Thank you so much for your friendly email. You are right - it is difficult to get clients to sign up to a new location. But how much braver of you to set up a lodge under those circumstances! I very much appreciate this sort of courage. I am not a huge admirer of tourism (not meaning to sound pompous here) but I feel that so far the evidence is that well-disciplined tiger tourism is the best tool we have. It can be effective for all the reasons that you and I know (that the presence of tourists can concentrate minds in the Forest Dept, provides extra eyes on them and on poaching, provides "free" patrolling etc). If this is true then obviously we should take tourists to a much wider selection of reserves so those areas gain the benefit too. I've tried this but most of the other reserves apart from Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench - really don't offer quality. So you can imagine how happy I was to find that your efforts at Satpura do. I love the lodge, staff and reserve. I very much hope you can maintain constructive relations with the park authorities.
What I want to offer my clients is a proper wildlife experience - not a circus. I like the chance to use my skills as a finder of wildlife so some freedom of movement is good (ie no fixed routes) and to encourage my clients to develop those skills themselves, or at least to understand how they work. I like the chance to use elephants in the old-fashioned way rather than the tiger-show method. I like to visit a reserve which is not over-disturbed but one needs some infra-structure and there must be a serious chance of seeing the major species (tiger, leopard, sloth bear, wild dog). As you can see, you tick all the boxes at Satpura.
Well done Hashim. I really hope I can persuade clients to make your lodge a regular stop. My first little group voted it their favourite.
Stephen Mills
Wildlife Writing, Research and Photography
+31 299 397221
“We had an excellent time at Forsyth’s. Anant was a wonderful host/guide/wildlife expert and made our stay extra special. We loved the lodge – the pool was going in while we were there so we could visualize how it will get even better in months to come. We’ll always remember our nights spent on the roof terraces watching the stars and fireflies...! We sampled all the activities on offer in the national park and although we had no tiger sightings we did have exceptional views of a beautiful male leopard and of two sloth bears (simultaneously trying to climb a single tree and ending up getting in each other’s way!). Satpura was beautiful – I wasn’t expecting such varied landscape. The side valleys leading into the mountains were particularly stunning. So, all in all, we had a wonderful – if hot (!) - time.
Very best wishes
Will
William Gray
Travel Writer
Dear Shoba ji,
Just a quick note to say thank you so much for organsing my stay at Forsyth Lodge for my birthday. As we all know, I don’t give praise lightly but it was truly fabulous and by far the best safari experience I have had in India. The variety is great and we all did one of each, Jeep, elephant, boating and walking (when we came across a couple of sloth bears at close range!). What a privilege to be able to get out into a quiet jungle in these ways and I only hope that given time it does not go the same way as the other parks.
The staff were great, super efficient, the showers really great and we had good food and far to much booze for such early mornings! All in all I couldn’t have wished for a better place to celebrate my birthday and my friends concur, we all had a fabulous time and could easily have stayed longer.
If you would like me to put on my super critical head or make a couple of suggestions, I would say that the beds could do to be bigger – I felt this personally (and I am short!) but I was also traveling with 2 men of 6ft and over. Also, as brunch is served when people get back to the park at around 11/1200 which is early, it might be an idea to have afternoon tea with cakes/biscuits served at around 1430/1500 before people head back into the park as 1200 – 2000 is a long time to go between meals, especially with all the fresh air and activities. We found ourselves pestering for snacks pre afternoon safaris and this was my friends not me!
That said, it really is, in my opinion a super place and you can rest assured that I will be promoting it wholeheartedly, in fact I have already written to 2 sets of my regular clients to put some dates in their diaries. Once again, very many thanks.
Cheers
Philippa
Philippa Kaye
Director, Indian Experiences
Hullo Harsha,
Well it's been a few weeks now since we've been back from the wonderful Forsyth's Lodge and we still wish we were back there!
We thought that the whole trip (through Naturetrek: Bandhavgarh with Satpura extension) was excellent - but, tigers not withstanding - Satpura was far and away the best for nature lovers.
