India Tiger Safari

• 14 nights in standard hotels, one night in an air-conditioned sleeper train
• Travel by 4x4, train and air-conditioned private bus
• Group normally 4 to 16, plus leader. Minimum age: 16

Breakfast and 11 dinners are included. Allow around 410 Indian rupees (US$5) per day for lunch and 1,475 rupees (US$18) for dinner (when not included). You can eat out very cheaply in India, but if you go to the more expensive restaurants, you will spend more than the suggested amount. In Agra and Delhi, there is a good choice of restaurants and a selection of Indian and Western food. If you are a vegetarian, India is probably one of the best destinations to travel to with a wide range of dishes on offer. Please note, there are usually some non-spicy curries while we’re at the national parks, but these are in limited supply. Tea and soft drinks are very cheap. A (large) bottle of beer is approximately 410 rupees (US$5). Mineral water is widely available. Please note, service in restaurants can be quite slow.

September to April is the ideal time to visit these areas of northern India. Days are normally warm to hot and nights cool or mild. Humidity is very low with little or no rain. In March/April and September/October, it can get very hot during the day. Evenings in Delhi and at the game parks can be surprisingly cool. It gets very cold in the early mornings and evenings between December and February.

This trip has been rated Activity Level 1 (Leisurely). This tour is not physically demanding; however, some days can be busy, especially where travelling is combined with sightseeing. There are very early morning starts as this is the best time to see tigers.

Travel

There are some long days travelling, especially when taking the overnight train and driving from park to park. The roads are generally pretty good, but local traffic and/or road damage after the monsoon can slow us down. We travel on comparatively quiet roads for at least half the journey but the road between Pench and Kanha is known to be bad.

Monuments

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is responsible for the conservation of many monuments in India, including the Taj Mahal. Very occasionally, this means work is taking place at sites visited on this trip. The ASI schedule is never published, so it is impossible to predict when work will take place.

Game drive regulations – book early!

The management of national parks by the Indian authorities and the system for booking game drives has changed significantly in the last 18 months. As a result, the number of 4x4s that can now enter national parks has been reduced, and all game drives need to be booked and paid for much further in advance.

In addition, we must provide a list of client names and passport details at the time of booking each game drive. Once game drives are booked, they are non‐refundable and name changes are not permitted. If you renew your passport after the game drives are booked, you must travel with both your old and new passports so the authorities can ascertain the authenticity of the previous passport mentioned in the booking.

You cannot change or swap 4x4s during the trip. It is four people per vehicle, so please let us know at the time of booking if you are a group of five or more travelling together with separate bookings to ensure you are seated appropriately.

Due to on‐going changes in the system, the following guidelines and conditions now apply to all bookings:

1) We cannot guarantee the operation of any departure until we have the necessary game drives secured. Our aim is to secure game drives from a variety of gates/zones as per the itinerary, but please be aware that this is subject to availability. The date at which we book the game drives will vary depending on when the booking system allows us to do so for your departure, usually no earlier than 120 days prior to travel but this is subject to change.

2) It will sometimes be possible to book clients onto a departure of this tour after the game drives have been booked, but large additional costs are likely to be incurred. If we have made initial game drive bookings for a departure, we may need to wait until we have a further three or four clients ready to book before we can secure an additional vehicle.

3) At the time of booking, we will ask you for the standard Exodus deposit plus £400 towards the game drives as once these are booked, they are non‐refundable. If for any reason we are unable to secure the game drives and we must cancel the trip, you receive a full refund.

4) We want to encourage all clients to book this trip as far in advance as possible; we are confident we can secure the game drives needed on most occasions if clients book four to five months in advance of the departure date.

5) It is important we have your correct passport details at the time of booking. If you end up travelling on a different passport, it is imperative you carry your old passport, or a photocopy of it, with you. If this isn’t possible, you will need a letter from the passport agency regarding the change of passport, specifying the details of the old passport and the details of the new passport issued.

We regret that these measures are necessary, but we are keen to ensure we secure the game drives as early as possible.