We have designed this tour to maximize your chances of Tiger sightings in India's best Tiger Reserves. We shall enjoy Pench and Kanha's excellent variety of birds and mammals, which compensate amply if Tigers prove hard to see and Bandhavgarh National Park which is situated amid the airy Vindhya hills of Madhya Pradesh, has established a reputation as one of the best places in India to observe Tigers.

On this holiday you must be prepared for a long and tiring journey both to Kanha and from Bandhavgarh, BUT you will have time to relax once you are there! They are, after all, one of India's more remote reserves and for this reason offers some of the subcontinent's finest mammal-viewing. Although Bandhavgarh is a relatively small reserve when first established in 1968, it was enlarged twenty years later to include adjacent tracts of Sal forest and this extension has proved very beneficial for the Tiger population which is estimated to be around 40 animals. Like many Tiger reserves in India, the area was formerly the hunting preserve of a Maharaja and contains much evidence of its royal associations, most spectacular being the ruins of a huge hilltop fort which dominates the centre of the reserve.

It is essential to appreciate that Tigers are very rare and very shy mammals, and there can be no guarantee of seeing one on any tour. However, we have no doubt that by combining the best 03 national parks of central India; we are providing the best chance of a Tiger encounter within a 14-day period.

Day 01: Arrive Delhi
You will arrive Delhi by midnight; our representative will meet you at the airport and will provide you assistance and transfer to your hotel for your overnight stay.

Day 02: Delhi
After breakfast your tour guide and the driver are going to meet you in your hotel with one of our senior tourism professional for the discussion of your tour itinerary. After having a short discussion and the Introduction you will proceed for the full day sightseeing of Old & New Delhi.

Old Delhi pulses with the energy and colour, the hustle and bustle of thronged bazaars and is laced by a maze of narrow lanes which twist and turn between tall, leaning houses full of the sights, sounds and aromas of the Indian sub-continent. In Old Delhi you will see the famous Red Fort surrounded by shops, and bazaars (built by the Emperor Shah Jehan - the builder of Taj Mahal), the Jama Masjid mosque with its tapering minarets and wonderful marble domes, Chandni Chowk (Old Delhi's business nerve center), the hustle-bustle of everyday Indian life all around you and chattering voices.

New Delhi stands in formal splendour, like a lone sentry guarding an outpost of a long-gone empire. It is a city of wide boulevards, which offers ever-changing perspectives of Lutyen's landscaped city. It is a city rich with formal parks and you will see the magnificent Parliament Building and the Rashtrapati Bhawan (the official residence of the President of India in the 330 acres of land and designed by Sir Edwin Lutyen's), once the awe-inspiring residence of the British Viceroys and now the Presidential Palace, India Gate (a majestic 42-mts high arch, built as a memorial to the Indian Soldiers killed in World War I), Qutab Minar (the 72.5 mts high tower dating back to 13th century and one of the greatest bequests of Islamic Culture), Humayun's Tomb (built in the 16th century and architecturally the fore runner of the Taj Mahal, has Mughal Architecture at its graceful best).

Day 03: Delhi - Nagpur - Pench National Park
You will connect an early morning flight to Nagpur. After and hour flight you will arrive Nagpur and will drive to Pench National Park to have your first game drive to this beautiful national park.

Day 04: Pench National Park
Today you will have both morning and afternoon game drives to the National Park and if you are lucky you will be able to have the short Elephant ride (during the Tiger Show, note: Please note that the Tiger show subjected to the successful tiger tracking).

Pench National Park is a part of the Project Tiger network of special reserves. The Reserve is located in the southern reaches of the Satpura hill range in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts in the Madhya Pradesh State of India. The terrain is undulating, with most of the area covered by small hills, steeply sloping on the sides. The description of its natural beauty, richness in flora and fauna has appeared in numerous wildlife books dating back to the 17th century. Books written in the 19th and early 20th century by famous naturalists like Captain J. Forsyth and Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book explicitly present the detailed panorama of nature's abundance in this tract. As the prey concentration is high along the Pench river tigers usually inhabit this belt. Leopards, though, generally operate in the peripheral areas but are occasionally seen in the deep forests also. Jungle cats are commonly seen. Leopard cats, small Indian civets and palm civets are common but seen rarely.

