Wildlife Tour and Tiger Safari in India

Our India travel company got a lot of important things right on my two week tour of northern and central India with my daughter. Their hotel and lodge recommendations were very good....particularly for the wonderful properties in Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks. There were many properties to choose from in those two places, but I think those that they recommended have to be among the very best. Outstanding! The hotel choices in Delhi and Agra were very good matches for us. The only property that was a bit below average was the hotel in Varanasi, but it was certainly adequate.

I also appreciated that the company met us at each airport location and drove us promptly to each hotel after tiring travel days.

I also have some negative comments, and I am NOT a picky traveler. I realize that India is a difficult and and at times exhautingly unpredictable destination for travelers, but there were simply too many important errors of commission and omission by our travel agency. One error was their statement that internal Indian airlines had weight restrictions of 20 kilos for checked bags, and 7 for carry ons. That proved to be true for one of the airlines they booked us on but not for two others. Those had restrictions of 15 and 4 kilos, and thought they should be knowledgeable enough to get that right.....we found up paying fines, as we were under the 20 kilo limit, but not the 15.

Far more seriously, they had two different times for a flight to Delhi from Jabalpur....one on our voucher that left at 12:20 pm and one on the itinerary that left at 16:40 pm. When we SPECIFICALLY asked the agency to get this right, they got it WRONG....and caused us to sit around for four needless hours and leave Kanha National Park at a very early, and unnecessarily early hour.  I also found as part of an annoying pattern with this company, that they never owned up to a mistake, but simply tried to pass the blame off on a bad telephone connection or a mistake by a driver or guide. Somehow, every other person who wound up on this flight managed to find out it was at 16:40, not 12:20.  Yes, the agency did comp a meal for us....but they need to be a bit more concerned about the right hand knowing what the left hand is doing with discriminating travelers. I would probably not use them again for this reason alone.

They got other things wrong on our itinerary as well. Our itinerary at Kanha National Park stated that we only got morning safari drives, but that turned out not to be true. Our package included afternoon drives as well, at least according to the folks at Kanha.

As I stated earlier, the company got the lodging right, and all our DRIVERS were kind, considerate, and outstanding at their jobs. I can't say the same for our guides. Our guide in Varanasi was super smart, and very good. Our guide in Delhi was very knowledgeable but talked too much, and made it somewhat difficult to ask questions. The local guide in Agra was an underhanded sleaze who made every effort to blame ME for the fact that he got in trouble for taking us to a marble store, under the guise that we were going to a marble factory demonstration. I don't know who made that decision, but the travel agency blamed the guide, and the guide chastised me for "getting him into trouble". I've traveled a lot....and I've done the big tour scene where tourists are lured into factory stores and somebody is getting paid off. This shouldn't happen at a company like this one, and I refuse to feel guilty for complaining about it. Once again, the agency accepted no responsibility and blamed the local guide. The guide then took my daughter aside, and talked her into writing a note in which she said she did realize we were going to a store. I think she now realizes that paying what she did for a small end table was certainly a mistake! 

One last thing....I realize that India is a poor country relative to the US, and that tourism is a small part of addressing that. However, is it really necessary to have one person greeting us at the airport, and then another person to greet us at the hotel? I was handing out a lot of 100 rupee tips....seemingly for no good reason. I also know how to get in line at the airport, and didn't really need any "help" with that. It got to be annoying.

We just finished a 40 day trip to India (February 2017) visiting Delhi, Bharatpur, Agra, Jaipur, Amritsar, Varanasi and Kolkata along with eight National Parks (Keoladeo, Ranthambore, Pench, Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Panna, Sunderban and Kaziranga) and traveled by either car or rail (we had five separate nights on a train plus one evening train ride). We had spent a couple of months in early 2016 planning this trip with this travel agency and all we can say is that everything worked out perfectly.  There was someone to meet us at the Delhi airport and there was always someone to take us to the train and to meet us when the train arrived.  The drivers and guides always showed up on time as planned/or as agreed.  The drivers were outstanding. They were safe drivers and also polite, courteous and informative. The guides were also outstanding, friendly, polite and very, very knowledgeable.  The hotels chosen for us with the exception of one were excellent although in the National Parks the accommodation may run out of hot water.  We are extremely satisfied with every aspect of this trip and would definitely use this company again.  We were in contact via e-mail as well as phone and I always up to date as to the status of the trip. 

Our trip to India was fabulous! Our travel agency provided excellent guides and drivers. The hotels were first- class, and we had a very memorable tiger-sighting experience. All was seamless and service was impeccable!  Our travel agency really paid attention to what we wanted most in the trip. Thanks so much for such a wonderful adventure to Nepal, The Golden Triangle, and Bandhavgarh and Kanha Parks. 

Zicasso's travel specialist did an amazing job of selecting locations and properties in rural areas that perfectly suited me. I loved the tented camps and safari lodges, visiting rural villages and schools, kayaking, horseback riding, walking, and enjoying cultural activities. 

I selected two resorts and they were everything I hoped they would be, with fabulous service and wonderful experiences. The travel agent selected four other hotels and they were everything I hoped for as well. I loved them all, but especially the one in Jawai Bandh, which may have been my favorite spot on the trip. The service was spectacular, with great leopard spotting, guides, and butlers. 

I really wasn’t keen on the cities. I was sick in Delhi and stayed in my hotel, and quickly went through Jaipur. Two hours there was enough. Udaipur was the best of the three. I especially liked my hike there. The hotel in Udaipur was OK, but there were a lot of pigeons making a noise around the rooms.

This travel specialist was superlative in planning a custom itinerary within our time frame, within budget, and working with our needs and preferences.  She was always  available to answer questions and give advice since she has visited India over 25 times and knows it well. I would not change a thing about our trip itinerary or hotels.  We had knowledgeable guides who came from the areas visited, drivers who were able to navigate the crazy traffic, lack of  traffic lights and road livestock. She made restaurant suggestions and reservations  to which our car and driver took us , suggested reading to broaden our knowledge, discussed  best time to visit and did not experience heavy smog in Delhi.  The weather was 70-80, sunny and no rain.  Highlights include seeing the magnificent Taj Mahal in Agra and learning all about it, a walking tour through the back alleys of Delhi with food tastings and private haveli lunch,  slum tour in Mumbai, Gandhi's residence in Mumbai,  Amber Fort with its magnificent Hall of Mirrors and learning about the lavish lifestyles of the Maharajahs, dinner in the lavish dining room of the Taj Rambaugh Palace in Jaipur, walking through the back alleys of Jaipur to purchase colorful silk scarves, rose scented oil, wood bangles with inset zircons, spices and tea as gifts. Each hotel was centrally located and offered great views and varied from British Colonial style, Indian heritage style or ultra modern. A trip to India touches all the senses:  colorful silk saris, scented flowers and spices, food with different spices which wakes up your palette, cool smooth Indian marble and pink sandstone buildings.  Would definitely recommend using this company again and hope to when plan another trip to other areas of Asia.