5 Comments

  • Samuel

    Nice report and thanks for sharing. We will be there in April next year and therefore I hope we will be able to see as much as you (targets for us being sloth bear, dohle and… tigers of course) althuough we will stay only 5 days which I hope won’t be too short
    If you have any advice I’d be interested to hear them
    Thanks
    Samuel

  • Miles Foster

    Thanks, Samuel,

    I hope you have a great trip. Off the top of my head my advice would be:

    1. If you haven’t booked yet, I cannot recommend Svasara lodge too highly – any of the guides there should be great
    2. 5 days should be fine and you should not have much trouble finding your target species but, if you haven’t booked yet, I would probably stick to the Kolara core area where the most frequent sightings are
    3. It will be very hot and dusty – everyone wears Buff garments or scarves to keep the dust out
    4. Take plenty of insect repellent as the sweat bees can be irritating
    5. Consider doing at least one all-day safari

    Let me know if you have any other questions.

    Good luck!

    Miles

    • samuel

      Thanks much for your quick response Miles
      Well noted. Things are already booked and we will stay at the Irai Safari Retreat near Moharli Gate.
      One question though on your point #5, do you mean we can actually do full day safari within the park from dawn to sunset like in Africa? I thought we could only do morning and afternoon safaris in these Indian parks…
      Happy Holidays !
      Samuel

  • Miles Foster

    Hi, Samuel,

    you are welcome.

    I thought you would probably have booked by now. I expect you will have a great time at Irai Safari Retreat.

    Well, we also thought that you can only do morning and afternoon safaris in India and we did not find out until we got there that full day safaris are sometimes available too. But unlike Africa it seems it can be hard to arrange and must be booked in advance. Of course, it is extremely hot in the middle of the day and the animals are less active but if you can stand the heat it gives you much longer in the park and people on full day safaris did see things that we missed. For example, if you are on a morning safari and there is an interesting sighting it is very frustrating having to leave but if you are there all day you can wait and see what happens next! But the conventional wisdom seems to be that it is too hot for Europeans and even most animals. However, I will definitely consider it next time we go. If you are interested it might still be worth having a word with the lodge. Of course, you could also post a RFI (request for information) on this site and ask what other people’s experience of full day safaris in India has been. Let me know what you find out.

    Have a great Christmas!

    Miles

  • Samuel

    Ok clear. Thanks Miles

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