Tadoba tigers have built quite a reputation to please wildlife enthusiasts and they know exactly what they are doing. The reserve also held many supporting actors – bears, monitor lizards, sambar deer, barking deer and enough bird life to keep enthusiasts busy for weeks. Stay at Waghoba Eco Lodge. ₹20,000 onwards.
Next came Pench, the jungle that inspired The Jungle Book and India’s only tiger reserve spanning two states.
Unlike Tadoba, Pench feels greener and softer. The Pench River meanders through dense forests, creating a landscape that feels distinctly more Kipling-esque.
The tiger sightings continued with a majestic cat appearing with surprising ease, prompting celebrations inside the safari vehicle that would probably have embarrassed us if anyone else had been listening. Pench is also leopard country and conversations soon shifted to the elusive black panthers said to roam the reserve. Suddenly every bush looked suspiciously like a panther. Stay at Pench Tree Lodge. ₹20,000 onwards.
Our last stop was Kanha, perhaps India’s most beautiful national park. Tall sal forests open to wide meadows, while bamboo trees sway gently in the wind. If Tadoba is tough and Pench adventurous, Kanha is majestic.
The park saved the hard ground barasingha from extinction and remains a powerful reminder that conservation only succeeds when wildlife and local communities thrive together and yes, we spotted the Bengal Tiger again, in all its majesty. Stay at Kanha Earth Lodge. ₹20,000 onwards.
