Eye of the Tiger : The Road Trip of a Lifetime ! (Mumbai to Tadoba & Pench Tiger Reserve)

A road trip is what every traveler dreams of ! 😎🏞️ And a Tiger Safari is a Cherry 🍒 topping 💯

And, as an opportunity arises, he/she pounces upon, like how a Tiger does on this prey ! Months of meticulous planning, numerous discussions, conference calls paved way to the much awaited road trip of a lifetime - pure of joy of driving 2200 kms to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve near Chadrapur, Nagpur along with Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

As I always say, words fail to describe what eyes see & feel ❤️🤠

Sharing our own custom itinerary for view -

Day 1 - Road trips have to start with early morning drives 😅 left at 6 am from Borivli, reached jalgaon at 6 pm, bhakri bharit, thecha, shevayachi bhaji for food , tea stops enroute near kasara, lunch at gouri inn .. Food matters for sure 🙂

Day 2 - left jalgaon at around 7 am, reached shegaon by 2:30 pm, check-in to bhakta niwas, had hot & spicy shegaon kachori, only senior citizens went for darshan, gajanan maharaj campus is awesomely clean. Dont forget to Stop on cotton fields near jalgaon. Getting to touch real soft cotton is an outstanding feeling ☺️

Day 3 - Long drive today to Tadoba, so we had to leave damn early. left shegaon at 5:30 am, breakfast lunch halt enroute, reached madnapur gate at 4 pm, off road driving, got our buffer safari done, reached tigers heaven resort by 7:30 pm nestled in the midst of the jungle 😃, nice tea & dinner, star watching, leopard discussions on terrace, kids playing with Flintstones .. real ones mind you ! 😅

Day 4 - Got safari jeeps for pickup from resort at 5:30 am for core safari at navegaon gate, amazing T54 sightings at close range, 2 males one following the other (territorial dominance) crocs & other animals, terrific view of the dense Forest ... mission accomplished ! Had sumptuous packed breakfast in mid of the Jungle, back in resort by 10:30 am. Enjoyed tea, kids play area, lawn. Went for an afternoon safari, No tiger this time 😔 animal sightings, uphill dense trail for leopard spotting, good tea & dinner, star gazing. Day ended with santa gifts to kids :-) 💯

Day 5 - We had to do Pench - a beautiful forest which inspired Rudyard Kipling to write Jungle Book ! 😎 left for pench at 9 am, reached at 2 pm directly for lunch at Jungle Home Resort near Turiya gate, sumptuous lunch buffet, poolside fun, badminton, nature trail, Christmas celebration, bon fire. It was a chill day after a lot of driving & safaris 😅

Day 6 - safari pickup at 5:30 am, buffer safari from teliya gate, animal sightings, beautiful Forest, birds, back to resort for tea & pakodas, nice lunch & ready for afternoon Safari by 2 pm. It was amazingly cold weather at Pench, had some animal sightings, dense forest trail. Day ended with everyone watching tiger & cubs documentary at the resort 😁

Day 7 - left pench at around 8:30 am, reached Shegaon by 5 pm, rooms check-in, gajanan Maharaj samadhi darshan, satvik dinner on bhakta niwas campus. It's an amazingly clean & well maintained place. Worth a pit stop 🛑

Day 8 - Every trip has to end 😔 left Shegaon at 8:30 am, reached nashik by 7:30 pm, pitstops on tur & udad fields, fresh tea on way, lunch on dhaba, dinner - back to noodles & pizzas at the Hotel ! , Icing on the cake was that one of the gang member had a bday !! So it was a melodious end to the Day ! 🤩

Day 9 - Last day of our drive, though a short one ... nice filling ala carte breakfast at nashik hotel, left at 10:30 am, picked up fruits on the way, reached home by 2:15 pm !

Such road trips teach you a lot, makes you understand group dynamics, different people in the same State, get to know dialects & food habits... and the journey itself is so Unraveling ! 💯✅

Get out there, Travel 2 Unravel the mysteries & see for yourself that world is a bigger place to see in a Lifetime ! 🔥🤠

Clean accomodation at Shegaon Campus