Introduction

Tadoba national park is most popular tiger photography destination in India. It is part of Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve in Maharashtra state of Western India. As Maharashtra state lies in west of India thus we may call it located in western India but if we study the geographical map of India, we will note that it is on eastern part of state thus it is not incorrect if we call it located in central India. It is mostly clubbed with Central India tours, along with other popular tiger reserves like Pench national park, Nagzira wildlife sanctuary, Umred Karandla Wildlife Sanctuary. It is a dry decideous forest in Chandrapur district which lies in Vidarbh region of Maharashtra state. We all know that Vidharbh region is known for draughts and poverty, still its provides shelter to many wildlife species thus important in terms of wildlife, especially for its tiger density. Here tiger sighting probability is very high so highly recommended for tiger photography lovers.

History

Today Nagpur is second capital city of Maharashtra state but you will be surprised to know that during British India period, it was important capital city of Central Province which includes main Central India regions. Even before British India period, it was more linked with Central India during the rule of Gond rulers. They have major control on the forested areas of central India in which majority of areas are of forests and hills. Today's Tadoba national park, Pench forest, Satpura forest, Chhindwara region, Raipur, Bhilai, Navegaon forest were all under Gond rulers thus this region was connected with central India. About its naming, it is said that Tadoba is derived from word "Taru" which is the name of local village chief. He was killed in tiger attack and thus shrine was made near lake. As we all know that shrines are treated as sacred place thus local villagers visits that place annually. During British India period, Chimur was the town where administrative powers have their center and control the region. In that time also, this forest was use for hunting expeditions. In year 1955, Tadoba national park was declared. Later, in 1993, adjacent Andhari wildlife sanctuary was included in it with other forest areas to form Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve.

Specialty

Speciality of Tadoba is its tiger safari experience. Due to high tiger density, probability of tiger sighting is very high in this national park. Closeness from Nagpur city, makes it easily accessible for all means of transport like flight, train or road. As it is a dry forest thus jungle is not so photogenic but presence of good number of tigers and their easy tracking, long visibility due to dryness makes it photographers paradise. It is a popular fact about wildlifers that despite of seeing tigers for so many times, lust for its sighting never satisfied. This can be well tested on Tadoba safari guides who search for tigers with same curiosity, despite of their regular sighting. Most of the wildlife tourists, visits any tiger reserve with wish to see tiger at their natural habitat. For this, we need to undertake 2-5 rounds of jungle safaris with no assurance. Tadoba safari ensures for good tiger sighting in less number of safaris which saves our time and money thus it is favorite of wildlife photographers.

Safari Timing

Para

Jungle Safari

Jeep safari and canter safari (open bus) are the two popular ways to do jungle safari in Tadoba national park. Here safaris are operated in both core zones and buffer zones. Tadoba core zones are Mohurli, Khutwanda, Kolara and Navegaon zones. Buffer zones in Tadoba national park are also popular for tiger sightings. Here some popular buffer safari zones are Junona, Agazari, Devada, Adegaon, Pangadi, Zari gate, Keslaghat, Zari Peth, Kolara Chaurdeo, Alizanza, Madnapur gate, Shrikheda, Navegaon Ramdegi etc. Due to high popularity, tourists are advised to do their safari booking in  60-120 day advance. Here you must need to know the safari zones accessibility from your desired resort as various safari zone gates are far away from each other thus it is not possible to cover any safari zone while staying at one resort. At the same time you should also know the facts about safari permit charges. Here safari permits rate and their cancellation charges differs as per weekend- weekdays dates and also differs as per how advance we are booking the permit. Thus 4 different safari permit charges prevails as per the booking rules of park management. One more important thing to note is that camera fee in not pre-included in permits as we see in national parks like Kanha national park, Pench naitonal park, Bandhavgarh etc. Here camera fee is charged separately, as per dimensions of your lens. Mobile phones are strictly not allowed during safari drives.  

Flora & Fauna

Tadoba national park flora and fauna is rich. Here we can find more than 41 mammal species and 279 bird species. Here we have tried to provide list of some prominently seen trees, mammals, birds and reptiles. During Tadoba jungle safari, we will have their sighting. 
 

How to reach

Access to Tadoba national park is very easy. Its most popular arrival & departure point is Nagpur city. Its nearest airport is in Nagpur city(130kms). Nearest railway station is Chandrapur (35km) but still majority of tourists prefers Nagpur railway station, due to good connectivity option and presence of wide range of hotels, required during night arrivals & departures.  
 

Best time to visit

As Tadoba national park is mainly visited for tiger photography thus its best time is determined as per the probability of tiger sighting. Here tiger sighting remains very high in post winter period i.e. from February to May months. It covers Spring and Summer season. Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state is know for peak summers thus here day temperature rises rapidly which may be a challenge. Still for tourits, best time to visit Tadoba national park is from February to May month. Tourism remains very high in this period and thus without advance safari permits booking, it is difficult to undertake core zone jungle safaris. 

How to Plan

Tadoba national park is very popular safari destination thus most of the time remains fully booked in advance. Due to over-demand of safari permits, here advance permit booking is costly in compare to close date permits booking.  Similarly weekend permit charges are more than weekdays permit charges. Thus 4 type of safari rates prevail. In order to do safari in core zone only, must booking safari permits in advance, at high rate. This gives assurance for core zone safaris else, it is very difficult to get core zone safari permits.

Accommodation

At Tadoba national park, we can find all category of accommodation options. Here we can find homestays, standard category resrots, deluxe safari lodges and some luxury safari lodges. It means all budget category of visitor will get accommodation facility, matching to their budget. Major concentration of hotels are near Moharli entrance gate and Kolara entrance gate. Being a dry region, here we can't resorts with vast forested campus. Majority of hotels are in medium sized campus with limited artificially created gardens. One more important point to note is that here liqor is banned in this Chandrapur district thus bar facility will not be available in resorts.

Nearby

While planning for Tadoba national park tour, we should know the names of surrounding destinations so that we can draw our tour itinerary, accordingly. Close to Tadoba national park, we can find some wildlife sanctuaries and national parks only like Umred Pauni Karhandla Wildllife Sanctuary, Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Pench national park, Kanha national park, Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary etc. Nagpur is the nearby large city.