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+--- Thread: Who's been to India (/topic-who-s-been-to-india)
RE: Who's been to India - Pckts - 11-05-2016
@Roflcopters
Tadoba was also on the list but had to cut one reserve off due to time constraints.
Tadoba is having great sightings right now, but I don't see a lot of big males being photographed there at the moment.
RE: Who's been to India - Pckts - 11-16-2016
I'm scheduled to make my first deposit next month for my trip in May and this is what it's looking like...
Because Kahna is having bad leopard sightings at the moment he was trying to talk me into tadoba instead. I was a bit apprehensive at first about the lack of males but seeing Baijrang and Matsukar male often, gabbar and Wag. still around plus the leopards in tadoba and all other wild life, I was talked into it.
Plus we are now trying to add Pench into the mix.
It's looking like a 9 day safari with Kahna, Tadoba and Pench and we would remove Bandhavargh from the list.
What do you guys think?
RE: Who's been to India - Shardul - 11-19-2016
(11-16-2016, 11:34 PM)Pckts Wrote: I'm scheduled to make my first deposit next month for my trip in May and this is what it's looking like...May is going to be scorching hot. Expect temperatures in the excess of 40 degrees C. However, tiger sightings are better so i can understand why you chose that month. Who knows when the next trip will be, if it happens again.
Because Kahna is having bad leopard sightings at the moment he was trying to talk me into tadoba instead. I was a bit apprehensive at first about the lack of males but seeing Baijrang and Matsukar male often, gabbar and Wag. still around plus the leopards in tadoba and all other wild life, I was talked into it.
Plus we are now trying to add Pench into the mix.
It's looking like a 9 day safari with Kahna, Tadoba and Pench and we would remove Bandhavargh from the list.
What do you guys think?
Are there total 9 days of safari? Or is it 9 days including travel? What i mean to ask is how many drives are included in those 9 days?
Those 3 places are very similar, isn't there a way you can substitute one of them with kaziranga or corbett or even ranthambhore?
Also, where will be your stay in kanha? There are 3 gates, mukki gate is 40 kms from khatia gate, so that will have an effect on which zones you will get to visit.
RE: Who's been to India - Pckts - 11-19-2016
(11-19-2016, 10:02 PM)Shardul Wrote:(11-16-2016, 11:34 PM)Pckts Wrote: I'm scheduled to make my first deposit next month for my trip in May and this is what it's looking like...May is going to be scorching hot. Expect temperatures in the excess of 40 degrees C. However, tiger sightings are better so i can understand why you chose that month. Who knows when the next trip will be, if it happens again.
Because Kahna is having bad leopard sightings at the moment he was trying to talk me into tadoba instead. I was a bit apprehensive at first about the lack of males but seeing Baijrang and Matsukar male often, gabbar and Wag. still around plus the leopards in tadoba and all other wild life, I was talked into it.
Plus we are now trying to add Pench into the mix.
It's looking like a 9 day safari with Kahna, Tadoba and Pench and we would remove Bandhavargh from the list.
What do you guys think?
Are there total 9 days of safari? Or is it 9 days including travel? What i mean to ask is how many drives are included in those 9 days?
Those 3 places are very similar, isn't there a way you can substitute one of them with kaziranga or corbett or even ranthambhore?
Also, where will be your stay in kanha? There are 3 gates, mukki gate is 40 kms from khatia gate, so that will have an effect on which zones you will get to visit.
9 days of safari, including travel between parks. I'm not sure which gates but he said the park chooses which zones you get to see. I'll ask about subbing out one of the parks with kaziranga or Corbett but is that enough to time?
Edit: Apparently the only one close enough to fit in is Ranth. and its still the opposite direction from Kahna/Tadoba and would spend the day traveling. So I think we are just going to keep it with in the parks mentioned and hope for great sightings between them.
RE: Who's been to India - Pckts - 11-20-2016
@Shardul
Even though we are there for 9 days, we actually spend the first two days landing in delhi then drive to Agra, spend the night then go see the Taj and Red Fort, then on the 3rd day we leave to Nagpur then travel to which ever reserves we decide. It looks like we will have that afternoon for safari as well as the next 6 days, it's just not enough time to go to further parks I think?
