Photographing Tigers in Bandhavgarh and Kanha. An India Trip Report

[pscrimshaw]

India. A country with rich cultural history, natural beauty, and over a billion people. India is a total sensory overload, but if you're bold enough to tackle it on then you can be rewarded with one of the most unique experiences of your life.

 

As a wildlife photographer, there is one animal that people come to India for: the Bengal tiger. I've spent years photographing big cats across Africa, but in May of this year I was ready to search for the biggest of them all. Tigers are elusive, like ghosts in the jungle that see you even if you never see them. This wasn't going to be an easy subject to photograph, but I made the journey to their last remaining strongholds in central India to give me the best chance at finding them.

For those are are more interested in a video experience, I have also provided a link to the YouTube videos that go over my time in India as well.
 

 

 

 

[pscrimshaw]

After spending my first few days sight seeing, I was off to the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh to visit the famous national parks there. A short 1 hour flight and 4 hour road transfer later, and I had arrived at Bandhavgarh National Park! Bandhavgarh is home to the highest density of tigers in India, so I knew that if I wanted to give myself the best chance to photograph them, this was going to be the place to be.

 

Indian safaris are slightly different than the African ones that I am more accustomed to. Instead of large landcrusiers, you sit in a small open air gypsy vehicle. I honestly liked the gypsy system, and there's nothing like feeling the fresh air and breeze on your face as you look around all sides in search of tigers. Plus, on thin jungle roads having a smaller vehicle is much better for positioning.

 

While I thought that finding tigers in Bandhavgarh would be easy, it took days before I actually had a decent sighting. That did give me plenty of time to photograph the other Indian wildlife, which is just as worthy of a photo in my opinion.

 

 

The Sambar Deer, by far the biggest species of wild deer that I had ever seen

 

 

Langur monkeys make for great photo subjects, and are very expressive

 

 

Indian jackals, much like their African counterparts

 

 

The massive gaur are unlike any buffalo out there

 

 

 

 

Indian rollers are by far the most beautiful birds in the country

 

Finally on our 3rd day, we quite literally turned and stumbled across a young female tiger walking down the road. The chaos of a tiger sighting is hard to explain. Everyone visiting the park is searching for that one specific animal, so when they end up finding it it's total pandemonium. Yelling, screaming, vehicles jockeying for position. It's definitely not for the faint of heart.

 

 

It was hard to get a good photo in the mess of vehicles, but she did end up crossing right by our vehicle so I managed to get one shot of her. I later that found out that this was the daughter of Dotty, one of the famous tigers of Bandhavgarh. She had recently come of age and had pushed her mother out of her territory, showing how difficult life can be for these solitary cats.

 

 

 

 

Dotty's daughter walking right past our vehicle

 

After the sighting of Dotty's daughter, it was mostly quiet for the rest of the day in terms of tiger sightings. Bandhavgarh is a beautiful park though, and the landscapes are stunning to say the least. Even if I wasn't finding much success with tigers, I was definitely enjoying the experience.

 

 

 

 

The landscapes of Tala Zone. The most beautiful in my opinion

Edited December 28, 2024 by pscrimshaw

[pscrimshaw]

The following morning, we were driving down a road and saw a handful of vehicles stopped and pointing into the forest. A huge male tiger known as Bajrang was making his way towards the grasslands. While there were less vehicles this time around, photographing tigers as they move through the thick forest makes getting a clear shot very difficult. Eventually he crossed the road into the tall grass, and began stalking some nearby gaur. He was spotted after a few minutes, but the shots I got of him in the grass were much better than I could have hoped for.

 

 

 

Bajrang as he cross the road in front of us

 

 

Bajrang stalking gaur in the tall grass. One of my favorite shots of the trip

 

 

The early morning light hitting the grass made for some excellent photos

 

Eventually Bajrang disappeared into the grass, most likely to take a nap. We made our way around the park looking for other tigers, but I would keep getting distracted by other subjects. Even if I was so focused on tigers, if there is a good subject in good light in front of me, then I take a picture!

 

 

The daily sound of peacocks really reminds you that you're in India

 

 

Accidental Renascence painting with a baby langur and mom

 

That afternoon we would head to a different zone of the park, and just as the light began to fade, another male tiger named D1 came down to a local waterhole to cool down. Again, it was a lot of jockeying around for positioning with other vehicles, which was quickly becoming frustrating considering how hard it is to find a tiger in the first place.

