Lala
Wildlife filmmaker and photographer. Hosts the international departures himself.
- Safari with Lala
A small company, run from Coonoor, that takes a limited number of people into India's tiger reserves each season.
What we mean by it
Three things in that order, and the order is the argument. Curiosity is what makes somebody want to know which tigress holds which meadow and why the langurs are calling. Connection is what a week in the same vehicle with the same four people and the same driver actually produces. Awe is what happens on its own once the first two are in place — it cannot be sold, scheduled or guaranteed, which is why nothing on this site claims it will happen on your trip.
It is also why the trips are small and the days are long. A full-day permit and six people is a format built for the first two; the third takes care of itself.
The company
Wildlife filmmaker and photographer. Hosts the international departures himself.
The guides who lead the naturalist departures and who are in these forests every week of the season.
How we work
Nothing is promised that depends on an animal's cooperation. No sighting guarantees, no target counts, and no urgency claims that are not literally true.
The animal comes before the photograph. Vehicles are not manoeuvred to block, corner or pressure wildlife, and that occasionally costs a picture. Guests have described this as the reason they came back.
The people who make it work are named and paid. The drivers and forest guides are the reason the sightings happen, and guests notice them without being prompted to.