Wildlife of Central India.

Upon arrival at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, India [DEL], you will be met from your flight in the arrivals lounge and transferred to your hotel, where a traditional welcome awaits! Once you have checked in, enjoy some free time before meeting up with your Big Journey Company Tour Director and your tour group for dinner together this evening and to discuss the tour ahead.

This morning you will be guided to the city tour of Delhi. The city consists of two parts - Old & New Delhi. Old Delhi was the capital of Muslim India between 17th and 19th century and has many mosques, monuments and forts. New Delhi, the imperial city was created by the British as the capital of India. We begin the day with an exploration starting in Old Delhi, visiting the Jama Masjid, the royal mosque built by the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan in 1656. It is one of the largest and most beautiful mosques in the world and is constructed in red sandstone and white marble. The main prayer hall has a seating capacity of more than 20,000 worshippers. Here we will enjoy a cycle rickshaw ride through the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk, the spine of Old Delhi.
Later we also visit New Delhi, driving through it's majestic boulevards to theRashtrapati Bhawan, or Presidential Palace. This is where the Viceroy once lived and is now the official residence of the President of India. Today also includes a visit to Humayun’s Tomb, the first great example of Mughal architecture in India. This has developed to become the hallmark of the Mughal Dynasty. The squat building of white marble and red sandstone, with a dome and high arched entrances, surrounded by formal gardens, is generally regarded as a prototype of the famed Taj Mahal of Agra. Humayun’s wife is buried in the sandstone and marble tomb.
Last stop before returning to ou hotel is the Sikh temple of Bangla Sahib. This magnificent and spacious bungalow in Delhi was once owned by Raja Jai Singh Amber (Jaipur). It has become a place of pilgrimage for both Hindus and Sikhs and is also known as the holy shrine “Gurudwara Bangla Sahib”. The Art Gallery located in the basement has paintings depicting historical events connected with Sikh history.

Our flights to Nagpur depart early today. On arrival we will be met at the airport and transferred to Pench National Park, a journey of approximately 2 hours.
The English word ‘jungle’ originates from the Indian Sanskrit language. In this region, the Indian jungle offer shelter to a wild range of animals, birds and reptiles and we will see many of these creatures for ourselves- of course everyone hopes to spot the fabulous Royal Bengal Tiger, but there are also leopards, wld dogs, wolves, sloth bears, Palm civet, and porcupine, to name but a few of the species that make the parks their home. This afternoon we beign to explore the wildlfie of Pench National Park. 

The success of the Pench wildlife reserve is attributed to the fact that there are no longer any human settlements within the reserve area. Forest villages were relocated in early 1990s and now tigers in this area are breeding so successfully that the local conservation workers are now moving some tigers to other areas of India. Here we will experience for ourselves the benefits of positive wildlife tourism, on-going scientific research and conservation with a full day of game drives with an early morning start and packed breakfast.

We enjoy an early moring safari  drive today with a packed breakfast. We will return to the lodge for lunch before beginning our drive to Kanha.

The lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha National Park make for a poet’s inspiration and this is the setting for Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book'. Baloo the Sloth bear, Akela the Indian Wolf and Kaa the Rock Python still make this area their home. Kanha National Park is the largest national park in central India and has been protected for wildlife since 1933. Here we will find unparallelled opportunities to photograph Indian wildlife. Kanha is also considered to be one of the best places in the world to see wild tigers. 

Another full day of game drives in the local area. The exact itinerary will depend on information from the local guides- their intimate local knowledge will mean that we head to exactly the right place to see the best of what is about today. Bird watching in India is among some of the best in the world. Make sure you listen carefully to the calls around you and have your binoculars at the ready. Your local guide will be ready to point out a diverse range of life today, as we spend another full day on safari.

We will make the most of our opportunities in Kanha with a morning safari before checking out of our resort and beginning the drive to Bandhavgath after lunch.
Declared a National Park in 1968, Bandhavgarh has a rich historical past. Before it was a national park, this whole area was a ‘Shikargah’, or game preserve of the Maharajas and their guests. In present times biodiversity is thriving and the park has more Bengal tigers than any other area of the world. We also hope to spot leopards today- there is a large breeding population here. Tigers and leopards are at the top of the food chain here, but there are many other creatures to spot. The gaur, or Indian Bison, was once extinct in the wild and has been successfully been reintroduced to Bandhavgarh National Park.

We will check into our hotel and enjoy dinner there together this evening. 

India is home to 13 species of monkey. Deer reputedly like to hang out with monkeys because monkeys are so noisy when there is a predator around, it gives the local deer plenty of time to make safe their escape. By now, you will be able to say whether the adage ‘wherever you see a monkey, you will also find deer’ is true! We will spend a full day following the advice of the local safari guides to find and observe wildlife in it’s natural habitat in the Bandhavgarh National Park.

This morning we will sped some time at leiure before we check out of the hotel and travel to the airport at Japalpur for our flight back to Delhi. (approx. 4 hrs)
After checking in to the hotel in Delhi, we enjoy a farewell meal together this evening.

After breakfast you will check out from the hotel and be transferred to the airport to begin your journey home.

Please arrange your flights to depart from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, India [DEL] at any time on Day 10. Hotel check-out time is 12noon.