Archived Testimonials: Nature Safari India
2019...
Paweł Suchecki
Hi Sharad,
I had a great time in India and I’m very happy with your services, thank you!
Best regards,
Pawel
Jay Abey
It was great Sharad . Tiger Den people were exemplary. They were so courteous. I have already recommended you to another party who is planning to come. We plan to visit you’ll again.
Steve Rawlings
Dear Sharad,
Please may I take the opportunity to express our gratitude to you and all the team,who have ensured that our first trip to India has been full of wonderful memories. Unfortunately Steve missed a tiger sighting because of his bad back. My sighting will stay with me for life, the tiger looked straight into my eyes and we connected. I took plenty of photographs.Shatrunjay had been busy with his book launch, but unselfishly spent time with us before we left Bera. He is gifted us a copy of his book. Then as if this wasn’t enough Deep met us at Delhi airport to ensure a safe hotel check in. Please express our gratitude to all those involved in supporting our trip including the drivers, who were polite, patient and safe. Rohil, the guide in Agra,was amazing he is a budding photographer.
I will post a more detailed review once I have access to sufficient internet.
Many thanks
Chris and Steve
Andy Hill
Good evening Sharad,
I trust this finds you well?
As we’ve been home for a few weeks now Susie and I would like to thank you again for a most amazing safari. We had high expectations and they were easily exceeded. (Also, thank you so much for the book!)
Hopefully we will be able to plan another adventure with you in the future.
Kind regards,
Andy
Henrik Rise Jensen
Hi Sharad and Abhishek,
Thanks for organising our Tour for us. Everything was Well organised and punctual and we Saw alot of Tigers – so overall we are satisfied.
Bandhavgarh and Tiger Den was by far the highlight of the trip – despite having a few days of rain and having to witness the park Rangers kick and beat the elephants. We must admit we also found it a bit ought that the Elephant Rangers could be purchased to chase out Tigers from the Bush. I am pretty sure Bandhavgarh’s reputation among tourists would increase, if tourist organisations in India could advise the local Government to stop that kind of behaviour towards the elephants and Tigers.
But Tiger Den was great (good service and food) and our driver and especially our guide was amazing. Since almost everyone Else had New drivers and guides every day, we appreciated alot to have the same Crew every day. If you Can arrange that for other tourists as Well I am sure they will appreciate it alot.
In Kanha we found it a bit irritating that we stayed so far away from the park – and the Resort was (with All due respect) a bit of a weird place. The rooms and food and drinks were fine (no problems with that at all) – but half the condos had not been rebuilt since a fire several years back, and the manager and staff honestly (despite trying their very best) seemed to be very New in “hospitality business”. So compared to Tiger Den, Dev’s Villa was not good – and if we had known we had to drive 4 x 30 minutes every day to get back and forward we would have preferred paying extra for a Resort closer to the gate. Again the resort-standard was fine – but to far away from the gate. In Kanha it was also irritating to have New naturalist-guides every day (but it seemed that we did not even have a choice, since guides was just standing in line for All vehicles).
We enjoyed our Old Delhi City-tour (guide and driver was good and very helpful) and Taj Mahal/Agra Fort was very beautiful and Great to see. But please do not use the guide we had for the Taj Mahal-Tour again. I have never in my entire life had a guide that unfriendly – and I have travelled alot. During the trip he answered more than 100 telephone calls – and in general he seemed angry.
The Holiday Inn Hotel was by the Way an excellent choice of accomodation. But overall, we are satisesfied and would not hesitate to recommend your Company to friends and family going to India – or to have you organise our (MY) next Indian Tiger- (or perhaps Panther)-safari. Maybe it is possible to get even better shots than this next time:
Ian Carroll
Hi Sharad
Thanks for your kind thoughts.
We’re in Bandhavgarh have seen one 5 yo female un named as no litter yet who had been calling to a male who was near her but only partial skin of him. She came out and crossed the road so some great pics. In gate 2 this morning and saw T42 “Solo” start a stalk then saw and photo’d her dragging Chital stag kill through the bush across the track back to one of her four 6mth old cubs. What a treat.
Yes the young female was in Mukki gate tourist area I think on the west side after having breakfast at an old aquired village then heading back towards the gate. I have a LHS face shot of her if that helps?
Toni and I are extremely happy with both the itinerary and the service you have provided. No complaints at all only big smiles and thankyou’s to all. We clearly understand that Roseate House has a problem with its booking system nothing to do with you. However their accommodation service and food are otherwise excellent. I need to take responsibility as well for the arrival as I should have rung you first then all would have been sorted so sorry for that.
Sanjay has been great I can see why you employ him. He has a good heart and is taking very good care of us as well as working extremely hard on the safaris. We will make sure he is taken care of in return as we did for Tihra at Singinawa.
Our very best wishes we will be strongly recommending your company to all.
May the tiger gods keep smiling
Cheers Ian and Toni
Moshe
Dear Sharad, Dear Abhishek.
I do know how to thank you enough for a fantastic experience. I am grateful for the perfect organization, the punctuality, and most important for the caring and very personal treatment. As you know I have been several times in India and the overall organization was this time absolutely the best!
The Singinawa Jungle Lodge in Kanha and the Bandha Villas in Banhavgarh were perfect decisions: very nice places to stay in and very good naturalists/guides.
And of course both National Parks. Much more than expected: I saw tigers on every safari (been on 14!!), males, females, cubs. Some of a distance of 5 meters!!! And a multitude of other wildlife, beautiful sights and more. I attach a few pictures (please remember I am not a professional like Sharad) out of hundreds made. Impossible to stop pressing the shutter button of the camera when there.
I am looking forward to our next project! THANK YOU!
Moshe
David Frankl
Dear Sharad and staff
We’d like to express our thanks for providing us with an amazing holiday. Your organisation was thorough and detailed ensuring everything went smoothly. Communication was great meaning we knew exactly what was happening and when, which meant we could relax with confidence and no worries.
For the Tiger Safari part we had three excellent locations each with its own strengths:
In Tadoba the 7 Tiger Resort gave us the best personal service, and the best food. The safaris were great; we saw a good range of animals including the elusive tiger .. on one occasion very close by, so thrilling! The drivers and guides were from the local village which meant that the village gained benefits from our tourism. The only problem was the communication was very limited, the guides were great at spotting the wildlife but with, limited English, couldn’t tell us much beyond ‘tiger’ or ‘monkey’. 7 Tiger Resort staff did their best to find us a guide, Rupesh, who had a better knowledge of English. Good communication is vital if we are to get the most from our experiences. Perhaps greater investment in the education of guides is needed.
In Pench we enjoyed the village style set up and very much appreciated the services of a naturalist who could tell us much more about the local wildlife, thereby enriching our experiences. The wildlife viewings, including the sloth bear, were good and also some amazing sightings of tigers, especially the female with four new cubs and another with two older cubs.
In Kanha we had the same driver, Mono, each day, which enabled us to get to know him more. He tried really hard to find the tiger for us. Many of the guides here did try to speak English, they also identified the tigers and could tell us or show us information about their age, number of cub etc (from a book) which made the whole experience more interesting and memorable. It was here that we had our most exhilarating experience when we saw a tiger in the gully next to our vehicle, she wandered along the track with us for a while, even lying down blocking our way for a few moments. It was impossible to lose the huge smiles on our faces. We stayed at Chitvan which was very comfortable, also the restaurant layout of having long group tables, encouraged guests to get to know each other and share experiences.
