Tiger Triple Play: A return to Central India's Tiger Parks, March 2024

[janzin]

Our previous trip to India covered the Western Ghats and was primarily focused on birding; it was a fantastic trip but left us hungry for more tigers--especially for good photographic opportunities. So almost immediately upon returning home I began planning our very next India trip, which would would focus once again on the stripey big cat. But where to go? My first choice of tiger reserves is always Ranthambhore, but changes in the way they were handling safari drives (no more full days or even half days, a a few other new restrictions) gave me second thoughts about returning there this time. I'd been seeing incredible sightings posted from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve on my Facebook feed, and so we decided to return there, even though it has a reputation for being over-crowded and crazy busy.

 

Inspired by @Atravelynn's recent report and sightings from Pench, we decided to add a few days there and also add one new (for us) park, Bandhavgarh--so it wouldn't seem like a complete repeat of our very first trip to Central India parks (when we visited Tadoba, Pench, and Kanha.) Bandhavgarh also allows full day safaris, which we wanted to take advantage of.

 

As always we booked with Vikram at Wild World India. An important requirement was the services of Rajen, a premier guide for central Indian tiger parks and our guide on on our very first Indian trip. We also wanted to go just a bit later in the season than usual, to get it a bit drier (and hotter!) which is supposedly better for tiger spotting. So we planned for early March, March 1-13 to be exact.

 

The final itinerary was as such:

 

1 Night on arrival at Pride Plaza hotel near airport
Fly to Nagpur
4 nights Tadoba (Svarsara Lodge)
3 nights Pench (Jamtara Wilderness Camp)
4 nights Bandhavgarh (Bandhavgarh Jungle Lodge)
Fly back to Delhi from Jabalpur, connect with flight home

 

Would we get the "Tiger Trifecta"--tigers in each of three parks? Well, I guess the title gives that away immediately.  The trip was a great success tiger-wise, with some surprising highlights and one unfortunate lowlight.   

 

But let's start with a highlight!

 

[janzin]

Living in NYC, we are fortunate to have several choices of non-stop flights to India. Swearing to avoid Air India at all costs, we opted once again for the American Airlines non-stop flight, which arrives in Delhi around 9:30 p.m. As always our good friend @Abhishek Sharma from WWI met us at the airport and guided us to our hotel, also supplying us with the rupees we'd need for the trip. I won't bore you with too many of these boring travel details but I always like to stress how well-taken care of we have always been with Wild World India; it's like returning to family.

 

So let's just jump right to arrival in Nagpur, our trip there went smoothly and we were greeted by Rajen and our driver. It was so great to reunite with Rajen, it had been 9 years since we'd been guided by him on our first Indian safari. In the interim his English had greatly improved (it wasn't bad before but now even better) and he remembered us well and was equally excited to join us again.

 

We were arriving at Svarsara (where we'd stayed the first trip) in time for an afternoon safari; after checking in and a quick lunch we were on the move.

 

One quick detail about Tadoba. I know it has a reputation for large and potentially unruly crowds at sightings and we had experienced this on our first trip. This has deterred some SafariTalk folks from going there. But in the last couple of years the park has added many buffer zones and this has actually expanded the area traversed on safaris, and it seems they have also put stricter limits on the number of vehicles in each core zone/buffer zone at any one time. This has completely changed the feel of the park! We never had huge crowds and in fact we had some great sightings with just one or a couple of other gypsys!  And most of the buffer zones seemed just as productive as the core zones. The one downside is that some of the buffers are a LONG hot drive from the main gate. You also can't choose your forest guide, so it's mainly luck of the draw. But of course we had Rajen. (More on this later.)

 

Our first afternoon safari was in fact in the Kolara buffer zone. (Svarsara Lodge is located just outside the Kolara gate.) Almost immediately we came across our first tiger!

This was tigress Junabai.

 

 

 

There were of course a few other gypsy's, but we were in a great position. Right in front.

 

 

She started heading towards a waterhole. 

