Itinerary
Arrive in New Delhi and transfer to our luxury hotel in the leafy heart of Lutyens' Delhi, with its broad boulevards, historic homes and government enclaves. The district is named after British architect Edwin Lutyens, who was responsible for much of the architectural design and building during the period of the British Raj, when India was part of the British Empire from the 1920s to 1940s.
This afternoon, set out on a photographic odyssey through the sprawling, vibrant city. Our tour begins at Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi and one of the country's most revered Sikh temples. We'll capture the temple’s luminous white architecture, reflections in the holy pool, and the movement of worshippers and volunteers in the bustling community kitchen that generously serves more than 10,000 free meals each day, all cooked by volunteers using donated ingredients from Sikh farmers. Continue to Agrasen ki Baoli, an ancient stepwell whose repeating arches and long descending staircase offer striking opportunities for geometric compositions, leading lines and studies of light and shadow. Next, take a scenic drive through Lutyens’ Delhi, photographing city icons as we pass the India Gate, the President of India’s residence and the new Parliament building—an ideal chance to work on framing and timing from a moving vantage point. At the Gandhi Museum, focus on storytelling images that reflect Gandhi’s life and legacy. If the museum is closed or if time permits, w will visit Humayun’s Tomb as a final stop, practicing wide-angle shots and symmetry at this Mughal architectural masterpiece. Return to our hotel with time to refresh before a welcome dinner this evening, plus an orientation by our Expedition Leader to all the India photography adventures that lie ahead.
Transfer to the airport very early this morning for our flight south to Jabalpur. Continue on a half-day's drive through the countryside of Madhya Pradesh to reach Bandhavgarh National Park. The journey offers vignettes of everyday Indian life—village markets, roadside tea stalls and ox-drawn carts—and we will pause, when appropriate, for candid cultural images. By afternoon, we arrive at our ecolodge set in the forest just outside the park boundary. An essential stop on any serious India safari, Bandhavgarh is renowned for one of the country's highest concentrations of Bengal tigers. Originally established as a national park in 1968, Bandhavgarh was declared a protected tiger reserve under Project Tiger in 1993. At 444 square miles, it is a relatively small park with a thriving tiger population, offering visitors a good chance of encountering them, as well as other distinctive Indian wildlife. After settling in to our lodge, if time permits, we'll set out on a short wildlife drive in open 4x4 safari vehicles. Our Expedition Leader helps you dial in camera settings for fast-moving wildlife and changing light as we start searching for our first Bengal tiger.
The next two days are devoted to intensive exploration of Bandhavgarh National Park in pursuit of exciting wildlife images. Covered predominantly with sal and mixed deciduous forest, thickets of bamboo and expansive grasslands that line the stream valleys, the park’s hilly terrain harbors one of the world's highest densities of tigers. Bandhavgarh was once a prime hunting reserve for the Maharajas of Rewa, where Maharaja Raman Singh alone shot an astounding 111 tigers by 1914. Today it is a pacesetter in tiger protection. With tigers at the apex of the food chain, Bandhavgarh’s rich biodiversity includes a multitude of other wildlife. We expect to photograph a broad sampler of its 37 mammal species, among which are leopard, jungle cat, civet, wild boar, sambar, spotted deer, muntjac (barking deer), gaur, sloth bear and Asiatic jackal. Some 250 bird species, 70 different butterflies and various reptiles round out the diverse wildlife population.
We have extended time in the field on morning and afternoon game drives, and one day will include a full-day safari, tapping our exclusive permit giving us extra time in the park. Across Bandhavgarh’s varied landscapes, we search for Bengal tigers while also focusing on the park’s full array of wildlife: spotted deer stepping through morning mist, sambar grazing in meadows, langurs framed by backlit dust, and its diverse birdlife, including showy peacocks. Your Expedition Leader and local naturalist guides work together to position our vehicles for optimal angles and unobtrusive wildlife viewing.
On our full-day safari, picnic meals in designated zones allow us to remain all day, so we can stay close to promising areas, follow tracks and alarm calls without interruption, and document the subtle changes in light and animal behavior throughout the day. Your Expedition Leader provides guidance on photographing fast-moving subjects, managing batteries and memory cards on long days, and using environmental elements—light, dust, vegetation—to elevate your wildlife storytelling.
Back at the lodge, gather for informal photo discussions and review techniques such as tracking autofocus, panning, exposure compensation for striped fur, and composing sequences that capture a scene’s unfolding narrative.