From there we had a smooth transfer to Cochin, Kerala for the latter part of our holiday. We were taken for a lovely lunch at ‘The Pub’, probably the tastiest meal we had. Then we had a very interesting guided tour of Cochin, though three hours was an hour too long considering we’d had very little sleep, a good meal at lunchtime and the heat sapped our energy. For us a meal in the evening would have been better with a much shorter introduction to the Kath-kali performance.
Our transfer by road to Marari Beach was hair raising but a great way to see the beautiful scenery and more of local life. The stay at Abad Turtle Beach gave us our first chance to really relax before moving on. After the chaos of the roads, the calm relaxing journey on the houseboat was bliss and again it gave us a view of everyday life. We thoroughly enjoyed this experience and highly recommend it. The stay at Lakesong gave us another relaxing day with a short boat ride at the end of the day. We missed the Bird Sanctuary because that was early in the morning before we arrived at the resort. From there, we were driven to Periyar, the later part of the journey being very noisy (as the driver did not change down gear often enough) and winding which unfortunately made Astrid feel travel sick so we didn’t want to have the spice tour (especially as we’ve done several of these in the past). The Tree Top hotel was acceptable but the power did keep tripping off and the shower took a very long time to warm up. We only had the boat ride at Thekkady booked for that afternoon. This was at a lovely lake with some wildlife but the boat was full with over hundred people so viewing was restricted and there wasn’t enough to see to justify us being provided with our own guide. Our stay was for two nights so we had plenty of free time. With hindsight, it would have been an advantage to have a simple map of the area because we could have explored further from the hotel. Our final excursion was the jeep safari which we really enjoyed but for which we were ill prepared. We thought it was a day’s safari in a jeep. After a 2 hour jeep drive we arrived at the Gavi. We were then given the itinerary but didn’t understand what was involved. More prior information would have been appreciated. We nevertheless had a great day, in particular the chance to do some trekking (even though we did not have any walking shoes with us). That brought us to the final stage of our holiday, our return to Cochin for our flight back to Delhi. Again the vibration noise of the vehicle and the windy road made Astrid nauseous; breaks in the journey would perhaps have eased it, possibly a brief stop at one of the spice gardens or just short a walk around one of the towns. Normally a break for lunch would have been good but she had no appetite for food. If there were any Kerala crafts or textile weaving venues enroute we would have loved to visit them; the various fabrics created in India are incredibly beautiful. The transfer to Cochin was only three hours so we needed some event to make something of the day.
At the airport we learnt that our flight was rescheduled to fly not at 18:30 but at 20:55 so having been dropped at the airport before 15:30 we had more than five hours with nothing to do. It appeared most other passengers were aware of the flight time change because they arrived at the airport much later. This all made it a very long, empty day, a waste of our last day.
Putting that aside we had a fantastic holiday with so many highlights creating wonderful memories for which we thank you all very much. You asked if there were any ways to improve our experience so the above is an overview of our experience which include a few ideas.
Very best wishes
David and Astrid Frankl
David and Martine
Good afternoon Sharad,
I just wanted to send you a testimonial with regard to our holiday from 6th April to 19th April.
Firstly, your company’s organisation was excellent and the whole trip went very smoothly. We were also greatly comforted by your prompt communication and the many questions you answered for us. This helped us to relax and really enjoy the experience. Our main aim was to see tigers, which we did in abundance. Both parks were beautiful, and although the tigers were more elusive in Khana, the scenery was stunning and we deeply inhaled the wild jasmine and red, hot earth fragance. It is also where we took our best photos of a tigress that ambled out of the forest, across our jeep, past the spotted deer, straight to her male friend at the watering hole – wow! Bandhavgarh was also memorable, especially seeing the cubs and plenty of elephants, wild dogs and their pups and jackal. It was relaxing and exciting travelling through the forest early in the morning and later in the early evening. We were also delighted with all the accommodation. The Taj lodges were superb, comfortable, exotic, romantic, friendly and considerate of all our needs. We particularly liked The Imperial hotel in New Delhi and our room overlooking the Taj Mahal at Oberoi Amar Vilas was also very special. In Jaipur we enjoyed visiting the sites, the elephant ride and staying at the Samode Havelli, which was incredibly different in design and full of character. The journeys by car and air were also all fluid and comfortable. The staff to meet and greet us and take us around the sites were also great, especially the driver that took us to Agra, Jaipur and back to Delhi – he did a sterling job. Really an excellent holiday and we would certainly recommend your company to others and use it in the future. Thank you very much.
Please see a few phots attached – nowhere near your photos in quality, but at least a lasting memory for us.
Kind regards,
David and Martine Clark
Lauren Bryant
Sharad and Abhishek,
Thank you so much for planning our India trip! We had an incredible time and saw so much wildlife! We really enjoyed everywhere we stayed at and the staff definitely took care of us. Our guides were awesome as well! They were very informative and managed to show us a total of 18 different tigers. We were astounded by the beauty of the tigers and how amazing it was to watch them in their natural habitat. Every part of our trip went according to plan and we are very grateful for the time and effort you spent creating our custom itinerary. We are definitely recommending you to all of our friends! We have attached a few of our favorite pictures.
Thank you,
Lauren and Patrick Bryant
Adam Slama
Hi Sharad,
I hope you’re well.
I am writing to send a massive thank you for our wonderful trip.
Words can not describe how much we all enjoyed our stay in India.
From start to finish everything went exactly as planned as per our itinerary. Each location was extremely beautiful in their own way and exceeded our expectations.
Each guide, driver and staff member we interacted with where so helpful and special in their own way.
In Corbett they were extremely knowledgeable and friendly. In Bandhavgarh, Sanjay was so kind and extremely hard working. He was so personable and made our stay that much better. In Khana the level of professionalism was amazing to witness. Nothing came close to how well run the park was operated and each and every ranger carried themselves so well. Mono our driver and guide was incredible. Watching him work was the equivalent of watching Roger Federer play tennis in his prime. He knew exactly how to track wildlife and do so in a relaxed and stress free manor.
Our guide in Delhi – Raul, was also so knowledgeable. He really set our trip up well giving us a massive insight into India history and culture. I feel without him our trip would have not been the same.
Also in Agra our guide Imran was very helpful and passionate towards the city which was great.
I can not forget our stay in Rishikesh. A very special place I will definitely return to.
My highlight had to be Kanha, closely followed by Corbett. Overall the food, culture and natural beauty came up top!
Your staff where so helpful from start to finish and made us feel very safe and comfortable.
I will be recommending your company to anyone who wants to visit India.
I am already planning my next trip in my head. There are a lot more places I want to visit in India.
Thanks so much for everything.
Kind regards,
Adam
P.s thank you for the book and wine!
Roberto Agnelli
Dear Sanchaita, our journey went very well. Your work was really good. My group was very happy with everything. The organization, the lodges, the drivers and everything else was perfect.
It also made me very happy to meet you personally. I await your new proposals that seem really interesting to me.
I wait for you in Italy
Congratulations on the beautiful dress you wore.
Bye Roberto
Monica Winstanley
Good Morning Sanchaita
We are now recovered from the jetlag and caught up with our holiday washing pile!!