 

 

 

 

D1 male, who happened to look at me while he was taking as late evening bath

 

Somehow, my time in Bandhavgarh had almost run out, and I still didn't have a tiger photo that I really loved yet. Sightings were much harder to come by than I expected, and as a result the huge pileups of vehicles when a tiger was finally found meant that getting in a spot for a good photo was almost impossible. I also found myself frequently butting heads with my guide, who didn't seem to understand the needs of a photographer and did not mesh with my personality at all. It made the days long and frustrating, especially when we weren't finding tigers. India really pushes wildlife photographers to their limits it seems.

Edited December 28, 2024 by pscrimshaw

[pscrimshaw]

On our last morning in Bandhavgarh, we were not even in the park for 5 minutes when we came across a wild bull elephant. In 2018 a herd of about 100 wild elephants moved into Bandhavgarh, which was the first time that Madhya Pradesh had elephants in almost a century. These elephants are not very comfortable around people however, and this bull frequently charged and showed signs of agitation towards the morning vehicles. Luckily he moved towards the grasslands, which gave him as well as the tourists some breathing room.

 

 

 

One of the wild elephants in Bandhavgarh. A very rare sight to see a tusker bull

 

 

Not very comfortable around people, but when given some space he posed nicely in the grass

 

After spending time with the elephant, we had gotten news that Dotty had been found on the other side of the park. While we raced over to see her, she was laying in thick vegetation, and so many vehicles meant no good photos could be had. We left eventually on our own, and just as we were about to head out of the park we stopped by a water hole and saw Bajrang cooling down. At last, a tiger sighting all to ourselves!

 

 

A forest department vehicle pulled up next to us, and the ranger got out of the vehicle to have a word with my driver as to what we were looking at. I personally thought this was such an incredibly stupid and reckless thing to do, especially in a park where there could be tigers around anywhere. The second that Bajrang saw the ranger on foot, he snarled and bolted straight out of the water. Tigers are not fans of humans, and the ranger not only put himself and us at risk, but he ruined the one private tiger sighting I had gotten during my stay at Bandhavgarh. I wasn't pleased, but I did have a couple of photos that I could say that I was happy with.

 

 

 

Bajrang completely took us by surprise, and we were the only vehicle with him

 

 

Eventually he snarled when he saw the ranger on foot and ran out of the water

 

 

Angry tigers are actually terrifying to be around

 

At last it was time to say goodbye to Bandhavgarh, and I began the journey towards my next destination: Kanha National Park. Initially I planned my trip so that I would get all my tiger photography out of the way in Bandhavgarh, and then I could just take a step back and enjoy whatever Kanha had to offer. But tiger sightings hadn't quite yielded the results I had been hoping for, so now I had even more pressure in Kanha to get some good tiger shots.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2024 by pscrimshaw

[pscrimshaw]

While I was a bit worried because Kanha doesn't quite have as good tiger viewing as Bandhavgarh, my fears totally went away when 20 minutes into my first morning drive in Kanha we found two subadult cubs of the famous tigress, DJ. The female cub was right on the side of the road, and I finally had a clear, uninterrupted view of a tiger. I'm surprised I didn't break my camera with how much I was pressing my shutter button, but I took hundreds of photos of just her sitting down and posing for us.

 

 

 

DJ's female cub, who was maybe the best posing big cat I've ever seen

 

 

Even at around 18 months, she is still considered a cub. A huge one that is though!

 

Eventually she reunited with her brother who was on the other side of the road, and the two made their way across the tall grass and later towards a nearby water hole. The way that these two posed for me was exactly the type of tiger photographs that I was dreaming of when I planned this trip. This one sighting alone had already blown everything I had seen in Bandhavgarh completely out of the water.

 

 

 

 

I may have become addicted to photographing tigers in the tall grass

 

 

Soft early morning light cooperated with us so nicely at this sighting

 

 

The male cub could have easily been full grown if you asked me. He is going to be an absolute giant one day

 

 

When the male cub got on a small mound and posed, I couldn't believe my luck. Just breathtaking

 

 

Eventually they came towards the slope of a waterhole, but the light against the green trees made for a great backdrop

 

 

I needed my 1.4x tele converter for these shots, but I liked how I had to work with the distance

 

What an incredible start to my time in Kanha. Sometimes you just know that you have a special sighting in front of you, and you just take in and enjoy the moment because you know how rare it is. For once I could actually breathe and enjoy being in the presence of tigers, rather than be frustrated by the circus of other people around me. Everyone in Kanha was very respectful of the tigers space as well as the views of others, which was a welcome change from Bandhavgarh.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2024 by pscrimshaw

[pscrimshaw]

Later that afternoon, we scouted around a different zone from the morning and weren't having much success. We came to the territory of a different female tiger, and while we were chatting to another vehicle, she appeared out of nowhere and started walking down the road. It was only us and one other vehicle, but unfortunately we had to follow her from behind which limited the shots we could get.

