CURRENT info on Ranthambhor, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Pench, Tadoba
 

The CURRENT in caps may seem demanding on my part. But in India, I think recent experiences are more crucial in deciding travel plans than for other places. I realize that dimishes the pool of helpful posters.

If CURRENT is not demanding enough, my next request demands that you peer into your crystal ball and predict which parks would be healthiest and have the best tiger population and other wildlife populatons by about March or April of 2011.

March or April--I am flexible and could even go in May or other times. Which do you think would provide the best experience. "Best" being, most animals seen, fewest crowds. A secondary consideration is tolerable weather. I know it gets really hot. But if I am just sitting in a vehicle, I can tolerate the heat better than if I have to hunt through the jungles on foot for the animals. Then, I might wither in extreme temperatures.

A couple other points I've read:

If you go in the hottest times, then the cultural aspects of the trip may need to be minimized. On this 1st trip to India, I am going to let wildlife be the focus. Since I tend to return to places (sometimes a lot) I'll save the focus on culture--and I know India's culture is considerable, world renowned, and awe inspiring--for another time when it can be more of a focus with weather, timing etc.

While the hottest times may concentrate wildlife more around dwindling water sources, after drinking the animals quickly retreat to the shade where viewing is more difficult. I interpret this to mean the benefits of going when it is hot are reduced by the animals reacting to that heat and hiding out.

Here's one more question with lots of background:

I've found at least one fairly reasonable custom trip for one, but I would be sharing the "tiger seeking vehicle" at the parks with others. I cannot afford a private jeep in the park. However, the company contacts would place me with a good driver who is considered part of the "family" in the major parks. I wouldn't just be going with anyone. I don't know who the other tourists in this vehicle would be. I like the customized trip where I'd be taken to trains and picked up from trains and transported to parks. Most importantly, I can stay 4 nights or more in each park when I design the itinerary and I don't have to do shopping trips. I can include the cultural aspects I want. Plus the trip goes on exact dates that fit my needs.

But I am wondering if I went with a small group from a nature company, then I'd know who was in my "tiger seeking vehicle" and I figure they'd all be pretty like minded or they would not have signed up for a tiger safari. There are quite a few small group nature trips to India with a variety of companies. Though the dates are set, some coincide with about the dates I'd like and I am flexible. A cursory review of the pricing does not seem to offer substantial savings by going with a group, just a little savings. But I'd have to investigate further.

But here's the big question...Custom or small group--which provides the best in-the-tiger-seeking-vehicle experience?

Tell me anything else you think would make 19 days in India to try to see tigers and other wildlife a good trip.

Dhanyawad

I am including the Taj Mahal.

I know India differs greatly from Africa and my expectations are adjusted to that difference.