We want to thank you so much for enabling a very very special holiday. One of the best ever. We would not hesitate to recommend you to anybody else looking for a holiday in India.
We particularly loved Chitvan Jungle Lodge and Bandhav Vilas and of course the other accommodation. The staff were very welcoming and the food amazing. The birthday surprises were absolutely fabulous – so memorable.
In summary we saw 13 Tigers, 1 leopard and over 100 birds. The monuments were breathtaking and the flights tiring – but worth it.
A few photos to start with until Ken gets through the other 2950. You are more than welcome to use any of the photos if you wish to with credit to Ken Winstanley. If you would like more photos, then happy to send some.
Kind Regards
Monica Winstanley
Jeff Carrier
Hi Sharad, once again thank you very much for your gift (Autobiography of a Yogi) both Petra and myself will definitely read this book. Well what can I say, was everything you said and so much more and to find a starting point is so difficult. But I will try and go through our experiences step by step and hopefully you will understand what our trip meant to us.
We travelled from England throughout the night however as we were in the 1st class cabin we did sleep for a considerable part of the journey and on arriving at New Delhi we were pleasantly surprised how easy and efficient your immigration service was. Once though the gate to the outside of the Airport we were greeted by your representative Abhishek and driver they were both so friendly and helpful it was just amazing I think at this stage we realised we had chosen an excellent company to achieve our perfect Holiday. I can honestly say your employees and contractors were the most friendly and courteous we have experienced in all of our travels throughout the world. Abhishek sorted our checking explained and gave us all the required paperwork we would need. As you know in the afternoon we had a mini tour of Delhi and decided that we would like to do the Chandni Chowk not in a Rickshaw but by foot again the Guide and the driver were an example of the quality of people involved with your company. We actually ate a meal there in C.C in a little roadside cafe something a few years ago we would never have dreamt of it was the real India that we were so desperate to experience and it was perfect. We were then delivered safe and sound back to our Hotel. In the morning as arranged we were picked up and delivered to the airport and before we knew it we were in the air and off to Jalapur. On arrival we were greeted by your driver who immediately whisked us off to the Bandhavgarh Villas. The journey although quite long was very entertaining as there seemed to be many villages that had Markets on Mondays and the driver would let us know who was selling what so what could have been A very boring car drive was brilliant and entertaining we loved it. And we were delivered safely to our 1st destination. Now I want to skip the Hotel bits and again go on to our journeys so after our stay at the Villas we were picked up on time again by a very smart and courteous driver who pointed out things on the way and eventually we arrived at the Singinawa Jungle Lodge. This was also the case on our journey to Pench and to Nagpur Airport. And on our arrival at Delhi we were greeted and driven to our Hotel by your Charming Representative Abhishek and driver who both went out of there way to help us in checking in and making sure we were safe. So Sharad I can honestly say we have never so impressed with your Reps and Drivers they were absolutely 1st Class please thank them all as they were as close to perfection as you can get.
Banhavarh Villas.
We arrived and were welcomed into this lovely Hotel and given cold towels and a welcome drink. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful and before to long we were being escorted to our room on arrival we were pleasantly surprised it was nice once the young gentleman had gone I looked every where but could not find a safe box and consequently had to store all valuables in one of our locking suitcases. Now this was not a problem but just unusual throughout the world. My wife and I then wanted to shower in preparation for Dinner unfortunately there was hardly no more than a dribble from the shower and very little control over the temperature however we managed. And so onto to Dinner again we were greeted by the staff who throughout our stay were always helpful and friendly the food was exceptional. I asked if I could borrow an iron as My clothes were suffering from the usual case creasing and within a few minutes one was dispatched to our room but no ironing board I was told I could use the desk which I did. I plugged it in and it heated and heated and when I went to iron a very expensive white tee shirt that was immediately burnt and destroyed. So we gave up and just wore creased clothes in the morning we were up and ready to go on our first game drive as we arrived at the Jeep Bejit our driver asked if we had our passports which of course we didn’t have so I ran back to the room and got them not a problem but you would have thought this fact would have been mentioned somewhere along the line. Anyway we had a good drive and breakfast out in the bush. Once back at the Hotel my wife tried the Iron that just did not work and had infact blown up but the Management very Kindly offered to press some items at no charge which was great. After lunch again we were out on another Drive in search of the illusive Tiger. On returning to the Hotel we had a refreshing drink and then back to our room to shower but on entering it was not long before I realised there was no Hot water at all. So my wife and I changed still dirty and dusty and went to dinner we did inform the Management whom I presume dispatched someone but by then it was to late. And the following day I requested Mangeet to phone me as was Far from happy. And unfortunately it was him that got it verbally from me for which I am extremely sorry but there was to many little inconsistencies that blew up and up. Now just to Clarify The Rooms the Hotel the staff the food and service were all really good but building wise it just need updating and at the moment it is not a 4 or 5 star Hotel. But we loved it.
Singinawa Jungle Lodge.
Now Sharad if you told me this was your Hotel I would believe you as it was perfection. Petra and I could fault nothing at all so I won’t go into an in depth description but will review it on TripAdvisor Every thing from Management, Room,Shower was spot on. 5 star every day of the week.
Vannraj Resort.
On arrival we were greeted with cold towels and a refreshing drink that was most welcome. But the first thing that struct us was instead of the staff all with black trousers as in the B.Villas or Singinawa it was tee shirts and jeans etc not a problem but there was no wow factor. Anyway we were shown to our room that was pleasant enough infact I think it was called the Machan Lodge however there was a definite shortage of wardrobe storage infact there was only one cupboard that was situated in the En-suite Bathroom I remember thinking this was a little odd but there you go also in the En-suite there was a 6ft square bath that apparently was never used as it took hours to fill but the shower was good and always plenty of Hot water. At the time we were there a convention of Indian Bankers in residence and when we entered the dining for dinner at 7.30pm we were the only people in this vast room we thought nothing of it and were treated to wonderful meal never the less. When I asked where the other guests were I was told that they eat in a great big party at 8.30pm. So consequently every meal time Petra and I were sat and served alone the food was exceptional but surroundings strange. On the 1st morning as we arrived at reception the Manager asked if we wanted our room cleaned I looked him in astonishment and said it that not what you normally do again very odd. The game drives here were a little different from Banhavarh and Khanna here we would have a different driver on every drive. On 1 drive we were asked if we would mind if an American Lady came with us of course we said no problem I think she was a friend of the Manager she was delightful and we had a great drive and many Tiger sightings. On another drive the Manager himself accompanied us which we thought odd. However this was never a problem just didn’t seem very professional. All in all a pleasant stay but again no way a 4 or 5 star Hotel.
Game Drives and Sightings.
As you said right at the beginning you will see Tigers and we did absolutely brilliant It is hard to grade the three parks however at Banhavarh the jeeps have no speed limits in the parks that we found sometimes led to the poor Tigers being totally harassed by some of the Drivers fortunately Bejit was not one of them. But in Khanna and Pench they had speed limits in the parks that was much more enjoyable and civilised. The only other thing that was so annoying was the VIP,s apparently anyone who may work in a government office or is wealthy can gain special treatment including closing down a road in the park at anytime so they can have a private viewing of a Tiger at a water hole. It was wrong and disgusting that this can happen but then I guess there is corruption every where else in the world so why not here but not good for tourism. Infact I think Petra has the address of the Government office that is responsible for the Parks and is going to write to them.