 

Apparently tigers don't like to feel the pressure of vehicles behind them, so even though there weren't many of us she still moved off into the forest because of it. It was frustrating, but I did get some unique framing shots that I was happy with.

 

 

She appeared out of nowhere, but I loved the environmental framing of this trees here

 

 

She kept chasing her tail, which made her seem like a big kitten rather than a majestic tiger

 

We sat and waited, hoping that she would come back out onto the road after a few more vehicles came and left. Instead, we heard that one of her cubs, a large male had been seen near a waterhole right next to the road. It was tricky getting a clean view through the leaves of the forest, and unlike Bandhavgarh which was mostly bone dry, Kanha still had quite a bit of greenery left. When most other vehicles had left, we were allowed by some kind tourists in the best spot to briefly pull in front of them and get some of our own photos. Even if tiger sightings can be chaotic, there are still a few good people out there that are willing to share with you as long as you are polite and respectful.

 

 

 

This was probably the best day of tiger sightings of my whole trip

 

Kanha was already totally blowing my expectations out of the water. This was supposed to be the hard park to find tigers in, and yet in just one day we had multiple incredible sightings.

Edited December 28, 2024 by pscrimshaw

[pscrimshaw]

Unfortunately it seemed like we had used up much of our luck in that one day, because the next day was mostly a wash. There were signs and sounds of tigers, but no great sightings. We had one large male cross the road in front of us, but he paid us no mind and didn't pose at all. Then later a male that was blind in one eye, but he seemed rather skittish and as soon as we pulled up by him he ran off into the jungle. DJ's cubs were briefly at the waterhole again, but the light was too harsh and no great photos unlike the day before. That meant more general game photography, which was fine by me considering how tiger heavy the last day was.

 

 

 

A rather nervous male tiger who was blind in one eye. My guide told me that this one was rarely seen these days

 

 

It wasn't as close as I wanted, but a displaying peacock was one of my goal shots of the trip

 

 

Even if they're everywhere, I love the look of the spotted deer

 

 

Dueling gaur, which was the coolest sighting of the day in my opinion

 

The next day, we ventured into a new zone, and quickly spotted the tigress Neelam. She was walking in the tall grass, but she never came out again much to the disappointment of everyone. After exchanging information with a few more vehicles, we learned that someone had spotted a sloth bear off in the distance that was on the move. That immediately caught my attention, and considering how rare it is to find sloth bears, I decided to pivot and focus on photographing the bear if it decided to pop out again.

 

After waiting for about 40 minutes or so, we saw the distinctive low black shape of a sloth bear moving across the landscape. It seemed to be headed straights towards us, so we patiently waited for our shot as it came closer and closer. Finally, it made its way to a nearby termite mound and began to feast, before turning its attention and coming to cross the road right in front of us!

 

 

A sloth bear out in the open is one of the rarest sightings you can find in India

 

 

I never expected to photograph a sloth bear, let alone one so close!

 

Once again, Kanha delivered one of those special sightings that you just have to sit back and appreciate. Since it was a Wednesday, the park closes in the afternoon which meant that my second safari would have to be outside the park in the buffer zones. Those usually don't have as much wildlife activity, so I was satisfied with my sloth bear sighting for the day and didn't expect much from the buffer safari. I had no idea what was coming!

Edited December 28, 2024 by pscrimshaw

[pscrimshaw]

The buffer safari started slowly at first. There were some tracks, but nothing that turned into any sightings. Mostly deer, birds, the usual suspects when tigers aren't around. Then, out of nowhere (I keep saying that but it's literally how all these happen), a female tiger was walking down the road straight towards us as we were all alone. At last the one type of sighting that had eluded me, a tiger walking head on down the road!