Imo, the best parks, for the month of March & April, which are in fine health today & shall continue to be so, would be the Corbett, Ranthambhore & Bandhavgarh. I have no experience of the others you mention in your post. Apart from Kanha, the others may, very frankly, have tigers as ‘statistical data’.
My experience is restricted to north & western parts of India where I have watched animals sitting up in trees, ground machans, from the back of an elephant & the modern high mechanical towers.
The pursuit of these animals have undergone a sea change. Nobody today will allow you to sit up on the tree machaans or walk about in the forest areas, infested with wild animals. They have become exceedingly strict, thanks to the look out for tiger parts by our hungry northern neighbour! If anyone today promises such an activity, he is simply kidding!
The parks in Africa are better managed, no doubt, but the Indian jungle has it’s own charm for it is the most colourful birds that you get to see, which enrich one’s experience.
March & April are examination months in India & therefore, the crowds are fairly low, though, I was in Corbett this June in sweltering heat & in spite of being a member of the WL association & a regular there, I could just get one day at Sultan FRH & I had to meet the director & seek his benevolence! A day's fine fishing made up for the disappointment, though!!
For a die hard tiger-wallah, no place is better suited than the Corbett. However, it is the belt from Gairal to Dhikala, which is most suitable for that is where WL is concentrated around the river Ramganga. My favourite has always been the old Sarpduli FRH, some 12 miles short of Dhikala (as also of some guys from the BBC!). The morning & evening drives are profitable from here, Dhikala always being too crowded & Gairal or Sultan too far from the nerve centre. Not for nothing the politician has his cream at khinanouli, for it the Khinanauli grass land, which is a regular haunt of the resident tigers, keeping an eye on the prey from the hills in the east. Those beats where the tourist is allowed are best approachable from Sarpduli. The complication is that the old forest guard will cook for you but the rations have to brought from outside. The stay at Corbett is for two days but that can be managed by simple change of room! Four days are recommended.
The animals that you will see: Cheetal, Hog deer, Sambhar, Elephants, Tiger, Otters, Jackals, Langurs, Wild boars etc. I have seen a leopard cat only once. The Himalayan bear will have taken your leave & occupied the high hills around Kanda.
The leopards being pushed out by the tiger, are hard to see…for that animal you will need to visit some parts of Rajasthan, south of Jodhpur & the sighting is assured.
Of the birds you will see & hear in abundance the Red jungle fowl, peacocks, kaleej pheasants, Tawny & spot-billed owls, Pallas’ fish eagle etc.
The greatest charm of Corbett is staying inside the park & watching wl from an exclusive jeep. You could also fish for Golden Mahaseer, on the Ramganga a few miles up north, in pristine surroundings.
Ranthambhore in Rajasthan would be fine for viewing the tiger but you shall see them by driving into the park on morning / evening drives. The beat systems are more complicated here. The animals that you will see are the tigers, wild boars, cheetal, Sambhars & the blue bull. Of the birds, you will see the painted sand grouse, peacocks, grey partidges etc.. You shall be staying outside of the park & my personal favourite is Khem Villas luxury tents / cottages. March would be fine for Ranthambhore. April gets a bit hot but the advantage is that the tiger keeps close to the water & shifts continuously for he is assailed by the heat & flies!
Viewing the tiger in Bandhavgarh is assured for the ranger keeps track of him & you have what is called the tiger-show. It is a fine park with high density of tigers. There are several good places just outside of the Tala Gate.
I have seen some posts where a lot has been written on the deliberate torture of safari elephants in the game reserves. In these thirty years I have frequented the Indian jungle I have never seen an animal being brutalized by the mahawat. On the contrary, I have seen a great rapport between the animal & driver, standing staunchly in the face of aggressive demonstration by the tiger!
When on ‘big game hunting’, the rule of the game is solitary approach!!!

Lynn, sorry I can't help you right now but we're going on a birding trip to Sri Lanka and India in Feb 2010. In India we'll be traveling mostly in the north, central and east. We've been told the temps will range from 30F in the foothills of the Himalayas to 80F in the central areas, and 65-100F in the east (Kaziranga NP). But transportation in Kaziranga will be by vehicle or elephant, so no slogging on hot trails is expected!

In addition to birds, we'll be looking for tigers at Bandhavgarh NP (good), Corbett NP (possible) and Kaziranga NP (possible). Hopefully we'll get at least one good sighting early on as Bandhavgarh is the first tiger park we visit. If we're very lucky we'll also see leopards and bears, but I'm not counting on it.

Are you going to Gir NP to see the Asiatic Lions? We ran out of time, so we're putting this in our "next time" bucket.

I found this website to have lots of info for planning purposes re: NPs, specific wildlife and where to see them:
http://www.indianculturalwildlifetours.com/ (I have no affiliation, yada, yada, yada...)

FYI - I left a note for you at your "Anybody going to the Pantanal" thread. Your trip report helped us to get the most out of ours...we had a great time. Thanks a bunch!

Marsha

Glad the Pantanal went well for you. Thanks for your tips for me Marsha. I can tell already I'll need another trip to India. Fortunately it seems to be less costly than Africa. The lions will have to wait for next time for me too. Maybe we could combine forces. Sri Lanka, how exciting!

Vp Singh, this will be helpful info for all of cyberspace. Thank you.

Lynn, I forgot to say the main reason we're going to Kaziranga is for the Indian One-horned Rhino.