Conclusion
It was one of the best holidays we have ever had and totally down to Mr Sharad Vats and of course those Magnificent Tigers I can assure you if we should come back to India we will be Emailing you. Many thanks Jeff and Petra.
P.S. Please give my kind regards to Abhishek for all of his help.
Mike Harvey
Hi Sharad,
Sorry it has taken so long to email you – so much to do when we arrived home.
Firstly a huge thanks for all you and your staff did for us to make our trip so memorable. From the first communication and enquiry about the possibilities to the very last day when we flew home I could not have ever imagined service and responsiveness like that we received from you, your staff and everyone at Courtyard House and our driver Arun Yadev in Kanha. It exceeded all of our expectations and the cherry on the top was the special dinner and celebration of Kim’s 60th birthday. Amazing!!! Thanks too for all the extras like the safari hats – much needed in Kanha, – the wine for Kim’s birthday and the beautiful book we received when we left Delhi. I will be recommending your services to anyone contemplating going on a safari like ours. As too the Courtyard House- fantastic service, food, friendly staff – could not have asked for more.
Once again many many thanks for all you did for us.
Very best regards,
Mike
Shogai Kando
Hello Sharad and Abhishek,
It’s Hiroko. I am back to the office from today.
I would like to say thank you very much for everything you’ve done to us for the tiger safari.
We are 100% sartisfied with all services you provided us.
(Safari driver and guides, accommodation and transfer at each park etc..)
And the most important thing is that we had almost 100% chance to see tigers there at each safari
so that I believe everything went well throughout the tour.
And also thank you for your update on Snow Leopard tour.
Actually Tomokazu is out of the office until this weekend, so you should get his reply by next week.
Warmest regards,
Hiroko
Helen M
Namaste Abhishek, from a very sunny Scotland!
I have just returned home having had an absolutely wonderful trip to both Kanha and Bandhavgarh. Everything ran smoothly from start to finish
and I would like to thank you, Sharad and all your staff for making my adventure to visit your beautiful country such a successful and enjoyable one! I was very lucky
to see many beautiful tigers and have two very excellent drivers – Totu in Kanha and Ajeet in Badhavgarh. The accommodation was perfect and the food 1st class, along with the customer service which was simply second to none. I have had the holiday of a lifetime and met many wonderful people.
While in Kanha I was unable to pay by card and Sharad had mentioned to me at one point that any extras there could be settled up with yourselves when I
returned to Delhi, which in actual fact did not happen but I have today transferred 6800 rupees to cover the extras of 6050 at Chitvan and I would be obliged if
the remainder could be given to your very efficient and personable colleague Abhishek who met me on my two arrivals at Delhi and who was so very helpful and charming.
I had no cash on me at the time but I would be grateful if you would pass on this small appreciation from me please.
Once again many, many thanks for everything!
Kind regards
Helen MacMillan
Linda and Elliot Wiesner
Dear Sharad,
Elliot and I would like to send you our heartfelt thanks for everything you and your staff did to make our trip to India a trip of a lifetime. We are extremely grateful to you from my first dealings with you starting with customizing an itinerary for us, through your help in arranging a car to get me to the private hospital and then rearranging our flight when we could no longer get home from New Delhi. Your attention to detail is amazing! From the sheets and towels and snacks in Dhikala (as well as the CASE of water you provided for us!) to the fabulous and competent people you employ: we felt like royalty!
We loved Corbett for the elephants and the landscape and we were also fortunate to have 2 tiger sightings!! I didn’t love Dhikala but it was the best place to stay to see Corbett.
Our favorite lodge was Singawa. The staff (especially Kritti) tended to all our needs and more. We loved the dinner under the stars with linen table cloths and candles. The trip to the Tribal Village was so interesting and the evening dance performance was a great additional touch. I ate sparingly as I know I have a sensitive stomach but Elliot ate and ate and ate very well in all the lodges and he was delighted with the food. The accommodations at Singawa were wonderful too.
Bandanvillas was also nice. The staff was so attentive and friendly. Our villa was lovely too.
But of course, the game drives are why we were there and seeing tigers at each lodge was more than what we could ask for. I also loved seeing the gaurs and the jackals and of course the monkeys and beautiful birds. We are told that we saw a rare sight at Kanha. It was not great to watch but we saw a male spotted deer being literally eaten alive by 4 wild dogs
. Masrul and Ramon were very good in Corbett. Teerat was so nice and was a fine tracker at Kanha. Sanjay really did work very hard to make sure we saw tigers in Bandhavargh and was such a big support when we had to end the game drive to get me some needed medical attention. (by the way I am fine: I am no longer dehydrated and the gastritis is pretty much gone.)
I did use my monopod as well as a gorilla tripod for the far away tigers. I got some nice shots but not like some of the published pictures on Trip Advisor; but I took them and I am happy with them. Elliot took some nice shots of the closer tigers.
If there are any expenses we need to take care of please let me know. I will be writing a wonderful review in Trip Advisor so look out for it.
Just one more thing, the airports now require batteries and power banks to be in carry on luggage and not in your checked bags.
Thanks again for everything. Your travel agency is the best I have ever seen!! I will highly recommend you guys if any of my friends decide to do this type of trip.
Fondly,
Linda and Elliot Wiesner
Doug Stockdale
Good Afternoon Sharad,
Many thanks for this, the wine, cake etc it was much appreciated.
Sadly, I am back home now after a far too short holiday. I will definitely book another with you it’s just a matter of when.
I really enjoyed my Indian Adventure and it’s all down to you and your company many thanks again.
Best Regards
Doug Stockdale
Monica Winstanley
Good Evening Sanchaita from Bandhavgarh.
Just left one amazing place and arrived at another. Thank you so very much for everything. This is turning out to be an amazing trip which is exceeding my expectations.
I enclose a picture taken with my phone of a tigress in Kanha. So far we have seen 5 tigers and one leopard and countless birds. My husband is in 7th heaven.
Kind Regards
Monica
Robin Backhouse
Hi Sharad,
It was all excellent. The guides/naturalists were the best (both in terms of spotting ability and knowledge) I have encountered. Particular thanks to both Sanjays in Bandhavgarh and Kanha, they really made it special and were both receptive to my particular requests. All the hotel staff, drivers etc. were courteous, friendly and efficient.
I’ll be in touch when we are ready to start planning the next trip.
Thanks again,
Robin.
Gail Robinson
Hi Sharad,
I would like to thank you for organising such an amazing tour for us.
I was hesitant to book on line at first but you exceeded my expectations.
We were disappointed to miss out a day in Corbett due to the President’s visit, but that was beyond anyone’s control. We absolutely loved Corbett and would love to go back there again one day. It was unfortunate that we did not see any tigers there but the beauty of the park compensated for it and we did see elephants and a lot of different birds, which was a bonus. Our guide Rehman and driver Ansar were excellent. Rehman was full of knowledge and fun to be with and we had a lot of laughs. The amenities there were quite sufficient and the food was very good, Susan absolutely loved the home cooked recipes.
Thank you for all the extras that you supplied eg sheets, fruit, kettle, knibbles etc. it was much appreciated.
