Bandhavgarh - right time?

davyd

Hello IMikers
I'm considering option to drop in Bandhavgarh at the end of this month - is it right time? Anybody seen tigers this time of the year?
I would appreciate any advice, maybe safari is not sort of thing as dropping to hotel and going for sightseeing and is required better planning as trekking.
Regards,..

cyberhippie

Yep I saw 7 tigers in December a couple of years back. I'm sure November will be just as good a time for spotting tigers, though i woyuldn't bet on seeing 7 of them we were extremely lucky and had a great driver!! (Salim) Bandhavgarh is a relatively small park of around 67 square kilometers so, the chances of seeing a tiger here are pretty good. it's also a very beautiful area with lots of other wildife!!

aadil

When I was there for the first time in April, I was told that the warm summer months are the best for the tigers to be spotted as they come out and laze around in the grass to keep them cool so it is the best time to see them but since Bandhavgarh is the place with the most tiger spottings in India along with Ranthambore I guess you can't go wrong in any weather if you are lucky!!! There is no sure way of telling that you will see one even in the summer months but the possibility is much higher than in other places and at other times. I have never heard of people seeing a tiger in the wild in any of the other major parks where there are tigers except these two parks so that is your best bet to see one of the last couple of thousand surviving tigers in the wild in India. Hope you see more than one when you go there!!! I saw a family of one male and female with their four cubs from the top of an elephant for a brief period of five minutes that we can take the elephant ride when the tiger is spotted in the area. It was the best five minutes in the jungle for me!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

__________________
Climb high; climb far;
Your goal, the sky,
Your aim, the stars!!!

cyberhippie

Aadil perhaps it was just luck but 90% of the people around in December, were seeing tigers. They have a great system of trackers, that know where the tigers are roughly and the info gets back to the jeeps pretty quick.

Our sighting didn't even rely on this though, Salim and our guide simply looked in all the right spots until we found them!!
The morning sighting was great, we sat for about 20-30 min watching two adolescents preening themselves by a watering hole, they couldn't have been more than 20 meters away.

The evening sighting was even closer only 10 meters as the mum and four adolescent cubs crossed the road in front of us!!

This was after some driving, worthy of a world class rally driver, after Salim spotted the pug marks and thought he knew where they were headed, turns out he was spot on!!

Again we were there for 5 days and everyone was seeing tigers!! Apart from one unfortunate Japanese couple who just missed so many sightings, they were on their 4th day of trying when we left!!

I might add that on our other trips we didn't see any tigers (all on the first day) though we weren't looking too hard, we preferred to stay away from the circus of the Elephants ride and the Que of jeeps waiting to get their passengers on the elephant, to see the tiger that the trackers had found.

We were Soooo lucky, the sightings we had had were so personal, as there wasn't another jeep within miles!!
A truly magical moment ask the jeep driver to take you to the elephant camp another wonderful experience as you can get right up close to the elephant and their babies and watch the Mahouts making huge Chappatis (camp loaves) for the elephants!!
Indeed just hanging out on the ridge looking down on the park, birdwatching is time well spent!!

owenr3

Can anyone tell me how much we should be budgeting for accommodation/jeep safaris/elephant safaris etc at this park? We hope to just pay for accommodation on arrival at one of the local Tala guest houses - Kum Kum or somewhere similar and then maybe have a couple of safaris a day. We are arriving on morning of 2 Feb 06 but understand that we will be too late for the morning safari so hoping to have an evening safari and then 2 safaris on both 2 & 3 Feb 06. Most of the bigger resorts have been quoting us around £500 for the two of us for 3 nights stay and 5 jeep safaris which seems a bit extreme to me on a tight budget.

Really just wanting an idea of likely costs to expect so that
1) we take sufficient funds with us on holiday via travellers cheques etc
2) we don't get ripped off when we get there.

Your advice is appreciated

Lisa

cyberhippie

A package of two trips with jeep and guide including all fees was 2000 rupees but this was two years ago!!

As for Hotel the prices range between 300 rupees for simple budget accomodation to 1000 for something much nicer with hot water etc!!

Be sure to take enough money as it's pretty much impossible to change money in Tala

aadil

Hi Cyberhippie,

Seems like you were really lucky to have a great driver and guide and also a good route as you must know that you can only go on the route you have been given and not go anywhere in the forest. So you must have been lucky as well!!! We too went for the elephant ride in the evening which was not for the tigers but just the joy ride for an hour and saw the huge chapattis the elephants had for their dinner!!! I even held one of them to see how heavy it was and it woud last me a couple of days to finish one, I guess!!! We too saw a tiger from the jeep but it was not too close for us and it was too low down for us to get a good picture but the elephant ride gave us a top view which was unparalleled in comparison with the jeep's height. The sad thing is that there are no walky talkies used by the individual jeeps to let them know whereabouts of the tigers if they are spotted but only relied on telling the next guy if they see one passing by. The only guys who use them are the forest rangers and they only use them for the elephant tiger show so not much use otherwise. When we tried to go on another route on being told about a tiger sighting the ranger caught us and made us go back without seeing the tiger as we were not supposed to be on that route. Now isn't that a sad thing when you almost have one in sight? Hahaha!!! But then that is life, I guess!!! It is better to preserve the tiger for another day than to see them all in one and not see them again on our next visit!!! That is the reason the routes are strictly followed so the animals are not put through a lot of stress and trouble from the uninvited guests in the forest. After all it is their territory that we are invading without permission and creating a terrorising environment for them when we enter the forest. Just my two cents worth!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

cyberhippie

I found the rules were being broken by all and sundry especially when they had spotted a tiger and the elephant rides started.
We passed by the circus and it was rather sad about 25 jeeps lined up waiting for the elephant!!