I'm pretty bummed I'm not going to get to see Corbett or Kaziranga or Ranth, but I will go back eventually and will make sure to go see those parks.
RE: Who's been to India - Shardul - 11-20-2016
@Pckts
Ok that makes sense.
When i went to kanha in 2012 you could actually choose which zones to visit. Kanha, mukki, kisli and sirahi. The forest rest house i stayed in was right in front of the khatia gate, meaning we were the first to enter the park, which is very important since the first morning hour is the most crucial. However, going to mukki via khatia gate would take atleast an hour drive, so if mukki is the one you really want to visit, you should stay near the mukki gate.
Just Fyi, there are 2 drives per day, morning 6 to 9 and evening 3 to 6. So if you have 6 safari days(rest for travelling) then you should get 12 drives.
RE: Who's been to India - Pckts - 11-20-2016
Yes, we are doing the morning and evening drives at each park unless we are traveling to a different park and then we will only be able to do one drive on that day. He said we'll get to do mukki zone a few drives, which is a must for me.
RE: Who's been to India - Pckts - 11-26-2016
Plane flight is booked, I'll be in tadoba, pench and Kahna by may 1!!
RE: Who's been to India - Polar - 12-28-2016
Ever since stepping foot into this forum, I've desperately wanted to visit the natural India; particularly Kaziranga and Bandhavgarh.
But that will be after university.
RE: Who's been to India - Shardul - 01-20-2017
(11-26-2016, 12:31 AM)Pckts Wrote: Plane flight is booked, I'll be in tadoba, pench and Kahna by may 1!!
Awesome!! Make sure you pack plenty of khaki coloured clothes, avoid any bright colours. The safaris will be very dusty since it is the dry season and dust in those parts can be very fine, so pack something that can cover your nose, like scarf maybe. And sunglasses, of course. Also, if you can, carry a good pair of binoculars. Oh, and I forgot diarrhoea medicine, lol.
Other than that, best of luck with your trip! You won't see the same diversity or volume of large mammals like you saw in Africa, but I hope you still enjoy your visit.
RE: Who's been to India - Brehm - 02-04-2017
Nice information exchange & debate guys.
Wish you good luck and lot of fun for your upcoming journey @Pckts !
I too have plans to visit 1-2 tiger reserves in one of my next 2 vacations. My next trip to india is planned from end of april to middle of may, but its more a spontanous vacation to visit relatives originally, so i dont know if it will fit this time. My heart is burning for it though... Luckily i plan to fly next year as well^^
My stay is unfortunately in the only indian state with almost no wildlife nearby... Punjab. The closest tiger reserves would be Corbett and Rajaji. Visiting both of them (if organized in advance) shouldnt be such a big deal i guess, if time, money and motivation are in a good spot. Apart from that, i also thought about Dudhwa. My "problem" (not as harsh as it may sounds) with Corbett or lets say Ranthambore is, that those are major tourist attractions and probably over crowded. Dont get me wrong, im also nothing else than a tourist in that matter. Im just the type, who likes visiting "secret" treasures, if possible. In that case, i thought a non - mainstream park like Dudhwa could be an interesting experience.
According to this site, Dudhwa is a non commercial park with interesting offers:
Quote:Dudhwa attracts the visitors with its two core area as Dudhwa National Park and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary which are separated by each other with an area of 15 kms agricultural land. Unlike other celebrity parks of India like Jim Corbett National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Bandhavgarh National Park etc, the uncommercialized ambience of this park makes it an ideal habitat for the wild creatures to find nature's serenity & comfortability in a more natural way.
So, my most likely journey would look like Rajaji - Corbett and probably Dudhwa. The question is, are there any reasons not to visit Dudhwa? I knew it had a bad reputation a few years ago, but whats the situation today?
I also think about including the Great himalayan national park, in that case i would skip one of the 3, otherwise it would be too costy.
