Every year we make sure to visit at least one National Park in India. In 2024, it was Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. This year we chose to visit Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve near Chandrapur. The route was Thane – Igatpuri – Samruddhi Mahamarg till Wardha – Mohurli. It was a 800 km drive. Thanks to the expressway we could complete it in 11.5 hours including breakfast & lunch breaks. The 6 lane expressway was super smooth and we did not feel tired at the end of the day.

We decided to do 4 Gpysy Safaris in 2 days. Two safaris in the core zone of Mohurli & two safaris in the buffer zones of Agarzari & Junona. The morning safari starts at 6:30 am and goes on till 10:30 am. Mobile phones are not allowed and they have to be kept with the guide. This is a good practice as using mobile phones in the safari can lead to disturbance to the animals and birds.

We reported at the Mohurli gate and they assigned a driver and a guide for the gpysy. The guides at Tadoba are very informative and have a lot of years of experience. The more you ask them questions about the jungle in general, the more they are interested sharing unique information. We were quite curious to learn more about the Tigers and even our basic questions were answered very well.

In the first safari, we were not lucky enough to spot any Tiger. There was no alarm calls from Deers or any movement of the Tiger. Spotted a lot of deers, sambar, peacocks, crocodile, langurs etc. We stopped at a canteen inside the jungle for breakfast. Suddenly, there was a commotion and somebody spotted a Tiger nearby. We left the food halfway and rushed to the gpysy to catch a glimpse of the Tiger. It was supposed to come out of a bush. In the meantime, our guide decided to go back and wrap up the food and come back. A split second decision and at the same time the Tiger crossed the road and moved to another location. I named it ‘The Upma Tiger’.

The afternoon safari starts at 2 pm and goes on till 6 pm. Somehow, we were all quite positive about Tiger sighting in this safari. We clearly told the guide, take us straight to the Tiger’s area and not show us around the core zone as we have already seen it in the morning safari. The guide got information that a Tiger was seen around a lake area. The guide decided to head there straight, parked our gpysy by the lake and waited for an alarm call or some sign. Nothing at all. Just some peacocks around. Our guide had an intuition and asked the driver to go back a bit to check why vehicles have not come that way since long time. We took a short turn and saw a lot of vehicles parked around. There it was! Our first ever Tiger sighting in the wild. ‘Tigress Choti Tara’ gave us darshan. She was sitting in the grass and the next moment she got up, crossed the road and moved into the thick jungle. She is 15 – 16 years old. A Tiger lives up to an age of 19 – 20. It was only a minute but we were quite happy and content. Not aware of what was still in store.

Moving ahead, we got information from a passing gypsy that a Tiger was spotted on a hill top area. Parked the gpysy by the side, it took us a while to spot the second Tigress as she was sitting at quite a distance. It was #2 spotting ‘Tigress Roma’. Just after a couple of minutes, she got up and started walking towards us. Our adrenaline levels shot up. This was like a dream come true. She casually walked by the road side, smelling a tree, spraying and marking her territory. Roma is 5-6 years old. It was a good 15 – 20 minutes with her.

It was almost the end of the safari near the gate. We spotted the third ‘Tigress C3‘ by the road side. Only a couple of gypsys were around and we got a good 5 minutes of observing her. Just walking casually, smelling the trees We were just lucky to be at the right place at the right time.

To be continued…
The pricing for a Wildlife Safari at Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve typically varies depending on the type of safari, vehicle, and season. Here’s a basic breakdown of the costs:

Jeep Safari (per jeep, seating 6-8 people):

Indian Nationals: ₹4,000 to ₹5,000 per jeep (depending on the zone and time of the year).

Foreign Nationals: ₹8,000 to ₹9,000 per jeep.

Canter Safari (shared vehicle, seating 20-25 people):

Indian Nationals: ₹1,000 to ₹1,500 per person.

Foreign Nationals: ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 per person.

Safari Entry Fees:

Indian Nationals: ₹100 to ₹200 per person.

Foreign Nationals: ₹500 to ₹600 per person.

Guide Fees:

Around ₹300 to ₹500 per safari.Camera Charges (for professional cameras):₹200 to ₹500 depending on the camera type.