Our stay at Ranthambhore was also very good with the highlight being the tigers. We sighted tigers on the 1st, 3rd and 5th safaris. On the last safari we had a good view of two 3 year old cubs and we also saw a sloth bear. We found the guides and drivers good but they did not give us any information except on our last safari where they were more informative.
We enjoyed our stay at Tiger Den Resort which was very comfortable other than we had problems with the hot water which was eventually sorted out as the pipe was blocked, which was beyond their control. The food and the service were excellent.
The safaris were well organised, Zone 8 was very bad as we only saw an eagle and a few spotted deer as it was so dry. The last safari was booked for Zone 8 again but the gentleman at the Resort changed it to Zone 6 where we had the good viewing of the tigers – which was fantastic.
Vijay was an excellent driver, very polite and obliging, always on time and smartly dressed, we could not have asked for better. Also thanks to Abhishek for his help and all your staff that helped make this trip so memorable.
Our city tours were also very good. We seemed to miss a couple of things on our itinerary eg the walking tour in Chandni Chowk in New Delhi and in Jaipur we didn’t have the opportunity to see the by lanes to look for souvenirs etc. in the evening. Maybe these were not included in the tour or maybe the walking tour was replaced with the rickshaw ride which was fabulous. Still, we have no complaints, we enjoyed all the tours.
This tour has been our best holiday to date, I think due to the personal service, excellent organisation, the highlight being the parks, especially Corbett.
It was definitely a 5 star holiday and I will have no hesitation recommending you to anyone.
Also thank you so much for the book, it was a lovely thought.
Regards,
Gail Robinson
Stephen
Hi Sharad
I just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed my trip and would be happy to recommend you to any friends who are interested in a visit to India.
I was really pleased to be able to see some tigers. Naturally, I would have liked to have seen more considering the number of safaris, but I know it is a question of luck and timing. I liked the fact that all the parks were different with their own characteristics.
Bandhavgarh was a little crowded with jeeps while the safaris in Ranthambore were generally shorter than elsewhere. All the safaris were good except the very last one at Ranthambore. It took one hour and fifty five minutes to get to and from the park entrance, and we only spent two hours and a quarter in the park. The guide was also not very good.
The accommodation was fine. The upgraded room at the Tiger Den in Bandhavgarh was good and I like the ambience of the resort. The room at the Tiger Den in Ranthambore was perhaps not the one you were thinking of as I was in the small quadrant in the rear. Even so, it was very comfortable though the bathroom needed upgrading. Overall. the food and service everywhere was very good.
Many thanks
Stephen
Kate Persons
Hi Sharad,
Just want you to know I had a fabulous time at Kaziranga and Nameri! Pallab was delightful and such an impressive naturalist and birder. And both Wild Grass and the Eco Camp were great. Really couldn’t have been a better experience. Thanks so much for suggesting and arranging this trip. I’ll definitely be in touch when I next come to India.
Thanks, Kate
Serena Varley
Hi Sharad,
I just wanted to drop you a line and say thank you for the safari you organised for me.
I enjoyed both parks thought they were very different.
Also i would like to thank both the drivers Sanjay and the other driver who i can not remenber the name of for getting me up close and personal with the animals and for looking after me while in their care. It made all the difference having people with knowledge and skill such as they do to make the experiance extra special.
Thanks again
Serena
Tomasz
Sharad,
Just to let you know, we had a very nice trip.
Everything was perfect, but we would especially thank Ajju. He was Excellent.
Thank you,
Tomasz
Paul Hilts
Hello Sharad,
We’re finally back home in the USA after three months on the road and the completion of our trip in India. My wife and I would like to thank you and Abhishek for all you did to make our trip so outstanding. Outside of the unpleasant ride from Kanha to Bandhavgarh, we loved every minute of it. The hotels were excellent, the food was great, and our experiences in every park and place we visited were better than we had hoped for. I’m currently in the process of sorting through tons of stuff after being on the road this long and will put together a more complete review of each stop along the way in a future email. However, I wanted you to know sooner, rather than later, how much we enjoyed the trip and to thank you for all you did to make it happen. And, here are a couple of photos from Kanha showing the variety of wildlife we saw there. There will be many more on our website when I have time to post them.
Warm regards,
Paul Hilts
Michael Noonan
I recently traveled with Nature Safari India with a group of nine people, and I can report that every aspect of the experience was perfect. I am a university professor who travels regularly with students on wildlife-focused expeditions. To date, I have led more than one hundred such trips on all seven continents. Yet, even within this context, my recent experience with Nature Safari India (NSI) was exceptional.
In the first place, credit goes to Sharad Vats, the CEO of NSI. Because of his careful listening to our requirements, his wide connections throughout India, and his unparalleled organizational skills, Mr Vats was able to arrange a series of experiences for my group that exactly met our goals. It could not have been better.
In the second place, credit goes to Abhishek Sharma, the senior NSI representative who accompanied our group and who coordinated every detail. He proved to be an incredible multitasker, with an indefatigable positive attitude. To give just one example, mid-way through our three-week experience, two of my students needed some minor medical attention. When this occurred, Mr Sharma coordinated their consultations at a good clinic, while simultaneously addressing their comfort throughout the experience and my concerns as project leader. At the same time, he ensured that an unbroken program of experiences continued for the others in my group. Mr Sharma’s careful attention to the individual needs of each person on that day, and on every other day, was truly outstanding.
In all, my experience with Nature Safari India was one of intuitive communication with me as a client, and smooth synergy with the many service providers that we used. It all worked perfectly
– the hotels, the food, the ground transportation, the wildlife safaris, and the numerous extras experiences associated with my particular program.
To my fellow academics, I offer the strongest possible endorsement of Nature Safari India. They proved to be ideal for my small university group as we pursued our project’s goals. I am also confident that this endorsement would apply equally well to other types of travelers as well. I feel so strongly about this that I invite any reader to contact me directly for more information.
Sincerely,
2018...
Kay Rogers & Cathy Cameron
Namaste Sharad & Abhishek
We are writing to inform you that our visit to Corbett National Park was one of the highlights of our five week visit to India.
Our guide, Rehman, & our driver were terrific! Both are highly professional & knowledgeable & a pleasure to be with. Our driver is also an excellent photographer.
You are welcome to use the attached baby elephant photo.
The other photo is of Rehman, our driver & us.
We highly recommend them to other travellers.
Our trip was from Tuesday January 30th to Friday February 2. We’ve been intending to write you for months & couldn’t let the year end without doing so.
We hope you are enjoying Diwali, Christmas or the festival of lights – whatever you celebrate at this time of year.
Kind regards
Kay Rogers & Cathy Cameron
Two Canadian visitors to India
Devashish & Angela
Dear SharadJi,
We are now back in England, enduring the miserable dark, cold, rainy days.
I write to thank you for arranging a truly memorable holiday for us.
It would be true to say that the whole experience widely exceeded our expectations.
Even the transition between lodges on the last leg was flawless!
As you had predicted, the Treehouse was indeed a fantastic place to stay in.
Without careful planning on your part, I doubt if the trip would have been so magical.
We had 5 major tiger sightings with 5 other less dramatic ones over the 3 parks.
Thank you also for the “Autobiography of a Yogi” which was very thoughtful of you.
