Duration: 13 nights/14 days
Places to Visit: Kolkata - Kaziranga -
Kolkata - Kathmandu - Chitwan - Kathmandu -
Delhi - Kanha - Bandhavgarh - Delhi
Day 1 : Depart UK Today depart London
Heathrow on the overnight flight to Kolkata,
flying with British Airways.
Day 2 : Kolkata (Calcutta)
On
arrival you will be met and transferred to the
Park Hotel, where you spend 1-night on a bed
and breakfast basis. In the afternoon you will
enjoy an escorted sightseeing tour of one of
India’s most fascinating cities.
Days 3 to 5 : Kaziranga National Park
This morning you are transferred to Calcutta
airport in time for your flight to Guwahati,
the capital of Assam. You are met on arrival
at Guwahati and transferred by road to
Kaziranga National Park, arriving in time for
that afternoon’s game activities. Kaziranga
National Park, set on the banks of the mighty
Brahamaputra River, is the finest place to
view Indian Greater One Horned Rhinoceros in
the whole of the sub-continent. With nearly
80% of the world’s population resident, the
park has been recognised as a World Heritage
site. In addition to fantastic rhino viewing
the park is also home to large herds of
elephant and wild buffalo. Tigers can also be
found but are rarely seen in the long grass.
You will spend the next 3-nights here staying
at the Wild Grass Lodge. Your stay here is on
a full board basis including jungle
activities. Most importantly you will take 3
elephants rides into the park offering you the
best chances for close up viewing of the
rhinos. The Wild Grass Lodge is situated by a
stream in the paddy fields and forest outside
Kaziranga National Park area. Built in an
attractive rural style kind of architecture,
the resort's surrounding ground is covered
with more than 40 species of trees over 200
species of shrubs, creepers and climbers. Wild
Grass Jungle Lodge provides 18 double rooms in
2 jungle lodges. The rooms in the Jungle Lodge
have attached bathrooms with hot & cold water
facilities. Whilst at Wild Grass it may also
be possible to arrange a trip to the nearby
Panbari Forest Reserve to look for the elusive
Hoolock Gibbon, India’s only ape.
Day 6 : Kolkata (Calcutta)
Today you transfer back to Guwahati for your
flight to Kolkata. You will spend 1 further
night at the Park Hotel on a bed and breakfast
basis.
Day 7 : Kathmandu
Today you will be transferred to the airport
in time for your flight to Kathmandu. Upon
arrival you will be met and transferred to
Dwarika’s Hotel, where you stay for 1-night on
a bed and breakfast basis. Dwarika’s is
totally unique, combining cultural restoration
and traditional Nepali hospitality. The late
Dwarika Das Shrestha took it upon himself to
preserve the architectural glory of Kathmandu
by collecting woodcraft from the area and,
over the years, incorporating each item into
the building of a hotel. The hotel provides
spacious and luxurious accommodation in 74
rooms and suites. Each room is individually
decorated with 16th Century windows in many
rooms and furniture custom designed from
traditional patterns.
Days
8 to10 : Chitwan National Park
This morning you make an early start for
Chitwan National Park. You have the option to
fly to the outskirts of the park however so
that this does not affect the price you will
have to fly or drive in both directions. Upon
arrival you will be met by the Tiger Tops
representative and transferred to Tiger Tops
Jungle Lodge by boat and Land Rover. At the
lodge, you will be briefed by the resident
Guest Relations officer regarding the Park and
the wildlife programmes available. You will
stay here for 3 nights on a full board basis
including all activities. Tiger Tops Jungle
Lodge, situated 75 miles directly south-west
of Kathmandu, is at an elevation of 150 meters
(495 feet) above sea level. It is in the heart
of Royal Chitwan National Park, a 932 square
kilometre (360 square mile) area of tall
grassland and magnificent forest, one of
Asia's richest and most spectacular wildlife
sanctuaries. All rooms at the lodge are
attractively furnished and each room has solar
powered reading lamps and ceiling fans, with
solar heated showers in the attached bathroom.
Nepalese and Western cuisine is served in the
central dining hall with its huge domed roof
and central open fireplace. A fully stocked
bar is open until the last guest retires.
Activities at the lodge include game drive,
elephant back safaris, jungle walks,
bird-watching and river safaris. Every evening
a slide show explains more fully about the
flora and fauna of the national park. All
wildlife activities are escorted by
experienced naturalists. Wildlife in Chitwan
includes the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros,
Spotted Deer, Hog Deer, Sambar Deer and
Barking Deer as well as a wide variety of
birdlife. With a bit of luck, there are always
the chance of glimpsing Leopard, Sloth Bear
and Bengal Tiger.
