Jan 04, 2008 01:59 PM
9828 Views
We were a group of eight people from Bangalore who had heard about this tiger haven called Bandhavgarh.Our journey to this place in December 2007 was via Mumbai by flight and thereafter by train upto katni, from katni its a two hour drive on mostly bad roads. Mogli resorts where we stayed is located about 1.5-2 kms from the entrance to the park.The park is about 105 sqkm.
The tiger population is dense.Tigers are sighted almost daily.Other animals like Jackals, deer are also spotted.December 21st to Jan 5 th is the peak season at this park, the rates for entry, video camera(rs400) are double the normal rates.Similarly the rates are double during Diwali and holi. The hotels and resorts are also much in demand during these times of the year and they jackup the rates.
The safari inside the park is by jeeps, a guide is compulsory though he is not of much use.The sightings depend on the experience of the driver.Please ensure that you tip the driver handsomely after every safari otherwise you may end up with a inexperienced driver who has no clue about the movements of the tiger.
There are certain resorts which are wildlife oriented, the one in which we stayed was commercial oriented and had very few jeeps of their own and had hired jeeps which were driven by inexperienced drivers.
I felt that foreigners get the best and most experienced drivers maybe because of the handsome tips they shellout. Avoid this place during peak seasons when there will be about 80 jeeps entering the park. If I visit again I will not opt for a jungle plan wher you end up paying taxes on the jeep safari also.You can hire jeeps outside the park and not depend on the hotels.Also one can plan the trip via Nagpur and visit Kanha. The place is a must for Tiger lovers!