent  Muslim. This one-time capital of the mogul kingdom has several notable monuments and palaces, and of course the world’s most famous mausoleum, the Taj Mahal. Outside of the city itself there’s a substantial agricultural area where lentils and mustard seeds are cultivated, among others. Agra is also known for its handmade rugs, for shaping and manufacturing of jewels, and the city has a large cadre of working artisans and craftsmen.

Our first stop was Agra – the fort. The Red Fort in Agra is a massive 16th-century fortress built of red sandstone. Enclosed by towering walls, it houses palaces, mosques, and audience halls with intricate Mughal architecture. Once a royal residence, its blend of Persian and Indian styles, lush courtyards and views of the Yamuna River make it both a historical marvel and a symbol of the grandeur of the Mughal Empire.

By late afternoon – after a welcome respite from the heat back at our hotel –  we boarded the bus again for the ride to the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal – the stunning white marble mausoleum in Agra – was the Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan’s tribute to his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1631. The Taj has become an enduring symbol of love and devotion. It did not disappoint. Looking at it for the first time one is immediately struck by the perfect balance and elegance of this timeless jewel. The four minarets balance out and complete the ensemble for simply the most pleasing whole. 

Walking around with our guide we were shown some special angles from which to take a few more photos. I think my conclusion was that the Taj Mahal looks great from any angle. I was also relieved to realize that it was possible to take good photos of the Taj from several spots without necessarily showing all the other visitors. There were likely several thousand other visitors present but it really did not matter. An enterprising photographer used some deceptively simple techniques (among others using light reflected from a cell-phone) to produce some innovative and highly creative images of several of us in the form of silhouettes with the Taj Mahal in the background.  

The following morning we enjoyed some alternative views of the Taj Mahal from a small hillock, perhaps half a mile or so from the edifice, where a small group of people were doing some yoga. While they worked their way through a series of asanas, we enjoyed some tea and coffee and refreshments and trained various cameras and iPhones on the domes and minarets of the Taj Mahal as the sun rose in the east. It was a relaxing and pleasant end to our brief Agra stay; imminently we’d be back in the bus and heading back to Delhi. Tiger safari ahead!

Part 2 of this blog – a closer look at our tiger and other wildlife viewing experiences in Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench National Parks and in the farflung Kaziranga National Park in Assam – will be published in our June newsletter.

For information about our Fish Eagle Safaris March 2026 small group trip to India please contact Bert at bert@fisheaglesafaris.com, or leave a message with our answering service at 1-800-513-5222 or at 713-467-5222

They will put all of this together within the context of recent sightings, established habits and movements of tigers known to be present in the area and seasonal patterns such as finding tigers close to and sometimes in water in the hotter months. And then, often suddenly and seemingly miraculously, it happens. Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!

The participants on one of our small group trips in March experienced this in the most memorable and striking manner on their very first day in Bandhavgahr National Park. Seeing their first ever tiger in the most perfect manner. Initially we had just a glimpse of the large striped cat lying down in thick grass. I wondered if I should even take the big camera out of the bag. This was going to be a nothing event. Was I ever wrong!

Everything changed in a matter of seconds when the tiger caught sight of and started stalking a huge male gaur, sometimes referred to as the Indian bison. Actually much bigger than a bison and equipped with an ominously dangerous looking set of horns, there was practically zero chance of the solitary tiger attacking and overpowering the gaur. At that moment, it didn’t matter. The tiger pretended to be deadly serious and we were only too happy to let it pretend. 

Watching the sinewy form of the tiger as it slowly crept in the direction of the guar was the stuff of wildlife documentaries. And we were in it with ringside seats. It almost didn’t matter when – predictably – the tiger gave up on the pursuit and started moving from our left to our right, still partially hidden in tall grass. 

As if a dinner bell had been rung, all the safari vehicles took off in clouds of dust, with even the least experienced observer knowing exactly what would come next. The tiger was going to emerge in an open area perhaps a 100 meters or so further along the road. Not three minutes later, it happened. In full view  of practically everyone who had a permit for Zone 1 in Bandhavgarh that afternoon, one of the reserve’s superstar dominant males – Bajrang – emerged into the open, barely meters away from his awestruck observers. 

