Photographic Safari India Tour

Overview

Photographic Safari India

Ranthambore National Park - Rajasthan

Earlier the hunting preserve of the Maharajas of Jaipur, the Park at Ranthambore was once the scene of royal hunting parties. Today, it is famous for its tigers and is one of the best places in the country to see these majestic predators in the wild.

Tigers can be spotted quit often even during the day, at their normal pursuits - hunting and taking care of their young. With the strict measures that have been taken for their accustomed to human activity and are not disturbed by it. A good time to visit is between November and April when the nature of the dry deciduous forests makes sightings common.

Ranthambore has large numbers of sambar, chital and nilgai. Sounders of boar and an occasional gazelle - the chinkara can be seen, as also the Indian hare, mongoose and monitor lizards.

FThe lakes and pools at the Park are where the deer congregate and where it is easiest to see the animals. Among the other local fauna are the leopard, hyena, jackal, jungle cats, sloth bear and marsh crocodile. Jacanas. painted sto-k. hiaci-. stork, and white necked stork are seen along the water bodies. Peafowl are found in abundance and other birds include Bonelli's eagle, crested serpent eagle, the great Indian horned owl, quail, partridge, spur fowl and the paradise flycatcher.

The Park which covers an area of 392 sq. km. is set between the Aravalli and Vindhya ranges. Its deciduous forests were once a part of the magnificent jungles of Central India. The terrain is rugged and there are rocky ridges, hills and open verfteys with lakes and pools. Ranthambore's royal past manifests itself in the picturesque ruins that dot the Park.

Tiger, Ranthambore National ParkThere are lake palaces, chhatris, old fortifications and a majestic thousand year old fort. On a height overlooking the Park. The forest rest house at the foot of the Ranthambore fort is located in the lovely Jogi Mahal. It overlooks a tank - the pretty Padam Talao, afloat with water lilies.

General Information :

Best Time to Visit : October to June.
Nearest Town : Sawai Madhopur (11 km)
How to Get Here : Air: Jaipur (145 km) , Rail: Sawai Madhopur (11 km)

Keoladeo Ghana National Park - Bharatpur, Rajasthan Just 176 km. from Delhi is a very special wilderness - the Keoladeo Ghana National Park, one of the finest water-bird sanctuaries in the world. The 28.73 sq. km. lake and wetland was artificially created by the Maharaja of Bharatpur in the 19th century. By building small dykes and dams and diverting water from an irrigation canal, he converted this low lying area into a fine wild fowl shooting preserve. In a few years, the new wetland surrounded by marginal forests was able to support thousands of water birds.
Commonly referred to as Bharatpur, the Park is a delight for bird watchers. Over 300 species of birds are found here and raised paths, camouflaged by babul trees and undergrowth make viewing easy. A quiet ride by boat in the early hours of the morning is also an unforgettable experience. There are mixed heronries on the half submerged babul trees and the cacophony is unbelievable as painted storks, open bills, spoon bills, egrets, cormorants, white ibis and multitudes of others, tend their young. Jacanas with their iridescent colors and elegant tail feathers and purple moorhen can be seen delicately treading over the floating vegetation. While harriers and fishing eagles circle overhead in search of prey, the pied kingfisher hovers dramatically over the water in a flurry of wings.
There are varieties of storks and cranes and the local sarus crane is elegant in a livery of grey and red. Every year Bharatpur waits with coated breath for the arrival of the Siberian cranes.
There are only two wintering places for this rare species -one in Iran and the other Bharatpur and these beautiful birds with their distinctive red beaks and facial patches, fly over 6400 km from their summer retreats in Siberia, to get to them. In 1996, there was great jubilation as a couple of Siberian cranes with a young one made an appearance in Bharatpur after a lapse of three years.
Bird, Keoladeo Ghana National ParkThe forests around the lake at Bharatpur harbor the sambar, chital, nilgai, jackal, hyena, fox, mongoose and porcupine. Occasionally, a fishing cat can be seen scooping its prey also commonly seen sunning themselves along edge of the paths or at Python Point.
General Information :