A half-day’s drive takes us from Bandhavgarh to Kanha National Park. Along the way, captuyre passing photos of forested landscapes and village scenes that offer glimpses of daily life in rural Madhya Pradesh. Situated in the Satpura Hills of central India, Kanha National Park covers 750 square miles of rich and varied wildlife habitat. Its lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines provided inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his famous collection of stories in The Jungle Book. Kanha was established as a national park in 1955 and forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve, created in 1974 under India's Project Tiger. The park's landmark achievement is the preservation of the rare barasingha, an endangered swamp deer with 12-point antlers, saving it from near-extinction. Strict conservation programs for the overall protection of the park's fauna and flora make Kanha one of the most exemplary national parks in Asia.
From our luxurious ecolodge base in the tiger heartland of the world, learn in depth about the Bengal tiger and its habitat and observe how conservation travel directly benefits local communities and the tiger reserve. Following lunch on arrival, gain an introduction to the region on an initial short safari in the park. From our open 4x4 vehicles, search for barasingha swamp deer, gaur, langurs, wild boar, birds and, with luck, our first glimpse of a tiger glimpse in Kanha. Back at the lodge, enjoy dinner outdoors (weather permitting), with a briefing by your Expedition Leader on tomorrow’s adventures.
Scenic Kanha, once a hunting ground for imperial rulers and viceroys, is now one of India’s most important conservation reserves. With ideal habitat for Bengal tigers and their prey, Kanha offers some of India’s best tiger photo opportunities, plus a diverse collection of other wildlife. We spend three days pursuing photos in this premier national park, searching for tigers and other wildlife from open 4x4 vehicles. Over the course of our stay, we explore Kanha's diverse landscapes of sal forests, bamboo thickets and rolling meadows on a series of morning and afternoon game drives, one full-day photo safari, and a guided nature walk in the park buffer zone.
Each day brings new photographic opportunities. The open meadows where herbivores graze attract tiger, leopard and dhole (wild dog) to the edges of the clearings, and we'll hope to photograph some of these predators on the hunt. The Banjaar River bordering the park provides a steady water source for wildlife. Dense jungle interspersed with vast grassy meadows called maidans support a range of species similar to those in Bandhavgarh. Other mammals we might photograph include the magnificent 12-point barasingha (swamp deer), common langur, gaur (the world's largest wild ox), wild boar, macaques, langurs and a rich array of birds. Early light often filters through the forest in dramatic shafts—ideal for portraits and environmental compositions—while late-afternoon glow creates warm tones for action shots and animal behavior. On one of our days in Kanha, we undertake a full-day safari, remaining in the field from early morning until late afternoon with picnic meals in designated areas. Uninterrupted time greatly increases our chances of encountering wildlife as it moves between habitats. With fewer entries and exits, photographers can follow fresh tracks, respond immediately to alarm calls, and remain in promising areas as light and behavior shift throughout the day. Throughout this extended outing, we focus on advanced fieldcraft: anticipating direction of movement, composing animals against clean backgrounds, and creatively using midday light.
During our time in Kanha, we will take a guided nature walk in the buffer zone, where we slow down and focus on intimate subjects not easily appreciated from a vehicle: animal tracks, butterflies, blooming plants, textures, patterns in bark and leaves, and the interplay of light and shadow along the forest floor. This is an excellent opportunity to practice close-up and macro photography, experiment with depth of field, and create images that round out the visual narrative of the region.
Between excursions, return to our ecolodge to rest and review images in an unhurried, collaborative environment. Optional midday discussions cover topics such as metering for striped fur, improving composition confidence, managing camera settings for fast-changing conditions and building a cohesive set of images across the wider expedition. On one evening, after we gather for dinner, join in some festive dancing around the campfire during a cultural presentation at our lodge.
This morning, visit a nearby village to learn about the Indigenous Baiga and Gond communities who have lived within these forests for generations as hunter-gatherers in the intricate jungle web of life. It’s a rich opportunity for ethical cultural photography as we are hosted by a local family in their home, learning about their daily routines while observing the villages’ colorful homes and local heritage. Your Expedition Leader guides the group in approaching subjects respectfully and choosing lenses that allow for meaningful context rather than overly tight framing.
Following our visit, we return to the lodge, then depart on a half-day drive to Raipur, watching scenes of daily rural life unfold along the roadside as we make our way to the airport for our flight to Kolkata late this afternoon. On arrival, wetransfer to a comfortable hotel near the airport for a restful night's sleep after a long day of travel, as we transit from one region of the country to another. Take time to relax, back up images and recharge equipment before returning to the airport for our early flight to northeast India tomorrow morning.