In near perfect ‘golden hour’ light the huge tiger majestically strode towards and then right by us. I was so excited I had to remind myself to keep the animal’s feet in the frame. And Bajrang was far from being my first tiger. Such is the impact these gorgeous creatures have on humans. As if one, the adoring crowd experienced the heart-stopping, mesmerizing moment with hardly a word being uttered. No one on our jeep – or anyone in the cars around us – will ever forget that moment, that animal, that experience. Out there in the jungle, confidently strolling around, master of its own domain, a tiger is so much bigger, stronger, more beautiful and more impressive than one could ever imagine. 

It is not going to be like Africa

Finding and seeing tigers in India is beyond thrilling, but an African safari it is not. At least not the version of the African safari we’ve grown accustomed to. Those being safaris operated in private game reserves with very few vehicles around, with a high degree of exclusivity and with practically all the guides operating within the constraints of a strict code of conduct. 

For example, on safari in Africa it is considered unethical at best to drive into someone’s photo shot. You apologize and get out of the way. In India’s tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh state, you can bank on someone parking right in front of you if there is even the tiniest bit of space to squeeze into. Matter of fact, it happens quite often without so much as a sidelong glance. 

In Africa’s private game reserves and concessions observing and capturing photos and videos of a leopard is a quiet, almost hushed experience. In India? It’s a participation sport with constant and often loud banter between guides, drivers and guests. 

In most of the Madhya Pradesh tiger reserves a flotilla of small, open safari vehicles converge on high profile sightings, sometimes three deep and often just inches from each other. Fortunately the total number of vehicles is controlled with a finite number of permits being issued for specific zones per day. Some areas within tiger reserves – such as the Bori Wildlife Sanctuary bordering Satpura National Park – are further away from the tourist hotspots and offer a quieter, more relaxed wildlife-viewing experience. 

In most of the popular tiger reserves, the safari experience is boisterous and very much a free for all. Much like India itself. Stick around for a few minutes and a converted bus or truck with up to 18 excited passengers will show up, often filled with local family groups including young kids, all keen to see their first tiger in the wild. Such a wonderful harbinger for the future of wildlife in India. 

Noticeably, less than 10 percent of the visitors to the Indian tiger reserves are from abroad. The vast majority are Indian – both local residents of Madhya Pradesh state and from elsewhere such as Mumbai, Delhi and beyond. Straddling the entire spectrum of Indian society. Some speaking near perfect English, others engaging you with just their smiles or their curious glances. Indian tiger safaris are not just for the privileged few; the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Department encourages locals to visit the parks with discounted permit fees (about half of what foreign visitors pay) and clearly they are succeeding. 

If you can embrace the egalitarian nature of the Indian tiger viewing experience, the give and take, the live and let live attitude which is at the heart of the Indian way of life, then by all means come along on our next trip to India next spring 2026. It’s not exclusive, it’s not private and it has its shortcomings. All of which vanish in a second when you see your first tiger in the wild. 

What you will soon realize once there, is that there is an unspoken agreement at work, even when you are ensconced in a scrum of small safari vehicles. Someone might abruptly cut in front of you, but he will be happy to reposition his vehicle to allow you an unobstructed view of the tiger or leopard or whatever may be the focus of attention. Information about sightings is routinely and immediately shared and vehicles (other than ones with full day permits) are required to relocate after 10 minutes. So everyone gets a chance, nobody is shut out and you’ll get some good views and photo opportunities. Not always from the absolute best spot and you might have to get creative to avoid vehicles in the background. As is the case anywhere in India, a bit of patience, a dollop of good will and a smile go a long way. 

There will be slow days on a tiger safari

In Africa a slow day on safari is usually interspersed with some sightings of elephants or buffaloes or maybe giraffes and zebras and many different antelopes and gazelles. India’s tiger reserves have only five or six mammals which are common and seen regularly, namely spotted deer, sambar deer, gaur, wild boars and jackals. Barasinga deer, Nilgai antelope and barking deer are also seen in some areas. Compared with Africa, the total number of mammals is relatively low. 

