Tag Archives: ATTA

Satpura National Park Holiday Tour - Ibex Expeditions

Treading on the Explorer’s Trail in Satpura National Park

Satpura National Park Holiday Tour - Ibex Expeditions

Ibex Expeditions  recently organised The Panchmarhi Trail in Satpura National Park with partners Reni Pani Lodge for the delegates of ATTA’s Adventure Connect. The journey, led by Mandip Singh Soin and a senior naturalist captured the explore spirit, was full of wonderful sightings of birds, squirrels, a leopard and pugmarks!

Satpura National Park Holiday Tour - Ibex Expeditions

The five day journey  began at Panchmarhi, also known as Satpura ki Rani, a hill station and part of the national park. The travellers, treading the footsteps of Captain James Forsyth, the original explorer of Satpura National Park  (he belonged to Bengal Lancers and entered the park looking for Indian freedom fighter Tantya Tope) and reached Dhelia camp. The Reni Pani lodge is magnificent. Private tents along the river located just outside the buffer zone of the national park. Beautiful views all around. And the best part? No plastic along the trail!

On our first day in the park, while on a jeep safari, we spotted a leopard, barely 10m from us! Just sauntering along. What tremendous grace the cat has.

The next day was a 16km walk further in. We spotted the exquisite Indian Giant Squirrel, who flew from branch to branch. They build their nests on top of the branches with leaves. They neatly place one leaf after another and make their cosy home. It was quite a sight for us.

The twelve of us had three forest guards walking alongside throughout our journey. We spotted a number of birds—wagtails, grey herons, black bellied terns; even heard an owl hoot!

Satpura Jungle Safari- Ibex Expeditions

On our way we kept seeing pugmarks. The guards told us they were three-days old. On the second day of our trail we saw pugmarks that were two days old. Things were heating up! Finally, on the third day, just about a 100m after our lunch stop, we saw a massive drag mark, going all the way from the river to the sand over a rock. The guard told us that the tiger must have had a major kill – a sambhar or a deer and dragged the prey along. It was an incredible sight.

We continued to Manakhachar, our second camp, and walked around the fields and meadows before driving back to Reni Pani Lodge.

We travelled and explored using various means of transport — jeep safari, rowing in local canoes for bird spotting, cycling around the fields, and of course our very own two feet.

Satpura Tours Bird Flying- Ibex Expeditions

It was a wonderful experience overall. We plan to organise similar wildlife-centric journeys in the future. Perhaps combine a journey to Satpura and Bandhavgarh. 🙂

To know more about our special, customised journeys, get in touch with us at ibex@www.ibexexpeditions.com

 

 

Adventure Travel - Ibex Expeditions

Adventures in Tuscany with Adventure Travel World Summit 2018

Adventure Travel - Ibex Expeditions

The past few days have been a whirlwind for us at Ibex Expeditions.  The Adventure Travel & Trade Association’s (ATTA) annual Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) is taking place in the dreamy, historic, high cultured land of Tuscany, Italy.

The week-long summit, 14th to 19th October at Montecatini Terme has been a wonderfully educational, fun-filled event so far. The best adventurers, explorers, outdoor educators, tour operators from all over the world have gathered here in one space to talk about ethical adventure travel and think about ways of creating a better space for the planet. The theme of summit, “Wellspring” is an apt one, inspiring us to truly understand the richness of our planet. Adventure travel, in its truest, raw form, means going back to the source — the source of our relationship with nature. “The source of vitality and inspiration, the wellspring, that renews our joy in life and our sense of stewardship in this fragile world.”

EXPLORING TUSCANY

Apart from a number of scintillating lectures and workshops, we have also had the opportunity to take out time and explore Tuscany. A bunch of us went on a three-day hike up the Pania della Croche in the  Apuan Alps. On our way, we made organic pasta, peeled hazel nuts, goofed about, all the while soaking in the serenity of our surroundings. The colours of nature are bright and beautiful; they stand out even more in the Apuan Alps.

 

 

The breakfast session with the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ATCF) members was an eye-opening event. The ATCF is a non-profit that funds local projects engaged in the conservation of unique natural and cultural resources of adventure travel destinations. We learnt about good conservation projects and practice around the world. As board member, we were fortunate to participate as jury members for the 2018 grant finalists.

On 19th October, Mandip Singh Soin will be heading to Florence to give a talk on his personal experiences and adventures as a traveller and explorer.

This has been a wonderful, fulfilling journey for us!