India Tiger Safari

What an amazing holiday! We were incredibly lucky with our sightings, not only of tigers but also of leopards (I think our group had 6 individual leopard sighting by the end), wild elephants, Indian Wild Dogs, jackals and the most fabulous array of colourful birds (peacocks, rollers, eagles, vultures - the list is long!). As has been mentioned in previous reviews, there are things to be aware of with the trip, but providing your participate with your eyes open, patience and the right attitude, you will have an absolutely wonderful time: 1) Jeeps are assigned per national park, so the people you share the jeep with will remain the same throughout that national park. Our jeeps were changed up between the parks, so we had three different jeep combinations by the end. 2) If you have one jeep which is not full, the Exodus guide tends to stick in that jeep due to space and comfort. Whilst this is understandable, it does mean that some group members had much more access to the trip leader and his expertise compared to others. 3) Do not expect tigers on every drive or even every day. They can be very elusive and with all things in nature, nothing is guaranteed. We had our first tiger sighting on Drive 2 (one jeep had an amazing view of two separate tigers, the other three jeeps had much lesser views of one tiger). We then did not get another good tiger sighting until Drive 8. And then on Drive 10, the tigers decided to give the most amazing show, with 6 tigers in one day. There was a point when we were leaving Pench where we were joking that we would have to rename the trip 'India Leopard Safari', as my jeep had had 3 good leopard sightings and only one glimpse of the backside / ears of a tiger, but by the end of the holiday, the tigers were most definitely the star of the show. 4) As has been mentioned before, it can be difficult when the different jeeps are in different sectors of the parks and thus seeing different things. On our trip, one jeep got two incredible sightings on Day 1, whereas with the different jeep allocations between parks, it took until the very end of the holiday for two members of our group to have an equivalent amazing sighting. Some members did not get a good leopard sighting at all, whereas other jeeps got two or three. It really is just luck and you have to go with the knowledge that each person's experience will be different. 5) There is so much more to see than just the tigers, so it is important to not get hung up on just seeing them. You can go for days without a glimpse of stripes, so take the time to appreciate the beauty of the parks and the other incredible wildlife that is available. 6) The success of the safari drives can be rather dependent on the quality of the park-assigned driver and guides, some of whom are better than others. I think that every jeep in our group had issues with their driver / guides at some point; however as these change almost every day, you just have to put it behind you and focus on the next drive. Thankfully, with 15+ drives, there is plenty of time for everyone to have the amazing encounters and experiences within the parks.

We had a truly wonderful trip. The national parks were lovely with beautiful views. We were really lucky and had some wonderful tiger sightings as well as sloth bears & leopards & wild elephants. A large array of birds from different species of Eagles, Kingfishers, Owls and many more. We didn't see tigers on every safari & sometimes would have different sightings to our other travel companions. In the last park we didn't see a tiger until our last safari then we had 3 amazing close displays from them. The accomodation at the last lodge was by far the nicest. The drivers & guides on the safaris could really vary in English ability & knowledge. Obviously it was alot better when you had a good guide. The overnight train was interesting & we enjoyed it. The facilities were better than expected with western toilets. We took a dinner pack up from our hotel & bought drinks & snacks before getting on. Although there was some long travel days they didn't feel ling. There was plenty of stops and things to see. Travel between was in comfortable Aircon suvs. If you want to see some amazing wildlife but also want abit of culture this trip is for you.

This pass march trip in India with Exodus wa our second trip in 6 months in India to see the tigers. And it was magical, and both time our guides where doing every thing ine their control to give us a experience we will remind for ever

An amazing trip! It maximises your chances of getting to see tigers and seeing them for the first time in the wild is something you'll never forget.

It was absolutely brilliant from the start to the finish ,it was the most wonderfull holiday I have ever had full marks to exodus.

Does exactly what it says on the tin!! This IS the land of the tiger. Don't expect to see then on every game drive but you should see them- I counted 11 different tigers, some in the distance and some VERY close. Absolutely awesome. Seeing the Taj Mahal- wow.

What an amazing trip. 12 days of peace and quiet to just be alone with nature at it's finest. If you don't get too hung up on the Tigers and go for the whole package you will have an amazing time (and take some beautiful photos to come away with). If you do just go for the Tigers, you will still have an amazing time, you'll just come back dissappointed a few more times than I did. That said, we still saw 11 of them! The remaining 4 days are not quite as peaceful but traveling is a necessity and the Taj is the most beautiful thing i have ever seen, even if it means enduring city life. I would definitely recommend it to other solo travellers, even on a non solo specific tour. Our group number was 5 in total and we were extremely lucky for that. As expected the tour was full of like minded people and we all had a great time together. 

Overall, a really excellent holiday. We received exactly what was described in the broacher. The staff were excellent and went out their way to provide for us.

So much down to luck and timing, it was like looking for an orange needle in a large haystack! We certainly saw a lot of the land where tigers are but the animals themselves are not so easy to see.

A great holiday for a variety of experiences in India - from seeing tigers, historic sites to visiting the local school.  India is a vast county with beautiful scenery but also be prepared to see great poverty.  Dehli illustrates the extremes between wealth and poverty