So you will almost definitely experience days on safari in India where not much happens: mostly just a lot of driving along dusty, bumpy roads checking known tiger haunts and following up on recent sightings. The guides will stop to listen for alarm calls made by langur monkeys, spotted deer and sambar deer; they will check the terrain for tiger tracks (pug marks as they are referred to in India) and droppings. And they will constantly be exchanging information with other guides and drivers electronically. 

Despite their best efforts, some days are bound to be slow and tiger-less. Feeling disappointed is a natural reaction but it’s nobody’s fault and everyone is working as hard as they can to produce sterling sightings. Male tigers have huge territories and the animals move around in real time. Sometimes a thunderstorm or some other weather event or controlled burning (with workers on the edge of the roads) or a tiger census being underway or a bird count or some other unknown factor results in the tigers staying hunkered down. 

The payoff for not being overly critical and judgmental or expecting the process or the results to be just like they are in Africa is huge. It comes of course in the shape of a massive striped cat which has no rival in the animal kingdom in terms of sheer star power, visual impact and magnetic presence: the Bengal tiger. Getting a really good look at a tiger in its environment – perhaps in a sal forest in Bandhavgarh or emerging from a teak forest in Satpura, may very well be a life changing experience. One thing is certain: you’ll want to see another one.

People and conservation

A trip to India’s tiger reserves is mostly about seeing tigers and other wildlife but you’ll be sure to come back with memories and experiences well beyond that. Starting with the people. I’m constantly impressed by all the people working in the various reserves, so focused on protecting their wild spaces and the amazing fauna and flora around them. Starting with your dedicated Indian tour leader, you will experience many happy people loving what they do and wanting to share it with visitors.  

Our India partner – Encounters Asia – has been closely associated with the success story which is Project Tiger since its inception in 1973. Your presence in India will directly help to protect tigers, by growing the financial impact of responsible tourism in disadvantaged rural communities. Sustainable eco-tourism brings jobs, creates a demand for support services and grows local businesses. All of which act as an incentive for local communities to become engaged in protecting the wildlife and the wilderness.

Some practical hints:

Binoculars

Don’t even think of showing up in an Indian tiger reserve without your own pair of good binoculars – and don’t try to share a pair. Sightings of tigers and leopards are often at a relatively long distance. With good binoculars you’ll have more than satisfactory views, even if the animals are too far away for photographs. Without binoculars you will miss many of the sightings altogether. So buy a good pair of binoculars and familiarize yourself with using them before the trip so that you won’t be fumbling around with focusing or finding something quickly. On a tiger safari, sometimes just seconds can make a difference between seeing something truly spectacular – and missing it altogether.  

Photography

Keen photographers, take note: for the same reason as mentioned above (many long distance sightings) bring a long enough telephoto lens, at least 400mm and ideally up to 600mm and 800mm. A 180-600mm or 100-500mm zoom lens also works well.  

Be sure to pack a monopod as you’re likely to be shooting into shady forested spots in some reserves such as Bandhavgarh and Kanha, and you’ll need to support the camera to be able to reduce the shutter speed and keep the ISO as low as possible.

Game drive preparation

It will be dusty to very dusty, particularly if you travel from February through April. Take a buff to protect yourself and a bag or cover for your cameras and lenses. There will be water on the vehicles but take your own bottle if you want. Mornings – even as late as early April – can be chilly so be sure to have at least a light jacket or fleece handy. It warms up quickly and by 9 am you’re likely to start peeling off a layer or two. For winter travel – November through January – much more extensive layering is necessary and you’ll be glad to have a heavy, well-insulated hooded jacket, a puffy jacket, good quality gloves and a cold weather beanie at hand. 