I've read accounts that the one horned rhino abundant there.

Great reading so far. How about Tiger viewing in November? What parks would be good? and accommodation recommendations would be appreciated.

I believe November is also good, with green vegetation after the monsoon season, and the weather not as hot. Plus then you can combine your wildlife viewing with the Pushkar Camel Fair. The additional people that the camel fair brings is one reason I plan to avoid November.

I've gotten some accommodations from agents that I thought I'd post in the weeks ahead, either here or in a separate thread. In the meantime, I'm waiting for some clarification and additional info.

But here's something else on timing: Avoid school holidays and other holidays that would bring out local visitors. That seems to be a shifting time frame year to year and requires local expert input. But something to consider.

Also later in the year such as May, the animals (including tigers) congregate more by the remaining water sources, making it a good time to see them and increasing the odds of seeing them. The downfalls are the intense heat, but I've heard it's a dry heat; maybe school holidays, which I don't have a handle on; harsher light for photographers; and animals seeking shade to escape to and collapse in after drinking due to the extreme heat, so much less movement.

I have not seen that the major tiger parks mentioned above are that different in Nov vs. other times of the year.

The site in the next post has been very helpful in answering what park/when and so has that company--WildlifeTrails--been very helpful and straightforward in responding to inquiries. Wildlifetrails was recommended to me by someone who went with them a few years back when they were TigerTrails. They now go some other places like Nepal, Sri Lanka, and more.

In looking at this helpful interactive map, I see Corbett is not at its best in Nov.

The map may take 10-30 seconds to load but it is worth it.

http://www.wildlifetrails.co.uk/india.htm

If you contact WildlifeTrails in the UK, they will provide more up to date info on the parks with additional specifics.

I have nothing new to contribute at this point but am interested in anything anybody else out there knows.

Legends & Palaces and Wild World India may be agents you want to check as well if you want to go to some of these places in the title.

A tiger safari is not in my immediate plans, but definitely high on my list. Great response from VP Singh. It definitely whetted my appetite!

V.P. Singh is a real asset, isn't he? I'm not a travel agent kinda guy, but if I was, V.P. would be high up my list of chosen advisors - he knows his stuff, his enthusiasm is catching.

But there's a song that comes to mind:

'You gotta a-a-a-centuate the positive, e-e-eliminate the negative...

V.P. is doing a fine job selling the wonders of India's parks - if most tourists had the time to explore over twenty or more years, BEFORE the lunacy began, I'm sure they would all agree with him. But the reality is, I fear, that most of us lob in for two nights to see 'the tigah-h-h' and couldn't really give a stuff about the rest.

So I'll just add one tiny thought - if you have been to any game reserves in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana etc you will probably find India to be a very, VERY distinct let-down. If you are passionate about your viewing, you will be horrified.

I'm not referring to the accomodation.

Comparisons are, I guess, odious - but many readers in here have been around, so I'll make them. Ridiculous rules, boggling red tape, bizarre drive timings, pre-set routes, closing hours, ticketing, those grotesque 'elephant shows' and hordes of screeching, camera clicking tourists make the experience, to my eyes, a total misery.

If you have no point of comparison, I guess you'll think it's fine. If the only animal you've ever seen is a cow, then the sight of a couple of wild boars will be pretty exciting. I'm sure your pictures will be great, once you edit out all the other people.

Apparently the sight of 'the tigah-h-h' in 'the wild' surrounded by an elephant show, a phalanyx of tourists, guards and general lunacy is somehow more authentic than the half-arsed, over-regulated, money-making zoo it actually is.

In my humble opinion.

...and then the Dogster brings my worst fears to light.

Hey, I asked for "anything anybody else out there knows" so I appreciate Dogster's comments. It's important to have the right expectations and comments like his and Marija's report on "Bruce and Marija and 450 school children see tigers" or something like that to put things into perspective.

I plan to "lob in" for about 3 weeks less flying time. Maybe that's more time to be horrified. If so, I can't say I wasn't warned and I view traveling as a learning experience. Learning is not always positive.

