India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) - Keith Bain [411]
GETTING THERE By Road Set aside an entire day for road journeys from destinations within Madhya Pradesh; surfaces are terrible at best, consisting of little more than endless potholes linked by clusters of asphalt and islands of sand. The nearest town of tourist interest is Khajuraho—a rather bumpy 5-hour drive away and would cost you Rs 6,000—we suggest you opt for an Innova or Scorpio which are best suited for MP roads.
By Air If you can afford it, take advantage of the helicopter trips from Delhi offered by several of the upmarket resorts in Bandhavgarh. If you decide to catch a commercial flight, Jabalpur is the nearest airport with most big cities connected to it. It is situated 165km (102 miles) away; the 4-hour onward taxi trip will cost upward of Rs 4,500.
By Train Umaria, 45 minutes from Tala, is the nearest railhead. The best train from Delhi is the Kalinga Utkal Express, which leaves Nizamuddin Station at 12:50pm and arrives in Umaria the following day at 6:15am, a little too late for early entry to the park. Taxi rides to Tala cost around Rs 1,000; Om Prakash Shukla has a reliable service ( 94-2534-4226 or 94-2534-4227) and is used by most of the resorts. Other nearby railheads are Katni and Jabalpur (if you’re coming from Mumbai).
WHEN TO GO The park opens as early as October (depending on the monsoon situation), but sightings are best February through June, when the heat forces more animals to search for water. Although the park attracts smaller crowds than Corbett and Ranthambhore, avoid Bandhavgarh on weekends and the week before and after Diwali, Holi, and New Year’s holidays, when the park is filled with queue-jumping VIPs and noisy families.
ORGANIZING YOUR BANDHAVGARH SAFARI
Regarding entry fees and permits, the best plan is to book accommodations that include everything; the resorts and lodges we’ve reviewed below will take care of all your safari arrangements. Get to the park first thing in the morning, when you will join the line of open-top jeeps and other 4WDs waiting at the entrance for the daily rush, which starts promptly at dawn. If you’ve hired a vehicle and driver privately, you will have to pay a small fee for the services of a park guide who will accompany you; this and other charges for entry permits, cameras, and such are all paid at the park entrance. Jeep safaris can cover a relatively large area within the park, but most sightings occur as a result of information shared among the various drivers and guides. Drivers must take a lottery-decided route to a central point where a token is collected; this token then allows access to the rest of the park. In particular, the token enables your jeep to join the queue for the much-anticipated elephant-back tiger-viewing experience. Elephant-mounted mahouts head out early to search for tigers; once they locate them, they wait at the nearest road until the jeeps begin to congregate and word spreads, ensuring the arrival of other vehicle-driven visitors. Rs 600 buys you an elephant-back ride for an unnervingly close-up view of the tigers, usually encountered minding their own business deep within the sal forest. You then have around 3 minutes to capture the elusive cat on film before your elephant returns to the road to pick up new passengers.
Tip: Being at the rear of the queue of jeeps may involve some waiting, but mahouts usually allow the last elephants-trippers a few extra moments with the tigers. During the afternoon, the park offers more-substantial elephant safaris that are as much relaxing as they are a good opportunity to see more tigers in the wild, this time without feeling like you’re part of a tourist conveyor belt.
With any luck, your guide will be as interested in showing you the terrain, which is rugged and beautiful, as he is in finding your tiger. He may point out other species such as