 

I fired away as many photos as I could, but the light was low and dark rain clouds were building. I was shooting at F 2.8 with my 400 mm, and dropping my shutter speed as low as I could without risking missing these incredible tiger shots. The adrenaline rush was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I had learned how hard it is to find a tiger, let alone photograph one. And the real key is that you have to find a tiger completely by yourself otherwise you risk others ruining your sighting. All the ingredients for success were here, and I wasn't going to throw away this magical opportunity.

 

 

 

The single best tiger sighting of my trip

 

 

She moved from tree to tree rubbing and scent marking

 

 

I did what I could with the low light, but wow she posed perfectly for me. A total dream

 

When another vehicle came up from behind her, she quickly darted off into the forest. At this point I had learned how these tiger sightings go, and honestly, it just comes down to pure luck most of the time. The safari gods were on my side, and that's the only reason why I got the photos that I did.

 

 

I thought this day couldn't get any better, until we had to race back to exit the park and some other vehicles had found a leopard in the forest! The light was virtually non existent at this point and the leopard was way too far for good photos, but I was just astounded that I got to see one at all, let alone in a buffer safari! A sloth bear, tiger, and leopard all in one day. I couldn't have scripted it any better even if I tried.

 

 

Photographic proof that I saw a leopard in Kanha. Not a good photo, but I still saw one!

 

I've done enough safaris at this point to learn that often times, your best day is the one right before your leave. And more often than not, the morning that you actually leave you don't find anything early as good as the day before. So with my tiger, bear, and leopard day happening the day before I leave, I quite literally had 0 expectations for my last morning.

 

 

Well apparently the safari gods took that a little too seriously because they decided to have an absolute monsoon of a thunder storm on my last day in Kanha. Heavy rains meant no tigers wanted to come out, and it was so dark and miserable that I barely wanted to come out of the now covered vehicle either.

 

 

We did come across a small herd of blackbuck, one of the other rare residents of Kanha. They had been relocated to Kanha a few years ago, but unfortunately their numbers weren't doing so well and there were only about a dozen or so left in the park. Even if it was dark and rainy, I did grab a few shots of them that left me satisfied for the day.

 

 

 

The rare blackbuck, which apparently only look black in the winter. I should've gotten that memo...

 

After almost two weeks, my time in India had come to an end and it was time to head home. India was unlike anywhere else in the world that I've been to, and photos that I had taken of the local wildlife were simply incredible. Safaris in India are very different to Africa, and the chaotic nature of them can definitely become frustrating as a photographer. But with a little bit of luck, you can come away with great photos as long as you put in the work for them. I had come to India to photograph tigers, and I can honestly say that I succeeded in that task. I can see how addicting it can be to find tigers, and I definitely feel like I'm itching to get back out there and do it again sometime!

Edited December 28, 2024 by pscrimshaw

[xelas]

Two weeks with two parks and plenty of tigers ... that was a successful trip. Your tiger photos are excellent, same also about the other wildlife you have encountered.

For future visitors, would you share the two lodges you have stayed at in Band and Kanha? I assume you have used guides/naturalists from those lodges.

Edited December 28, 2024 by xelas

[pscrimshaw]

12 hours ago, xelas said:

Two weeks with two parks and plenty of tigers ... that was a successful trip. Your tiger photos are excellent, same also about the other wildlife you have encountered.

For future visitors, would you share the two lodges you have stayed at in Band and Kanha? I assume you have used guides/naturalists from those lodges.

I stayed at Pugdundee's King's Lodge in Bandhavgarh and Kanha Earth Lodge. Both were exactly the type of quality that you'd expect from an African luxury lodge, just with a bit of an Indian flair. My guide in Kanha was phenomenal and has worked with many famous photographers before and it showed. When I was in Bandhavgarh, a very well known award winning photographer was there at the same time and as a result I think he got priority for the more senior guides. My guide was much younger, and while he claimed he has driven for photographers for the past couple of years, I found his guiding to be very poor when it came to positioning for photos. He was very reactive instead of proactive, which was frustrating when you have so many other vehicles around jostling for a spot to see a tiger. He eventually got sick of my requests to reposition for photos, and started to ignore me entirely by the end of the trip. While the lodge itself was lovely, I was absolutely ready to leave at that point because I had never had such an adversarial relationship with a guide before.

[KaliCA]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures. It was interesting to hear your comparison between Bandhavgarh and Kanha. In fact, we had the same experience in early March. Some drivers behaved very badly during a sighting of a mother Tiger with very young cubs. In Kanha, we had better sightings and saw more tigers and drivers behaved nicely. I also liked the landscape in Kanha with the small lakes and open fields, rather than the mostly forested Bandhavgarh. So Kanha it is, for now. 
It was great to recognize two of “our” tigers, the female and male “cubs”. You had them more in the open and we had them further away and some branches were in the way. They did get up and walked a little….and  there is nothing quite like a tiger’s cool walk. 

