Most Inspirational Moment
As reported by others the sightings of tiger & leopard were fabulous, but what I remember most is at the very end of our last game drive seeing a jungle cat near the NP exit (similar to a Scottish wildcat). Expect the unexpected. Also enjoyed seeing a pack of wild dogs hunting next to the track. Also saw jackal, gaur, various monkeys, various deer & antelope, wild boar, mongoose, squirrel, tree shrew & tortoise. It is a great trip for ornithologists. We saw various species
of kingfisher, vulture, eagle, kite, buzzard, owl, cuckoo, nightjar, hornbill, stork, woodpecker, shrike, oriole etc etc.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Krishna was fantastic. He is an expert ornithologist & photographer, great at spotting & identifying the wildlife. Extremely knowledgeable about the wildlife & culture and always ready & willing to pass on his passion, knowledge & expertise. The trip was very well organised & professionally run. He was always patient & ever helpful combined with a great sense of humour. He is a star.
I particularly enjoyed the extra events which Krishna arranged & lead eg the guided walk at Pench NP, the visit to the local village at Kanha NP & the filmshow about Bandhavgarh NP.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Being January/early February it was extremely cold travelling in the open topped jeeps early in the morning eg 5am. I wore 5 layers and was still cold (t-shirt, shirt, jumper, fleece, jacket plus hat, scarf, gloves). Each accommodation hands out a blanket, but I needed two and sometimes there were not enough blankets for everyone to have two each. The tracks in each NP are very dusty. The villages around the accommodation and near the NP entrances cook using open wood fires, which makes the air condition very polluted. Delhi is appalling for smog in winter. Therefore I wore a facemask quite often and wish that I had brought a balaclava. It helps to wear a windproof jacket in the jeep, but one you don't mind getting covered in dust.
Earplugs are necessary not just for the overnight train, but also in the lodges because on some nights there was loud music & drumming coming from adjacent properties.
Krishna arranged for a foreign exchange company to come to our hotel on the first night of the tour and he exchanged various currencies into Indian rupees at a very good rate for us, which was a great help and saved us having to find a foreign exchange place ourselves. We didn't change money at the airport due to the poor rates on offer.
For the local flight from Delhi to Nagpur, Krishna was fantastic because he managed to combine all our luggage together in a way which balanced out the overweight bags with the underweight ones so that no excess luggage fees were paid, despite our luggage being significantly overweight!
We added on an extra night stay in Delhi at the start & at the end. This helped with getting over the jet lag at the start and gave us extra time for sightseeing at the end.
The mosquitoes were worst at Pench NP but also occurred at the other two NPs. Several group members had quite a few bites, but we didn't take malaria pills and we appear to be none the worse.
The additional game drive at Pench was a waste of time & money because we saw very little. However the extra game drive at Bandhavgarh NP was fantastic because we saw a beautiful sector which others didn't go to and we had great sightings of tiger.
When the guide sat at the front of the jeep and I was in the back row (or vice-versa), I had difficulty hearing what the guide was saying. Therefore I found it best to sit in the middle row because my hearing is not so good anymore.
Suggestions
FAO EXODUS. I have given this trip 4 stars instead of 5 stars for the following reasons:
We were sent vouchers for staying an extra night at the Deventure Hotel at the start, but the day before we flew out we were advised that the first night had been changed to the Bloom Hotel, which is much inferior and rather like Faulty Towers. In the first room they put us in the shower room floor was flooded by a leaking pipe. In the second room the door wouldn't lock. Breakfast was poor. This hotel is not of the required standard. Unfortunately I haven't had a satisfactory explanation from Exodus as to why we were moved.
My health at the end of this trip was significantly worse than at the start due to the very poor air condition in Delhi and in the villages near each NP. I used a facemask. I suggest that the trip notes should mention that the air quality is poor and that a facemask could be beneficial. In the grounds of some of the NP lodges ground staff were burning leaves and there were open wood fires. This added to the poor air quality & isn't good environmentally. Should it be discouraged by Exodus?
