Thinking of India safaris, I thought I would share a recent experience with you! No matter what a lifetime of experience might teach you, being face to face at 15 yards with a ton of pure ebony skinned muscle with nothing between you but a ragged cockscomb of thatch grass does trigger a wee surge of adrenalin. The bull gaur (Bos gaurus the largest wild cattle in the world), looked at us with the unsettlingly bovine flatness of expression that recalled every Hollywood hitman. With a little quiver you remember that this thing can go from nought to deadly in zero seconds flat and at less than fifty feet that barely provides you the split second needed to crouch even more firmly behind the chap in front. But gaur are peaceable and the guides know their stuff. As soon as animals are seen one is instructed to slowly subside into a crouch or sitting position transforming you from erect biped threat to strange crouched animal. The gaur flicked a lazy tail at the drowsy flies hovering over him and went his away and we, exchanging delighted grins did the same. We are in Satpura, the only tiger reserve in central India that permits walking safaris as part of a unique new model of wildlife tourism that is being pioneered here, supported by Forsyth’s Lodge that was involved with the training of the park guides to allow them to safely explore tiger country on foot.

The northern boundary of Satpura where Forsyth’s Lodge is located, is formed by the sparkling waters of the Tawa reservoir that reflects the stunning scenery of this quiet and undiscovered treasure of a park that is one of the best places to see sloth bears, leopard, wild dogs, gaur, four-horned antelope and a whole host of exciting birds and rarities like the Malabar giant squirrel anywhere in central or even the rest of India. The barrier of the reservoir means that the park can set a cap on the number of jeeps allowed inside – 12 – and the innovative approach to tourism means that you can spend a whole day afoot in prime tiger country set aside exclusively for walking safaris where sloth bears, wild dog, deer, gaur, boar and even leopard have been spotted and tigers tantalisingly missed; take a boat out for a few hours cruising slowly along the shore spotting not just crocodiles and a host of wonderful birds including peregrine falcons, ospreys, fishing eagles and fish owls but also the mammals; hire a portable 3 – man professional cameraman’s hide and stake out a waterhole; ride out on one of the parks elephants if they are available. It is a matchless programme of jungle adventure and learning that is found nowhere else in India.