The forest type is southern tropical dry deciduous teak and southern tropical mixed deciduous forest with other species of shrubs, trees and climbers. Pench is dotted with teak and its associates moyan, mahua, mokha, skiras, tendu, bija, achar, garari, aonla, bhaman, ghont, baranga, amaltas, kihamali, khair, bhirra, palas. Bamboo occurs sparsely, restricted to some valleys. Mammals that can be seen are Tiger, leopard, jungle cat, leopard cat, striped hyaena, wild dog, wolf, common mongoose, sloth bear, pangolin, spotted deer, Sambar, barking deer, Nilgai, wild pig and gaur apart from exciting small mammals like flying squirrels, palm and small civet, common and ruddy mongoose etc.

Reptiles like freshwater crocodile, Indian chameleon, Common Krait, Indian Rock Python, Cobra, Indian Flap Shell Turtle and Peninsular Black Turtle etc. can also be seen.

Pench is haven for birds with more than 200 species recorded from here including the migratory waders and the ducks. It is pretty easy to spot birds like the Crested Serpant Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Painted Francolin, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Collared Scops Owl and many other species.

Day 05: Pench National Park - Kanha National Park
After the morning game drive at Pench National Park you will drive to Kanha National Park, which is 5 hours drive from Pench. On arrival at Kanha's resort, situated on the edge of this huge reserve, you will settle in for our 3-night stay.

Day 06 & 07: Kanha National Park
You will have both morning and afternoon game drives to the National Park. A morning game drive in the Park may bring your first Tiger encounter.

Our aim during this stay at Kanha will be to observe, enjoy and photograph the Reserve's many species of mammals and birds. Naturally, you will spend a great deal of time looking for Tigers, and with luck we may see and photograph this magnificent animal. However, although Kanha is one of the very best reserves for Tiger sightings, and you will be going at one of the best times of year and for a relatively long period of time, whilst we hope to see Tigers, we cannot guarantee them!

Our explorations inside the reserve will take the form of a mixture of early morning and evening jeep drives and trips on elephant back. Outside the reserve we will be able to enjoy the area's birdlife on foot (walking is not allowed inside any of India's Tiger Reserves, for obvious reasons!). Thus, we shall aim to leave our lodge each morning at about 5.45 am, and will stay in the reserve until midday, when it closes during the hottest part of the day. We will take a picnic breakfast with us which we can eat at one of several designated stopping places. We will return to the reserve when it opens again at 4.00 p.m. and stay there until dusk at around 6.30 p.m. In the middle of the day there will be time to rest.

Kanha Tiger Reserve encompasses 751 square miles of varied habitats, and is one of the largest reserves in India. It is a beautiful region situated on a plateau in the Maikal Range, and is made up of a crescent of hills (rising to 3,000 feet) that embraces broad undulating grasslands speckled with clumps of bamboo and Sal forest. Mixed deciduous forest cloaks the hills and borders the meadows. Small pools, and a perennial lake, provide drinking holes for the animals year-round. The reserve is famous for its Swamp Deer - the only population of the hard-ground race in existence - for whose protection Kanha National Park was first established in 1955. Once, these deer roamed India in herds of many thousands. Today there are just 300 left, though this represents a good recovery since 1970 when just 70 individuals remained. However, since the launch of the initially successful Project Tiger in the early '70s, Kanha has been one of the Project's key Tiger Reserves and, because its wide meadows are so suited to successful Tiger viewing, it has become one of the best places in the world in which to search for this king of beasts. Besides Tigers, we can also hope to see plenty of Sambar, Spotted and Swamp Deer and Common Langurs. We should also see Gaur (the huge Asiatic Bison), Wild Boar, Asiatic Jackal, and with luck, Leopard and Dhole (the Indian Wild Dog). Sloth Bear and two of India's lowland antelopes- Chousingha and the beautiful Blackbuck-also occur and may be seen with patience and good fortune.

A good variety of birds of prey is likely to include Black-shouldered Kite, Crested Serpent Eagle, White-eyed Buzzard, Shikra, and a variety of vultures. Open country birds such as Painted Francolin, Indian Roller, Yellow-and Red-wattled Lapwings, and a variety of woodpeckers, pigeons, larks, pipits, and drongos are common. In the forests, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Black-headed Oriole, and a selection of flycatchers, babblers and warblers may be found. In particular, we shall be on the look out for the rare Green Munia.