 

 

Of course we hoped she'd go for a drink, maybe even a swim.  We positioned ourselves right at the front of the waterhole...

 

Yep, she was coming for a drink!

 

 

 

 

She was completely out in the open, in great late afternoon light. Little did we know at that time that this would be one of our best sightings of the trip...

 

...but it was far from over.

 

 

[janzin]

After quenching her thirst she did what we'd hoped---she got in for a cool-down. (Did I mention it was quite hot already in Tadoba?)

 

 

A drink AND a cool-down...

 

 

Ahhh, so refreshing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 7 by janzin

[pomkiwi]

@Janzin -beautiful images 👍

[janzin]

1 minute ago, pomkiwi said:

@Janzin -beautiful images 👍

Thanks! I was just noticing (again) that ST really compresses the jpgs which look much sharper on my website. I should probably just link them out for better quality, but it's less work to just upload them here

[janzin]

She eventually got out of the waterhole and had a brief rest (image that opened my report.)

 

 

Not quite done, she got up and we were able to follow her a bit longer.

 

 

 

 

(oops, I think this next one belongs before the waterhole--notice she's dry! Oh well, I can't swear I haven't mixed up the timing as one of my cameras was set with the wrong time on the first day--fixed it later )

 

 

At one point she came so close I couldn't fit her in with my 100-400mm lens.

 

 

We finally bid her farewell as she entered the forest where we couldn't follow.

 

 

WELL! That was an amazing start to the safari! What's next??

Edited June 7 by janzin

[AKR1]

Agree amazing start, Janet!  Exceptional photography as always. Thanks for sharing. 

[TonyQ]

A brilliant start, beautiful photos!

[Alexander33]

9 hours ago, janzin said:

(oops, I think this next one belongs before the waterhole--notice she's dry! Oh well, I can't swear I haven't mixed up the timing as one of my cameras was set with the wrong time on the first day--fixed it later )

Ugh, I’ve done that more often than not. It’s like I’ve got some mental block — all this minute, detailed trip planning, but I forget to change the time on my cameras.  At least you caught the oversight early on. My last trip to Kenya, I didn’t notice it until 3 days before we were set to leave.  That was a pain. And your comment is timely; I immediately went and reset my cameras for an upcoming trip, which I’m sure I would have forgotten to do without this reminder.

 

Anyhow, what a great start. Beautiful photos so far. My brain is ticking, ticking with itinerary ideas......Looking forward to more. 

[Zubbie15]

By weird coincidence I was just looking at your website earlier today to see if you'd uploaded any photos from your trip.  I'm glad you've started your report! I constantly have issues with keeping the times correct on my cameras, I guess I'm not the only one.  Great series to start off! 

[janzin]

2 hours ago, Zubbie15 said:

By weird coincidence I was just looking at your website earlier today to see if you'd uploaded any photos from your trip.  I'm glad you've started your report! I constantly have issues with keeping the times correct on my cameras, I guess I'm not the only one.  Great series to start off! 

I actually do have them all on my site, but they aren't yet linked from the home page. Did you find them? If you go to the India page you'll see a link. But I don't want to put it here yet and spoil the surprises for later in the report LOL

[janzin]

@Alexander33and @Zubbie15I actually have "change times on cameras" on my pre-trip to-do list. So I DID change them....I just changed them incorrectly!  

 

But what I do forget nearly every time is to change them back when I get home. And forget about daylight savings time....

[Zubbie15]

10 hours ago, janzin said:

I actually do have them all on my site, but they aren't yet linked from the home page. Did you find them? If you go to the India page you'll see a link. But I don't want to put it here yet and spoil the surprises for later in the report LOL

Yes I found them... A couple of sightings there that I'm rather jealous of! Can't wait to hear the story about them. 

[janzin]

OMG I'm so embarrassed, I just realized as I was looking at older India reports that the report by @Atravelynnand @wilddogwas also titled Tiger Trifecta   And I thought I was being so clever. I have to apologize, I did not mean to steal it!! So sorry!!

 

 

UPDATE TO SAY: I was able to change the title, in case you are confused by this post (can't delete it.)