 

[janzin]

Wonderful photos and you really had great luck in Kanha! As you note, in India parks it can be so different from one day to the next. Our one visit to Kanha many years ago produced only one brief tiger in six safaris, so we opted for Bandhavgarh on our last trip, which offered some great sightings but also many frustrations with tall grass and forest. You just can't really predict. But maybe we'll give Kanha another shot next time

[Atravelynn]

You were wise to book a couple of parks because you never know what the tigers might be doing or where they are hiding.  On my first Bandhavgarh trip, no one saw a tiger for 3 days and that's when you could even do ele safaris to look for them.  On the 4th morning, when my departure was at noon, I saw 5 or 6 tigers.  Subsequent Bandhavgarh visits have been way more productive, so you never know.   Interesting that @janzin had 1 tiger in 6 Kanha safaris, while I had really good tiger luck.  As she stated, you just can't really predict.  About all we can manage are our expectations and, if fortunate enough, our # of days out there to look for tigers.  The sloth is quite stunning.  Overall, a success for tigers, gaur, leopard, sloth and more!  Your photos of all are really excellent.

 

I may have missed it, but what date did the monsoon start?  I think I got drenched due to the start of the monsoons on March 15 back in 2023, definitely a surprise.

Edited December 30, 2024 by Atravelynn

[madaboutcheetah]

No, Lynn ..... those were just some early summer storms .....  But, it was definitely a surprise!! 

[pscrimshaw]

On 12/28/2024 at 6:45 PM, KaliCA said:

Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures. It was interesting to hear your comparison between Bandhavgarh and Kanha. In fact, we had the same experience in early March. Some drivers behaved very badly during a sighting of a mother Tiger with very young cubs. In Kanha, we had better sightings and saw more tigers and drivers behaved nicely. I also liked the landscape in Kanha with the small lakes and open fields, rather than the mostly forested Bandhavgarh. So Kanha it is, for now. 
It was great to recognize two of “our” tigers, the female and male “cubs”. You had them more in the open and we had them further away and some branches were in the way. They did get up and walked a little….and  there is nothing quite like a tiger’s cool walk. 

 

Well said. I found the roads to be much wider in Kanha, which meant that it was easier to actually see tigers even at a crowded sighting. And the sal forests are much more open as well, which is the total opposite of Bandhavgarh. 

[pscrimshaw]

On 12/29/2024 at 7:20 PM, Atravelynn said:

You were wise to book a couple of parks because you never know what the tigers might be doing or where they are hiding.  On my first Bandhavgarh trip, no one saw a tiger for 3 days and that's when you could even do ele safaris to look for them.  On the 4th morning, when my departure was at noon, I saw 5 or 6 tigers.  Subsequent Bandhavgarh visits have been way more productive, so you never know.   Interesting that @janzin had 1 tiger in 6 Kanha safaris, while I had really good tiger luck.  As she stated, you just can't really predict.  About all we can manage are our expectations and, if fortunate enough, our # of days out there to look for tigers.  The sloth is quite stunning.  Overall, a success for tigers, gaur, leopard, sloth and more!  Your photos of all are really excellent.

 

I may have missed it, but what date did the monsoon start?  I think I got drenched due to the start of the monsoons on March 15 back in 2023, definitely a surprise.

Thank you so much! The next time I visit India, I may just stay the entire time in Bandhavgarh and try my luck there over the course of two full weeks. I know the park is capable of being very productive, I just lucked out a bit. 

The monsoon technically didn't' start until late June/July, but my last day in Kanha might as well have been a monsoon! I'd never seen thunder and lightning storms like that before in my life. The raw power of mother nature can be very impressive!

[Tara R]

Thanks for sharing! I'm going to be in Kanha and Bandhavgarh in February, so I'm really excited for it! Did you do mornings and afternoons, or full-day safaris?

[Atravelynn]

6 hours ago, Tara R said:

Thanks for sharing! I'm going to be in Kanha and Bandhavgarh in February, so I'm really excited for it! Did you do mornings and afternoons, or full-day safaris?

Great!! 

