Tiger Safari

Celebration Group of hotels once again organize wildlife photography workshop at:

Kanha National Park

Bandhavgarh National Park

Both the parks are situated in Central India in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The reserve forests are excellent tiger habitats and are home to wide variety of animals, birds and reptiles.The park are habitat of the Bengal tiger with highest population density. Kanha is home to endangered hard ground Barasingha or swamp deer and Indian bison or gaur. Bandhavgarh is famous for white tiger which was discovered in the nearby forests.

The workshop will be conducted by expert wildlife photographer Mr. Kalyan Verma. The field training will be carried out during the park safari and later in the evening workshop will be conducted.

For more info: Nature Photography workshop

The best places to see Bengal tigers in the wild are in India. Hence when you plan for a tiger safari you plan for a trip to India. This trip will certainly include many other aspects other than wildlife watching. India is a diverse country and beautiful so it is worth exploring all aspects of the country.

You can begin by exploring Indian destinations and tiger reserves on Internet since there is enough information in this regard. Another option for organizing and tiger safari and sightseeing trip to India is to look for  tour operator packages to India which have destination you wish for in the itinerary.     Many of these tours are customizable or can be tailor made according to your choice. Variation in a package tour will cost less if you add nearby destinations. Major changes in the itinerary will cost very high. 

The best places to see tigers in the wild are Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench tiger reserves so see that these reserves are included in the package other interesting wildlife destinations are Ranthambhore and Corbett. If you are interested in package tour to Kerala then Periyar is an interesting tiger reserve to see bison, wild dogs and wild elephants. 

Check list of hotels in Kanha National Park, Pench, Bandhavgarh and other reserves and find out about accommodation mention in the packages. Are they right for you or do you prefer another hotel.  Check out the best seasons to visit these parks for tiger sighting, animal watching and birding. You need minimum three nights to see the tiger and broad spectrum of wildlife in the parks. Does your package offer three nights stay? Check the season does it suit? Summers in India are very hot and winters very cold. You need warm clothing for winters in India.    

Chalk out your food preferences and inform the tour operator for Indian food can be hot and spicy.  You need wildlife books, binoculars and a nature guide for holistic experience in the park does the hotels provide that? Of course you should carry your own binocs.       

India is  rich in biodiversity hence rich in wildlife and bird life. The country has more than three hundred mammalian species, 2600 species of birds including sub species and amazing variety of reptiles and insects including butterflies.
This phenomenal wildlife is due to different zoo geographical zones diverse terrain - elevated and plain, distinct flora and fauna elements that thrive in desert, scrub, riverine, grassland and forested ecosystems. 

The main zoo geographical zones that have distinct habitats and flora and fauna are the Himalayas, Thar desert, Western and Eastern Ghats, Central Indian highlands, Gangetic plains and Deccan plateau or Indian Peninsula. Western Gujarat which has Gir National Park famous for lion safari and Arunachal Pradesh with Indo Chinese sub flora and fauna in true tropical forests of the North East Indian states. 

The best way to see Indian wildlife is to go on a wildlife safari at National Parks situated in various parts of India with major animals and birds peculiar to those regions.  The National Parks offer well organized tourism infrastructure for wildlife safaris in India.

One must first choose the keystone species that one has a desire to see and them go for a safari there. For those interested in birding tour Bharatpur is the best place. For tigers Bandhavgarh and Kanha preserves in Central India. For Rhino, Kaziranga is the ideal safari park while Corbett and Periyar are the best place to see wild elephants in India.

There are many other interesting birds and animals to be seen in India but one must first find out about them.  The potential of wildlife safaris in India is limitless and thousands of tourists from India and abroad visit wildlife heavens. There are many states which have yet to highlight wildlife that there is. There is a concerted effort that is required to highlight Indian wildlife so that more and more people from all over the World come to see it. Not only tigers but all wildlife and natural places offer immense scope for eco tourism.

Real tiger country is what I call Pench National Park in central India. It is where Mowgli the Wolf child was discovered by Lt. Moor which inspired Rudyard Kipling to write the "Jungle Book".

The mixed dry deciduous forests of Pench are ideal habitat for Central Indian wildlife including tigers. Hence Pench is the most suitable for trekking tigers in a tiger safari while on India tour to Madhya Pradesh.

The flora is as interesting and diverse as the animal life is and tree lovers are in for a treat at Pench tiger reserve in India. Among the popular faunal elements are the Palas, Salai, Saaj and Bamboo. Indian ghost tree or Kulu is an enchanting site which I like the most.

The wildlife sightings top with spotted deer, sambar and Indian bison or gaur among the heaviest I have seen ever. The leopard is elusive and the wolf and hyena are seen by chance. The sloth bear is often seen near Mahua trees.

Nagur is the nearest airport about 80 km drive and Jabalpur is a rail head as well as airport connected to Delhi. Jabalpur is approx 200 km drive to Pench.

Pench has perhaps the best birdlife in Central India though a checklist has not been made so far.

This year has been excellent at Kanha as tiger sighting have been very good. It is rare these days not to be able to see a tiger in three nights stay.

Well unfortunate can happen as animal behavior cannot be predicted things could be made worse by heavy tourist influx and may be road side fires to clear the pathways and prevent spread of forest fire if it takes place.

The hotel at Kanha where I was staying during my last visit was a treat what with luxurious rooms and banquets. My guests were very pleased with the hospitality and the ambiance. Anyway they could see the tiger and click lot of images as well so that made them more happy and my pocket a little warmer.

It was raining when I left, the rains augur the closer of the park and hence no tiger safari in the monsoon as the jungle roads are not motor able. It is a said feeling that one will not be able to see the big cats till start of the season in October.

But anyway Kanha holds lots of surprises with may be new tigers to see. Reading behavior traits and admiring physicality of the animal makes every tiger sighting a first sighting ...well almost.

The tiger safari in Indian tiger reserves has come to the end of the season. The parks close on 30th June every year and will open on 16th October this year. This is a monsoon break as the roads are not motor able and the wildlife gets some respite from the tourist pressure.

This is also a fragile period for the wild animals. This is due to the absence of tourists and difficulty in traversing many areas of the park. Taking advantage of these conditions poachers increase their nefarious activities and go after the endangered wildlife. Hence tiger tourism does help in conservation of wildlife and the park.

In tiger reserves such as Kanha National Park increased vigil is kept and the whole staff and the elephant brigades are utilized to patrol the park. But Kanha is very large and difficult to safe guard.

Same problem is faced by the Bandhavgarh National Park in the Vindhya Ranges. The populations of ex hunters, some of whom are said to get political patronage are a greater menace to the safety of the tigers and other wild animals in the the park.

Pench National Park also becomes vulnerable in the rains although the security measures are as tight as that in Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves.

These images are cropped from a handy cam movie shot near my home town Jabalpur and Kanha National Park. Those who are not interested in wildlife photography could use a handy cam to film whenever there is a chance in your outings and crop images to upload in your blog for readers.

The images below where taken and Kanha National Park and the forests of Jabalpur. The images are taken from a digital movie camera and then cropped. The Indian tiger reserves are the best places for wildlife sighting and for tiger photography.

For good images you need good SLR with a lens of at least 300 mm. A prime lens gives better images hence most of the wildlife photographers use prime lenses although sometimes zoom lenses are quite handy.

The best time or nature photography at tiger reserves is the hot month of May which accords lot of sunlight and wonderful tiger and animal sightings.

For birding long lenses are a must with a prime lens of 800 mm or with a digital camera 500 mm. Most economical lenses are from Sigma which equal in quality to major brands as Nikon, Pentax and Canon.