Journey into the wild
“This was probably the most difficult and demanding trip we have ever arranged for the travel trade”, says Marc Reading of Talking Stick, who worked with Indian wildlife travel specialists Jungle Sutra to host a fact-finding fam to India for a group of tour operators - it was certainly not a trip for the faint hearted!
The tour took the intrepid group into the stark mountains of Ladakh to trek in the footsteps of the elusive snow leopard at an altitude of over 18,000 feet, before heading into central India and visiting two of the country's lesser-known national parks, Pench and Satpura in the Mahadya Pradesh province, to look for tigers and sloth bears.
Key highlights of the wildlife-focused trip included spotting mammals in the Upper Himalayas, which is home to rare creatures like the pallas cat and the Himalayan wolf.
They followed high roads and then trekked on foot to the remote village of Rumbak in Hemis National Park, spending the night at a home stay.
Easter weekend was spent exploring Satpura Tiger Reserve on a walking safari, getting as close as possible to some of the park's striped predators. The group also headed to the Churna Forest Rest House, once a village, but now a good spot for tiger sightings.
Properties the group stayed at included the huge Grand Dragon Hotel in Leh, surrounded by snowcapped mountains, the sustainable Forsyth Lodge in Satpura and Jamtara Wilderness Camp in Pench.
Martin Dunn, Wildlife Photography Africa, says: "It was great to take a fresh look at some of India’s tiger reserves in the company of top-notch naturalists; to be able to escape the crowds and enjoy the marvellous diversity of India’s wildlife.
"With accommodation and guiding of such high quality
I have no worries about offering India to regular Africa safari enthusiasts and I know that, despite the apparent chaos that is most people’s first impression of India, the arrangements will run smoothly.”
Trish Berry, Zambezi Safari and
Travel Co. Ltd, added: "My first visit to India was incredible. Everything is here - people, wildlife, happiness, sorrow, sacrifice, religion and history.
"We travelled to Ley in the
Himalayas, trekking at high altitude to find the elusive snow leopard, and then journeyed down to the steamy nature reserves of Satpura and Pench.
"Thought-provoking, with astounding variety and never ever boring."