India – April 2026

In mid April after booking the trip 20 months before I was finally on my way to India for a wildlife watching holiday. The travel was made more difficult and expensive because of someone’s bright idea to start a war in the middle east. So a couple of flight changes later I was on my way.

I arrived in Nagpur at 8pm on Monday the 13th of April and after collecting my bags settled in for a peaceful nights sleep at the Radisson. After a hearty breakfast I was on the way to my first tiger reserve – Pench, where I would spend 2 days and have 4 drives. After the 2 hour journey I quickly settled into my room at the Tuli Tiger Corridor hotel and was eagerly anticipating my first drive. Despite the temperature being between 42-46c for the entire trip I somehow managed to remain hydrated and free from any sunburn.

As we set out on our first drive we were becoming familiar with some of the local wildlife which included Rhesus Macaques, Bengal Langurs, Wild Boar and Spotted Deer. This drive started slowly with not much to show.

However as the drive was coming to an end we saw a commotion ahead of us, and what a treat we had. Our first Leopard of the trip, laying down in a ravine doing an incredible job of blending in. After all the excitement it was great to head back to our hotel for some dinner and a good nights sleep.

Our second drive in Pench did not disappoint either with our first tiger sighting of the trip albeit the tiger was a good distance out so it was not ideal for photographing. However this did not take away our excitement. The rest of the drive was less dramatic and we started to familiarise ourselves with the local birds and their different calls. We did encounter one new mammal on this trip and that was a single Dhole, this was a first for the group so was very exciting.

After getting back and changing out of our sweat-ridden clothes it was time for our penultimate drive in Pench and boy did it not disappoint! Within 5 minutes of entering the park we were looking at a female tiger who was only 10 meters away from us drinking and cleaning herself in a small watering hole. What a way to start this drive! The rest of the drive was filled with chatter about how lucky we were to have been so close to a tiger and before we knew it this drive had also come to an end. One more drive to go and what surprises would it bring.

None! Our final drive at Pench was very tame with only a small selection of deer seen, however we still considered ourselves very lucky with what we saw. We also understood that every now and then you have a drive where you see nothing.

After some lunch and another change of clothes, damn this Indian sun! We were on our way to Kanha Tiger Reserve where we would have 4 nights, 5 days to explore the tiger reserve. After the 4 hour drive we quickly checked into our rooms at Kanha Jungle Lodge, at 18:40pm we all stood awaiting the hotels flying squirrel to leave its drey however at 7pm when she still had no emerged even the most eager of us decided to call it for tonight and headed to get some dinner.

After a good nights sleep we were looking forward to our first drive in Kanha, we were wondering what surprises this Tiger reserve would have for us. Our first trip out was a memorable one for sure, we saw a total of 4 leopards within our first hour. The first was a single female leopard just 10 minutes into our drive, again she was very well camouflaged amongst some trees.

Not 5 minutes after seeing this leopard we stumbled across another female tucking in to a spotted deer kill, after a few minutes she moved away from her kill and her two 1.5 year old offspring began to feed on the carcass too. We sat and watched these 3 individuals feeding, playing and grooming themselves and each other for 45 minutes and the best thing was we were the only truck there to watch these interactions.

The rest of the drive was very boring compared to what we had just witnessed and it was soon time to head back to the hotel for some lunch and a rest. Our next 2 drives were not as spectacular but we were able to get some good photos of Sambar and Swamp deer as well as a mother and daughter Gaur.

What was in store for us on the our final drives was like something out of the movies. We were lucky enough to see Jackal everyday and even saw some 4 Blackbuck and with less than 10 remaining in the park we spent 10 minutes watching these deer feeding in an open meadow.

Our penultimate drive in Kanha gave me my best wildlife viewing moment of my life and not only that but I was able to capture the moment in focus! As we were driving down one of the tracks we were frantically called over by another truck down a side road, so after performing a emergency stop and 3 point turn our driver headed in the direction of the other truck. As we pull up to the other truck and look into the trees I cannot believe that I am watching a female Leopard with a Bengal Langur that she has just killed. One bite to the back of the neck and that was all that was required. As quickly as possible I closed my jaw and picked up my camera and was able to get a photograph to capture this core memory. Just after taking the photo the Leopard started backing away from the Langur and as she did it fell from the tree. Our attention now turned to see if we could spot this Langur on the floor and as our eyes followed the trunk to the floor we were greeted by another surprise. To ours and the Leopards shock standing at the bottom of this tree was a Tigress starting up at the place where moments earlier the Leopard and Langur were. What an incredible sighting and it is one I will not forget anytime soon.

After about 15 minutes when everything and everyone had calmed down we had to start heading to the park gates so that we could make it out before sunset. On our way back through the park we saw our 2nd Ruddy Mongoose of the trip and this one gave me 5 seconds to get a very blurry picture of it before heading into the undergrowth.

Still feeling the high of our leopard sighting we went to Lunch full of excitement for what our final drive would hold for us. Up until this point we had only seen most of our tigers from a distance or hidden in vegetation so our hope for our final drive was a better viewing of a tiger although we were already more than happy with what we had seen. This final drive started out very slowly as at 46c most of the animals were taking it easy and we thought our last drive may be one to forget. However that changed very rapidly when we were started by a charging tiger at the waterhole we were scoping out. Luckily for us the tiger was chasing after a Jackal and luckily for the Jackal she only gave 50% effort to the chase.

After her short burst of energy she decided she had done enough moving for the day and instead of going back into hiding in the tall grass she decided to plonk herself down on the road no more than 6m in front of our truck. We had our wish, we had some incredible views of the Tigress as she relaxed in the sun all the while being screamed at by the Jackal she had tried to catch.

That was it, we had gotten our wish and had an amazing trip. However unbeknown to us there were still a couple of surprises left. As we were approaching the park gates we crossed a small bridge over what was now a dry stream bed. As we were passing the brakes to the truck were slammed on and to our surprise at the end of this riverbed was our first male tiger. We spent around 10 minutes with him, after being asleep when we first saw him he was generous enough to sit up to allow us to take some pictures before rolling over and going back to sleep.

Our final surprise of the trip was on the drive from the park gates to the hotel when at the side of the road we spotted a jungle cat. This was the first one of the trip we saw and our photos were taken whilst passing the individual at about 30mph! So it is not the best picture I have ever taken but is enough for a record shot.

After this final surprise we headed back to the hotel for some food and a well earned rest. The next morning we went on a small walk along a river before starting the 6 hour car journey back to Nagpur. We checked into our hotel for dinner and then were picked up for the airport at 3am to start what was almost 24 hours of travel before arriving home.

This was an incredible trip and one that has given me memories and stories that will last a lifetime.

Report by Thomas Maunders