Jungle Safari as the word says – Jungle Safari and not tiger Safari. Read it right please dear readers. Located approximately 165 km from Jabalpur, this Tiger Reserve is 1536 sq.km.in the area known as Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. When garh means a small hill, it is surrounded by thickly vegetated mountains, one of which is Bandhavgarh, which has a fort and a temple. This garh can be accessed by foot twice a year: during Guru Poornima and in December for the Kuber festival. The rest of the time, it is not accessible to tourists.
Jabalpur is very closely connected to UP, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra making Bandhavgarh Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve – a vacation destination and an affordable one.
It’s a little oddly located considering the country’s geography; hence, a road trip is suggested, but it is well connected by Road and Rail. Air connectivity is until Jabalpur.
Reaching Jabalpur from Nashilk
We reached Jabalpur by train, hired a vehicle to and fro, and then traveled back to Nashik by train. Bandhavgarh is just a small village with major activities such as Safari Booking, Safari jeeps, drivers, and guides. It hosts families of these people who run the economy of this place. The park is open for 9 months, leaving monsoon, during which these people take to farming.
Giving in to the lush green forest of Bandhavgarh is spiritual
Life isn’t easy as the jungle is dense and passing through the village areas after 6:00 pm is dangerous as it comes in the mid, off-core zone of animals.
CORE ZONES at Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve.
The Village Bandhavgarh is surrounded by three core tiger sighting zones mainly;
- TALA
- MAGHADHI
- KHITAULI
Out of 100% core zone area, all three zones outline 80% of inaccessible jungles.
Buffer Zones
Then there is the buffer zone…There are way more on the outer zones than the Core 20% but sightings are possible.
Life in the core zones of Jungles
Life here revolves around the 2 Safaris of the day for normal tourists
- Morning safari- 6;30am to 11:30 am
- Evening Safari: -2;30pm to 6;00pm
- Full-day safari: -for the hardcore wildlife enthusiasts, Photographers, and forests analyst
- Night safari: -For more adventure & thrill.
The park is open on all days except for Wednesday evening and the bookings for the park can happen in 2 ways
- Bandhavgarh Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve Safari – MP tourism site online
- From the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve safari booking window at the venue
Suggestion
You should plan well in advance and do it from the government portal do it from the to avoid risk of: –
A. Not getting safari booking
B. Getting seats in various jeeps and not in one place
C. Spending extra
The timing for the physical ticket booking window is 7:00 pm. onwards.
The local tribe of Bandhavgarh
Resorts
The Second source of income for the locals here is the resorts, that are there from ages to host the tourists …you find every kind of them fitting your pocket. We stayed at a recently developed small property from Booking.com and that was the most perfect decision for the Olive Resort
The path trodden by DM – searching for his PAW marks
Number of safaris at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
We did 3 safaris. All are shared either in Jeep or Canter. We were lucky to spot “DM” the Tiger on our first Safari. The euphoria of spotting the healthy Bengal Tiger our National Animal was a cherry on the cake as the sighting percentage while on wildlife safaris on our last few visits to National parks has been very scanty.
So Patience paid off ..DM rested near a stream after what may be his lunch taking a ” Siesta “soaking in the Sun.
Hours passed, and we could only see through the dense plantation, very little of him. But guides know better. The pug marks tell a different story and the calls from the animals especially the monkeys and the sambar deer are to be heard to be decoded.
Patience paid off as DM walked elegantly to showcase his most elegant self and for the next 20 minutes, everything was just Click, click, and click …as he entered bach the thick vegetation, and his shelter the drivers and guides were met with high fives, and some rewards too.
We are so focused on a Tiger sighting that we forget to enjoy the other species that are an important part of the ecology. The biodiversity in our jungles is a bit sparse and the jungle area is wide spread making sighting challenging.
The jungles though are fully refreshing and hence eat sleep repeat and back to the jungles is the only itinerary. The biodiversity is a bit sparse and graph of enthusiasm and disappointment of sighting, sharing stories and pictures with those who could see.
It’s all a luck-by-chance game and if luck sides you, it’s the best Euphoria. The freshest air and the no connectivity zones tend to relax you and fulfill the definition of a true vacation.
Prepare yourself for a safari
- # Jungle colors are majorly beige, brown, green white, grey, and black.
- # Jungle Gadgets are Binaculors, Camera
- # Jungle accessories are shades, hats, Scarf, Water, and dry munchies.
- # You must carry your patience along to keep all senses heightened, prepared to be silent throughout
King of the Jungle-DM Royal Bengal Tiger
