Once we heard a host of loud alarm calls, AJ our naturalist confirmed that a tiger must be near. Silence descended over the jeep as our excitement rose. We rounded a corner with a lake in front of us, and there in the corner was a huge male tiger (Ganesh T-120) taking a bath, or at least enjoying a leisurely wallow. Then some movement in the tall grasses and tigress Riddhi T-124, one of Ganesh’s ‘wives’ as AJ informed us, strolled out along the bank, shortly followed by her three 18 month old cubs! We spent some time watching the cubs gambolling in and out of the grasses before a murmur of excitement erupted from the now considerable number of jeeps who had joined us. Ganesh had completed his ablutions and was on the move. He casually strolled between the line of jeeps, still dripping wet and as you can see from my video turned his head to look at us, as if to say ‘what on earth are you all staring at?’. Then he disappeared off into the forest. What an amazing up close sighting!

We headed off to the other side of the lake where Riddhi was lying at the edge of a bed of reeds as an unsuspecting herd of Sambar deer ambled to the water’s edge. She must have lacked the hunger or the will to chase prey as she just sat and watched – as if it was some type of cat TV! As for our big cat TV, we spent an hour with Riddhi, enjoying the peaceful surroundings with AJ pointing out all the numerous birds such as the curious Rufous Treepie and the extremely chatty and aptly named Grey Babblers. Before long the sun was sinking and it was time to head out before the gate shut at 6pm. Back at the lodge we compared sightings with our fellow guests as we enjoyed an atmospheric fireside dinner.

The next day started with an early wake up call as our morning game drive left at 6.15am. There was time to grab a quick coffee and some warming porridge before jumping in the jeep while it was still dark. We entered the park by the same gate as yesterday, but this time turned right by an ancient giant banyan tree into zone 1. As the sun started to rise the jungle come alive around us, langur monkeys chasing through the trees and the air filled with bird song. Although no tiger sightings, it was a beautiful morning and we returned to the lodge for a hearty breakfast as we traded stories with other guests.

Our final tiger safari that afternoon took us to zone 10, in the southern most section of the park. It takes around 30 minutes to get to the gate and haring through the town on an elevated open top jeep was quite an experience! Zone 10 is one of the largest and most beautiful zones, with several large water bodies and a look out point offering panoramic expansive views. Because of its size, this zone feels much more peaceful as you rarely see or hear another jeep. Renowned for its birdlife and large herds of spotted and Sambar deer, it didn’t disappoint - they were everywhere. Our top spots were a group of monkeys playing a game of chase at the top of an escarpment and at the end of the day we were lucky enough to come across a sloth bear (Baloo from the Jungle Book) walking beside the track. We were so close we could hear him snuffling for fancy ants – as the song goes he sure sounded like he was trying a few!

For more inspiration take a look at our India Holidays pages and our India’s Tiger Reserves & Wildlife Sanctuaries Holidays pages.