As you say the prescribed routes are there for a purpose, we didn't stick to our route either after the first day, we just drove slowly around staying away from the other jeeps, spotted a barking deer whilst doing this which was quite special!!
We often just parked up somewhere and done some bird watching!

Great idea for the elephant ride at the camp, I never thought to ask for a ride I so mesmerised by these wonderful beasts!!

Do the jeeps now have cages after the tiger attacke the tourist?? Probably bot I'm guessing!!

All in all this is a wonderful park, I met a Bengali who has visited many of India's parks an he rates this as one of the best along with Kaziranga

aadil

The jeeps cost Rs600 for one safari session or Rs1000 for two in a day or Rs1200 for the Bandhavgarh Fort in the time in between the two safaris as well as the two rides (one in the morning and one in the afternoon). The entrance for foreigners is pretty steep and the elephant rides still steeper!!! Stick to the jeep in my opinion except for one elephant ride which costs Rs600. Only good thing is that the elephant ride in the tiger show in the morning session will not cost you anything if you don't see the tiger!!! Rarely happens though!!! The cheap accomodation is about Rs200 or 300 per room in the cheaper hotels like Kum Kum and Tiger Lodge. Nowadays you have internet facilities in Tala if you want to stay connected to the outside world.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Aadil.

aadil

Hi Cyberhippie,

Now when was this tiger attack on the tourist? Never heard about it when I was there!!! We did have a nice guide too who told us a lot about the birds and the trees as my friend from Iran was interested in them. Also saw a lot of the other wildlife which most people tend to forget exists in the forests along with the tigers and the saying on the entrance gate says it all, "Even if you did not see me in the forest, I surely saw you!!!" Don't come here with the intention of just seeing the tiger for you may go back disappointed if you don't see one.

Cheers,
Aadil.

cyberhippie

I think it happened March/April 2003, no the guides never mentioned this to me either and there were't any cages on the jeeps when I got there 6 months later!
Despite the reccomendations by goverment departments!!

Google it and you'll find the news story maybe they were French I believe and the injured tiger (probably the reason behind the attack) mauled them in the back of their jeep!

I missed a heartbeat when mum turned and growled at us, whilst crossing the road, I'm guessing if I had known about the attack I would have needed fresh underpants

owenr3

thanks Aadil
that is really helpful information. It just gives me a guide for how much to take and a lot cheaper than booking in one of the resorts from the UK.
thanks again for all your help. This website is full of great information. I don't think I could have planned my trip to India without it.
Lisa

aadil

Hi Lisa,

You are most welcome, anytime. It is a pleasure to help and it gives a kind of satisfaction that does not come through anything else!!! Tala has a lot of guest house kind of accomodations as well as the princely kothis as well!!! So you can always take your pick from the lot. But there are very few places if there are too many visitors during the peak season, so it is advisable to book in advance on the telephone if possible. If you want the telephone numbers you may look them up in the latest Lonely Planet. For Kum Kum Home it is (07627) 265324 and for Tiger Lodge it is (07627) 265364.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Aadil.

aadil

Hi Cyberhippie,

Well, I never heard about this one and I'm sure anyone would be terrified if they had heard about it at the same time as they went but I guess with time every thing seems to be forgotten and that's the way life is usually in India. Not too many people learn from their mistakes. Infact in the stretch of road that has the tiger show with the elephant ride we are always asked to climb up the elephant from someone else's jeep if it is parked inbetween so you tend to get out of the jeep anyway and that I guess is a bit dangerous when you hear such stories. Otherwise I know that a tiger will not attack just like that especially in Bandhavgarh as they are almost used to the same routine everyday and they somehow know that they have to put up this show for the idiots who come in everyday to see the striped cats!!! HAHAHA!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

didindia7

Hello,
Cyberhyppie is right, 2 french women were wounded by a female tiger and also the director of the Nature Heritage resort in 2003.
I book 5 nights and 4 jungle plan days with www.nivalink.com for march 2006.
You have several resorts with different prices. I'll stay at Nature heritage because I stayed there in 2002 and I was satisfied (french tour). I paid with CB on their secure site https....
I don't know Nivalink but there are some posts on the forum and I ask 1 owner of a hotel and he confirms my reservations from Nivalink. So I hope to have no problem.
Apologies for my poor english.