Tigers In India
Exploring Bandhavgarh National Park
India 2019
This was yet another fabulous wildlife experience booked with Exodus and my fourth trip with professional photographer Paul Goldstein. We were a small group of 14 and based at the Nature Heritage Resort near one of the entrance gates to Bandhavgarh National Park. We had lovely rooms, great food and service, plus a nice swimming pool to cool down. It was needed. I thought the Pantanal was hot, but this time the temperature was in the low 40s all week! It was seriously hot by 9am most days! If you've read about my other trips with Paul, it'll come as no surprise to hear we were woken at 4.30am every morning to be amongst the first through the gates when the park opened each day. It wasn't too much of a hardship since it was the coolest part of the day! I don't even think the temperature dropped to below 20°C, even at night!
Himanshu was our local knowledeable leader, full of enthusiasm and always quick to respond to any issues or problems. He worked hard to make sure we had a great trip, which involved lots of work behind the scenes. There was a great team of drivers too, who took us out in the safari jeeps each day. Despite the severely limiting factors imposed on our safaris by the Indian authorities, such as staying with the same vehicle and driver for the duration of the holiday, restricted to zones within the park and not being able to go wherever you like, we still managed to have an amazing time and that was definitely down to Himanshu and the drivers. I'd been impressed by our boat driver's skills in the Pantanal and these guys in India were just as adept, often having to manoeuver their jeeps on narrow tracks, even when there were 20 others doing the same. Supposedly, we were there during the off-peak season. I dreaded to think what it was like during peak times.
My lasting memory of the trip, aside from the playful cubs, was the snarling face of a female tiger wanting to cross the road. She was about 10m away, looking at me directly, our vehicle being in her path. For that brief moment my face wasn't shielded by my camera. Instead, we were eyeball to eyeball. Her power and beauty took my breath away and completely intimidated me. She didn't look in any way vulnerable. But she is! Sadly, there are people in the world that think it's okay to kill tigers for their coats and body parts. Like so much of the world's wildlife that have been in rapid decline, tigers need our protection. We should stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves and try to take better care of the planet that is our home!