When we got on the overnight train I discovered that my seat/bed was double booked and claimed by a stranger. Thankfully Krishna sorted it out and I got another bed.
The foreign exchange company were very helpful on the first night at the hotel, but they didn't give out any receipts. Please would Krishna remind them in future to give out receipts?
The Nature Heritage Resort at Bandhavgarh didn't label their dishes at the evening meal, whereas the other two lodges did so. Could this resort be encouraged to do so?
Despite Krishna telling us that we would be moved around in the jeeps so that we didn't always share all the game drives with the same trip members, this switching happened very little. We shared a jeep ride with only around a third of the other trip members.
The jeeps are open with no seat belts and some tracks are very bumpy. Sometimes the jeep drivers drive too fast and I was in danger of being thrown out of the jeep. On at least three occasions our or other jeeps drove up to where a tiger was and it then got up and moved back into the bushes. Occasionally there were up to 20 jeeps chasing a tiger with too much noise & chatter, which caused disturbance & isn't good. Perhaps the number of jeep licences should be decreased further?
The trip notes could be improved as follows:
Krishna mentioned an app for identifying the local bird species. Could this app be mentioned in the trip notes?
In the list of essential equipment I suggest that a sweater & fleece are both needed, not one or the other. I suggest bringing a scarf and bandanna as well as a warm hat &/or balaclava.
Under the section on extra expenses, it states that money change facilities are available at the hotel in Nagpur. This is untrue because we didn't stay in a hotel in Nagpur! It should explain that a money exchange company will come to the hotel in Delhi and that their exchange rates are very good and that a receipt should be produced.
Krishna mentioned the scheme 'pack with a purpose' whereby excess clothes could be brought by trip members and given to local guides. This is a great idea. Could this info be added to the trip notes?
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Reply from Exodus
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us and we were thrilled to learn that you had such an enjoyable time in India overall, with plentiful wildlife sightings. We are also grateful for your suggestions, as we rely on our customers’ feedback to improve our tours for future groups. Addressing some of your specific points, we, regrettably, had to make a last-minute change to one of your hotels as we discovered that our usual property was hosting a wedding that coincided with your dates, with late night celebrations planned. We always endeavour to replace hotels with others of a similar standard, so we are sorry that the Bloom fell below your expectations in several areas. Though we don’t anticipate using it often, we have raised your concerns with the management team and hope this will prevent similar issues for future guests. Next, we appreciate that our customers enjoy rotating between the jeeps during the game drives, so we were sorry to hear that this did not happen particularly often on your tour. We secure the vehicles four months before a departure, to ensure availability, and our local team decides who to place together. Though there is some scope to move these people around on each drive, as they are all on the same booking, anyone who books after this process has been done cannot switch as they are treated as a separate booking and strict park rules prevent bookings from mixing. We take our commitments to responsible travel extremely seriously, so we were concerned to learn that you felt there were too many vehicles tracking tigers and that the noise and nature of the driving disturbed the animals. In recent years, Indian authorities have significantly reduced the number of available permits, thus limiting traffic within national parks, and closely monitor their activity using trackers and speed recorders. Though drivers will occasionally speed to a possible sighting, our leaders always inform them in advance to be respectful to the national park and are careful to ensure they do not exceed any speed limits or take unnecessary risks with our customers on board. Finally, we hugely appreciate your comments about our trip notes, as we like to keep our literature as up-to-date as possible, and we have made amendments regarding face coverings, the bird identification app, clothing required for cooler temperatures and money exchange. We will also be adding information about the ‘pack with a purpose’ scheme as this is something we are rolling out on all our trips. We hope this shows you that we have listened to your feedback, and we very much look forward to, hopefully, welcoming you back on another adventure soon!
Sarah Puttnam, Product Manager