RE: Who's been to India - Pckts - 02-04-2017
I have heard nothing but amazing things on Corbett but the likelihood of seeing a tiger is far less. Hopefully you make it out there @Brehm
RE: Who's been to India - Wolverine - 02-04-2017
(02-04-2017, 03:22 AM)Brehm Wrote: Nice information exchange & debate guys.
Wish you good luck and lot of fun for your upcoming journey @Pckts !
I too have plans to visit 1-2 tiger reserves in one of my next 2 vacations. My next trip to india is planned from end of april to middle of may, but its more a spontanous vacation to visit relatives originally, so i dont know if it will fit this time. My heart is burning for it though... Luckily i plan to fly next year as well^^
My stay is unfortunately in the only indian state with almost no wildlife nearby... Punjab. The closest tiger reserves would be Corbett and Rajaji. Visiting both of them (if organized in advance) shouldnt be such a big deal i guess, if time, money and motivation are in a good spot. Apart from that, i also thought about Dudhwa. My "problem" (not as harsh as it may sounds) with Corbett or lets say Ranthambore is, that those are major tourist attractions and probably over crowded. Dont get me wrong, im also nothing else than a tourist in that matter. Im just the type, who likes visiting "secret" treasures, if possible. In that case, i thought a non - mainstream park like Dudhwa could be an interesting experience.
According to this site, Dudhwa is a non commercial park with interesting offers:
Quote:Dudhwa attracts the visitors with its two core area as Dudhwa National Park and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary which are separated by each other with an area of 15 kms agricultural land. Unlike other celebrity parks of India like Jim Corbett National Park, Kaziranga National Park, Bandhavgarh National Park etc, the uncommercialized ambience of this park makes it an ideal habitat for the wild creatures to find nature's serenity & comfortability in a more natural way.
So, my most likely journey would look like Rajaji - Corbett and probably Dudhwa. The question is, are there any reasons not to visit Dudhwa? I knew it had a bad reputation a few years ago, but whats the situation today?
I also think about including the Great himalayan national park, in that case i would skip one of the 3, otherwise it would be too costy.
If you are a fan of the Jim Corbett's novels you can combine visiting of national park itself with a visit of summer house of Jim Corbett in Naini Tall, now turned into museum and his winter home in Kaladhungi, also turned into museum. They both should be in couple of hours drive from the national park. In this case you have wildlife safari plus "pilgrimage" to the birthplace and hunting grounds of the great novelist.
Probably Corbett national park has a highest density of tigers and wildlife in all India after Kaziranga. But vegetation there is little bit too dense. National parks in Madhya Pradesh are covered with more drier forests and probably best places to observe tigers. From another hand as I know Kanha, Pench, Bandavrarh have not gigantic herbivores like wild elephants and rhinos. What kind of Indian jungle is this if it doesn't posses Hathi - the elephant? Corbett posses both tigers and wild elephants in high density. I personally think that the finest protected areas in all of Hindustan are Chitwan national park and Kaziranga national park. Only they posses all Indian Big Five - elephant, rhino, tiger, leopard and gaur (buffalo) in significant numbers even they are probably not the best place to observe tigers due to dense vegetation.
RE: Who's been to India - Pckts - 02-04-2017
I'm going to Kahna/pench/tadoba and while I wish I could see rhino and elephant there, it's not meant to be. But seeing Gaur was as high up on my list as the other large herbivores and getting to see the tigers I've followed for years overrides my desire to see Megafauna. I'm also visiting the Taj and red fort, so that's a plus.
RE: Who's been to India - Wolverine - 02-04-2017
Yea, Kanha probably is one of the best places to observe Gaurs and they also offer elephant riding. It has to be admitted that wildlife tourism in India is much more tiger-centric than African tourism is lion-centric.
If you go May it's gonna be bloody hot, but no worries you can observe Taj Mahal night time under Moon light and also wild animals are gonna be concentrated around few remaining water resources, which is excellent.
I visited a two decades ago Corbett, Bettla (Palamau), Ranthambor and Gir. Palamau was a bad choise, for 30 days I saw tiger only once, but during our brief visit to Corbett we run into tiger just barely 20 minutes after starting of elephant riding... In Ranthambor - nothing. In tiger viewing luck is the very important thing.