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India's Satpura National Park: A Naturetrek Wildlife Festival
Tour Code: IND57A 10-day holiday with exclusive use of our favourite wildlife lodge in India, the luxurious Reni Pani Jungle Lodge, focusing on the fabulous birds and mammals of Satpura National Park.
£3,995 (Inc flights)
£3,495
Highlights
Tour Itinerary and Reports
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Summary
Satpura National Park is one of the most spectacular and rewarding of India's Tiger Reserves. It is little-known and attracts relatively few visitors, having only two (excellent) tourist lodges. Mammalian highlights during a visit to Satpura are likely to include Leopard, Sloth Bear, Gaur, Dhole (Asian Wild Dog) and Indian Giant Squirrel, while birds such as Indian Skimmer, Bar-headed Goose, Grey Junglefowl, both Red and Painted Spurfowl, hornbills, babblers and bee-eaters are among its avian specialities. As well as traditional jeep safaris in Satpura, walking safaris are permitted in designated areas of the park, and you can explore the shores and inlets of Tawa Reservoir by boat or canoe. We stay in a superb wildlife eco-lodge during our visit to Satpura and for those who wish to stay longer and go in search of Tigers we recommend an extension to Bori Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Stay in luxury lodge within central India’s most scenic & peaceful Tiger Reserve
- Leopard, Sloth Bear, Asian Wild Dog, Gaur & Indian Giant Squirrel
- Sambar, Chital, Blackbuck, Rhesus Macaque, Mouse Deer, Nilgai & Chousingha
- Birds include Tawny-bellied Babbler, Blue-bearded Bee-eater & Malabar Pied Hornbill
- Explore on foot & by canoe
- Visit the 10,000-year-old rocks at Bhimbetka
- Led by expert local guides
- Optional extension to Bori Wildlife Sanctuary for Tiger-watching recommended
Grading
This is a wildlife tour that includes walking safaris, canoe and jeep safaris.
Our regular ‘Wildlife Festivals’ (one-off departures, where we take exclusive use of a hotel in a special location and invite a larger group of clients and leaders than usual) have proved extremely popular over the years. For our next one, in February 2025, we are delighted to have secured exclusive use of one of our favourite wildlife lodges in India, Reni Pani Jungle Lodge. From this luxurious base, situated in peaceful buffer zone forest, we will explore Satpura National Park — the most scenic and tranquil of central India’s Tiger Reserves (and our favourite!) — and enjoy its fabulous variety of birds and mammals.
This special holiday will follow a similar format to our highly successful previous Wildlife Festivals in the French Pyrenees (2022 & 2016), India’s Satpura National Park (2019), Italian Dolomites (2018), Antarctica (2016), Ecuador (2013), Nepal (2011) and Spitsbergen (2006). Central to the success of all these gatherings have been the same key components: the camaraderie of a group of like-minded enthusiasts; specially chosen accommodation which is friendly and welcoming; outstanding wildlife and a mouth-watering and varied programme of wildlife excursions laid on each day, each led by an expert Naturetrek leader or local naturalist guide (or both), from which you can choose, to suit your particular tastes and interests, on a daily basis. Good food, a well-stocked bar, and an exchange of wildlife stories will complete each day’s activities — the friendships forged as memorable as the wildlife seen. It is hardly surprising that the Naturetrek Wildlife Festival format has proved a popular one.
The tour includes six nights in Reni Pani Jungle Lodge, situated just outside Satpura National Park. We will take exclusive occupancy of the lodge’s 12 twin-bedded cottages and four deluxe 'tented rooms', and every day our party of 30-strong will be able to choose from a wide variety of morning and afternoon/evening excursions — each one expertly guided by naturalists from both our complement of expert Naturetrek leaders present as well as from Reni Pani’s superb team of naturalist guides. Amongst them will be our friend, Aly Rashid, a passionate naturalist and conservationist from the local royal family who both built, and owns, Reni Pani and has had a lifelong association with Satpura.
Excursions will include jeep safaris into the national park, walking safaris inside the park, boat trips on the waterways at its edge, local village visits and night-time spotlighting safaris. We will also take wildlife walks and safaris amongst the 30 acres of forest, meadows, ravines and waterholes that comprise the lodge’s grounds, as well as in the wider forest expanses of the surrounding buffer zone. There will also be time to relax, to cool off in Reni Pani’s delightful swimming pool, and enjoy al fresco dining beneath the stars and in the flickering oil lamps of the terrace.