Best Time to Visit : Throughout the Year.
Nearest Town : Bharatpur (2 km)
How to Get Here : Rail: Bharatpur (2 km)

Bandhavgarh National Park - Madhya Pradesh A wildlife retreat, where history and nature meet, Bandhavgarh is not too far away from Kanha. Set amidst the Vindhyan ranges, the Park has a series of ridges running through it. Initially just 105.40 sq. km. in area, Bandhavgarh with 25 resident tigers, was noted for its high density tiger population. Today, it has been extended to an area of 437 sq. km.
About half the Park is covered with fine stands of sal, while mixed forests are found in the higher reaches of the hills. Stretches of bamboo and grasslands extend to the north.
The main viewing area is still in the core of the Park with its 32 picturesque, wooded hills. An ancient fort up on a precipice, 800 metres high, dominates the Park.
Bandhavgarh's history goes back 2000 years in time and the earliest signs of habitation can be seen in the Caves excavated from the cliffs to the north of the fort. Brahmi inscription here, date back to the 1st century BC A hunting reserve of the roya! family of Rewa in more recent times, Bandhavgarh was declared a Park in 1968. This is where the famous white tigers of Rewa were discovered.
Wandering through the Park on elephant back, the chances of seeing a tiger are quite good. Also to be seen here are nilgai, chausingha, chital, chinkara, wild boar and sometimes a fox or jackal. Other inhabitants of the Park include the muntjac, jungle cat, ratel, hyena, porcupine, the rhesus macaque and the black-faced langur. About 150 species of birds are also found here and include the migratory birds that arrive in winter like the steppe eagle and various water birds.
Tiger, Bandhavgarh National ParkIt is possible to climb up to the Bandhavgarh fort for a breathtaking bird's-eye view of the Park and there is also a small population of black buck that lives here, protected from the predators below.
General Information :

Best Time to Visit : November to June.
Nearest Town : Umaria (30 km)
How to Get Here : Air: Jabalpur (170 km), Khajuraho (210 km) , Rail:Umaria (30 km), Jabalpur (170 km)


Kanha National Park - Mukki, Madhya Pradesh
Located in the Mandia district of Madhya Pradesh, the Kanha National Park is a Tiger Reserve that extends over 1945 sq. km. of undulating country. Elevations range from 450 to 900 meters.
A horseshoe shaped valley bounded by the. spurs of the Mekal ridge gives Kanha an interesting topography. The Surpan River meanders through Kanha's central maidans - grasslands that Dover the extensive plateaus. Steep rocky escarpments along their edges offer breathtaking views of the valleys below.
The grasslands at Kanha interspersed with forests of sal, teeming with varieties of deer - the barasinqha, chital (spotted deer), chousingha, nilgai, the majestic gaur (Indian bison) and wild pig, is 'tiger country'. It is ideal for viewing both the predator and the prey.
It was here at Kanha that the eminent zoologist George Schaller undertook the first ever-scientific study of the tiger. Another landmark at Kanha is the preservation of the "hard ground' barasingha (cervus duvauceli branderi) - the only surviving population of this Central Indian subspecies. This was achieved by extending the grasslands, relocating villages and by increasing the habitat.
The animals at Kanha are best observed from elephant back and the open country makes the chance of sightings reasonably good. Deer are seen along the maidans and gaur at Bamhindadr or in the Bishanpura Sondhar- Ghorella area of the Mukki range. This area is also ideal for spotting the dhole or wild dog. spotting the dhole or wild dog. Langurs, wild boar, water fowl and birds are also commonly seen.
General Information :

Best Time to Visit : March to June .
Nearest Town : Mandla (65 Km)
How to Get Here : Air: Jabalpur (170 km), Nagpur (270 km) , Rail: Jabalpur (170 km), Nagpur (270 km)

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