From our very first virtual contact, to our final tearful good bye and beyond, Lala has been an intuitive, gracious and ever-so detail-oriented host for our travel in India. I cannot recommend highly enough the quality of his services!
We arrived and spent our initial night in Delhi, where our driver and hotel were on point and in close contact with Lala, ensuring that no detail was overlooked.
From there, we traveled by plane (booked by Lala) to Jabalpur, then by car (awaiting our arrival at the airport) to our superb accommodations at Banghavhar Park.
The next morning we embarked on our first three utterly captivating full day safaris. While the main subject of our excursions were the magnificent tigers, which did not disappoint, Lala and his carefully selected park driver and guide were very knowledgeable on every aspect of Bandhavgar wildlife, botany and history. Due to their immense collective experience and intuitive guiding approach, we were treated to an immersive experience, and time spent quietly sitting with tigers in their domain. I believed that this exhilarating experience could not be surpassed… however…
We then traveled, again by comfortable and courteous car and driver, to Kanha National Park. Again, we were greeted by the solicitous staff at our thoughtfully selected accommodations. As with everywhere we traveled, it was evident that Lala is respected, and I daresay adored, by all, which reaped great rewards for us!
We could not have guessed that our second three full day safaris, this time in Kanha, could have topped our Bandhavgar experience! Again, due to the synchrony built by countless hours spent on safari together, Lala and his friends (our park driver and guide) lead us on a captivating, tiger-ful experience of nature and life in Central India’s beautiful wild places.
Finally, our journey was made complete by a visit to Earth Focus, an NGO whose work focuses on building the ecological and socio-economic resilience of the forest-dwelling communities of Kanha’s buffer zone. This integrative experience leant insight into the complexities of conservation and human/wildlife coexistence. We left with our knowledge and our hearts vastly expanded.
“It’s the beginning of a happy journey where I will be meeting myself.”
Nicole Gryler, USA
A Tryst With Tigers – Bandhavgarh and Kanha