Day 2

Satpura National Park

Today you will be transferred to the domestic airport for your short (1 hour) flight to Bhopal. We will have breakfast or lunch (depending on the flight arrival time) in Bhopal before continuing onwards to our accommodation (Luxury safari lodge – Reni Pani Jungle Lodge) and on arrival here, you will check in and have your evening meal.

Days 3-8

Satpura National Park

Over the next 6 days you will be exploring this very beautiful national park. With the help of local naturalists and your zoologist escort we will try and find the sloth bears which are usually seen here in the early morning. They are usually one of the least seen and most elusive of all mammals in India but here they are seen well and usually at close range. Other animals which are regularly seen here include the dhole, gaur and leopards. One of the best parts of this park is that you will often be the only foreign people in the park, it is a sure fire way to visit a top tiger reserve (yes there are tigers here too, although they are seen less often than some other parks) with the huge crowds. Amongst the larger mammals, such as tigers, sloth bears, leopards, dhole, gaur, Indian wolves, striped hyena, 3 species of deer, 2 species of antelope and 2 species of monkey; we will also have the chance to see Malabar giant squirrels, jungle cats, Indian palm civet, common palm civet, Bengal foxes, Black-naped hares and Indian mouse deer which are all rare to see in other parks around India. Another excellent reason why Satpura is a great destination is that you are able to enter the park in a variety of ways. As well as the usual jeep safaris which are excellent and highly recommended to see dhole and sloth bears you can also have guided walks through the jungles. These walks will allow you to track down wildlife and really immerse yourself into the environment with the subtle sounds and smells of the jungle. If this was not thrilling enough the knowledge that you are walking in tiger country is just the ticket to make this an experience to remember for the rest of your life. You are also able to observe wildlife from boat trips, canoe or kayak trips down the Satpura River and also take an elephant back safari. On elephant back you will be able to get very close to wildlife the wildlife is very used to the presence of elephants and they are a naturally occurring part of the environment and then allows you to get very close to wildlife without disturbing it. You can pick and choose the activities once you arrive and see how sightings go whilst staying in the accommodation (Luxury safari lodge – Reni Pani Jungle Lodge). You will have 2 trips into Satpura National Park each day, once in the early morning and once in the afternoon. In between you will return to the accommodation and this is where you will have all your meals.

Day 9

Delhi

This morning you will be free to rest and have a lie in before breakfast. Then you will be taken to the airport in Bhopal and catch a short (1 hour) internal flight back to Delhi. Once we arrive in Delhi you will be transferred to your accommodation (4* hotel – The Residence) and enjoy your final evening meal.

Day 10

Panna National Park

Today you will be transferred to the domestic airport for your short (1.5 hour) flight to Khajuraho. We will have lunch in Khajurahi before continuing onwards to our accommodation (Safari lodge – Ken River Lodge) and on arrival here, you will check in and have your evening meal.

Day 11

Panna National Park

Today you will enter Panna National Park twice. You can choose between jeep safaris or boat trips down the Ken River, we recommend jeep safaris as they cover more ground and will enable you to see a larger area of the park and have better chances of seeing wildlife. Along with the abundant wildlife in the park which includes a small population of tigers, there are ample other attractions to see including many waterfalls and numerous ancient cultural relics dotted around the park. Many people regard Panna National Park to be one of the most aesthetically beautiful parks in all of India. In between exploring the park in search of tigers, deer, wild boar and numerous bird species (over 200 species have been recorded here) you will come back to the accommodation (Jungle lodge – Ken River Lodge) for lunch and then your evening meal.

Days 12 & 13

Jhinna Jungle Camp

During the next two days you will enter Panna National Park in the morning via a boat ride. This is a much different way of exploring the park and you are very likely to see mugger crocodiles, the critically endangered gharial (which is in fact the most endangered species in all of the Indian Subcontinent, with only 200 adults in the world remaining) as well as grey-headed fish eagles in their search for giant mahaseer fish.. This is one of the most relaxing ways to see the park and you never know if you are going to come across a tiger having a drink or swimming across the river. Then after lunch you will have the afternoon at your leisure before departing for the Jhinna Jungle Camp. This new addition to the Ken River Lodge experience is set up deep inside the Jhinna Forest which buffers the Panna National Park in the north. Here you will complete a night spotlighting safari around the forest buffer zone. The Jhinna Forest is 200km2 of protected forest and it is home to all the same wildlife as Panna National Park. This jeep safari will try to find some of the rarely seen mammals of the Indian jungle. Animals which are seen include jungle cats, leopard cats, leopard, striped hyena, Bengal fox, Asiatic crested porcupine, Indian wolves, golden jackals as well as civets and genets. After the safari you will spend the night here accommodation (Jungle Eco Tented Camp – Jhinna Jungle Camp)

Day 14

Panna National Park

Today you will once again be able to explore Panna National Park twice, you are once again free to decide on whether you would like a river cruise or jeep safari in the morning and the afternoon. Today is your last full day here and if we have not seen a tiger then we recommend trying hard for tigers today. As with the previous days you will return to the accommodation (Jungle Lodge – Ken River Lodge) for your meals.

Day 15

Panna National Park

This morning before breakfast you will enter the park for the last time (either via a boat or jeep) and on your return to the lodge you will have breakfast and check out. Today you will be transferred back to the ancient city of Khajuraho in time to catch your return flight to Delhi. On return to Delhi you will be transferred to your accommodation (4* hotel – The Residence) and have your farewell evening meal and go over your experience of Panna and Jhinna.

Day 16

Home

This morning you will be transferred to the airport in time to catch your return flight home.

The National Parks Authority for Madhya Pradesh have announced that with effect from 1st April 2011, all National Parks within the State will remain closed to public access on Wednesday afternoons until further notice. This order will affect Pench, Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Satpura and Panna Reserves. The inconvenience caused to Royle Safaris tour participants is regretted but unfortunately there is nothing we can do to facilitate entry during these closures. On occasions when our tour itinerary would normally include entry to one of these reserves on a Wednesday afternoon we will try arrange alternative natural history activities either around the periphery of the park. In the event that this is not possible we will offer the opportunity to watch a Tiger related documentary during this time.

Please note that the itinerary stated above is correct as our planned intentions for the tour. However adverse weather conditions and other local considerations can necessitate some modifications of the itinerary during the course of the tour; any changes will be made to make the best of the time and weather conditions available to us.

This tour is available on different date (subject to availability) please contact us for more details about running this tour on a date which suits you more.