TIGER SAFARIS WITH NEMO TRAVEL
As the old Ethiopian Proverb goes “Do not blame God for having created the tiger, but thank him for not having given it wings.” Wise words that I cannot help but agree with having seen them hunt in the flesh…
The very best encounter I’ve ever had with a tiger was in Ranthambore National Park (where the charity Deeba supports, Tiger Watch, operates). We had been staying at the wonderful Sher Bagh and hadn’t had a proper sighting of the elusive jungle cat, so when the ranger asked me to go out on the last morning for one last try - I had to give it another shot. Just 10 minutes later and I was staring down the eyes of one of the largest females in the park. She was beautiful just sitting there on a bank basking in the sun, lapping up water every few minutes. We watched her for about 45 minutes and it was only then that the ranger spotted a leopard in the tree above our heads. ‘In my ten years in the park I’ve only ever seen a tiger and a leopard this close together twice’ he said - a comment which made me very glad I didn’t hit the snooze button on my alarm one more time at 5am. Another 45 minutes went by and as the tiger started drifting off to sleep, the leopard slowly started making its way down the tree, one gentle step at a time, to try and not disturb the sleeping beast. Just at the critical point, boom! The tiger wakes up, the leopard leaps about 10 foot out of the tree, and in a flash they had both disappeared into the jungle. It was an experience I’ll never forget - and one I tell regularly when sending people to the jungles of India with nemo.
Much like Deeba, nemo was built out of a passion gained from travelling. Tom and I have spent years working in the travel industry and we wanted to create nemo to give the modern traveller something different - a new way to design trips online with sustainability and ethical travel at the core of everything we do. We currently offer trips to the Indian Subcontinent, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Europe and Japan with more destinations in the pipeline. Importantly, we hand pick the hotels we work with and give travellers a range of price points so that they are in control of their budget when designing their holiday with us. No nasty add-ons and sales pitches here, just honest and transparent advice.
Obviously travel (and many other industries) have taken somewhat of a hit as I write this, and there’s a lot of doom and gloom in the industry. Undoubtedly we will see a few companies go under and travel will change post coronavirus, for better or worse, but we are keeping optimistic. At nemo our approach has always been digital - an online travel agent of sorts that allows people to build dream trips at a time that suits them, with no pressure to commit until they are ready to do so. So as confidence starts to come back, we too are confident that our website will provide the perfect tool for people to start planning and thinking about going away again. Because if it’s one thing we know, we are ALL going to need a nice escape when this is all over!
Our trip Tigers and India’s Golden Triangle travels through Delhi, Agra - the home of the Taj Mahal, Ranthambore National Park, and the beautiful pink city of Jaipur. Have a look and please don’t hesitate to get in touch about anything India, tiger, or travel related.
Written by James Wales
