Bandhavgarh Safari

Bandhavgarh Safaris can be done either in Maruti Gypsies or Canters. Gypsies are preferred since the group size is smaller.

The Bandhavgarh National Park is a small tract of protected forest in Madhya Pradesh that was once the game reserve of the Maharajas of Rewa.

Day 1

Waiting for the gates to open

There are four entrances to the park – Panpatha, Tala, Dhamokar and Khitauli.

Sambar Deer with her fawn

We spotted a tiger sitting behind the bushes about 60m from the road. After a few minutes it got up and crossed the road in front of our jeep !

November to February us the best season for traveling in comfort; May and June can be very warm but offer the best wildlife sightings.

The park is about 4.5 hours from Jabalpur and 10 hours from Bhopal.

Day 2

The core area of 106 sq km is surrounded by a 342 sq km buffer zone that spreads around the park.

Walking along the road

Decides to turn back

Going back into the thicket

Moving towards the road

Crossing the road

After hearing the wild boars

Charging at the Wild Boars

Day 3

Tigers are not the only reason to visit the Bandhavgarh. The park is home to a host of other animals including deers and monkeys.

Spotted Deer

Monitor Lizard

King Fisher

Towards the end, we heard a lot of alarm calls indicating that a tiger was nearby. We were unable to spot it inspite of waiting along the road for 25 minutes. We saw a small herd of Sambar crossing over to the otherside. It was quite interesting to see them cross – you could actually sense fear in their body language.

Scared Sambar crossing over to the other side