Day 08: Kanha National Park - Bandhavgarh National Park
After having final morning game drive at Kanha National Park we must leave Kanha behind and drive onto Bandhavgarh National Park visiting the Fossil Park en-route. After a long 05 hours drive you will reach Bandhavgarh and will settle down to your resort for 03 nights stay.

Day 09 & 10: Bandhavgarh National Park
During your stay at Bandhavgarh you will enjoy morning and afternoon game drives to the National Park.
The Sal Forest which predominates in the Park is replaced by mixed forests at the higher elevations in the hills and there are also expanses of grassland and bamboo in the north. The core of the reserve is hilly and dominated by the ancient natural fort which towers to an impressive 800 metres above the forest. Long since deserted it is now overgrown but worth a steep climb for the breathtaking view from the ramparts, and to see the ancient rock carvings in the vicinity. In this arid region water is always attractive to wildlife and the presence of pools and streams in the reserve is one of the reasons it is so favoured by both game and predators. Only one metalled road crosses the reserve but there is a network of smaller tracks that facilitate entry to the forest. Many of our excursions will be in jeeps but we shall also use riding elephants each morning to take us off the beaten track deep into the habitat of these wild creatures. The movements of the resident Tigers are well known to the mahouts and we will rely on their intimate knowledge of the terrain to locate our quarry. Tigers are elusive creatures, quick to vanish into cover but a huge paw print in the dust or the alarm cries of deer and langurs often betray their presence when the animal is hidden from sight. On such occasions silence and patience may be rewarded by that unforgettable moment as the king of the forest saunters into view and with scarcely a glance at the human intruders, walks in a deliberate manner across the track to disappear again into the undergrowth.

The pattern of early morning and afternoon excursions will be interspersed with periods of relaxation back at our accommodation during the heat of midday. Although Tigers are the star attraction at Bandhavgarh the supporting cast of mammals and birds is very impressive, the latter including such species as Grey-headed Fishing Eagle, Plum-headed Parakeet, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and Asian Paradise Flycatcher among a total of over 250 species recorded in the district.

Tigers and the more rarely seen Leopards, have no shortage of prey in the reserve. The Spotted Deer or Chital is a favourite item on the Tiger menu and several thousand of these delightful deer inhabit the park. Other species found here in varying abundance include; Chinkara, Chousingha, Blackbuck, Sambar, Muntjac and Nilgai. The Asian Bison or Gaur is a regular visitor to the grasslands and a hunting pack of wild dogs may also be seen on occasions. Mammal sightings always require a degree of luck, particularly when the species is essentially nocturnal or reclusive but each outing in the reserve will at least provide a chance to meet one of the rarer inhabitants such as Sloth Bear, Wolf, Ratel, Striped Hyaena, Jungle Cat or Indian Pangolin. More predictable are the sounders of Wild Boar rooting among the vegetation, Indian Hares, the lively little Palm Squirrels which seem to be constantly in a state of agitation, and several members of the mongoose tribe. Common Langurs and Rhesus Macaques are also plentiful, the former enjoying an elevated view of the forest as they devour their favourite leaves and often the first creature to bark out a warning at the appearance of a Tiger below.

Day 11: Bandhavgarh National Park - Agra
After one final game drive in Bandhavgarh with perhaps the promise of ending your stay with some special sightings! Later in the day you will drive to Umaria Rail Station and board the overnight express to Agra.

Day 12: Agra
Arriving in Agra this morning you will be transferred to your hotel for an overnight stay. Later in the day you will visit the famous Taj Mahal and the other great buildings of this fascinating Moghul city.

The magnificent atmosphere of the Taj is hard to leave, especially as its gardens, and the Yamuna River just behind, offer so much ornithological excitement as well!

Itmad-Ud Daulah (the "baby Taj"), the mausoleum of Mirza Ghiyas Beg (the grandfather of Mumtaz Mahal, the lady of the Taj) is quite as magnificent as the Taj Mahal itself, and set in idyllic riverside gardens. Agra Fort too, is a marvelous structure, with towering walls two and a half kilometers in length.

Day 13: Agra - Delhi - Onward Destination
Today morning you will visit Taj Mahal at sunrise and after having your breakfast you will drive to Delhi.
Arriving in Delhi five hours later, you may have time for a farewell dinner before a late-night transfer to catch the plane to your country.