SUDHIRSHIVARAM

Home    Portfolios    iWrite    Info    Connect

The Tadoba Andhari Tiger reserve is a pristine and unique eco-system situated in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state in India. The reserve contains some great forest tracks and is endowed with rich biodiversity. The forest is dominated by teak forest and bamboo. It has some rugged landscape, water bodies, and man made water holes which cater to a host of species.

I had been to Bandhavgarh in April 2011 and wanted to pay a visit to this Tiger reserve during this year. I did some online reviews and talked to some of my friends to understand the place from a photography point of view. From whatever I could gather, some photographers were choosing this park over Bandhavgarh in the last few months because of the regular sightings of different groups of cubs at man made water holes. The words on the park’s gate make a powerful statement, especially the word “REAL”, and once you enter the park, you will realize why they state so.

I contacted Manish Varma who helped me with the logistics and took care of my safari and permits. I had planned for a 4-day visit which included 6 Jeep safaris.

Manish Varma

I landed at Nagpur on the morning of 8th and took a cab to Tadoba and arrived in time for lunch. I stayed at MSTD resort and had done my booking in advance using their online reservation. I checked into the AC room which was very decent and probably one of the best accommodations in Tadoba area. Post lunch I did a check on my equipment and ensured the battery was fully charged, all CF cards formatted, bean bags and tripod in place.  With the temperature around 42 degrees, I remembered to take my cap.

Roshan, who was my Gypsy driver for the next 4 days arrived at 2 pm as planned and we drove to the park entrance. Our entry was from the Mohurli gate to the south of the park. This is the commercial gate of the reserve and is connected to the Chandrapur city. We need to carry our ID card for verification. With all permits in place we entered the park at 2:45 pm and drove straight to the Telia water hole which was occupied by a female Tiger with her 3 cubs. It was pretty hot and as expected the cubs were around the water hole. Later the mother joined them and I got some pretty decent shots of it.  I could also photograph the Sloth Bear during the first safari. We need to be out of the park by 6:45pm.

Day 2 - Saturday 09 June 2012

The forest department has created man made water holes and fills in water using tractors, twice a day. Typically, the Tigers makes an appearance once the tractor leaves the place. Meanwhile the vehicles occupy their position and there are guards stationed at key places to ensure there is discipline maintained and no vehicles try to get close to the tiger. One good thing about JamunBodhi is that it is very open and you will get good sighting and images of the Tiger if you happen to come across it.

That afternoon we drove to Waghdoh area which is occupied by the famous Waghdoh Male , which is supposed to be the biggest Tiger of the tourism area. The Waghdoh waterhole (another small man made water pond) is occupied by the mother Tiger, which is very shy, along with her 3 cubs.  When we arrived at the waterhole, the male was moving away from the waterhole and walked right in front of our vehicle. It was massive, really massive. I had seen and photographed the Bamera Tiger at Bandhavgarh and was impressed with its size. But the Waghdoh male is simply too big and massive compared to Bamera. The whole of the afternoon was spent at the Waghdoh water hole photographing this family.

Day 3 - Sunday 10 June 2012

I had started to like the Tadoba forest, which mainly consisted of bamboo, so today Manish decided to show me the spectacular area of Kolsa and hopefully track the other male of this area “Shivaji”. The previous evening the forest received some showers and so the sighting in the morning was pretty dull but the drive was good and very cool. Though we did not find “Shivaji” , we came across a few Gaurs which count as one of the favorite foods of the Tiger.

That afternoon we again spent time at Waghdoh and were able to make some more images of the male and his cubs. Later in the evening, it rained heavily and we were totally drenched. Fortunately, we had plastic covers to protect the equipment. The rains did bring some relief to the hot day and we enjoyed the rains. Once we were out of the gate, we stopped for some hot tea and bread omelet. Do not miss that at the gate entrance; the “masala” omelet is indeed good and gives you that much needed energy boost.

Day 4 - Monday 11 June 2012

This was the last safari of the trip. I wanted to go back to JamunBodhi and explore the area more. This time we went around the top of the hill and took the complete circle; another fantastic route in the forest. We just managed a glimpse of the Pandherpauni Tiger cub.  As usual, I enjoyed the forest and photographed the common species found.  All in all, a great place to visit and make some nice images of the Tiger and other mammals. Of course, I did manage a few bird images during this trip, something I cannot miss in any of my trips :)

Click here to view the images from the trip.

Getting There

1. ✤The nearest Airport is Nagpur which is 140km from the Moharli gate, Tadoba.
   

2. ✤Nearest railway station and bus stand is the town of Chandrapur which is around 30Km.
   

3. ✤I took the morning 6:25am Indigo flight from Bangalore to Nagpur and the night 20:15 Indigo flight back to Bangalore. Book in advance and it will cost you around INR 5,500 return fare.
   

4. ✤ Travel time by car from Nagpur to Tadoba is around 2 1/2 to 3 hrs and will cost you around INR 2,100 AC Indica vehicle one way.
   

Accommodation (Pls let me know if I have missed any and will be glad to include)

You have a number of resorts around Moharli gate at Tadoba. Below are some (not in any specific order):

1. ✤ Royal Tiger Resorts
   

2. ✤ Serai Tiger
   

3. ✤ Tiger Trails
   

4. ✤ Resort Saras
   

5. ✤ MTDC Resort Tadoba
   

I stayed at the MTDC Resort and the booking was done online. The website response sometimes is pretty slow. Do not give up. You need to take the printout of the booking. The AC rooms and the food is very decent. You can order the food of your choice and is not part of the room booking. Click here to book it online. You see the Online Booking box at the left. New users need to register to book. Cost for AC room is around Rs 1,700 + taxes per day. Chek-in at 1pm and checkout at 12 noon.

Park Timings

The park is open from 5:30am to 9:30am for the morning safari and from 2:45pm to 6:45pm for the afternoon safari. The park is closed on Tuesday.

Park Entry Permits and Safari Booking

There are limited number of entry permits for the safari. I did all my safari and entry permit bookings through Manish Varma. He can be contacted on manish.varma96@gmail.com or +91 80559 :wq20303. He customized my Gypsy by removing the centre seat for my photography needs. A small mattress was put there for me to comfortably sit and photograph from a lower level. See below images to get an idea:

It was good to meet a few of my friends at the park who were kind enough to photograph me in the field and share the images with me. Thanks Siva A N and Bhargava Srivari for the photos.

Feel free to leave your comment below. Always glad to receive feedback.