Tigers of India Photo Tour
Photograph the Tigers of India in May 2024
Join us on an nine day tour of India to photograph its tigers. This trip has been designed so that we can see and photograph India’s magnificent Bengal Tigers for six days straight at one of India’s most rewarding tiger parks, Bandhavgarh National Park. Plus, we secure the best zones in advance for our twelve drives in the park.
You can combine this tour with Wildlife of India
This tour immediately follows on from Wildlife of India. You can combine both for a 24 day wildlife and tiger experience with 20 days in the parks for 37 drives. Please see below for a special cost which incorporates both tours.
We will spend seven nights at Bandhavgarh which hosts one of the highest densities of tiger in India for virtually guaranteed encounters. And we travel at the best time of the year too, in May when the tigers are easier to find and photograph. Our six full days in the park gives us a total of twelve drives.
Other wildlife awaits us too, langur, macaque, as well as sambur and spotted deer. Of course there will also be birds, and it will be the courtship season of peacocks to see their mating ritual and tail feathers on full display.
We stay in luxury accommodation and we employ the best guides and drivers that India can offer. Vehicles are especially adapted to accommodate photographers, with no more than two photographers per vehicle.
To reserve your spot on this safari please email me at email@davidlloyd.net
Tour Highlights
Wildlife
Even though our primary target is tiger, other wildlife awaits us too, langur, macaque, as well as sambur and spotted deer. This is also the courtship season of peacocks to see their mating ritual and tail feathers on full display.
Photography
Photographers of all levels are welcome. We are professional photographers with great experience in the field as well as in guiding and photographic instruction. Each tour offers a small client-leader ratio that allows for personal attention and customized guidance on photography.
Guides and Drivers
Our guides and driver know Bandhavgarh very well with over twenty years of guiding and driving experience. Our drivers have driven BBC documentary and National Geographic crews. They have experience driving photographers so that know just what to expect from us.
Zones
We prebook the park zones months in advance to ensure we secure the best zones for tiger encounters.
Vehicles
We use gypsy cars, which are popular in the wildlife parks in India. Ours will be specially adapted for photographers and we will only carry two photographers per vehicle, with one seat row removed, to maximise opportunity and space.
Accommodation
We stay in luxury accommodation, from our initial stay in Delhi and for each of our stays in the parks. Good dining accompanies the accommodation and the cottages are large with separate bedroom, bathroom and balcony.
Image Reviews and Tuition
After our morning drives we offer tuition on photographic technique and post-processing. We also host image review sessions in a more formal setting during the week. Our goal is for you to make the most out of your experience and to take home pictures you’ve long desired.
Where we go
Bandhavgarh National Park
Bandhavgarh was established in 1968 as a National Park, and is spread over an area of 1150 sq. kms. It was declared as a tiger reserve under Project Tiger in 1993. It is predominantly covered with vegetation like sal, salt, dhobin and has vast stretches of grasslands spread over 32 hills, the region though smaller than other wildlife parks has one of the highest density of tigers in the world.
Tourist traffic in Bandhavgarh
In recent years, the wildlife parks have been restructured significantly with the aim of protecting the parks and its wildlife. There are strict restrictions now on the number of vehicles allowed in the parks, and gone are the days where we see dozens at a time. Internet stories of traffic congestion there are likely to be before that time. On our reconnaissance tour in April and May 2016, we rarely encountered more than four or five vehicles on any sighting in any of the parks that we will be visiting on this tour.
Where we stay
Delhi
Radisson Blu With an ideal location less than five kilometers from Indira Gandhi International Airport, the Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi Airport provides upper upscale accommodations and convenient city access. The 261 rooms and suites offer free high-speed, wireless internet and peaceful garden views and our on-site spa provides the perfect retreat after a busy day. Sample something delicious at The Great Kabab Factory or at any of our other on-site restaurants.
Bandhavgarh
Kings Lodge is nestled between Sal forested hills of Bandhavgarh National Park in a large natural forested estate of 14 hectares in Rancha village. The lodge is in the heart of the wild country and only a ten minutes drive from the Tala gate of the national park. Our guests benefit from our incredible location, an outstanding hospitality and an experienced naturalist team, and our commitment towards conservation and local communities. The lodge has 10 cottage rooms and 8 stilt cottage rooms with en-suite modern bathrooms spread accross a natural forest offering great ambience and privacy.
How Do I Book?
Our tour group is small (a maximum of 7 participants) so space will be limited. To reserve your spot in this tour please email me at email@davidlloyd.net
Dates and Costs 2024
The cost of this all-inclusive safari is $5900 per person. Bookings are secured with a $600 deposit per person, with the balance being required 12 weeks before.
An optional single supplement is available at $1200 extra. Single supplements are for single travellers who want their own room. Otherwise single travellers are paired with another traveller of the same gender.
7th May – 15th May – With David Lloyd and Karan Rana (open)
14th May – 22nd May – With David Lloyd and Karan Rana (open)
The first date here can be linked to our 16 day Wildlife of India Photo Safari. If you join us for both, then the cost of this safari becomes $5200 with the single supplement at $1200.
Payments to be made in $US.
Financial Protection
Payments for all safaris are made through Steppes Travel which means you have the financial protection of booking through a registered tour operator. Your money is 100% safe and if one of our suppliers goes bust, your money is fully protected. Steppes Travel can also book your flights for full financial protection. Please download our terms and conditions here.
What’s Included
All accommodation in hotels and lodges
All internal flights
All airport transfers
All meals at lodges
All park fees
Exclusive vehicles and qualified driver guides
What’s not Included
International flights
India visa
Alcoholic and non-local alcoholic beverages
Tips and gratuities for camp staff and guides
Itinerary
Day 1: Delhi
Meet and transfer from the airport to the hotel, rest of the day at leisure, overnight stay at the hotel.
Day 2: Bandhavgarh
Fly and Drive to Bandhavgarh, overnight stay at the lodge.
Day 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: Bandhavgarh
Morning and evening drives, overnight stay at the lodge.
Day 9: Delhi
Breakfast, transfer to Jabalpur to board the connecting flight to Delhi. Day use or overnight at hotel.
Guide Biographies
We are a small team of award winning wildlife photographers and experienced photography tutors in the field of natural history. We have won awards in Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Nature’s Best and GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and our work is published regularly. Our photographic experience extends back to the days of film, paper and manual focus cameras.
David Lloyd is an exhibiting wildlife photographer, having won awards for his work which favours a fine art style in both colour and black & white. David has been awarded four times in Wildlife Photographer of the Year. In 2011, his image A Flick of the Tail was chosen as the cover of that year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year portfolio and in 2019 he was awarded as their peoples’ choice winner for his image Bond of Brothers. His images have been published widely in the press and several photographic monthlies, in both the UK and abroad. David also holds exhibitions of his work, most recently at there Royal Geographic Society in London in 2014. His long awaited debut book As Long As There Are Animals was published in late 2014.
Karan Rana heads the naturalist team at Pugdundee and keeps a keen eye on operations of its lodges. With an experience of more than 20 years with Tiger Tops as a manager, he joined Pugdundee in 2004 and has continuously trained and lead the naturalists at all our lodges. Karan also leads various specialist groups including mobile and walking safaris. He has contributed his pivotal jungle skills for the successful launch and progress of walking safaris in Central India. Coincidentally, the role of wearing many hats has seeped into his personality as he is never seen without a hat in real life too!