News and reviews

At the beginning of February I went to Bandhavgarh National Park in India. I was co-leading our annual trip by Natures Images to this wonderful location with our main target being the Bengal Tiger. Bandhavgarh is one of the finest reserves in India and is one of the best places to get a glimpse of the rarest of big cats, the Tiger. This has been my third trip and it is a great experience to witness this beautiful cat at such close quarters. It is not an easy trip and at times it can be frustrating but the rewards are high. Last time I was in Bandhavgarh I used Satyendra and Kay Tewari and stopped at their camp in the village of Tala. There was no reason to change and again our stay was very comfortable and homely.

I am always asked what my favourite species is and it is a difficult question to answer but I could never get tired of searching for the majestic Tiger. It is so exciting as you never though what you are going to see and so that edge of uncertainty is what makes it a fantastic experience. The pattern of our trip is the same each day. We are up in the early morning at 5.30 for coffee and biscuits and then head of to the Tala gate. It is exciting at the gate because whilst you are waiting for the permits to be checked and what route system you are going to be given, you know you could be just minutes away from seeing your first tiger.

Once you are through the gate you are in Tiger country and so the excitement starts to build. I have used the same driver for my past two trips now and Hariem is without doubt one of the best to have. His knowledge of the park and in particular his knowledge of tigers is second to none. You are just casually driving along a track and then he spots a fresh pug mark and informs you it is a female Tigress which walked down the track during the night. Then he stops the vehicle and listens for the signs of the jungle.

Nothing occurs and so you move on. Then he spots some more tracks but these are fresher and so the excitement starts to build. Then you hear an alarm call and you might be close. Still nothing and the pattern is the same. You are never going to see a Tiger on every drive but this is the real deal and the Tiger is an elusive mammal, it has to be. After a few morning and evening game drives and still no sighting, you do start to question whether you are going to be in the right place at the right time.

After another drive with no sightings you get back to the gate and hear that other people have had a good sighting and so your frustration is even more. Then on the very next visit your luck changes and finally you get the encounter you have been searching for. On my last visit in 2011 my encounters were of females and so I was really hoping to come across the large dominant male of the Tala range. I was so unlucky last time as we came across him in the chakradada meadows but he was heading in a different direction and it wasn’t on our route system, all we could do was watch from a distance as he walked away.

My encounter with him this time though will last in my memory for a lifetime though. We came across him as he was resting by the road. No alarm calls or any tracks, we just found him by the road resting.

The best thing about this encounter though was there was just our vehicle and one more so it was a really peaceful experience with no jostling for position by other jeeps. After a brief while he got up and carried on his way as he was just patrolling his territory. Our guide knew his pattern and path so we just headed up the road to encounter him again. Sure enough the Male Tiger was indeed heading towards a route and so we just kept moving along with him. An amazing experience and the two hour encounter will surely take some beating. During our stay we had other sightings but nothing like our large Male.

We had a brief encounter with a young male and female which were brother and sister. They were being driven out of their mothers territory because she was pregnant again. It was nice to see them amongst the meadow grass.

Bandhavgarh is not just great for Tigers as you can see and photograph so much more. The birdlife is fantastic with some real colourful species like Indian Roller and Bee Eater.

Lots of other mammals can be found too and the Hanuman Langurs and Rhesus Macaques make great subjects for photography. Sometimes you get so focused on looking for Tigers you can neglect these species but it would be a mistake to do so.

Bandhavgarh doesn’t support any wild Elephants but they are used by the park service to track Tigers and every so often you come across them with their Mahots in attendance. They make great subjects especially for close-ups.

One of the hardest mammals to find in the Indian Jungle is the Sloth Bear and we got extremely lucky with a great sighting as one crossed a track, as he did so he just stopped to take a quick scratch on a tree.

Whilst I was there it was the annual rut of the Spotted Deer or Chittal. This really is a beautiful Deer and the meadows of Bandhavgarh support a healthy population which is so important for the Tiger population.

So there you go just a small selection of some of my favourite shots from the trip. I am going back in November next year for another chance to visit this beautiful place. It is not just Tigers, as you can see there are many other species to see. I have only got one place left on this trip and if you are interested and would like some more information then please give me a call or drop me an email.

Danny