After you left (you picked the wrong moment to go!) we did an elephant safari, as recommended by yourself, a walking safari which was fantastically exciting and we learned some bushcraft and had experiences that will live forever in the memory. Also we saw fabulous birdlife, Nilgai, Mugger crocs, and - believe it or not -the day after you left - leopard!! In all we had 4 sightings of leopard (2 cubs) and also tracked a mother and 2 cubs on foot. If that's not a nature lovers idea of a good time then I don't know what is.
Together with the lovely accomodation, relaxed atmosphere, knowledgeable guiding and the superb food and service - well, what can we say - we are already planning our next holiday. One week at Forsyths lodge next February/March.
We hope that the rest of your visit to India went well - but I'll bet it wasn't as brilliant as Forsyth's Lodge?!
Best wishes
Martin & Kate (Baggott)
(Written to a fellow guest and passed on to us)
This is just such a very special place - I can understand why you love it. We saw a bear yesterday and more wild dogs. But oin the morning on our walk, we found a leopard kill and then later saw the leopard chasing off a wild boar. Everyone, including some new arrivals, went back in the evening and had great looks at the leopard. Really nature at it's best, not being chased around or hassled. Nim thinks we are carrying good luck with us. Anything else for us is frosting on the cake now.
Mrs. Virginia Kubic
Satpura & Forsyth on the other hand was the perfect end of the trip since you also get to see a place with hardly any tourists. Anant was a great source of inspiration and enthusiasm for what they are doing and I learnt alot here. The lodge is very well thought through and crocs on the beaches and hunting wild dogs seen from canoe was brilliant - great place!
Marie Lannborn
Hi Anant,
A short note to thank you for your inspiring hospitality! What a wonderful product you have at Forsyth’s Lodge. We felt privileged every day that we were there, and the entire experience was profoundly re-affirming of the importance of our bio-diversity and cultures. Your staff are superb, and the combination of your training and commitment to the local villagers has ensured a great working relationship as well as a great experience for your guests. Congratulations on your management strategy and your ability to bring it to fruition.
Simon Hills
We had an excellent time at Forsyth’s. Anant was a wonderful host/guide/wildlife expert and made our stay extra special. We loved the lodge – the pool was going in while we were there so we could visualize how it will get even better in months to come. We’ll always remember our nights spent on the roof terraces watching the stars and fireflies...! We sampled all the activities on offer in the national park and although we had no tiger sightings we did have exceptional views of a beautiful male leopard and of two sloth bears (simultaneously trying to climb a single tree and ending up getting in each other’s way!). Satpura was beautiful – I wasn’t expecting such varied landscape. The side valleys leading into the mountains were particularly stunning. So, all in all, we had a wonderful – if hot (!) - time. Thank you once again for arranging everything.
Will Gray
Dear Hashim - Having returned from India this is to let you know that our trip to Forsyth’s was exceptional. Without doubt the highlight was spending about 20 minutes on foot surrounded by wild dogs. We also had a good sighting of a leopard and narrowly missed a tigress and cubs. The birds were a constant pleasure. We were well looked after by David and we enjoyed his knowledge, enthusiasm and company. I hope that Satpura remains as a place for people that are interested in wildlife as opposed to a commercial tourist destination.
Simon Gill
Hello Rishi - Pat O'Leary and I want to thank you for the great time we had while visiting Satpura NP and the Forsyth Lodge. We continued on to see Pench, Kanha, and Bandhavgarh Parks, but none provided the same unique concern about the environment that the Forsyth Lodge does. We enjoyed our accommodations, the frogs :-) in the bathroom, the food, service, al fresco dining and drinks upstairs, and especially the service from you, your staff, and our additional friends David and Varum. All were extremely knowledgeable, personable and helpful to us in many different ways. Satpura Park is unique in its own ways. We enjoyed all our activities there-canoing, hiking, jeep safaris, elephant ride. The side trip to the silk farm was a special treat for us....Satpura was a much more interesting environment, and Sambar were much better.
Jim Harper