 

Until @pscrimshawsees this to respond, I'll chime in that I did 3 full day outings in Bandhavgarh.  There was not the opportunity when I was in Kanha about a decade ago.  We saw very little (not just no tigers, but very little living creatures) during that time when we had the park to ourselves but it did allow us to travel a longer distance and get into position to see a tiger with no other vehicles for 15 minutes or so.  If we had located tigers in the water in the morning, it would have allowed us to remain with them as the day got hotter and they'd likely remain in the cool water.  But that did not happen.

 

Would I do the full days again?  Perhaps in Feb when it is not as hot.  We went in March and it was not that hot, but that's because the weather was a bit of a fluke--cloudy and cool.  Perhaps if there were 3-4 people in the vehicle and not 1-2, thereby reducing the cost per person, I'd stay out all day again.  I probably would not do all three days as full-day safaris, which is what we did.  I will mention we were given the option of taking a short break midday that would still allow us back out well before the normal afternoon starting time.  We never opted for the break.

[janzin]

I'll chime in and say we also did three full day safaris in Bandhavgarh last year (you can find details in my trip report.) It was March and very hot, but we did have one of our best tiger sighting of the entire trip during the midday (a tigress with four little cubs) and had it all to ourselves. And, the advantage is not just being out midday, but the ability to cross zones and also enter 15 minutes early and stay in 15 minutes later (surprisingly important, as sometimes we were really really far from the exit gate and just made it.) Also, we did take advantage of going back to the lodge at lunchtime on one (maybe even two? I don't exactly recall) of our days because it was just so hot, but even so, it was worth it as we could return at any time (not have to wait until the gate opening time) and still had the other advantages. So, I would do it again, but personally I wouldn't return in March. February should be cooler!

Edited January 1 by janzin

[Tara R]

16 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

Great!! 

 

Until @pscrimshawsees this to respond, I'll chime in that I did 3 full day outings in Bandhavgarh.  There was not the opportunity when I was in Kanha about a decade ago.  We saw very little (not just no tigers, but very little living creatures) during that time when we had the park to ourselves but it did allow us to travel a longer distance and get into position to see a tiger with no other vehicles for 15 minutes or so.  If we had located tigers in the water in the morning, it would have allowed us to remain with them as the day got hotter and they'd likely remain in the cool water.  But that did not happen.

 

Would I do the full days again?  Perhaps in Feb when it is not as hot.  We went in March and it was not that hot, but that's because the weather was a bit of a fluke--cloudy and cool.  Perhaps if there were 3-4 people in the vehicle and not 1-2, thereby reducing the cost per person, I'd stay out all day again.  I probably would not do all three days as full-day safaris, which is what we did.  I will mention we were given the option of taking a short break midday that would still allow us back out well before the normal afternoon starting time.  We never opted for the break.

 

15 hours ago, janzin said:

I'll chime in and say we also did three full day safaris in Bandhavgarh last year (you can find details in my trip report.) It was March and very hot, but we did have one of our best tiger sighting of the entire trip during the midday (a tigress with four little cubs) and had it all to ourselves. And, the advantage is not just being out midday, but the ability to cross zones and also enter 15 minutes early and stay in 15 minutes later (surprisingly important, as sometimes we were really really far from the exit gate and just made it.) Also, we did take advantage of going back to the lodge at lunchtime on one (maybe even two? I don't exactly recall) of our days because it was just so hot, but even so, it was worth it as we could return at any time (not have to wait until the gate opening time) and still had the other advantages. So, I would do it again, but personally I wouldn't return in March. February should be cooler!

 

Thanks for the replies. We had opted for the morning + afternoons ourselves, but I have been second-guessing myself and wondering if we should have gone for the full days.

[pscrimshaw]

On 12/31/2024 at 2:21 PM, Tara R said:

Thanks for sharing! I'm going to be in Kanha and Bandhavgarh in February, so I'm really excited for it! Did you do mornings and afternoons, or full-day safaris?

I just did morning and afternoons. Sadly I didn't even know about full days before I booked the trip, but the permits are very limited and ridiculously expensive I've heard. Next time I visit I would definitely try to save up and do full days though, because having less vehicles in the park is the single biggest advantage at tiger sightings in my opinion. 

Edited January 5 by pscrimshaw

[wilddog]

My personal thoughts on this are that one full day would be sufficient. It is expensive as you have guide and driver staff with you for about 12hours. They all need to be paid. 

The other 2 days, do just morning and afternoon drives.