I have in my younger years read some of the works of Swami Vivekanada, Ramakrishna and Sri Aurobindo, and it’s a timely reminder to get back to the philosophy of life.
Abhishek briefly asked us about feedback and mentioned photographs.
If detailed feedback would be helpful to you, I would be happy to provide this.
Likewise, we would be delighted to send you photos of tigers and birdlife, if needed.
Once again, may we thank you for a wonderful trip and for helping us reconnect with India.
Best Wishes,
Devashish & Angela
Ben
Hi Sharad,
Has been a wonderful experience thanks. Five tiger sightings and two leopards, along with countless other amazing animals like the sloth bear.
I have a website, so will share the link one uploaded.
Disappointed to be leaving now. Again thanks for organising.
Best,
Ben
Darran, Rosa, Dylan and Owen
Hi Sharad
Hope this email finds you all well and also hope Abhishek is making a good recovery. We are back home and settled in and just wanted to email you to thank you and your team for your efforts to ensure we had a fantastic holiday. It was amazing! Your expertise and guidance ensured that we made the most of our short time in your great country.
Kanha and the Singinawa Lodge
The hotel and staff are unbelievable. The team was so friendly and helpful: it was as if we’ve been friends for a long time before even going there. Food was great. It is the first time we have ever taken photos with the team before leaving 😊
David was incredible, his knowledge of the wildlife and the park was second to none. With his help we had a great first tiger sighting that we will never forget.
Banhavgarth
Again the hotel was very nice with friendly staff and the park did not disappoint for tigers.
Ragu was fantastic and thanks to his expertise we were able to get sightings with very few other people around.
Agra
Our guide Sanjay was great and really friendly. He was able to bring the Red Fort and Taj Mahal “to life”, so that our boys loved sight seeing just as much as they liked looking for tigers in the parks.
Sanjay not only was very knowledgeable and friendly, he picked the best time for us to visit the Taj so that there were very few people around. He also helped us picking some beautiful outfits.
Jim Corbett
What an amazing park! Dhikala was great, way above our expectations. Once again, we loved the food. We managed to see loads of elephants and even a tiger.
The one night at the Riverview Retreat was nice. The catering staff was really friendly, especially the chef was very attentive.
There was only one little mishap in the whole trip: we were unable to do an elephant ride. They have stopped elephant safaris in Dhikala and whether the driver nor the Riverview Retreat knew about the elephant safari.
Drivers
All the drivers were very reliable. They were always on time and we felt save with them.
Especially Raj and Narran really stuck out for us. Both were really friendly.
Other
Thanks also for organising the train trip for us. It was a great experience and it allowed us to see a different side of the country.
Please also pass on our thanks to the Indian travel agency you booked the Agra trip with Sanjay and the drivers from as we have no direct contact for them.
In short, thank you for everything! Next time we plan a trip to India we will definitely be back in contact with you.
(Also thank you for remembering Dylan’s birthday! Your attention to detail makes you really stick out from the crowd.)
Kind Regards,
Darran, Rosa, Dylan and Owen
Shirley Burt
Hi Sharad,
Sorry it has taken me a while to write this to you. Can’t believe it has been 2 weeks since I got back.
I have to thank you for an impeccably planned trip. From the initial pick up at the airport with Abhishek to the last drop off back at the airport every transfer was on time (cars were usually there at least a half hour prior to departure time) and considering the number of transfers from lodges to airports and train station I was very impressed with how smoothly it all went.
In addition to the tiger sightings I saw three sloth bears, and one leopard, (sort of…… somewhat hidden behind a tree), got a head and shoulders shot only.
Bandhavgarh was a great start. Jagat was a very good guide, we had the same car and driver with him every day. After our initial drive (1 of 7) when we didn’t see any tigers, we had 8 sightings over the next 6 drives with 6 different tigers. The lodge was good, and the kitchen staff took great care of us.
Kanha also had some great sightings, even though we had 2 drives that we saw no tigers, the other three drives more than made up for it with 11 sightings of 8 different tigers. I have to give special mention to Naren, who was exceptional, and I think the best guide of the whole trip.
Pench was my favorite lodge, they were outstanding, unfortunately the tiger sightings were not 😔. We only saw one tiger, and that was only visible through binoculars as he or she was in a cave down a hill.
Tadoba had some good sightings too, 12 sightings with 5 different tigers. The naturalist from the lodge was on leave as his father was sick so after the first drive with just the driver and non English speaking Park guide, the lodge manager came on 3 of the drives. he was ok, but not in the same league as either Jagat or Naren. They also messed up my laundry, did not do it, on the last day. I had dropped it off at 5:30 am, and at the end of the day was asking where it was. In the meantime the fuse box somewhere was exploding, looked like fireworks going off, this went on for about 15 mins, which I was told was a normal occurrence. I waited while they were fixing that, the power was out for about 45 mins, then I asked again for my laundry, first they told me it was clean and being ironed. Then they said no they forgot to do it, so I had to wash some things in the shower that night, and take the rest with me to Ranthambore,
Ranthambore was also good, liked the lodge there too, again service was very good, and had 10 tiger sightings with 5 different tigers. I did buy an extra seat on each drive as I didn’t want to be stuck with too many people in the seat row. The only thing I would have liked you to do differently would have been to tell me that exclusive safaris were an option there, as they were quite late picking me up on two occasions, it may have been too expensive but I would have liked to have th opportunity to make that decision.
Taj Mahal was certainly a lot of driving but happy you were able to arrange that at the end and again went very smoothly.
If I ever come back for another tiger trip I wouldn’t hesitate to contact you to arrange it and if anyone asks me about a company that organizes tiger trips I would recommend you.
I have a link to a small selection of all photos I took below, not sure they are in the same ballpark for quality as yours, but I was happy with them!
Photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bb5f08mepm5ikv2/AACqJko0ZAEEtZkezTGmLpI_a?dl=0
Thank you for everything,
Shirley Burt
Michelle Jenkins
Hi Sharad
Just wanted to say thank you so much for organising such a wonderful holiday for us. Everything ran so smoothly and we could not have been happier with the accommodation and tours that we did. Thank you also for you gift, it was such a lovely thought!
We will have no hesitation in recommending your company to our family and friends.
Regards
Michelle Jenkins
Heidi Murdy
Sharad,
Thank you for planning such a wonderful trip for me to Ranthambhore. Everything went just as planned and very smoothly. Everyone was kind and helpful, especially the representatives in New Delhi and Sawai Madhopur, who saw me to and from the train. I can’t think of a better way to have seen the tigers and other animals of India.
Thanks again for your kindness and patience and good work.
Heidi
Chris & Lyn Roberts
Hi Sharad
Having arrived home from India yesterday, I just wanted to say a big thank you for organising our wonderful safaris in Bandhavgarh & Kanha.
Our accommodation at both Tigers Den & Singinawa Lodge was very comfortable with wonderful service from all the staff.
The guides we had for our game drives were extremely professional, very well informed & lots of fun.
We were lucky enough to see lots of tigers at both Parks & also plenty of other animals & birds.
The flights & car trips were stress free & the drivers were careful & polite.
I would not hesitate to recommend you & your company if any of my friends decide to come to India for the wildlife.
