We meet at Bhopal Railway Station around 7 AM. On the breakfast table in Bhopal, we introduce each other and leave for Hoshangabad by train which is around 1.5 hours from Bhopal by rail. The train route passes via picturesque Rata Pani wildlife sanctuary which forms an important corridor for Satpuda national park. We reach Madhai range in Satpuda from Hoshangabad by car.

We reach Madhai by 12:30 PM and unpack our bags and have lunch. After a bit of rest, we are ready for our first evening Safari in Madhai Zone. Evening Safaris are special as this is the time that we come across movement of leopards and Sloth bears near meadows and Sal forests respectively. We will also be checking on rocky bed of Denwa river inside the forest for spotting of Crocodiles on rocky river bead. On the way, back we look for Indian Eagle Owl on the rocky face near our resort.

The group will share dinner and wild anecdotes in the evening.

Wakeup call at 5:30 AM.  Get ready for the Second safari in Satpuda National Park.

Satpuda is categorized as a Biosphere reserve with Madhai, Bori, Churna Panchmadi, Matkuli.and Delakhadi as Core areas and Tawa Reservoir, Sangakheda, Bankhedi, Sangankheda as reserve forests and forms the biggest undisturbed patch of forests in Central Highlands of Madhya Pradesh. The landscape of the forest is highly undulating and full of rocky rivulets and deep ravines. Satpuda also boasts of some of the largest seen Gaurs in India along with Giant Indian Squirrel. Satpuda is also home to lots special herbs and trees and we will be introducing you to different herbs, plants, and trees of Satpuda. Satpuda is home to dream flower, lavender, Acchar, Mahua, Kher, Tandu and Kharra plants along with much talked but seldom seen corkwood tree.

This would be our first-morning safari and we would be entering the forest around 6 AM. We would be making our way through tall teak forests with rich meadows in between and keep looking for the black striped yellow beauty along with birds which are in abundant in Satpuda. Our tour guide would be helping us to locate and observe the various mammals and birds that would encounter on our way. The avifauna of this forest comprises of more than 200 species including a host of migratory birds. One can easily see the Rufous woodpecker, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Oriental honey buzzard, Crested Hawk Eagle, and much more as Satpuda is home to over 275 species of bird species.

After a rewarding morning safari, we would be coming back to our resort and having a sumptuous lunch.

At about 2:30 PM, we leave for our evening Safari and will cover several routes of Madhai range and leave for Churna range for a night stay in Churna with limited luggage to be carried. This route goes through the prime of core area off Satpuda and we come across several water bodies and wooded patches. On the way to Churna we may spot Barasingha, a drift of wild boards, Scoops owl, mottled wood owl and much more birds and mammals. Late evenings are preferred time for leopards and sloth bears to start their prowl in the forest and we keep our ears open for alarm calls and eyes open to spot the evolutionary camouflage of leopards. Churna is the epitome of Core range in Satpuda Biosphere reserve and sightings of Dholes is quite common in this area. Post reaching Churna we stay in the forest guest house and spend the night in the courtyard looking for possible big cat movement outside the courtyard.

Night time is to sit out and see numerous glittering eyes in the meadows next to our verandah in the resort, those who wish to do Star gazing and star trailing this is the perfect night with miles on both sides without any habitation and human lights.

Wakeup call at 5:15 AM and we start at 5:45 AM for an excursion into Churna Range with focus on sloth bear, Tiger, Leopard, and Dholes. In this Safari, we start our travel back to our base camp in Madhai. Due to its high altitude and Sal forest nature, this is a perfect adobe for sloth bear.

Churna has several natural water holes and loopy roads and is home to even rarest of the rare Eurasian otter. Churna looks beautiful in the later part of spring as a mix of yellow and a dash of new green in Sal forests make for beautiful photographs of landscapes.

We arrive back at our base camp at Madhai at around 1 PM, and have lunch and take rest to be ready for evening Safari in Madhai. We leave for evening Safari at 3:30 PM and focus will remain on Leopard and tiger along with ungulates like Gaur, wild boars, and Sambhar deer. Come back at Madhai stay at evening 6:30 PM.

Dinner followed by rest.

We wake up at 5:30 AM. Get ready for the morning safari. This would be a different Safari with focus on birds as we will be walking through the dense forests of Satpuda on a unique walking trail for around 5 Kms.

We come back by 7:30 AM and post breakfast we leave for boat Safari to explore huge crocodiles in backwaters of Tawa reservoir. Post boat ride, participants are open do birding on the walking trails or may opt for rest. At 11 AM, we leave Madhai for Hoshangabad to catch a train back to Bhopal to be dispersed for our homes with a promise to meet again.