India Tiger Safari

Our adventure begins in Delhi, a colourful and chaotic city full of architectural masterpieces. Around 6pm, say namaste to your tour leader and fellow travellers, when we gather as a group for the first time to get to know each other and learn more about the adventures ahead. Your tour leader then ensures a big welcome by arranging a group dinner at a nearby restaurant. Want more time in Delhi? Secure pre-tour hotel nights through your sales representative.

The group will transfer to Delhi Domestic Airport for a flight (around 1hr 40min) to Nagpur. The drive to Pench National Park, where your safari adventures begin, will take approximately three hours.

Spend two days exploring Pench National Park in the lower southern reaches of the Satpuda hills. It provided inspiration for Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and marks our first chance to see our very own Shere Khan. This designated tiger reserve is home to around 45 Bengal tigers, plus leopards, wolves, monkeys, deer, and nilgai (the largest antelope in Asia). Our two days include four game drives, in which we’ll keep our eyes peeled for the incredible creatures that live here.

We depart in the morning and drive to Kanha National Park. Although the distance is not far, the journey usually takes approximately four hours. On arrival, there is time to relax by the pool and share wildlife stories with your fellow travellers.

Created in 1974, Kanha National Park is often described as the greatest wildlife reserve in India – during our time here, we go on five game drives to explore it. The park is vast, encompassing expansive grasslands, plateaus and dramatic rocky escarpments that house hundreds of wildlife species. The tiger population – which currently numbers around 500 – has been affected by poaching in recent years but the huge abundance of animals makes the game drives a memorable experience.

We leave Kanha National Park after breakfast and drive to Bandhavgarh, stopping en route for refreshments. This journey will take approximately six to seven hours. On arrival there is free time to settle in.

Bandhavgarh is one of the smaller national parks and enjoys an impressive setting with a cliff-top fort overlooking grasslands, birch forests and bamboo. It is home to a wide variety of game, including leopards, sloth bears, jungle cats, wild pigs and, of course, tigers. The healthy tiger population of approximately 60-70 means this park has the highest tiger density of any reserve in India. The park also hosts up to 150 bird species including many on the migratory trail, such as the steppe eagle. During our stay, we embark on six games drives.