Post 18 months of restrictions, being confined at home and living in a virtual world, Thomas Cook and SOTC Travel, have identified a strong pent-up demand for outdoor and adventure experiences. India’s unparalleled biodiversity, exceptional wildlife and jungle experiences hold strong allure, and the companies have hence launched an exciting portfolio of Safaris & Jungle experiences intended to target India’s millennials/young professionals, honeymooners, families; equally corporates – with exciting team-building jungle getaways. With the pandemic bringing focus to health and safety, while Indians are longing to escape from the monotony/ restrictions of work-from-home, they are actively seeking holidays away from crowds.
Thomas Cook and SOTC’s Safari & Jungle Experiences are hence designed to offer safe/secluded yet magical landscapes: from rugged scrubland to lush forests, across rolling hills, watering holes and the floodplains of the mighty Brahmaputra to the awe-inspiring Sundarbans – the world’s largest delta. Thomas Cook and SOTC have included India’s top game reserves with the thrill of crossing paths with majestic tigers at Corbett, India’s oldest National Park – regarded as the ultimate tiger safari destination, or sighting a leopard at the Ranthambore National Park; a glimpse of snow leopards at Hemis, one of the world’s highest altitude parks; Bandhavgarh National Park, once a royal hunting ground and now a protected reserve for the Royal Bengal Tiger; the famed Asiatic Lion at the Gir National Park; spotting panthers, bears, pythons and elephants at Kanha National Park featured in Kipling’s ‘Mowgli’, a variety of migratory birds at the Kumarakom/Vembanad Bird Sanctuary or the magnificent one-horned rhinoceros at Kaziranga National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In addition to exciting safari drives via a 4×4, atop an elephant, camel or in a canoe, Thomas Cook and SOTC have thoughtfully incorporated personalized/ immersive experiences like a picnic lunch post a safari drive, sundowners at an observation tower for spectacular views; campfires with bush dining or an exclusive 4-course meal. Exhilarating wildlife encounters include a night safari, wildlife trails with trained naturalists; also cycling, bird-watching or village walks with local herdsmen.
Rejuvenation options include spa-wellness therapy. The accommodation is eclectic, with a choice of rugged tented camps, traditional mud dwellings, stone cottages, colonial bungalows to luxurious royal safari lodges or sleeping under the stars in your private machan.
