Ranthambore Wildlife Extension

An early start this morning as you'll be met by our representative and transferred to the railway station for your journey to Sawai Madhopur,the closest train station to the national park . Travelling on an Indian train is a great experience and provides an opportunity to sample a real slice of India as you join local people on board. Founded in the mid-nineteenth century, the railway system in India is a lifeline for the country's vast population with up to 20 million people travelling by train every day. You will travel in comfortable second-class air-conditioned carriage and the journey takes approximately five hours. On arrival in Sawai Madhopur, you will be met for a short drive to your hotel. Set in large gardens that border the park, the hotel is only 15 minutes' drive from the entrance. There is a swimming pool and Auyervedic Spa to enjoy while not on safari, and all your meals are included and taken in the 'Indian Spice' restaurant which serves a variety of cuisines including North Indian, Chinese and Continental. Many of the ingredients used are picked fresh from the hotel's own kitchen garden. After checking in it's off on your first safari, exploring the rocky landscape of Ranthambore National Park. Each safari lasts around three hours and will be in a shared jeep with up to six people. Although the extension is not accompanied by a tour leader, every jeep has an expert park ranger who will help you to identify the animals that you spot. Ranthambore operates a zonal system to ensure that routes do not get overcrowded with a limited number of vehicles allowed in each section of the park. Please note that this is a stand-alone extension and can be booked on any date of your choosing, subject to availability. Whilst this itinerary has been designed to complement a number of our group tours, we wish to point out that this extension is not a group experience, so you are unlikely to be travelling with other Explore customers.

Once the hunting reserve of the Maharaja of Jaipur, Ranthambore has a landscape of rivers, lakes and forests that nestle among steep cliffs and rocky outcrops. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in the 1950's, although it was still used as a hunting reserve until the early 1970's when it became part of the Project Tiger, a large conservation project across the whole of India which has seen the tiger population steadily rise in Ranthambore and other tiger reserves. This morning you will embark on your first safari of the day. An early start provides you with the best chance of spotting tigers as they are more active in the cool climes of the morning, before the heat of the day forces them to take shelter. You may see them roaming among the woodlands and cooling off in the lakes and possibly even on the hunt. Aside from the tigers, Ranthambore is home to sloth bear, langur, striped hyena, marsh crocodile, python and Ganga soft-shelled turtle. It is also a haven for birdlife, and sightings of eagles, wagtails and white-breasted kingfisher are common. After your morning safari, you will return to your hotel for lunch and to spend a few hours relaxing before venturing out again in the afternoon for another opportunity to spot the wildlife.

This morning you'll leave Ranthambore, travelling back to Delhi on the Golden Temple Mail train. The train arrives back in the capital in the early afternoon where you will be met and transferred to the hotel. The rest of the day is left free for last minute sightseeing.

The trip ends after breakfast at our hotel in Delhi. There are no activities planned today, so you are free to depart from Delhi at any time. If your flight is departing later in the day luggage storage facilities are available at our hotel. If you would like to receive a complimentary airport transfer today, you need to depart from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport (airport code DEL), which is around 45 minutes from the hotel.