How to book Periyar Tiger Trail trip?

Hi,

My partner and i are traveling around Kerela over christmas and new year and are planning to go to the Periyar Tiger reserve. We would really like to go on the 2-3 day Tiger Trail trip as it sounds like an amazing experience. I understand that it is quite unlikely that we will get to see a tiger but if you don't try you'll never know and i imagine there will be an amazing spectrum of wildlife to completely entertained us.
We really don't want to miss out on this experience an i know that we will be traveling there during high season so i was hoping that someone might be able to advice me on how i can book the trip in advance. Any advice would be most appreciated.

If any one has any other advice on where to stay and other activities i'd love to here them too.

Thanks
Rich

Hi Rich, welcome to Indiamike

There is at present, a problem with tiger safaris in India.
Best idea would be to wait for a couple more weeks before booking with anyone.

I have never been to Periyar, and have no idea, as to their set up regarding buffer, and core zones. There is currently a supreme court action preventing any tiger tourism at this time, and until after the SC ruling, it is unclear what the future situation will be at some parks.

Keep hold of your money until it is crystal clear what can be offered to you !

Hi Fugly,
Thanks for getting back to me. I must admit i am completely devastated as i have wanted to have this opportunity for many years. Well i guess i'll have to keep everything crossed that the ruling gets over turned.
Am i correct in thinking that if a nature reserve has tigers it will be completely closed off to the public regardless of whether you are there to see tigers or not. As its my understanding that if there are tigers then the bio diversity of that area will be alot stronger thus you have a greater chance of seeing more species of animals than if you went somewhere that didn't have tigers.
Its completely crazy. Tourism and raising awareness is what protects these animals not hiding them away to be forgotten about. Its indian bureaucracy gone mad.
If you have any other advice on places to visit in Kerala it would be great to hear them. Thanks.

Its not as easy as that Rich.
All parks must have an area designated as CTH (critical tiger habitat)and a buffer zone. The buffer zone is an area, outside of the CTH, (or core area)where the wildlife can freely roam, and hopefully not come into contact with human, or humans livestock, or to put it another way, the humans must not inhabit, or raise livestock. I wont even begin on the subject of too many resorts, or hotels that have been built in buffer zones.
Core zones should not be entered by tourists or anyone else other than park authorised personnel.
Both Core, and Buffer zones must be clearly defined. A line in the sand, so to speak.
Ranthambore for example, is entirely Core area, yet, as probably the worlds most famous tiger park, it has millions of visitors each year, visiting an area (remember its all CTH)where tourist just should not be. In addition to which, there are also large communities living in a very close proximity to the CTH, even inside it. So I can see major problems at Ranthambore
This is what the action is all about. Years ago it was decided what should happen, but not all parks did what was required of them. Now the chickens have come home to roost.
Not all parks will be affected, some will have no changes at all.
As I already said, I have no idea about Periyar's set up, as I have never visited there before. But India, being India, nothing should be taken for granted.
Anyhow, after the 22nd it should all be a lot clearer.

Hope this helps ?

Concerning the booking of the tiger trail, it should, in theory, be possible through http://www.periyartigerreserve.org/onbook.php. But the message "this service will be activated shortly" has been there for a very long time. So, there is little hope that this feature will be available any time soon. Also, Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) tends to not reply to emails, which doesn't help. Apart from that, PTR is extremely well organised so the risk of misunderstandings in any booking procedures or the actual activities is small.

Concerning the issues that Fugly points out, I agree with the points and conclusions, but it should be noted that the tiger trail in PTR is, probably, not at risk of being cancelled because, without going into too much detail, it is organised differently from the way similar activities in other reserves are organised. In short, if I was in your position, I wouldn't be too worried.

Since the obvious way of booking (see above) is not available, there are two other options:

1. Contact a travel agent and book through them.

2. Book through your accommodation.

In both cases you would have to pay in advance because booking the tiger trail is only possible with immediate payment. If you have to cancel, the rules for cancelling are like this:

Cancellation rules: 1) More than 30 days before the start of the activity: 100% refund. 2) 20-30 days before the start of the activity: 50% refund. 3) 2-20 days before the start of the activity: 25% refund.

If a local person, i.e. the accommodation or a local travel agent, makes the booking for you there shouldn't be any charge for this since they can claim a 10% commission for making the booking.

Thanks for that info pundabee, it is appreciated.

First of all i'd like to say that i now completely agree with Fugly. At first i didn't really understand what the core and buffer zone entailed and i made a naive judgment on its importance. I have since done some research into it and retract my initial statement. Thank you Fugly for pointing a few things out to me.

Secondly thanks Pundabee for the info on booking the tiger trail trip. With some luck i will still be able to visit. As i understand Periya have very good conservation regulations and already have a strict core and buffer zone so they may not be affected. But i wont take it for granted.

Any other advice on the area would be great. Thanks again.