India is home to many national parks and within these a fantastic array of wildlife, much of it unique. Learn about the best parks to visit, the best accommodation options plus the wildlife you will see.
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Indian Subcontinent
Elephants in Nagarhole National Park
Stephen is an Audley specialist who found the early drive worth getting out of bed for when he came face-to-face with one of the world’s most impressive animals in one of India’s national parks.
At a light knock on the door I opened my eyes to find it was still dark. As I looked at a clock that told me it was not yet 5am, there was another knock and I realised that this was the alarm call for my first day in India’s national parks. Opening the door, I found a tired but smiling young man carrying hot tea, biscuits and the news that the jeep would be ready in one hour. This is all very civilised for the centre of India, I thought, though I later realised that this is the norm for this area. Woken up by breakfast and a hot shower, I was soon champing at the bit for a day of adventure.
After a 20-minute drive I found myself inside the most beautiful national park I have ever seen, wide mouthed in admiration at its jungles, mountains and meadows. As I nestled under warming blankets while we meandered along the endless miles of pathways, my naturalist explained how he tracks tigers and what he needs to look out for. Just as I was admiring the beautiful white-spotted deer, the jeep stopped and the driver pointed to the ground, whispering ‘pug mark’ - the footprint of a tigress. Apparently these were fresh and the tiger was close by, so we slowly followed the pug marks until they disappeared into the thick of the forest 20 metres down the road.
After sitting and waiting for a few minutes the naturalist told the driver to drive on, and for the next hour or so we wandered through the jungle, spotting many deer and a myriad of birds before finding a nice clearing surrounded by hills for a welcome breakfast of tea and coffee, eggs, toast and potatoes. This is exactly what I needed, and soon I was ready to get back on the road and find my tiger.
Back in the jungle I started to understand a little of what the naturalist was doing. He constantly cocked his head, listening to every sound with his eyes zipping around looking for movements. Occasionally he even sniffed the air and mumbled directions to the driver, and I started to realise that he really knew what he was doing. Sure enough, he soon spotted more pug marks - this time male, though they looked the same to me - and we slowly began to track them. Hearing something that sounded like a dog in the background, he explained that this was a barking deer and that a tiger was close by, a conclusion with which the langur monkeys in the branches overhead agreed, jumping from tree to tree and giving the alarm call. The naturalist whispered that we were really close, and my heart jumped to my mouth - was I about to spot my first ever wild tiger? Better get the camera ready just in case... all of a sudden, not 20 feet away, appeared the most beautiful creature you could ever possibly see.
He looked at us with suspicion in his eyes, but after a few seconds decided that we were no threat to his kingdom, just those strange creatures on wheels. He slowly wandered towards us with an arrogant lope, and sidled up towards the jeep. Suddenly he stopped and looked right into my eyes, freezing me in his glare and sending my heart racing faster than I had ever felt it beat before. Then he resumed his patrol along the path, but just before he disappeared into the jungle again he looked around at us as if to say goodbye.
For a moment nobody said a word, and I just stared at the path where this beautiful cat had just been. Beaming proudly, the naturalist explained that I had just seen a three-year-old male who was becoming the dominant male of the forest, though he hadn’t seen him for a few weeks. The sound of my camera turning itself off startled me, and I realised that in all the excitement I hadn’t taken a single photograph.
The morning’s objective accomplished, my naturalist suggested we head back to the lodge as it was already 10:30 am. As soon as I heard this I realised just how amazing the morning had been. Time had no meaning in this place, and had simply flown by. We were in the presence of this incredible creature for only a few minutes, but with the pure exhilaration it felt like only a second.
Everything I had heard from friends about seeing tigers paled in comparison to actually seeing the real thing, and I was already addicted. I couldn’t wait for the next game drive - roll on 5am and my early morning cup of tea.