India

Bandhavgarh National Park

Feb 26 - Mar 2

Fly (2 hours) to Jabalpur and drive (4 hours) to Bandhavgarh. Though less visited than other parks, Bandhavgarh is full of fascinating historical monuments and wildlife. Because of the heat during this time of year, the tigers tend to gather at the waterholes. With hills, valley, rivers, marshes, and meadows, the vegetative biodiversity in Bandhavgarh is unique. Tigers are the keystone species, but 34 mammal species, 260 bird species, and 70 butterfly species also call it home. The varied topography of the national park is home to animals like the jackal, mongoose, sloth bear, leopard, and of course, the tiger. The temples in the park have tenth century rock carvings of the incarnations of Vishnu, and among the temple rocks you may find blue rock-thrushes, crag-martins, and other birds.

You’ll spend the mornings and afternoons game driving in open jeeps with a break in the middle of the day for walking, lunch, and rest. You’ll depart early enough to be at the national park gates when it opens at dawn. While we cannot guarantee that you’ll find tigers each day, you will spend as much time in nature as possible to increase your chances! You may find Indian gazelles (chinkara) grazing in the grassland areas with four-horned antelope (chowsingha) and nilgai (also known as blue cow and blue bull – the largest of the Asian antelopes). Rhesus monkey and the northern plains gray (Hanuman) langur are common in the park. The birding around the lodge is outstanding with parakeets, hornbills, minivets, leafbirds, flycatchers, and others.

Bandhavgarh to Khajuraho

Mar 3

After one last morning game drive in Bandhavgarh, head (5 hours) to Khajuraho. Khajuraho is known not only for its temples’ symmetry and design, which are among the most creative examples of Indian architecture, but also for the intricate and erotic carvings on their walls. Only 22 of 85 temples built between 950 and 1050 during the Hindu dynasty of the Chandela Rajputs remain today. Carvings depict griffins, nymphs, beasts, revolting demons, gods in cosmic evolution, fear, doubt, jealousy, ardent love, and consummate passion – to name more than a few. Many of the temples are dedicated to the Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The most magnificent, the Kandariya Mahadeo Temple, is dedicated to Lord Shiva, representing Chandela art at its zenith.

Khajuraho to Agra

Mar 4

Visit the Eastern and Western Temples of Khajuraho early in the morning. After breakfast, leave Khajuraho for Jhansi with a packed lunch. Drive (2.5 to 3 hours) to Jhansi Railway Station and catch the Gatiman Express (2.5 hours) to Agra.

Taj Majal to Bharatpur

Mar 5

Get up early to arrive at the Taj Mahal for sunrise – the most magnificent, stunning time of day, with less people and fantastic photo opportunities. Built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved consort Mumtaz Mahal, this mausoleum is pure white marble. More than 20,000 people worked on the buildings and grounds combining Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles, taking 22 years to complete! It is truly one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The surrounding grounds are home to Eurasian hoopoe, purple sunbird, green bee-eater, several species of doves, and other birds. Return to the hotel for a late breakfast before driving (2 hours) to Bharatpur where your hotel is on 12 acres in a 200-year-old former maharajas’ heritage garden with abundant bird life.

In the afternoon, you’ll head for the marshes of Keoladeo Ghana National Park. Keolade is the ancient Hindu temple in the center of the park, and Ghana refers to the dense forest of former times. Before becoming a national park, former maharajas protected the marshlands for duck hunting in the late nineteenth century. Most of India’s wildlife reserves were once hunting reserves, and this was the best one until it became a national park, and hunting was prohibited. You’ll ride in rickshaws around the bunds (embankments) to the best places for observing birds and mammals. Look for sambar, nilgai, and chital (spotted deer) in woodlands, grasslands, and in the shallow waters of the wetlands. If the weather is right, large Indian rock pythons come out of their underground hiding places to sun themselves. This is also an excellent place to watch mammals like golden jackal, striped hyena, fishing cat, jungle cat, nilgai, sambar, blackbuck, and wild boar.

Bharatpur to Ranthambhore

Mar 6 -11

Spend your last morning in Keoladeo National Park observing wildlife. Take rickshaws around the bunds (embankments) to the far reaches of the park with stops along the way for great photography where you may find darters, cormorants, ducks, geese, egrets, eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, and dozens of other birds.

After lunch, drive (4.5 hours) to Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan where you will spend the next five days looking for tigers and other wildlife. Ranthambore National Park is famous for its tigers, as it’s one of the best places in the country to see these majestic predators in the wild. The varied topography of the park is home to many mammals including predators like jackal, mongoose, sloth bear, and leopard, but the main attraction is tigers. Surrounded by the Vindhya and Aravali hill ranges and located near the outer fringes of the Thar Desert, Ranthambore offers the best of the desert lands.

Ranthambhore to Delhi

Mar 12

After a final morning in the park, drive (5 hours) back to Delhi.

Depart for home or to Kathmandu for our Nepal trip.

Mar 13

Transfer to the airport for flights homeward. Continue on our Nepal trip or depart for home.

Arrive home or join Nepal group

Mar 14