India is pre-dominantly an agricultural country and agriculture in India is as diverse as the country is. On this tour we take showcase the agricultural practices in Rajasthan, the desert state of India. We will showcase not only the ways of the farmers and traditional and modern agricultural practices across varied landscape, but also the sustainable practices being adopted by the farmers today. This tour will be a heady unforgettable experience of India’s rural landscape and how it is evolving with time. It involves carefully planned study tours to various farms, interactions with the local farmers, an opportunity to indulge in farming practices as well as an opportunity to explore the historical landmarks. You will be staying in heritage hotels that have an old world charm, or in luxury homestays in rural setting run by some of the most hospitable families you will come across. Your hosts are of noble descent and have an extensive understanding of the area and will be happy to accompany you on rural safaris and farm walks.
EXPERIENCES AVAILABLE:
Cycling
- Explore the villages around Udaipur on a rural cycling expedition.
Private Access / Exclusive exploration
- Experience Mehrangarh Fort by night on an exclusive tour with the curator himself
- Tour of the private quarters of the City Palace in Jaipur
Walking tours
- Early morning walking tour of the old town of Udaipur to witness the city wake up, Old City Walk of Jaipur
Textiles
- Block Printing workshop in Jaipur
This tour is designed for those interested in textiles, tribes and photography. We travel in West Indian beginning in Ahmedabad, travelling west to Dwarka and then onwards to Bhuj, exploring the rich textiles traditions of the Kutch and Gujarat regions. The participants will have ample opportunity to study and discuss a broad range of contemporary and historic textiles including silk and cotton saris, mirror embroidery, ikat, tie-dye, wood block printing, and vegetable dyeing. Meet directly with artisans in their workshops. The itinerary is designed for modest travel, a mix of heritage hotels and lodges in order to make the trip cost low and to travel in a way that reflects the lifestyles of local people.
EXPERIENCES AVAILABLE:
Walking tours
Early morning walking tour of the old town in Ahmedabad
During the course of this extraordinary journey, the riders become a part of the breath-taking landscape, almost ‘at one’ with the surroundings, and get to see historical monuments and scenery which might be missed on a more conventional Safari. Add to this, the expertly schooled horses and professional guiding, you will have the Safari of a lifetime.
Your journey begins in the cosmopolitan city of Mumbai – commercial, financial and trade capital of the country. Then you will fly to Aurangabad and visit the superb caves at Ajanta and Ellora. We visit India’s wine growing region, Nasik. Stay at Sula Beyond – India’s first vineyard resort. At the end we stay at central India’s incredible fort Ahilya. “What’s that sound?†you think to yourself as you hear the chanting upon entering Ahilya Fort. As you step out onto the balcony of your room, it grows clearer. It’s one of the gardeners intoning, “Ram Sita Ram…Ram Sita Ram…â€, a chant that continues to be in the background during your stay at this beautiful heritage resort.
The Royal Expeditions wildlife safari experience in India continues to be unmatched, as we have been highly selective about the national parks on offer and the choice of accommodations. The lodges that Royal Expeditions chooses for your travels have all modern comforts, each catering to only a small number of guests at any one time. In addition, they have knowledgeable English- speaking resident naturalists who accompany guests, so that you can enjoy only the very best safari experience available in India. This tour of India takes you to some of the country’s greatest national parks, among them the World Heritage Kaziranga National Park, host to the world’s single largest population of the endangered one-horned rhino. Both Kanha National Park and Bandhavgarh National Park are noted the world over for their high number of tigers. The tour is aimed at offering the wildlife enthusiast a cross-section of India’s fabulous wildlife experiences in some of the most stunning natural settings in not just the country but the world.
Experiences
Cycling
- Explore the lanes of Old Delhi on a morning cycling tour
- Cycle in the buffer forests in Kanha
Gastronomy
- Cooking demonstration and meal with a local family in Delhi.