We have chosen India on this occasion because in no other country do we have more experience. It was in India that our co-founder and Chairman, David Mills, spent many years prior to founding Naturetrek. Not surprisingly, it then became the very first destination to which we operated a Naturetrek wildlife holiday back in 1987 (read more here!). From that time on, we have sent more wildlife groups to India than almost any other country and we have run multiple tours there in every one of our 38 years since, more than any other wildlife tour operator. Finally, it was in India — in Kashmir, to be precise — that Rajan Jolly, our much-loved Naturetrek India specialist, was born, educated and first cut his teeth in the travel industry prior to spending his last 24 years with Naturetrek.
So, why Satpura? Well, it’s our favourite central Indian National Park and Tiger Reserve. Yet, surprisingly, Tigers are difficult to see here... and that’s why we love it! This fact means that, for starters, Satpura is not inundated with noisy Tiger-tourists. Far from it, just 12 jeeps are permitted to enter the park at a time. And while Satpura’s Tigers are not habituated as they are in other parks, and therefore difficult to see (though we have been successful in the past), Satpura does offer a rich variety of other mammals. Nowhere else are Gaur (Asian Bison), Sloth Bear and the elusive Asian Wild Dog as easily seen. These species, together with Indian Giant Squirrel and Leopard (which is relatively common here) make up Satpura’s ‘big five’. Additionally, Sambar, Chital, Nilgai, Blackbuck, Wild Boar, Rhesus Macaque, Common Langur and Marsh Mugger Crocodile may also be seen, and perhaps even the elusive Chousingha and nocturnal Rusty-spotted Cat. The park’s fine forests and wetlands also hold a diverse and colourful birdlife — Indian Skimmer, Bar-headed Goose, Grey Junglefowl, Red and Painted Spurfowl and a wealth of raptors, hornbills, babblers and bee-eaters being amongst the highlights.
Satpura is also central India’s most scenic national park, with a fabulous landscape of hills, forests, rocky outcrops, gorges, wide waterways and little streams. Concealed within it lie the ruins of ancient temples and Stone Age rock paintings — tantalising testimony to the thousands of years of human occupation of these jungles. Best of all, and unlike any other Tiger Reserve in India, are the multiple ways in which we are able to explore Satpura. Thus, each day, we will be offering you a choice of walks, jeep safaris, boat trips, village visits and night-time spotlighting drives. So, we do hope that, in February 2025, you will join us for this special 10-day Naturetrek Wildlife Festival.
Finally, if you would like to extend your holiday, we are offering a wealth of options — amongst them a 5-day pre-tour extension to Ladakh in search of Snow Leopard, and a 4-day post-tour extension to Bori Wildlife Sanctuary, where Tiger sightings are increasing and more obliging than in tranquil Satpura. A combination of two parks really will offer the best of India’s wildlife!
Outline Itinerary
What's Included?
- Flights
- Accommodation:
A luxury, historic 'palace hotel' in Bhopal, and a fabulous wildlife lodge in Satpura. All rooms have private facilities.
- Food:
All meals are included in our price.
Dates & Prices
2025
Tour Leader: Tom Mabbett
Tom has been fascinated by wildlife since childhood and it was at primary school that he set about learning all the British bird species and has been enjoying finding, watching and learning about them ever since. After completing a degree in Biology at Exeter University, Tom travelled extensively around the world in search of wildlife which included a lot of SCUBA diving and special encounters with Whale Sharks, Bull Sharks, Manta Rays and too many birds and mammals to mention!
After working for an environmental charity and at the fantastic WWT Slimbridge reserve as grounds warden, Tom was delighted to join the Naturetrek operations team in March 2013. Since then Tom has enjoyed leading over 50 tours around the world, while also managing the operations of a range of holidays. Whether it is finding Hawfinch in the Forest of Dean, Wallcreepers in the Pyrenees or searching for Jaguars in the Pantanal, any time spent in the field, finding and showing people wildlife is regarded as a real privilege and thrill. The tours Tom has led and manage are varied and range from weekends to the Forest of Dean and Somerset Levels to the wilds of Ardnamurchan in Scotland along with various birding and butterfly focussed European tours in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Albania and Macedonia with dedicated mammal-watching tours in Poland, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden. Big Cats are also a passion and Tom has spent time in the Brazilian Pantanal searching for Jaguars, India tracking Tigers, Chile for Pumas and Borneo in search of Clouded Leopard as well as exploring Guyana’s fabulous rainforests.
