Nature trip wanted-custom or group

atravelynn

I am happy to find this site to help me plan my first trip to India. All my travels focus on nature and this trip will too.

Any advice you can give is appreciated.

~ About 19 days in India

~ Travel in 2011, open to timing. Want to avoid crowds and school holidays. Is there a published list of 2011 school or other holidays so I can avoid travel at those times. Want to go at a time that maximizes the chances to see tigers.

~ Would like to include a morning viewing of Taj Mahal. But don't need to linger there or stay overnight.

~ Which parks do you recommend or think I should avoid?

~ Would like to spend 4 nights minimum in each park. Not many group trips do that so I may need a custom trip.

~ How does it work if I am one person in the "tiger seeking" jeep? Do I join others? Is there a way to go with like minded, serious wildlife viewing people?

~ I am happy with basic, simple accommodations. Probably want
1st class on train when sleeping overnight, though.

~ I am happy to pay for good guiding and whatever maximizes the wildlife viewing conditions, don't want to pay for luxury or fancy stuff.

~ Any companies you can recommend?

Thank you very much. Feel free to email me -- lynn2010 at rocketmail dot com.

kartikp

~ Travel in 2011, open to timing. Want to avoid crowds and school holidays. Is there a published list of 2011 school or other holidays so I can avoid travel at those times. Want to go at a time that maximizes the chances to see tigers.

2011 is quite far off but it is always better to be prepared . Anyways, if you want to maximize your chances of seeing "Tiger" than April end till July (pre monsoon) is a good time. It will be easy to see tigers, as water will be scarce in the park and all animals will frequent waterholes. Beware though, the heat will be oppressive in northern part of India.

~ Would like to include a morning viewing of Taj Mahal. But don't need to linger there or stay overnight.

~ Which parks do you recommend or think I should avoid?

I would answer both of these question at the same time. If you are traveling through Delhi towards Taj, you can continue to Ranthambhore. 4 Days in Ranthambhore during june-july should get you good sightings, but no one can promise. I can also recommend Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Corbett, Tadoba. However if seeing a tiger is your top agenda, Ranthambhore and Bandhavgarh will be what you might be interested in. You can have a morning visit to Taj and then continue towards Ranthambhore.

Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is also a jewel but during peak summer months it may not hold a lot of birds, so I am not suggesting it.

~ How does it work if I am one person in the "tiger seeking" jeep? Do I join others? Is there a way to go with like minded, serious wildlife viewing people?

The only way to be with truly like minded people is to form a group of like minded people. I am not sure what you meant by being one person in tiger seeking jeep. If you really want to enjoy your trip on our own pace, have the whole jeep to yourself.


~ I am happy to pay for good guiding and whatever maximizes the wildlife viewing conditions, don't want to pay for luxury or fancy stuff.

Good choice. I completely agree with you. A guide can make or break your trip. :-) while you are on a forest trail, a guide is the most important person in your life

This is all I can add here. hope it helped.

waghobha

[quote=atravelynn;841013]
~ How does it work if I am one person in the "tiger seeking" jeep? Do I join others? Is there a way to go with like minded, serious wildlife viewing people?

All national parks/sanctuaries are run by the Forest Dept of Govt of India. The jeep safaries have fixed rates for 3-4 hour rides. The rate is per vehicle and extra for the guide. It is not based on the number of people in the jeep. So you can rent 1 jeep and engage 1 guide if you cannot find like-minded people.

BTW your best chance of finding like-minded people is on Indiamike.

One word of caution. Do not tag along with just about anyone to share a jeep. Many visitors are not interested in wildlife (I wonder why they come to national parks). They will turn out to be noisy, irritating and will ruin the whole experience for you. Best luck planning your trip.

On a grim note . I pray there are tigers left to site by 2011.

danield

I agree that it is better to plan your own trip. You can cut costs in other ways like staying in more economical places but when it comes to wildlife viewing hire your own.

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Nagerhole National Wildlife Park (also called Rajiv Ghandhi) in southern India, near Mysore, Karnataka. I shared a jeep ride with two couples. They were wanting a break from their busy lives which is understandable. But they were there to have fun, were noisy and thought they had to be loud to attract wildlife, if you know what I mean.