Edited June 11 by janzin

[janzin]

The next morning our safari was in the Kolara core zone.  (Of course working with Wild World India they were able to pre-book all our safaris and were able to specify which zones or buffer zones we would have.  A good mix of buffer and core.)

 

I have to say that at this point in the trip we were seriously concentrating on finding and photographing tigers and other predators, and having had several safaris Indian safaris under our belt, we did not stop for many birds and really didn't stop for things like Chital or Sambar unless they were doing something interesting or in some very good light, etc.  And what birds I did shoot, I haven't really bothered to process unless they were particularly good shots or a particularly cool bird. So with that pre-amble...

 

We'll get straight to the next tiger! (Also, as I've mentioned in other reports, I don't take notes and I can barely remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, much less the day-by-day blow-by-blow on safari )

 

Tiger #2 was a big gorgeous male, Dadiyal, which means "long beard." You can see why!

 

 

Unfortunately he wasn't really out in the open. He was heading for a small puddle of water to drink but we were partially blocked by rocks.  Most of the time his head was down and I was begging him "lift your head, lift your head."  Finally he did!

 

 

 

Soon he moved on but not before doing some scent marking.

 

 

He was the only tiger that morning, but he was a grand one!

 

A couple of birds are all I have to show for the rest of the morning drive (see my excuses, above

 

A Mottled Wood Owl which obviously roosted in this tree daily, as the forest guide knew where to find him.  And he was there when we returned to this area a couple of days later.

 

 

An Indian Thick-knee.

 

 

Back at Svarsara, I walked around a bit after lunch looking for some birds to shoot. It was getting mighty hot but I found a flowering tree which attracted some nice birds.

 

 

 

 

And behind the rooms, there was a sort of hedgerow which had some bulbuls and other birds, but the light was not good.

 

 

Finally I gave up as the heat got to me, and retreated to the comfort of our air conditioned room until it was time to go out for the afternoon safari.

 

 

 

Edited June 9 by janzin

[janzin]

I'll interject here a word about camera gear, for those who are interested. I used a Nikon Z9 on which I always had a 500mm 5.6 lens. The Z9 is a mirrorless, full-frame camera and that particular lens is designed for earlier Nikon cameras, so the mount is different. So you need to use an adapter--the FTZ adapter.  You will find out why I am bothering to tell you this very soon

 

The second body I used was the Nikon Z8 with the 100-400 Z lens. This lens is made for the Z mirrorless cameras.  This will be important later in the story as well

 

Because Tadoba, especially, is VERY DUSTY, I never changed lenses, never ever ever. I had a teleconverter with me but I never used it because of the dust.  The dust during the dry season at Tadoba is unbelievable, a very fine red dust which gets into everything, worse than anything I've experienced in Africa. Your clothes turn red, your camera gear is coated. By the second day both hubby and I were coughing from the dust.  Many people wear a buff but oddly we could not find a place to buy one, unlike at Ranthambhore where there were hawkers at the gate selling them, not here. Sadly none in the gift shop at the lodge either!  By day 3 we started wearing our COVID surgical-type masks, which we'd brought along to possibly wear in the airport if needed. Well I was really glad we had them and only wish we'd started wearing them sooner. This decision becomes important later on too!

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

A true tiger start to Tadoba! Such beautiful photos. 

Regarding the TC, it is in fact useful if only one camera body is available, as it allows lenses to be swapped while the sensor is protected by the teleconverter.

[michael-ibk]

What a gorgeous Tiger to welcome you! Beautiful photos as always. Yes, I do remember the dust in Tadoba. 

[janzin]

Our afternoon safari was to be in the Alizanza buffer zone. Rajen told us that the gate to this zone was about 20-30 minutes away. Because of that we had to leave Svarsara about a half hour earlier than we would have if we were going to the Kolara zone, and it was very, very hot mid-day. The drive felt even longer, as it turned out to be quite a long drive on open roads, through a couple of small villages and lots of farmland; and in the hot sun, driving at speed in the very bouncy gypsy, it was quite uncomfortable. But in the end, it was quite a productive zone!