Regards & many thanks,
Lyn Roberts
(travelling with Janet Myers)
Janet Myers
Sharad and Abhishek
What a wonderful time we had on safari, we will recommend to everyone Bandhavgarh, such an interesting landscape. Raghu? our naturalist was a special person. Quiet, unassuming, humble, excellent guide, we enjoyed our days with him. Had 2 very close encounters with tigers. One a male and female having conversations and play and sleeping together. We watched for 45 minutes. Then another drive we found mother and daughter (perhaps) lying by the road. Mum was v noisy, she snarled and made lots of actions. Amazing to think it was all of 10m away. Of course we saw lots of other wildlife including a sloth beer which is not slow! We visited the caves and Vishnu, special to be there without anyone else!Tigers Den Resort was enjoyable, the staff v attentive.
And on to Kanha which was special. From the staff, to the place itself. Food v v good Our guide Rashek knew everything! We saw lots of tigers and cubs close up, learnt a lot about many many birds, enjoyed the languor monkeys, saw a mongoose attacking a snake I think the only animal not seen was the leopard Thank you for our arrangements, it all went v well. I hope my family and friends will visit the tiger parks one day Kind regards Janet
Göran Ferm
Dear Sharad,
Dear Abhishek,
Sorry not to have written earlier, but I was struck by the flu arriving back home and have been a bit ”out of shape”.
My wife, Birgitta, wrote a brief comment on Facebook, but I want to give my personal thanks and feedback as well.
And yes, we saw seven tigers, five in Banhavgarh, one in each Kanha and Pench. Female, male and almost grown-up cubs.
These are very, very impressive cats and they will stay in my mind forever. Especially when in natural setting!
We also saw the jungle cat, jackals, deers and the impressive gaur.
And, of course, a lot of birds. But I am not an ornithologist, I just enjoy them but know nothing.
So we are very happy about the safaris, 14 in all.
As for Your arrangements there is only one word: Impeccable!
Pick-ups, transfers and accomodations were excellent.
Your staff involved is very good. But I feel sorry for Your friend who helped us at the airport when going to Trivandrum. SpiceJet cancelled the flight with short notice and he helped us to get a new flight. We never thanked him properly and I hope You will pass on our special thanks to him. We would have been lost without him.
The Tiger’s Den, Tuli Resort Kanha and Tuli Corridor Pench are very nice places to stay. Clean and spacious rooms, nice food and very friendly and obliging staff. We enjoyed, in full, staying there.
(But, Tuli Corridor Pench should consider investing in new vehicles?)
The naturalists, Raghu, Pramod and Aman (Amen?) were all very knowledeable and learned us a lot about nature and the animals Mr Raghu was outstanding! Please send him our warmest regards.
We have seen Your fantastic pictures on the web, and we can not compete with them but we had a few nice ones ourselves (JPEG, not raw). Two will be enclosed. If You are interested, we can mail another 6 to 8 for You to study.
I assume You work in Photoshop.
You may use this text and/or pictures as You see fit.
Thank You All!!
Goran
2017...
Erich Berchtold
Dear Sharad
We have safely arrived back in Switzerland from our trip to India, that your company organized for us.
I would like to take the time to thank you for this wonderful vacation you made possible for us. Everything was organized so well that we had an unforgettable and extremely enjoyable journey.
All the hotels were perfect and so were our guides (we even saw a group of tigers!) and drivers, especially Viijee (?). He was such a reliable and pleasant companion, we couldn’t have had a better driver! Please let them all know how much their presence meant to us.
We will always fondly remember our trip to India and how well you represented your country for us.
Again, many thanks to you!
Sincerely,
Erich Berchtold
Adriana Lezama
Dear Sharad,
I had the best time trekking and searching for Snow Leopards. SO thrilling. I was very pleased with the staff. They made sure that we were able to make the best use of our time there.
The Tiger trip was also so thrilling and the guides in both trips were so knowledgeable.
Truly a life time experience.
Best Wishes
Adrianna
Bonnie Ranen
Dear Sharad and Abhishek,
We literally can not thank you enough for our phenomenal tiger safari experiences!!!
First of all, everything that was planned was carried out perfectly from our arrival till our departure with all the many complicated travels in between.
We left the hotels, especially Tiger’s Den in Bandhavgar and of course Chitvan Lodge in Kanha, feeling that we were leaving friends who had invited
us into their homes as the most hospitable of hosts…
Beyond all the original well thought out plans and the caring way each stage was carried out, was the truly heart-warming assistance we received at Chitvan
for our friend, Gila, who insisted on carrying out this trip in spite of very serious pre-existing health issues which unfortunately led her and her husband
to shorten their trip by a few days and return home for further medical treatment. Your attention to details were only surpassed by the warmth and sensitivity shown
to us by all. You left a wonderful and lasting impression which we will never forget.
Pench was also interesting and the hotel and grounds were very luxurious but not as personal or special as the other 2 resorts. We also had less luck with sightings in comparison with the first 2 places. In all, in 10 days of safaris in the 3 reserves, we saw 21 tigers, some through binoculars but others right next to our jeep…!!!!
Patricia Summermatter
Dear Sharad
We had the chance to visit India trough your great travel agency. The organization was just incredible.
You can leave your head at home and enjoy 100% your vacation. From A to Z was arranged and worked like a Swiss clock.
From the moment you arrive at the airport until you take the plane back home, you are assisted and guided with Indian welcome smile, extreme punctuality and high professionalism. We can just said that we were spoiled and we are looking forward to travel again with you
Best regards
Patricia and Lukas
Ben Raiser & Michelle Kramarczuk
Good Morning Sharad,
I just wanted to send you an email to say thank you for what I can honestly say was the best holiday and most amazing experience that I have ever had.
Such an amazing place India, and I know that our experience would not have been such a good one if it had not have been for the amazing work put in by you and your team along every step of the way.
I can honestly say that not one thing went wrong for the entire trip and I was very surprised and humbled at the level of professionalism, courtesy and finite level of detail that was put into every aspect of our journey – you definitely have some of the most amazing people working for you at Tiger Safari India.
We were able to achieve our main goal of seeing a beautiful tiger in the wild (we actually saw 10 in total and all were absolutely stunning) as well as experience the cultural history and significance that India has to offer – all thanks to your fantastic drivers and guides.
Additionally, I was able to take thousands (literally!!) of amazing photos which I will keep and cherish as amazing memories of our trip there.
Expect to hear from me again soon as I am already planning another, and longer trip to experience more of what India has to offer and would be honoured to plan this second Indian adventure through your company.
Please pass my deepest most heartfelt thank you on to not only yourself, but the rest of your amazing team.
Additionally, thank you for your gift at the end of the journey – it was extremely unexpected and a great surprise to receive such a lovely present to end our adventures.
It was also extremely nice to meet you in person at Tiger’s Den in Bandhavgarh.
Further more from Michelle:
A huge thank you for a wonderful holiday. Everything was beautifully organised, down to the very small details, it was definitely the adventure of a lifetime and one that I won’t forget, I will be back for sure! Just to add to what Ben has said I would like to say a huge thank you for organising the birthday dinner for Ben at Ranthambhore, it was great and the guys there put in so much effort and the cake topped it all off, so a really big thank you for organising that for me.
Thank you again Sharad – I will be in touch again soon 🙂
Warmest and best regards,
Ben Raiser
Michelle Kramarczuk
Rocco & Nell
Dear Sharad,
Following on Lilian’s feedback, we would like to express our thanks for the role you played in arranging our wonderful holiday in India.