Since I was by myself I couldn't really make an issue. I regret having gone with them but who knew.

__________________
Stuck on India

waghobha

So sorry to hear that Daniel. I have shared seat in a huge truck in Ranthambore with other tourists and I still grate my teeth at the memory. People can be extremely annoying. We had folks wearing cherry red clothes with loads of perfume. People talked non-stop and shrieked on seeing any animal.

Needless to say I have never repeated that mistake again. But just last week I was in Sariska, Rajasthan and was NOT sharing a jeep. But just the moment I saw a huge Serpent Eagle sitting majestically on the topmost branch of a dry tree, came along 2 more jeeps filled to the brim. These folks immediately started shouting in excitement and pointing the bird to those who could not spot it. ((.

My immediate instructions to the driver, "Let's go in the opposite direction to these guys."!

atravelynn

Thanks for the replies.

So Ranthambhore and Bandhavgarh top the list, at least for kartikp. I have heard such good things about Kanha. To be honest, I've heard negatives about Ranthambhore from Indians, some who live in India and some who don't, along with some Europeans.

I am leaning toward a private vehicle and if I find others who want to go with me, then they can join.

I am thinking 4 nts Kanha, 4 nts Bandhavgarh, and 4 nts Corbett. I like the idea of staying inside the park at Corbett and will be also looking for other species besides tigers there. I'll fit the Taj Mahal in too.

Please continue to add any info, even if it duplicates what is already here. Several similar answers make a strong point.

kartikp

Kanha is an excellent choice as well. Beautiful forest with breathtaking scenery and wildlife. Off late Kanha had given good sightings of Leopards as well, which is generally illusive.

Corbett will be fun, see if you can get accommodation in forest rest houses. There are quite a few trip reports around that can give you some ideas on what to expect. If you are into birding, Corbett will make you want to spend more time there.

As far as bad reviews of any national parks are concerned, I believe it is a case of "different strokes for different folks". I know quite a few people who would rather go to the zoo, see the animals and be done with it. The idea of tracking, listening and patience does not appeal quite a few people. It may also be a case of not seeing a Tiger, which is the focus of some folks who visit a reserve like Ranthambhore. It is disappointing for them but in their quest for the cat, sometimes they ignore the whole wildlife experience. The experience in Indian Jungles is slightly different than, lets say Tanjania. Both places have their own challenges, but it would be wrong to judge one experience based on another. I hope I am not rambling here

Noisy tourists is a major turnoff and you should stay miles away from them (literally). Like it was mentioned before, best trip would be in a private vehicle or sharing with people who are interested in wildlife. Do not share a jeep with people who take "Park" bit of National Park too seriously

Corbett, Kanha and Bandhavgarh should be a good trip. Wish I could take that kinda trip (will take one soon... sigh..)

Cheers,
Kartik

atravelynn

Thanks for the continued comments. Please ramble on all you wish.

The negative Ranthambhore comments were about the loud people, crowds, that sort of thing, which apparently is worse here or less controlled than other places.

I plan on staying in the rest houses. Any particular recommendations are appreciated.

Early in my planning stages, I have realized that I could easily make numerous trips to India for its wildlife (and that's not even touching the other aspects of the country). Hopefully I'll be able to post here about this trip and some more and enjoy reading and learning from others.

Ottakoothan

Hi, Travelling from one place to another place requires proper planning. If you travel during day time and stay in the destination at night the whole day will be wasted. Recently I visited Jim Corbett during 1st week of Oct 09. There is a lot of learning in this trip. Travelled from Chennai - Delhi in the morning flight and from Delhi to Jim Corbett in a hired car during day time - wasted 1 day. The same thing happened on my return from Jim Corbett - Delhi in a hired car, travelled during day time and wasted another day. So out of 4 days plan 2 days wasted on commutation. I should have taken a evening flight from Chennai - Delhi and travelled to Jim Corbett in the night by hired car or TRAIN which could have saved 2 days and enjoyed the stay in Jim Corbett for another 2 days. Roads are pathetic in some of the areas from Delhi - Jim Corbett and traffic is worst during day time. I think TRAIN journey in the night should be fine. I will take this TRAIN journey option during my next trip.

