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Out Of India

LIONS AND TIGERS AND CHITAL (lots and lots of chital), OH MY! MOVING OUT OF AFRICA'S SHADOW, INDIA IS EMERGING AS THE COUNTRY TO HEAD TO FOR THE DREAM SAFARI.


To some, a wildlife safari in India may seem a tad ironic. After all, any trip to India is a safari in and of itself, given the varied wildlife that roams the streets here - in the large metropolitan areas of New Delhi as well as in the tiniest of villages. On two differ

ent multihour drives through the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, we have countless sightings of langur and rhesus monkeys, peacocks, cattle egrets, donkeys, goats, cows, wild boars, eagles, camels, and wild horses. We even spot an elephant - and all this before entering Bandhavgarh and Pench National Parks, where two new safari lodges are changing the way safaris go down on the Indian subcontinent. I mean, it's a jungle out there.

Indian safaris have always played second fiddle to African ones, with the allure of the latter continent's big-five game dominating Hollywood movies as well as numerous novels the world over. Africa's varied wildlife, luxurious lodges, and private game reserves have historically proved too much competition for India, which traditionally has lacked neither a comparative

infrastructure nor an equivalent level of sophistication. But in a new joint venture between Conservation Corporation Africa (CC Africa) - one of the continent's leading conservation and safari specialists, and which runs more than 40 luxury game lodges in six African countries - and Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, India's most recognizable hotel chain, $3 million (and counting) has been plunked down to make over the Indian safari.

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