I asked a safari-type question on the Asia forum
 

It has to do with planning a "tiger safari."

Here is the link.

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...nch-tadoba.cfm

I'm thinking some of you over here might have info, but you may not venture over to Asia that much.

Hi Lynn,

Sorry about my delayed email to you. But, I shall answer your question here.

I think you mentioned March. I would suggest you pick as early as March as is possible. If you can make it end of Feb even better. Reason I say this - you want to avoid school holidays as much as possible to have good drives in the national parks.

I suggest Kanha and Bandhavgarh for the Tigers. Avoid Pench and Ranthambore.

Then for South India - I highly recommend (especially for that time of the year) - Kabini/Nagarhole (For the largest congregation of Asian Elephants) and possibly Tusker Trails in Bandipur. These places are also very very good for the Indian wild dogs - the Dhole. Also, the Gaur which is much more majestic in comparison to the African Buffalo.

I suggest avoiding the Taj Mahal - it's just too touristy and over-hyped. I'd rather recommend Rajasthan to you - Jaipur/Udaipur

Regards
Hari

Thanks Hari, I wasn't getting impatient. Just thought I'd throw out a wide net for some responses. Very helpful!

Hari, maybe true about the Taj Mahal, but if it were your only trip to India it would be sad not to see such a magnificent building. Maybe Lynn could wear a sandwich board which says "I have the swine flu" and then everyone else will flee and she can view the TM in peace! :D

Still, knowing Lynn, it probably won't be her last trip.

Twaffle,

In her email to me, she mentioned only one cultural side-trip during her visit. Hence, my recommendations as above.

I agree with Hari re Kanha and Bandhavgarh. I did this a few years ago with a friend. We did not join a group as most of the trips were not visiting the places we wanted and did not give enough emphasis on the tiger part of the trip. I'd also recommend you give yourself as many as chances as possible to see the tigers by staying in each park as long as you can.

We did a tiger safari in June 09 and here is my report. That was my very first report so if some paragraphs raise more questions don't hesitate to ask - also via email.

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...of-culture.cfm

Happy planning!

SV

Hari - Avoid Pench and Ranthambore

How come? &Beyond seems to have camps there so I'm surprised you give them a no.

Lynn - I was scheduled to do the wwf tiger trip in 2007 (didn't go) and I looked into the sierra club trip, too. Maybe one of them would interest you.

I agree 100% with avoiding Ranthambore. I know I've talked before here about the horrendous park management (that forces drivers to race around a set circuit in a set time or risk fines/ bans resulting in poor game viewing, hassled drivers and anything but a relaxing experience). Not to mention problems with poaching/ corruption too. I was fortunate to have very good sightings but I was lucky. I would not return to this park unless I was assured some HUGE changes had been made.

Had great experience at Bandhavgarh too - great sightings. Guiding standards for most camps do NOT match in ANY way those found in Africa, with exception of the CC Africa camp which seemed to be bringing African guiding standards to India. This is sorely needed, and don't accuse me of racism - I'm Indian! Still some issues but far, far less than Ranthambore and better chances of seeing tigers too. Personally, I did one of the elephant back excursions and then, along with husband and our two vehicle mates, we all agreed we did not want to repeat and spent rest of our time away from rest of park visitors as much as possible. Far more rewarding.

I love the Taj. I don't care how busy it is, how teeming with people, I still find it a worthwhile visit.

Hi Lynn,

I sent you an e-mail about our tiger safari in Corbett, so watch for me in your spam box. :)

I haven't been to the other parks mentioned by everyone here, but we had a great experience in Corbett back in late 2005. Our trip was arranged by Wild World India in Delhi, and they did a fantastic job for us. We stayed at bare-bones forest rest camps to keep the cost down, so no fancy lodges for us... But I have to say, the guide and driver that Wild World India hired for us was fantastic, as good as our guides in Africa. Maybe he's an exceptional guy, but he was so patient, a skilled tracker, and full of information about all the wildlife we encountered, not just the tigers. We put our money into having out own private jeep and guide rather than into lodging, and it was worth it. Several times while we were driving in the park we passed huge, very noisy open buses crowded with people, and we weren't too surprised when people from these buses told us over dinner that they never saw any tigers. We were fortunate to have lots of great and varied sightings, including 3 separate tiger sightings and lots of others animals including gharials, giant river otters, elephants, crocodiles, monkeys, chittal and other types of deer.

I love the Taj, too. Especially early in the morning. It's worth all the hassle. If you're in Agra, I also recommend visiting Fatehpur Sikri, which is beautiful too.

Lynn - this one looks interesting:
http://www.jamesgradwell.com/pdf/LUX...R%20SAFARI.pdf

At least you'd be assured of "like-minded" companions.

Thank you for all the comments and hints.

SV, I read your report at the outset of my searching. Thanks.

Christabir,

Hi! I say avoid Ranthambore due to the reasons listed by Kavey as above. I went in 2001 - yes, saw Tigers ....... but, the park is mis-managed miserably.

I also went to Pench in 2007 when the CCA lodge opened. It's a great lodge - but, it's a small park in comparison to Kanha or Bandhavgarh.

CCA - probably got all their approvals early to start a Tiger Circuit. But, they really need to be in South India. Fewer crowds, and more general game. For example., they have a lodge in Panna. I've read that poaching is so rampant at the moment in the park that it's really shocking.

HariS-
I have mixed feelings - go to the parks that need the tourist dollars to protect the animals that remain or only go to parks that have already made the investment in anti-poaching and management. Maybe a combo of both is a good thing, as long as you know what to expect and can afford some disappointing experiences. I hope your past visits have helped create some change. If we want the next generations to see a wild tiger or asian ele, we (that's a collective "we") have to make them as profitable alive as dead.

I am not altruistic enough to risk precious holiday time and funds on a park that I will, in all likely, find as badly managed and frustrating to visit as Ranthambore a couple of years back.

I can and do contribute to conservation groups that support Ranthambore as it is, of course, my hope that poaching is driven down completely and that the tigers thrive.

But I will not choose somewhere to visit, which I have strong reasons to believe will not give me a great experience, just in order to give financial support to it.

Off topic - I hear that Africa Geographic is now organizing Tiger safaris to India. I have no idea of details or pricing. But, I do know that the safari is led by Ian Johnson - I learnt of these trips recently when I was in Bots.

Tiger info from Botswana. How small the world is. All comments are helpful. Thanks.

Hi Lynne,

I know absolutely nothing about tiger safaris (yet) so I can't help there, but please do see the Taj - it took my breath away & I would go in a heartbeat to see it again. If there were crowds there (I suppose there were) I didn't notice them, I was so in awe of the building.

I learned something on this post though, my penpal in India was over visiting us last week, and when she asked us to please come back to India to visit her, I mentioned that I would love to see the tigers. She said she would arrange a trip to Ranthambore for us so I think I better step in and suggest the other alternatives!

Lynda, we may both be planning India excursions.

I'd like to know your penpal's reasons for choosing Ranthambore.

Would you folks believe this - the Indian Government is planning to introduce cheetah in some parks (they got extinct somewhere in the 60s). They are coming from Africa, apparently. I really hope this does not happen. I don't think this project is viable. We need to take care of what already exists, instead of trying to be too ambitious.

All very sad. Politics and corruption is a very dirty practice.

For that reason, I shall not visit Ranthambore unless I see that there really is a positive initiative to save the Tiger.