 

To give an idea of the relative locations of maps and zone gates we used...some will come up later, so remember this map

 

 

Again, the focus was on photographing tigers, so I don't have much else from this drive. But there WERE tigers!

 

The first tiger we came across was down in a deep ravine, apparently in the river, but to be honest all we could see of him was some obscured orange and black. There were quite a few vehicles at this sighting in better positions, and there was no way we could improve ours, so we moved along.  Even if we'd waited, there would be little chance for a photo, not even a record shot--he was really buried in this ravine. This tiger, we were told, was a big male, Chota Matka. I was sorry we really couldn't see him clearly, but it seemed a hopeless situation and we hoped for better to come.

 

It was not long at all before we found tiger #2! He was lounging in an artificial waterhole and did not grace us with more than a head-shot. We were told this tiger was a young male, a subadult and not yet named.  He's a handsome boy!

 

 

 

He didn't seem inclined to get out of the water; we waited for awhile, maybe a half an hour; I wanted to wait longer to see if he got out, but our forest guide didn't think he would and assured us that there were more tigers to be found. So we moved along, a bit reluctantly...

 

...and amazingly within just a few minutes we came upon tiger #3!

 

And yet again, this guy, apparently the brother of waterhole tiger above, was down in a rocky dry stream bed and mostly obscured.  This afternoon safari was turning out to be a lot of tigers in terrible photographic situations, but still...a lot of tigers!

 

This boy was really doing the "cute" routine, rolling around and acting very kitty-like, but there was no way to get a totally clear view. 

 

Looking for a tummy-rub?

 

 

 

Again, we moved along after awhile. This zone seemed quite large and we didn't see much the remainder of the afternoon until....it was getting close to gate closing, and light was really fading, when we found tiger #4!  She was relaxing (i.e., sleeping) in a grassy field, totally out in the open but behind a sort of fence--this area was fenced in by a very loose fence and we were told it was to allow the vegetation to re-grow (it was probably farmland before.) Obviously this was not a tiger-stopping fence, there were many places of ingress and egress for a tiger We were a bit distant and could not get any closer.

 

Anyway, perhaps she found it peaceful there as she was fast asleep. But we waited and eventually she lifted her head.

 

 

 

And then she put her head down again, and went back to sleep, as cats do; and it was time to head out to the gate. 

 

So while I didn't have any super-duper photos for the afternoon, it was still a four tiger afternoon and we were very happy with the Alizanza zone!  Except for the drive to get there and back. In fact, the drive back, in the dark, on farm roads in the gypsy (which of course they take at top speed), was a bit scary, and now cold! I asked Rajen (or perhaps I told Rajen ) that if we were to return to this zone, or one similarly distant, I wanted to go in the air conditioned car (as of course our driver was still at Svarsara...we had the same driver throughout the trip.) No problem, he said!

 

Well no problem tomorrow anyway, as Rajen told us both our safaris tomorrow would be back in the Kolara core, through the Kolara gate by the lodge.  Little did we know tomorrow would bring one of the trip highlights.......

 

 

[janzin]

The next morning safari we entered through the main Kolara gate.

 

Very early on we spotted a Sloth Bear in the woods. But, he (or she) was moving quickly, and it was still rather dark, so all I have is a blurry "proof of life" shot.

 

 

It ran deeper into the forest and we continued on.

 

I had recalled that on our first trip, the area around Tadoba lake was very good for Dhole, or Indian Wild Dog. Sure enough, we came across a group of four or five in that same area!

 

So handsome!

 

 

 

But you don't want to meet those teeth!

 

 

Soon, they too ran across the road and off into the woods.

 

 

We had been told that there was a Black Leopard who inhabited Tadoba, in fact he'd been around since at least 2020 but was not often spotted. We had missed Black Leopard last year in Kabini, which was disappointing, so needless to say our hopes were up. Our guides asked us if we wanted to try for him---DUH, well YES of course!  We headed off to an area where he'd been seen roaming in the last few days. Driving up and down the road, at times back-tracking..... 