The agent who arranged the CAR and Hotel stay has not given any good planning ideas to save the time which is regrettable. Again we had a very bad time standing in the long queue to get the entry pass to Jim Corbett from 4AM to 7 AM (heared that now we can book online in advance). After getting the entry pass we travelled for about 20 km to reach the JimCorbett entry gate and by the time we went inside the time was around 7.30AM, there were about 22 Jeep fully loaded with people with much noise. After realising the situation we understood spotting animals is not going to be easy there. Yes, we could not spot Tiger not even an elephant eventhough we 3 of us hired a Jeep and roamed inside the JimCorbet for the full day. Next day we decided to cancel the the trip inside the JimCorbett and travel on our own in open area. We gave enough gyan to travel operator for the stupid planning and wrong advices and we went on our own on the second day to SITA VANI area. That place was having tall trees, few villages and all kings of deers including Nilgai deer. Enjoyed watching all these in the natural atmosphere. We went to the Sitavani temple with guide within the forest. On our return from Sitavani temple i asked the Jeep driver to stop the Jeep in the middle of the road to take few snap shots of the long road with tall trees (awesome scene to see in the evening around 4PM). Took mt Tripod and camera (changed the lens from 120-400 to 18-105 to capture the scenic through wide angle lens. went away from Jeep for about 20 meters. placed the Tripod in proper position, fixed my Nikon D200 camera on that and about to click the pictures my Guide called me (rather screemed at me) to get inside the Jeep immediately after hearing the loud alarming call from Sambar Deer and Monkeys. I went back to the Jeep without taking pictures. Guide told me that there is a Big cat (100%) very nearer within 100 meters and asked us to watch carefully from the Jeep. YES, we spotted the Leopard in another 2 minutes crossed the road from our left to right side. We watched the Leopard for about 3 minutes. That 5 minutes of realising the natural atmosphere, loud alarm calls from Sambar deer & monkeys were thrilling experience. I was happy to spot the Leopard for 3 minutes and unlucky to capture the same in my camera since changed the Telephoto lens to wide angle lens.

Suggestions

Commutation - Take a train if available during night to commute for morethan 5-8 hours journey which will give enough time for your tour as well rest.

Entry Permits and spotting animals / Birds - Take the entry pass or permits to get inside the park well in advance to save time and enter in the forest in the early morning (if possible try to enter inside the forest in the first jeep which goes inside). Early morning and late evenings are the good time to spot animals. If you get the full day safari you can enjoy seeing the birds in day time (we spotted few birds including Hornbill). If you are at the place where vultures and eagles are available - around 11AM - 3PM you may be able spot this.

Accommodation - The agent who arranged the trip was kind enough to arrange the hotel outside the JimCorbett with the room having TV & Bathtub, Swimming pool & Dance facility at night. He failed to arrange the accommodation inside the JimCorbett which will give more chances to spot the animals in the early morning 5.30AM. The day we went inside the JimCorbett around 7.30AM those who stayed inside the JimCorbett spotted the Tiger around 5.45AM just few meters outside their accommodation. They availed the Jeep drive inside forest by 5.30AM itself. I heared this accomodation inside is very limited and not easy to get.

I wish sharing my experience will help few of the travellers to plan well. HAPPY TRAVEL.

kartikp

@atravelynn:

I suppose the problem of over crowding exists in almost all places. With the advantage of easy access and their famous status, Corbett/Ranthambhore/Bandhavgarh get crowded. From what I observed, I conclude that during weekdays the crowd is quite less due to absence of day visitors. It also matters that your guide is not one of the "follow the herd" type. I would advice that you get a guide who can track and find animals on his own. It will help you cutting away from the crowds and have some quality time.

For Corbett, try and see if you can get accommodation in forest rest houses. That way you will be staying inside the park and will not have to bother with entry ques, starting your tours much earlier than the usual crowds. However getting FRH accommodation is easier said than done.

Cheers,
Kartik

atravelynn

Thanks Ottatkoothan for your Corbett experience. I plan to follow your suggestion Karikp. I agree early is best.

atravelynn

Now my title can be rewritten to Nature trip wanted--custom.