Enquire

Where we go

Four reserves in central India we know well enough to write about honestly, two in the south we can drive to, and a longer list we travel to on request.

A tiger resting in dry winter scrub at Bandhavgarh, bare branches crossing the frame
Bengal tiger / Bandhavgarh

The four we run most

Bandhavgarh

Sandstone cliffs, sal forest and grassland meadows, with one of the highest tiger densities anywhere in India.

  • Madhya Pradesh
  • Oct–Jun
  • 32,528 foreign entries in 2024–25

Kanha

The landscape Kipling is supposed to have written about: sal forest opening into wide maidans. Also the last stronghold of the barasingha.

  • Madhya Pradesh
  • Oct–Jun
  • 23,059 foreign entries in 2024–25

Tadoba

Dry teak and bamboo in Maharashtra, harder light and tigers that are famously relaxed about vehicles.

  • Maharashtra
  • Oct–Jun
  • Best in high summer

Ranthambore

Dry deciduous forest around a ruined fort and three lakes — the only place in India where you photograph tigers against architecture.

  • Rajasthan
  • Oct–Jun
  • Driest of the four

South India · 2 nights

The two we can drive to

We are registered in Coonoor, in the Nilgiris. These two forests are up the road, they run as short breaks rather than tours, and they are the only trips where the drivers and guides are people we know rather than people we booked.

Bandipur

The land of giants — gaur, elephant and dhole in the Nilgiri foothills, in the largest block of protected forest left in southern India.

  • Karnataka
  • 2 nights · 4 safaris
  • ~1,200 sq km

Kabini

The southern end of Nagarhole, built around a reservoir the animals walk out onto — and the best leopard odds in the country.

  • Karnataka
  • 2 nights · 4 safaris
  • Jeep and boat

Also, on request

Where else we travel

Pench, Satpura, Panna and Mudumalai all appear in bespoke itineraries. Satpura in particular is worth asking about — it is the one central Indian reserve where walking safaris and boat safaris are permitted, which changes the photography completely.

Outside India, Lala's archive includes the Pantanal in Brazil for jaguars and the Kenyan parks for lion and elephant. Ask if you would like a bespoke trip built around any of these.

Plan around the season