 

Suddenly---far down the road, a black flash ran across! There he was, but he ran right into the forest and there wasn't even time to pick up the camera.  But our guides had a very good idea where he would come out, there was a road around the other side of this patch of forest, and they were sure he'd emerge somewhere along that road.  By the way, there was only one other vehicle in this area at the time, and they of course had the same idea.   Both our vehicles went quickly around to the other road. We parked ourselves some distance from each other and just waited.

 

...and waited...after 1/2 an hour I was sure we'd missed him, surely he'd come through by now....

 

...but suddenly there he was, coming out exactly where the guides had predicted! Unfortunately he was a bit closer to the other vehicle, but we didn't dare move at first, we didn't want to spook him.  And he was looking our way!

 

 

 

We held our position, but luckily with 45 megapixels I can crop quite a bit...

 

 

You'll notice he's not 100% black, not nearly as dark as the "Blackie" I've seen photos of from Kabini. And no where near as black as Giza, the famous melanistic leopard in Laikipia, Kenya. In fact, he might more accurately be described as pseudo-melanistic, in which (according to Wikipedia) there is a "normal background color, but the spots are more densely packed than normal, and merge to obscure the golden-brown background color."  No matter what you call it, he is something very special!

 

He slowly crossed the road between our vehicles. No other vehicles around at all!

 

 

 

 

He went into the forest and quickly disappeared.

 

WOW! We drove up to the other vehicle and it was high-fives all around. In fact, the photographer in the other vehicle was someone we had already befriended at Svarsara. An young Italian, from Rome, who we bonded with over Nikon cameras (he was also shooting with a Z9, and the new 180-600mm zoom lens that my spouse was using.) This friendship takes on great import a bit later....

 

A bit later we came upon a few vehicles eyeing a leopard (regular kind ) in a tree, but the view was completely obstructed, and nothing could beat finding Blackie that morning, so we didn't hang around.

 

So it was a no-tiger morning, but we didn't care!

 

 

 

Edited June 10 by janzin

[KaliCA]

@janzin Ooh how wonderful that you have started your TR. I have been eagerly waiting for your pics and narrative. Your images are so crisp and clear and the tigers, Dhole and Leopard seem to be posing especially nicely just for you… I know now, how much luck but also strategy is involved in finding tigers,  to to mention skill to take gorgeous pics under difficult circumstances.
To be honest, I thought you were commenting on Lynn and Linda’s trip report as they used this title, but glad to see it’s in fact your report. 
So now that I’m back from a quick trip to Cali, I will eagerly await each installment. And I have to conclude my last two days in Corbett in my report. 
Thank you for sharing…

 

[janzin]

3 minutes ago, KaliCA said:

@janzin Ooh how wonderful that you have started your TR. I have been eagerly waiting for your pics and narrative. Your images are so crisp and clear and the tigers, Dhole and Leopard seem to be posing especially nicely just for you… I know now, how much luck but also strategy is involved in finding tigers,  to to mention skill to take gorgeous pics under difficult circumstances.
To be honest, I thought you were commenting on Lynn and Linda’s trip report as they used this title, but glad to see it’s in fact your report. 
So now that I’m back from a quick trip to Cali, I will eagerly await each installment. And I have to conclude my last two days in Corbett in my report. 
Thank you for sharing…

 

Thanks, I followed your report with great interest as well...I still think you beat me in tiger sightings (although of course I have more to come.)

 

I wish I could change the title of this report, but it doesn't seem you can edit a title. I'm still chagrined that I made such a dumb mistake! 

[KaliCA]

Maybe contact Matt @Game Wardenwith a new title?

[janzin]

3 hours ago, KaliCA said:

Maybe contact Matt @Game Wardenwith a new title?

I think changing it at this late point would screw up links and searches.

[wilddog]

It is easy to change a TR title, just click on it and hold, and then you can amend as you wish.

I don't think it is down to moderators only

 

It will still appear in searches