Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing tigers, especially when the sightings were so hard-won. A pair of wild dogs following our jeep was also special and sitting underneath an Indian Roller preening herself in the sunshine and flashing her beautiful iridescent feathers made for an excellent photo-op.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Himanshu (Bagde) was just the best group leader. He was professional, charming and cheerful at all times and worked tirelessly to ensure our holiday went without a hitch. What he doesn't know about tigers and photographing them isn't worth knowing. He took us to the local village so that we could see the Diwali celebrations and we also visited the market in full swing which was an interesting experience. He looked after us and made sure we had the best experiences possible on our holiday.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Although this is classed as a "leisurely" holiday as you don't actually walk anywhere, it is full-on as every drive day starts before dawn and the jeep rides in the parks are extremely bumpy (not a trip for anyone with a bad back!). It was also cold early in the morning (November) so warm jackets were needed until the sun came up. There is downtime between morning and afternoon drives which we used to rest rather than have lunch as you get plenty of eat for bush breakfast. Lunch is Indian buffet-style at the lodges but there is the chance to go a la carte and order omelettes/fried eggs if preferred. Tipping is an art-form in India so a group kitty managed by the group leader is definitely the way to go, it made life so much easier. We changed money up at Nagpur airport after landing, you get fleeced on the exchange rate but there really isn't an opportunity to change up sterling after the airport as you don't hit a city until the very end of the holiday and, obviously, the rural villages don't have ATMs. Shops air-side at Delhi airport on the way home take rupees (contrary to what we had read) but as rupees are a restricted currency you need to change them up pre-security if you'd don't want to spend them. Prices air-side are typical of airports world-wide, not Indian prices. You need to carry your passport on all game drives as they are taken and checked against the register of who's in which jeep. Do not take a bag/handbag to the Taj Mahal as you have to put it through a security scanner and then leave it to go through the separate frisk queue which can take some time and you can't see where your bag has got to. Put your camera round your neck and your valuables securely in your pocket and you'll be able to bypass the scanner queue. You can take a bag to the Red Fort as it's checked manually rather than through scanners. The local people in small towns (and on game drives) will ask to be photographed with you. Most people were upfront and friendly about this so it really isn't a problem, just smile and go along with the experience. Some people were a little more sneaky, filming "surreptitiously" but as you'll never see their photos/videos ever again it doesn't matter. The train to Agra is an experience but one that shouldn't put anyone off this holiday. We were in 2nd-class sleeper berths, the bedding and (western-style) toilet were clean although the beds were rather hard. Some of the group slept, some didn't. We were grouped together so, apart from people passing by doing a double-take on seeing us, we weren't disturbed once the curtains around the bunks were closed. Luggage is stowed under the bottom bunk and a packed dinner was provided by the lodge to eat on the train as you really do not want to purchase food from the vendors at the station. After the peace of the countryside the train is full-on India so is a good addition to the holiday. All the hotels used were all of a good standard, no-one got ill on our trip, just a few rumblings due to innards getting used to curries at every meal. We were told when water was filtered and drinkable (the water at Bandhavgarh smells strongly of iron so bottled water is provided). Wine was expensive, soft drinks and beer were cheaper options.