Day 11 : Kathmandu
Today you return to Kathmandu for a further
2-nights stay at Dwarika’s.
Day 12 : Kathmandu
Today you have a full sightseeing programme
taking in the key sights of the city which
highlight it’s rich cultural past and present.
Day 13 : Delhi
You will be transferred to the airport in time
for your flight to Delhi. On Arrival you will
be met and taken to the Hans Plaza Hotel where
you spend 1-night on a bed and breakfast
basis. The Hans Plaza is located 22 kilometres
from the airport, 2 kilometres from the
railway station and 1 kilometre from the
centre of the city. This centrally
air-conditioned hotel has two restaurants and
a bar. The restaurants offer Indian and
Continental food. Each air-conditioned room
has private bathroom with bath and/or shower
and toilet and telephone.
Days 14 to 17 : Kanha
This morning you will be transferred to the
airport in time to board your flight to Nagpur,
departing Delhi at 0555. You will be met upon
arrival at Nagpur and depart by surface to
Kanha National Park (266 kilometres,
approximately 6 ½ hours driving distance). You
stay at Tuli Tiger Resort for 4 nights. Set in
the buffer zone of the park, Tuli Tiger Resort
has 18 air-conditioned cottages. There is a
private natural lake within the boundary of
the resort, which is adjacent to a rivulet and
meets the main river called Banjar. Each room
in the resort has a telephone and attached
private facilities with running hot and cold
water and shower. The resort also has the
facilities of an audio / video theatre, pool
table, library, swimming pool and a restaurant
offering Indian and Continental Cuisine.
Situated in central India in the Satpura Hill
ranges, Kanha Tiger Reserve offers, without a
doubt, India's finest Tiger viewing. Spread
over 1945 square kilometres with a core area
of just 940 square kilometres, the grasslands
and deciduous forests also support other
mammals such as Barasingha, Chital, Muntjac
(Swamp, Spotted and Barking Deer), Sambar,
Common Langur and Rhesus Monkeys, Wild Boar,
Asiatic Jackal, three of India's four lowland
antelopes, Nilgai, Four-horned Antelope (Chowsingha)
and Blackbuck, and occasionally Leopard, Gaur
(Indian Bison), Sloth Bear, Wolf and Dhole
(Wild Dog). In fact, Kanha is noted for the
last remaining population of hard-ground
Barasingha, which exceeds 350. Bird-life
present includes the Painted Partridge,
Shaheen Falcon, Golden Oriole and the
omnipresent Red Jungle Fowl.
Days 18 to 20 : Bandhavgarh
This morning depart by surface to Bandhavgarh
(189 kilometres, approximately 5 hours driving
distance). You will stay at the Royal Tiger
Resort for the next 3-nights. Royal Tiger
Resort is an eco-friendly tented resort with
basic modern facilities. Accommodation is in
cottage-style tents with en-suite facilities.
The highlight of The Park is its well
maintained gardens and a swimming pool. The
resort offers Indian, Chinese and Continental
cuisine. The resort also has a good collection
of slides and books on wildlife. Bandhavgarh
National Park, named after the Bandhavgarh
Fort, is situated in Central India and was
formerly a Royal hunting reserve of the
princely state of Rewa where the first ever
White Tiger was spotted in the wild. The Park
is situated in 450 square kilometres of mixed
forest. The core area of the park is fairly
small with a fragile ecology but it supports
such wildlife as the Chital (Spotted Deer),
Sambar, Muntjak (Barking Deer), Nilgai,
Chinkara, Ghowsingha (Four-horned Antelope),
Wild Boar, Leopard, Dhole (Wild Dog) and, of
course, Tiger. Bird-life also abounds with
over 275 species of bird such as hornbills,
orioles, parakeets, peacocks, and eagles.
Day 21 : Overnight Train
Enjoy a morning game drive in the park. Later
in the evening you will be transferred to
Umaria (56 kilometres, approximately 1 ½ hours
driving distance) in time to board your
overnight train Kalinga Utkal Express to
Delhi, departing at 2025, travelling in 2-Tier
air-conditioned Class.
Day 22 : Delhi
You will be met on arrival in Delhi and
transferred to the Ashok Country resort where
a room has been booked for wash and change.
Later in the evening you will be transferred
to the international airport in time to board
your flight to London.
Day 23 : Arrive UK
You depart Delhi in the early hours of this
morning and arrive London Heathrow at
approximately 0700.
If you would like to extend your stay in
Kaziranga it is possible to spend 5-nights in
this amazing national park. Please contact us
for a costing for this extension.