- Street food walk in Delhi
Community Service
This active tour in packed with adventure offers you the thrill of coming face to face with untouched cultures as well as wilderness regions of great natural beauty. You will travel to central India’s three famous national parks having diverse wildlife, landscapes and tribal communities which make it a fascinating region to cycle through forested corridor which serve as a refuge to dispersing wildlife across the parks. Also on offer will be night safaris, walking in the buffer forests and canoe safaris.
You will also visit Agra to marvel at the wonder that is the Taj Mahal.
EXPERIENCES AVAILABLE:
Gastronomy
- Farm to Table hands on cooking demonstration with in-house chef at the lodge in Pench
India is a land of diverse culture, geography, flora and fauna. Some of the rarest species of animals and birds find their home, in the central regions of the country. This tour weaves through two of India’s best tiger parks. It offers exclusive chances to see the best of the Indian wildlife, closely, in its natural habitat. We cycle through the very jungles of Seoni mentioned in the Jungle Book. Apart from the wildlife, the tour provides distinctive opportunity to experience rural life in India and meet with local people who live in harmony with wildlife. The soul of India lives in its villages, 60 percent of the population still lives in villages of India! Our route will be mostly through the forests that serves as a corridor for Tigers to disperse between national parks.
EXPERIENCES AVAILABLE:
Gastronomy
- Farm to Table hands on cooking demonstration with inhouse chef at the lodge in Pench
This premier birding journey takes you to some of the best birding spots in India. Arrive in Delhi and then travel to Bharatpur, hop off point for Kheoladeo National Park, one of the great ornithological wetland wonders of the world. A birders’ paradise for long, the historic park continues to attract birding enthusiasts from around the globe.
Next you will travel to Chambal Sanctuary which is well known for the gharials and marsh crocodiles. The Sanctuary boasts of a rapidly increasing and impressive bird list of over 330 species of resident and migratory birds and is gaining a reputation as one of the most reliable places to see the Indian Skimmer. It is one of the last surviving habitats of the Gangetic River Dolphin. A quick visit to Taj Mahal in Agra before you head to the national parks in central India. – Satpura and Pench National parks. Satpura is one of India’s best kept secrets; this thick, dry deciduous forest is characterized by hilly backdrops, gorgeous water bodies and a rather stunning blend of landscapes. This is the only Park allowing walking safaris in India.
The forests of Pench National Park were the setting for Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. Pench National Park is a wild playground harbouring country’s maximum density of prey animals, chased by estimated 65 Tigers. It has an appealing landscape of dry and moist deciduous forest and the vegetation is of undulating scrublands as well as bamboo patches around hilly areas.
Ladakh has a fauna very different from that of the rest of India. The appeal of Ladakh’s wildlife lies not only in this uniqueness, but also from the remoteness and harshness of the land. Ladakh, consisting mainly of high plains, brackish lakes and deep valleys, is situated 2700 metres above the sea level. It is very sparsely populated and it is so cold in places like the Zanskar region that people and cattle remain indoors for much of the year. It gets less than 10 centimetres of rain on average annually. Its vegetation is stunted. The region has over 300 bird species and 30 mammals. This tour is meant for those who are purely interested in tracking and viewing the elusive snow leopard. The best time for this tour is between December to March when the Blue sheep come down the valley. The snow leopard of Central and South Asia has a life span of 15-18 years and is unable to roar because of the absence of the larynx. Well known for its beautiful fur, the snow leopard has a whitish-tan coat with ringed spots of dark, ashy-brown and rosettes of black. Its tail is heavy with fur and the bottoms of its paws are covered with fur for protection against snow and cold. Early snow can push wild animals on to lower slopes. It is also a time of rut of one of the major prey of snow leopard – the blue sheep or bharal. These large wild sheep aggregate on the lower slopes in large numbers. The rut takes place among the most rugged terrain and it allows us to watch them at relatively close range without having to climb the steep mountain slopes. Since these ungulates are favourite snow leopard prey and higher slopes are under snow cover, snow leopard follows its major prey to these slopes which means sightings are easier.