We had a great time and are delighted to have finally seen tigers in the wild and the majestic Taj Mahal – a dream fulfilled!
Also a very sincere thank you for the gift – such a kind gesture and much appreciated. We shall enjoy reading the book and you beautiful tiger photographs will be block-mounted as a reminder of our great Indian adventure.
Please also convey our thanks to Maanjeet for taking care of us so well and overseeing each stage of the trip – it gave us great peace of mind!
With thanks and very best wishes to you and your team.
Warm regards,
Rocco & Nell
Neil
Dear Sharad , A huge thank you to you and your staff for organising such a wonderful trip for Nick and I, as soon as we were greeted by Harmeet with the biggest warmest smile I knew we were going to have a great time. We must give a special mention to Ramesh , he looked after us really well and is a really helpful friendly chap. The staff at the places we stayed were all excellent , Dinesh , our guide at Chambal was especially good , he never stopped showing us great wildlife . As for Sunil , well all I can say about him is that he found us Black Bittern !. More seriously though it was a pleasure to be in his company and he is a great Birder and found us some great birds , it really was a highlight spending time with him. With regards to our itinerary we found it perfect , the varied places we went to really made it . All our accommodation was excellent and would recommend them highly. Although every place we went to was fantastic it was just a dream come true for me to visit Ranthambore , every time we went into the park it felt special . Nick and I both agree that the trip could not have been better and there was not even the smallest thing that could have been improved. Please find below our sightings
Sambar , Chital , Nilgai , Chinkara, Wild Boar, Fruit Bat , Indian Hare , 5 Striped Palm Squirrel , Macaque , Langur, Ruddy Mongoose x9 , Ganges River Dolphin (3 sightings ), Common Palm Civet x2, Jackal , Jungle Cat (Chambal ), Leopard x2 , Tiger ( 1 male,2 females and 1 female with 3 six month old cubs), Gharial and Mugger
We saw 180 bird species with the highlights being Sarus Crane , Skimmer , River and white tailed lapwing, Brown Capped Pygmy and Yellow Crowned Woodpecker, Black Necked Stork , Dusky Eagle and Brown Fish Owl, 9 species of Eagle and Black Bittern
As you can see we did quite well , especially with the Tigers , something I have dreamed of seeing for years and our sightings could not have been better !.We would not hesitate to book with Nature Safaris , indeed our only problem would be where !. Thankyou again and I hope to be in touch soon for our next trip , Neil.
Richard Cooper
Dear Sharad, the holiday is over.
We had a wonderful time.
Don’t change anything.
Veejay, our driver, deserves a special mention. He was so good and must be one of your most valued employees.
The guide, Sunil Gaur, at Keoladeo National Park was excellent.
We bagged one leopard, four tigers and one bear. Birds too many to mention.
Thankyou for the large tiger photos that Abhishek passed on to me. Fortunate because our camera fizzled on the third day.
Cheers
Richard
Mary O’Donnell
Thank you, Sharad, Abhishek and Vijay for giving me two extraordinary adventures of a lifetime.
The travel urge grabbed me when I was a teenager and my father, post WW11,in a grey and weary England said that we were going to Guernsey in the Channel Islands for a holiday. We had a wonderful time and my world became a big mystery to be explored and savoured. Travel became a passion both as a volunteer or a curious passenger or both.
In 2009, surfing the web, looking for something new, different, and tiger based,Nature Safari India popped up. Included was a beautiful article about a tiger spotted in Kanha in the early dawn, written and photographed by Sharad Vats. I was immediately hooked. I phoned the company, Sharad answered, I bombarded him with a torrent of questions, he suggested possible itineraries , said he would put one together and
e-mail it to me.
It arrived the following day. It was detailed, thorough, comprehensive , had many inclusions included in the cost and became the blue print for what was to become a 24 day adventure which included 4 National Parks, Corbett ( India’s first Park) Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, Bandhavgarh, and Kanha plus the cities of New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra and Khajuraho. The main focus was wildlife.
Several months were spent in working out the details, a good friend was persuaded to join me, visas were granted, vaccines administered, books read, deposits sent and we were ready, more or less.
We were to find an enormous country of multiple contrasts , traffic jams that defy the imagination and a small group of men who were determined that we would have a great experience-Sharad, Abhishek Sharma, Nature Safari’s wonderful manager who took everything in his stride no matter the time of day or night, and Vijay, our driver who took his task seriously, drove the immaculate SUV well and reminded us that, if we needed anything he was there for us. Vijay became a valued friend.
We were to see many fantastic birds, a herd of wild elephants, several species of deer and monkeys wild boar, reptiles , many other creatures and, of course..Tigers!
The cities were amazing, every school youngster who saw us , surrounded us, tried out their English, took our photographs, shook our hands and gave us an unexpected and joyful experience. Gorgeous as the Taj is the human interaction was very powerful.
We left India with remarkable memories which still give us a lot of pleasure and quite a few laughs.
Fast forward to 2016.
One more adventure in a long life beckoned-as did India.
My beloved husband Guy no longer flies long distances so I asked niece Caroline if she would join me. Caroline lives in Ireland, works hard with her own company and could only leave it for 2 weeks.
Sharad was contacted, an itinerary agreed upon with input from all of us. It was city based, beginning in New Delhi and included Jaipur, Ranthambhore for a 2 day safari, Agra, Varanasi and finishing in the hill city of Darjeeling-the last item on my bucket list!
Our departure date was October 21st. then-life happened. On October 17th Guy had a heart attack in the middle of the night. He, by some wonderful miracle, received almost immediate intervention, and not only survived but is doing well. What to do about our trip?
Sharad was called. He was compassionate, calm , reassuring and said that anytime we wished to reschedule we could. We did have some monetary losses but we did make the trip in late November. A welcoming Abhishek met me at 3AM and Caroline the following night at 4 AM. We were both very glad to see him as can be imagined.
Sharad had already emailed to say that there was an international phone waiting so that there could be as much contact with Guy and our family and friends as possible. This was a gift beyond price and we are forever grateful.
We were delighted to have Vijay as our driver, the hotels were good and well situated, breakfast was included and Ranthambhore included all meals and 4 safari drives with driver and guide. There were many other inclusions including representatives at airports and hotels, entrance fees for monuments , historical buildings,the crazy rickshaw drive in Old Delhi, Mahatma Ghandi’s home and tomb, the Toy Train in Darjeeling, car , driver and guide plus others.
I was stricken with a severe upper respiratory infection in Agra. A doctor was immediately called to the hotel, who examined, administered and said “bed rest”.
Caroline saw more of Agra than anticipated but took that in her stride.
Darjeeling was an enormous change from the flatter and warmer climates of the North. We saw everest from the plane, visited Observatory Hill at dawn and witnessed a great sunrise, stayed at the Cedar Inn with its stunning views of mountains and sprawling Darjeeling spreading out below us-it was magical!
I wrote this because I feel that this company not only gives value for money but are reliable, available, have great integrity,are instantly responsive if the unexpected happens, take pride and care in what they offer and love what they do. They all know and understand the environment of the forests and the need to nurture and encourage the use of natural resources.
If anyone reading this would like more information please contact me at [email protected]
My very best wishes,
Mary O’Donnell