After breakfast, depart for our flight to Jorhat and continue by road into far-eastern India to reach Kaziranga National Park in the state of Assam. Our drive through the countryside offers bucolic images of tea estates, rice paddies and villages in an entirely new geographic and cultural setting. We stay at Diphlu River Lodge near the park, whose verdant grounds contain more than 40 species of trees and some 200 species of shrubs, creepers and climbers. Once we're settled in, we gather for dinner, with time afterward to prepare our gear for the exciting photo safaris that lie ahead.
Kaziranga is one of India’s great conservation success stories. The national park, which borders the sacred Brahmaputra River, was created in 1926 as a refuge for the one-horned rhinoceros. Once hunted nearly to extinction, this 2-ton beast today is a conservation success story, its population rebounding to more than 2,600 individuals. Two-thirds of the world’s one-horned rhinos are found within the park, and we're sure to see plenty of them grazing in the open, offering excellent close-range photos. In addition to the rhino, Kaziranga is home to some of India’s other largest mammals including Asian elephant, Asian water buffalo and barasingha, the 12-point swamp deer.
During our three days in Kaziranga National Park, explore the lush floodplains of Assam, traversing the park's distinct habitats for a varied and well-rounded photo safari. On morning and afternoon wildlife drives, explore the marshes, elephant-grass meadows, thorny rattan cane and wooded hillsides that make this UNESCO World Heritage Site one of India’s most photogenic wildlife destinations. Stretching from the banks of the Brahmaputra River to the dense forests of the Mikir Hills, the park hosts an impressive diversity of animals. On multiple game drives in open 4x4 vehicles, search for Kaziranga's famous one-horned rhinoceros, Asian elephant, wild water buffalo, sloth bear, hoolock gibbon, hog deer, swamp deer, wild boar, python, and, with luck, the endangered Bengal tiger. Although Kaziranga boasts a healthy tiger density, the tall elephant grass makes photographing them a challenge.
Each range offers its own photographic character: open meadows where rhinos graze, forest edges alive with birdlife and shade-seeking elephants, and shallow wetlands reflecting pond herons and black-necked storks in soft morning or afternoon light. The national park has been declared an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International and is home to a great variety of resident and migratory birds. Drawn to the life-giving artery of the Brahmaputra River, waterfowl abounds, and we may see egrets, river terns, fishing eagles and pelicans. In the river, look for otters and rare Gangetic dolphins. As we travel through these landscapes, refine your skills in long-lens technique, behavior anticipation, and environmental composition inspired by the broad vistas shaped by the mighty Brahmaputra.
One day will be dedicated to Kaziranga’s Eastern Zone, the Agoratoli Range. This area is more wooded, biologically diverse and far less visited than the park's Central and Western ranges. Because of its quieter environs and rich mosaic of habitats, the Eastern Zone often yields rare or unusual sightings, and many photographers consider it one of Kaziranga’s most rewarding sectors. Wildlife encounters here feel intimate, and less vehicle traffic allows for unhurried observation and creative image-making. We'll leave early for a full morning safari, followed by a picnic lunch before returning to our lodge for the afternoon.
During midday breaks, we relax at the lodge with time to download images, take a swim, read book over a cup of Assam tea shaded by thatch and bamboo, or book a massage at the jungle spa. Conditions permitting, on one afternoon we may get to meet one of the park's working elephants, along with the resident mahout who cares for it. These elephants, which accompany rangers on regular patrol missions, are accustomed to interacting with guests. An elephant will be brought to our lodge where we can interact with and photograph it, capturing close-up portraits and expressive details that highlight the deep bond between elephant and handler. By the time we depart Kaziranga, you will head home with a rich mix of wildlife, landscape and cultural images. On our final evening, revel in memories of our Indian safari adventures as we gather for a farewell dinner.
After breakfast, we drive to Guwahati to meet our afternoon flight back to Delhi. Upon arrival at the Delhi airport, transfer to our nearby hotel, just minutes away. An overnight stay is included along with a transfer to the international airport to meet departing flights, most of which leave late tonight.
Please Note: National parks in central India are closed on Wednesday afternoons. Should a portion of our visit to Kanha or Bandhavgarh fall on a Wednesday, we will have alternate afternoon activities planned in place of a wildlife drive.