In Tom’s spare time he is happiest out in the field on his local patches around the Cotswolds in his home county of Gloucestershire. Tom is lucky to have an area of land he manages as a small nature reserve and a lot of Tom’s time is now spent trying to inspire his children Max and Harry to enjoy the outdoors and our wildlife.
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The majority of our wildlife tours focus primarily on birds, allowing us to offer a huge choice of bird holidays. On most of our birdwatching tours we aim to see a wide variety of species, while taking time to enjoy other wildlife as well as cultural highlights and architecture.
Naturetrek Birdwatching Tours
We have one of the largest selections of professionally organised, small group birdwatching holidays around the world and all of our birdwatching tours are accompanied by at least one professional ornithologist leader with detailed knowledge of the area.
The majority of our bird tours have a relaxed, flexible approach which allows more time for photography, detailed wildlife exploration, leisure time and the region’s people, culture, history and architecture, while allowing the group to see a wide range of bird species.
Here is a small selection of our many bird holidays:
- Southern Morocco – an exploration of the birdlife in Morocco’s southern deserts, oases and mountains
- The Camargue in Spring – a short break to enjoy the spring birds of the Rhône Delta and Camargue wetland
- Wallcreepers & Cranes in Northern Spain – a 2-centre holiday focusing on Lammergeier, Wallcreepers, raptors, Cranes, bustards, sandgrouse and more!
- Madeira & Desertas Islands – A Seabird Extravaganza! – a short break focusing on special breeding seabirds, including a night on the remote Destertas Islands
- Peru – Macaws & Machu Picchu – searches for boobies, macaws and Inca Terns
- Spain & Morocco: Birding on Two Continents! – watch the spectacular spring bird migration from both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar
Our Bargain Birdwatching Selection
Our Bargain Bird Tours are intensive birdwatching holidays suitable for the serious birder. They are led by expert English-speaking local guides (and not accompanied from the UK by a tour leader). You can expect a higher-paced tour and to spend long hours in the field.
Our specialist recommends...
Byron Palacios - Tour Leader
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Mammal Watching Holidays
Many of the world’s mammals are instantly recognisable to us. Animals such as Lions, Tigers, elephants and bears capture our imaginations from an early age. At Naturetrek, we take great pleasure and pride in helping people to fulfil their lifelong dreams of seeing these iconic species in the wild. We also enjoy introducing our clients to some of the world’s more unusual mammals, many of which are just as fascinating.
Naturetrek Mammal Watching Tours
Many of our tours have a primary focus on mammals and we offer the widest choices of mammal-watching holidays across the globe, from the poles to the tropics. Our holidays are guided by at least one professional naturalist tour leader and usually benefit from additional guiding by expert local naturalist guides. We have holidays to see an incredible range of the world’s most sought-after mammals, such as orangutans, lemurs, bats, polar mammals, big cats, and mammals of the African savannah. A significant number of tours also targets some of the planet’s more unusual and elusive species, from pottos and pangolins to slender lorises and obscure cetaceans.
Here’s a selection of our mammal tours:
- India’s Kanha and Pench Tiger Reserves
- A cruise to Spitsbergen in search of Polar Bears
- A chance to see the ‘Big Five’ and much more in South Africa’s Kruger National Park
- Search for Blue, Fin and Sperm Whales in the Azores
- Close-up views of Brown Bear and Wolverine in Finland
- Enjoy the mammals of Kenya’s Masai Mara, while staying in luxury camps
- Search for elusive nocturnal mammals, such as Aardvark, Black-footed Cat and Aardwolf, in the Kalahari Desert
Bargain mammal selection
We offer a range of action-packed bargain holidays for the dedicated mammal enthusiast, which are exceptional value for money, from Belize to Zambia.
Our specialist recommends...
Paul Stanbury - Operations Manager
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Why Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!
