Wildlife Tours From Delhi

owenr3

Hi, My husband and I are arriving in Delhi on 27th Jan 06 and hoping to take in the main tourist attractions of Delhi ie Red Fort, Taj Mahal etc as well as visiting a Bird Sanctuary and at least one Tiger National Park before needing to be in Mumbai on 5 Feb 06.

We have checked out various Indian Tour Operators who are offering tours to Taj Mahal and Bandhavgarh and/or Rathmabone and/or Kanha National Park for several days including all accommodation, jeep safaris and food at the parks, and travel in between for around £600 each. Whilst this seems like less hassle than trying to organise everything ourselves, we feel it is quite expensive for our budget (especially with India being so cheap to live) and wondered if anyone could advise on how easy it would be to organise this ourselves and pay as we go when in India. Ie how easy is it to get from Delhi to Sultanpur, Agra etc and approx costs. What National Park would you recommend from Delhi bearing in mind our next destination is Mumbai for 5 Feb 06. Do you recommend booking the safari online before departing for India to guarantee a place etc and would you recommend more than one National Park for the time we have or is one suffice?

I would appreiate any recommendations or ideas on itineraries and websites for booking independently online for safaris etc and how to get from A to B.

Thanks

Lisa

cyberhippie

This is easy to arrange for yourself, from Delhi you can catch the train to Bharatpur there are many options but this is probably the best train doing the journey in a little over 2 and 1/2 hours!!

2060 KOTA JANSHTBDI H NIZAMUDDIN 13:10 BHARATPUR JN 15:42
Costs CC 265rp 2nd 82rp

From the station jump a rickshaw or taxi to Bird Sanctuary Road where there are many hotels to suit all budgets you'll find a few on the hotel listings here at IM


I advise people to base themselves here for both the park as well as Agra/Fatepur Sikri. Both are easily reachable by taxi, bus or in train it takes around 25 minutes to Fatehpur Sikri by bus and 1 and 3/4 hours to Agra (less than an hour by train!!)

For site seeing just grab a rickshaw!!! If you want to see more than just the Taj hire the rickshaw for the day this is relatively cheap and means you have a driver to show you the sights!!

The bird park is wonderful it costs 200rp per head and you can hire bicycles for around 10 rupees an hour!!
My advise is TAKE A GUIDE without a guide it will just be a ride in the park, of course you'll see some birds (the stork and guillemot nurseries are unmissable you'll hear them long before you see them!!)
if you take a guide he'll take you to places you would just have walked past and point out something like a dusty eagle owl (a huge bird)

As I said there is lots of accomodation and if you've a mind try out the food at the Park View my mate AK is a great cook and will make you very welcome!!

As for wildlife parks you could go to Ranthambore it's certainly the closest option but if I was you I'd make the effort to get to Bandhavgarh, The set up is much better and you have a far better Chance of seeing a tiger!!
In Ranthambore you might not be able to get a jeep such is the popularity of this park thanks to it's close proximity to the Golden Triangle. There are of course open to buses or cantors but this doesn't offer quite the same experience. I saw a tiger at Ranthambore but I rate Bandhavgarh much more highly.
A jeep trip will cost around 2000 Rps for two trips into the park one morning trip and one early evening.
At Tala there is a good selection of hotels to suit most budgets and it is a quiet little place.
To get to Bandhavgarh it's quite a hike but this overnight train should see you well rested

1450 MAHAKOSHAL EXP *AGRA CANTT 19:38 KATNI 08:25
costs AC2 1165rp AC3 748rp SL 276rp

From Katni take a train to Umaria with luck you'll make this train

8233 NARMADA EXPRESS *KATNI 09:10 UMARIA 10:35

Then a taxi or shared jeep to Tala!!

To get to Mumbai from here is easy enough there are several train heading towards Mumbai In order to allow for time to get to Katni comfortably I suggest this train!!

1094 MAHANAGARI EXP *KATNI 19:40 KALYAN JN (Mumbai) 13:05
Costs AC2 1468rp AC3928rp SL329rp

owenr3

Hi
Thanks for the response. It seems like a good plan to me. Would you recommend booking the train tickets online before I go or is it possible to just get tickets in India ie are they likely to be fully booked. How long in advance can you book tickets online?

We are new to India, that is we were at Goa last year and enjoyed so are spening over a week in Goa this year at the end of our tour.

Also looking to catch a train from Mubai to Goa on 7 Feb 05 preferably leaving Mubai around 9am in the morning. Can you recommend any?

You wouldn't happen to know anyting about Spicejet.com would you? I have been going onto their website over the last couple of months trying to book a flight from Goa to Delhi for 16 Feb 06. Unfortunately, their system only has an online facility up until Jan 06, and when I contacted them by e-mail I was informed that flights for Feb 06 are not in process yet but they weren't any more forthcoming than that. Air Deccan is my other choice as cheap flights available but I would have to book 2 separate flights - one to Mumbai and another to Delhi.

Looking forward to your reply and assistance.

Regards#

Lisa Owen

steven_ber

Also consider......

Train 8478 (Kalinga Utkal express) departs Nizamuddin (Delhi) daily at 12:50, then departs Agra Cant at 16:15, and gets to Umaria at 06:15 the next morning.

Fares from Agra. (from Delhi will cost a little more)

2-tier air-con = Rs 1154
3-tier air-con = Rs 741
Sleeper class (not air-con) = Rs 273

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jyotirmoy

Ch is right Bandhabgarh is a better choice. Please note that the number of safaris per day has been curtailed. I understand safaris at most parks are rapidly getting booked specially during the winter. I suggest fix up accomodation at Bandhabgarh & try to book a safari on the desired day yhru the hotel mangement.
Do keep in mind that tiger sightings are a bit rare. I would recommend a 3 day stay so that your chances increase.
Good luck.

cyberhippie

Yeah I would go with Steven's suggestion as with this train you are more likely to make the morning connection to Umaria. Have breakfast at the little station canteen it's run like an officers mess but did us a great brekkie!!

For short trip like this where you want to be where you want to be on time I see no reason why you shouldn't book all you tickets up front, you can always cancel if the mood takes (after first checking availability for your chosen day of travel, you can book up to 60 days ahead)

For trains to Goa I suggest this one as I know it's got one of the best pantry cars on IR, though it leaves from Kalyan Junction which is a bit of a taxi ride!!
Perhaps someone else can say exactly how far

2618 MNGLA LKSDP EXP *KALYAN JN 09:05 MADGAON 20:10

This train should be booked up front, as all trains running on the Konkan Railway route book up fast!!