The Big 5 of India

Highlights

• Arrival in Delhi (Day 1) - Upon your arrival in Delhi airport/ railway station, you will be met by one of our IWS tour guides. He will take you to your hotel, and en route, he will explain to you in detail the plan. He will stay with you for the entire duration of the trip and he’ll make sure you have a hassle-free and smooth experience! The rest of the day will be at leisure, and you can recover from your journey and prepare for the travels ahead!
• Explore Delhi (Day 2) - Your IWS Guide will meet up with you early in the morning and you’ll kick off your adventure now. Delhi has 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and some amazing monuments and places of historic and religious significance. You’ll be taken around by your IWS Guide and you will be trying to cover all you can. You’ll eat some of the best food in this part of the world, and you’ll sense flavours we guarantee you would never have imagined existed. After a soul-filling day exploring the city, you’ll return to your hotel room by evening, when you can relax and unwind.
• Transfer to Agra (Day 3) - You’ll be met by your IWS Guide in the morning again, and after a half day of exploration of the city and having your lunch, you will move on to your next destination, the city of Taj, Agra, which is a 5 hour drive away. You will reach there by evening and the rest of the day will be at leisure.
• Explore the city of Taj (Day 4) - Today you’ll get up extra early before the rest of the city and head out to the Taj Mahal, and try and catch the first morning light hitting this stunning piece of architecture. This makes for some of the most beautiful photos you’ll capture during the trip. After exploring the Taj for a few hours, get back to the hotel, freshen up, get some food in our system, and head over to the other offerings of the city. Rest of the day will be spend sightseeing in the city. After a full day of exploring Agra, you’ll get back to your rooms by evening, and you’ll have the rest of the evening at leisure.
• Transfer to Ranthambore (Day 5) - Similar to Delhi, you will be spending half of the day exploring Agra further, and post lunch, you’ll drive down to Ranthambore. It’s a long 8 hour drive, and you’ll make it there post nightfall, where your IWS Guide would give you a brief session about the park and what all to expect.
• Morning and evening safaris into the park (Day 6, 7) - Over the next few days, you’ll be going for back-to-back morning and evening safaris into the various zones of the national park. The timing for the safari changes as per the season, and you’ll be instructed regarding the same the day before by your IWS Guide. During the safari, you will see some of the finest diversity and wildlife this part of the world has to offer.
• Morning safari and overnight train journey to Jabalpur (Day 8) - Today, you’ll morning safari will be the last one at Ranthambore, and in the evening, you will be boarding an overnight train to Jabalpur, the closest railhead to Bandhavgarh, where you will be picked up by taxis which will accompany you for the rest of the road trip. Your IWS Guide will be with you 24x7 to coordinate everything and you need not worry about the logistics. Just sit back and enjoy the Indian rail experience!
• Jabalpur to Kanha (Day 9) - You’ll reach Jabalpur today at around 8 in the morning. Jabalpur is a bustling city, one of the biggest of the state of Madhya Pradesh. Your IWS Guide will coordinate everything and you need not worry about anything. You’ll have breakfast in one of the oldest and most legendary coffee houses of India. Thereafter, you will head out on a 5 hour long drive to Kanha Tiger Reserve. Reaching Kanha by lunch time, you’ll check in to your resort, have lunch, and relax for the rest of the day. You can walk around the property with your IWS Guide and you can spot some beautiful birdlife of Kanha in the nearby waterbodies, or visit the tribal villages and have a chat with the locals. From the next day, you will be having your safaris into the park.
• Morning and evening safaris into the park (Day 10, 11, 12) - You will be having morning and evening safaris into the park area, into different zone each time. Your IWS Guide will be deciding the zones depending upon the best chances of sightings of the striped big cat. The timing and duration of the safaris vary depending upon the season and the time of sunrise and sunset, and your IWS Guide will communicate the same to you prior to your safaris. Your day would typically start from early morning safari, breakfast inside the park, get out before noon, freshen-up and relax in the day time, have lunch, head out to the evening safari, return back from safari post-sunset, then have the evening at leisure. Dinner will be served at around 08.30 PM. Kanha also has an astroport, where you can enjoy some beautiful stargazing and astronomy lessons by expert astronomers using some very powerful telescopes.
• Transfer to Nagzira (Day 13) - After a relaxed morning, you will have breakfast and head out to Nagzira, a four hour drive from Kanha. You will reach Nagzira by lunch time, you’ll check in to your resort, have lunch, and relax for the rest of the day. You can walk around the property with your IWS Guide and you can spot some beautiful birdlife. From the next day, you will be having your safaris into the park.
• Morning and evening safaris into the park (Day 14, 15) - Similar to the previous parks, you will go for morning and evening safaris into the park, and try to spot and photograph the elusive Indian wild dog, along with leopards and tigers. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served at the resort.
• Flight to Guwahati via Delhi (Day 16) - This morning after breakfast you will make your way to Nagpur airport and board our flight to Guwahati via Delhi. Guwahati is one of the biggest cities of northeast India, and is just a pitstop for the night, before heading to Kaziranga.
• Guwahati to Kaziranga and first evening safari (Day 17) - Today morning, you will start early for a 6 hour journey to Kaziranga, and reach there by noon. You will have time to settle in, relax and unwind. Post lunch, you will have your first safari into the magical Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, and your first encounter with the Asian elephants and Indian one-horned rhinoceros! You will get back to your resort post-sunset, and have the rest of the evening at leisure.
• Morning and evening safaris into the park (Day 18, 19, 20) - You will have your back to back safaris for the next 6 days into different zones of the park, having different specialities and offerings. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served to you at the resort itself. In the evening, you can enjoy the beautiful night sky of the park, or the stunning birdlife of the region.
• Transfer to Guwahati and fly back to Delhi (Day 21) - After a laid back morning in Kaziranga, you will board your taxis and drive back to Guwahati, from where you will catch the flight back to Delhi. On reaching the capital after 20 days of extreme wilderness adventures and in the company of the some of the most gorgeous animals and birds of this part of the world, you will be dropped off at your place of preference in Delhi by your IWS Guide, and he will bid you adieu after completing an epic jungle excursion you will remember for the rest of your life.