Driving between national parks

There will be some long drives – mostly around four hours but up to five and a half hours – on asphalt roads to get from one tiger reserve to another. Comfortable compact air-conditioned SUV’s are used, with professional drivers, and top speeds rarely exceed 50 mph. Nonetheless it can be a disconcerting experience due to India’s free-wheeling driving practices, the constant honking, the often narrow, winding roads and the many obstacles and road hazards which have to be avoided. These include cows, domesticated buffalo, dogs, goats, motor bikes, bikes, pedestrians, trucks, buses, other livestock and random objects which may range from wheelbarrows to oxcarts. Comfort stops are made but they can be more than two hours apart. So limit your liquid intake. There are snacks and water in the vehicles. If you are prone to motion sickness, be sure to bring your Dramamine or other medication. The tight turns and repeatedly swaying left and right, with sudden jerks and bumps and unpredictable movement, can trigger nausea. So best to eat light before any road transfer.

Commercial flights

There’s likely to be at least two commercial flights on your tiger safari. On our last three trips the flights were from Delhi to Jabalpur and then Nagpur back to Delhi. Neither of the flights were much longer than an hour and generally speaking we’ve had no issues with the airports, check-in procedures (mostly quick, short lines) or in-flight service and baggage handling. Security is super-tight everywhere and it is important not to pack anything electronic (something which has a battery) in your checked luggage; specifically power banks or lithium-ion or similar batteries. All electronics including cameras, laptops, iPhones, tablets and similar have to be separated from your hand luggage for the pre-boarding security screening process.  Allow an additional 20 minutes in your schedule for that purpose. It’s all done in a very professional and courteous manner, but it can be time-consuming. 

Accommodation in tiger reserves

Your accommodation on a tiger safari will be in comfortable, effectively air-conditioned cottages with king size beds and showers with hot and cold water available 24-7. The rooms at Pench Safari Camp are tented. The eco-lodges are mostly located right on the edge of the national park core areas and the early morning drives to the gate usually don’t take much more than 10 minutes or so. Occasionally, when entering a reserve through a different gate (to be able to reach a different zone) or where the lodge is further away from the closest gate, it could take up to 30 minutes or so to reach the entrance. Be prepared for some early mornings with a few wake-up calls around 4:30 am – mostly a little later. 

It doesn’t take long to get used to the daily routine of a tiger safari. Suffice it to say that the schedule can be pretty demanding. Don’t anticipate a lot of downtime. After a light early morning snack with coffee and tea, you’ll head off to the park entry gate where vehicles line up for the 5:45 am gate opening. Opening times change during the year depending on sunrise. Morning safaris last for around 5 hours, inclusive of a picnic breakfast brought from camp and enjoyed in a designated area, usually served on a tablecloth spread on the hood of the safari vehicle. Breakfast starts with some freshly brewed coffee or tea and there’s usually sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, a deep-fried treat of some kind or another, stuffed flatbread, a sweet item like muffins or a coconut & chocolate bar and some juice boxes. Some of the picnic sites have small tables and a few vendors preparing and selling typical Indian snack foods such as samosas, “Alikattas’s famous aloo bondas” (Pench), Bandhavgarh’s Maggi (spicy noodles), pakora and the like. For many tiger safari aficionados, these picnic breakfasts are an ideal opportunity to interact with some of the other guests and local visitors. Breakfasts are roughly taken around 9:00 am, a little earlier if you get lucky with a couple of good tiger sightings, later if you don’t.  

If breakfast runs late you may opt out of lunch, which is usually served around 1:00 pm in camp. Skip a meal at your peril. The food is generally delicious, expertly prepared and there is an abundance of choices which will satisfy even the most demanding visitors. The dinner menus are usually more elaborate with several starters individually served (chicken, fish and paneer tikka among others), followed by a lavish buffet dinner. Dessert is served at the table.  

Afternoon safaris follow the same pattern, starting around 3:00 pm and exiting the reserve right around 6:45 pm. As you will soon notice, the drivers like to play a little game with the on-board GPS device (carried by the forest guide) which monitors the vehicle’s speed and movement. The game? Exiting the gate right at the required time, not a second too soon. 

For more information about our next small group trip to India – or about custom travel to the subcontinent – contact Bert at bert@fisheaglesafaris.com or leave a message with our answering service at 1-800 513-5222 or 713-467-5222.