I still want to go and see for myself. If I was willing to hit more of the southern parks in India, I think my odds of being horrified would be less, but I am doing the more traditional trip this first time. Hopefully there will be an opportunity for a more off-the-beaten-path trip in the future where there are fewer distractions.

Thanks for the honesty and I'm looking forward to more of it.

Thanks for appreciating, ladies & gentlemen!
Our parks certainly need to be better managed. There seems to be an inherent vested interest in keeping these as these are, archaic, tourist un-friendly, excessively rigid rules etc. etc. There have been instances where a new field director, with modern dynamic outlook / vision, has been shunted out at the earliest, to facilitate the status-quo!
Most of the tourists, as already pointed out by dogster, come to witness the tiger as part of the routine cultural-architectural tourism, visiting the parks, for a couple of nights, as a tool to give variety to the itinerary or to let off steam from the intensive sightseeing elsewhere or just to see a tiger. This is what a majority of tourists would like to do as well. The approach is commerce.
However, for a wl enthusiast, it is better to devote more time close to nature & a need to differentiate cultural tourism, with the Taj Mahal, as an exception perhaps, from the routine. There are several locations, in the north west, at least, where one can stay a couple of nights unencumbered by the official regulations afflicting the various parks. These locate in the buffer zones of the game reserves, are remote areas & you may need to trek a mile or so to reach them, crossing as you do, a rivulet or two, on the way. These are the locations where one can indulge oneself, of course within limits, a bit. I am not suggesting that the wl enthusiast should walk about in the jungle, looking for game, for though he may be safe from a tiger, a bear could be a nasty customer to deal with, unarmed as you are! The wild animals must be given due respect & appreciated from a distance. Remember, David Hunt of the BBC lost his life in Corbett (1988??), flouting the rules of the game!
One needs to be lucky to see a tiger. A friend, who has been a hunting buddy for feathered game, was visiting vanghat (on my strong recommendation) with a lady guest, a few days back. They were out fishing on the Ramganga, with a high cliff directly in front of them. Lo & behold, there arrives a big male tiger, no more than 70 yards away & after satisfying himself that the couple held no danger to him, sat down to keep an eye on a small herd of cattle, feeding on their side of the river. Next morning they counted the herd, with one animal missing!!

Thanks for the tales, VP Singh!

One thing that has come through in my investigations has been the importance of your own vehicle in the parks. Sharing opens you up to all sorts of other people with all sorts of different motives for the "tiger safari." I think the potential disparity in motivations of vehicle-mates is greater in India from what I've learned than in camps that you'd fly to in Africa. That's why I don't usually pay to have a private vehicle in places like Botswana, Zambia or South Africa, but I will pay for it in India. It also appears the cost for a private jeep in India is not what it would be in Africa, thank goodness.

That's all I know so far besides the desirability of buying a first class ticket on the overnight trains even if you never travel first class otherwise.

I hope to be learning more before too long and eventually put what I've learned into action.

Always interested in the opinion of others, especially CURRENT opinions.

I'll be peeping over your shoulder! :)

I learned Taj Mahal is closed Fridays.

Here are some lodgings I am considering.

-Ahuja Residency in Delhi
-Royal Tiger Resort in Kanha
-Nature Heritage Resort in Bandhavgarh
-Camp Forktail Creek in Corbett-Bijrani Zone
-Maybe Malani Forest Rest House in addition to or instead of Camp Forktail Creek
-Dhikala Forest Rest House in Corbett-Dhikala Zone

My lodging goal is good location for wildlife viewing either around the lodging or getting to the park & minimize cost. Don't need fancy but won't consider sacrificing safety/hygiene.

Here's a question: I'm trying to avoid Kanha and Bandhavgarh on weekends. But if I do 8 consecutive nights (4 in each park), then it is not possible to avoid a weekend, unless I throw in some spare days between the two parks that would fall on a weekend. How important is avoiding a weekend or am I getting carried away with the weekend thing?

Feel free to comment on my choices, discourage me from even undertaking this excursion, or just peep over my shoulder.