Svasara Jungle Lodge

The gate is a two minute drive.

Svasara sits 300 metres from Kolara, the Tadoba gate closest to Nagpur. Mornings start very early because safari entry follows sunrise, and the lodge gives you a wake-up call for it. Breakfast goes out with you in a picnic hamper and gets eaten in the forest, at one of the designated spots, when you decide you have seen enough for the moment.

The reserve

Tadoba-Andhari runs to 625 square kilometres. The lodge puts recent estimates at around 115 tigers, which is where the name Land of the Tigers comes from. Leopard, sloth bear, gaur, ratel and the rusty spotted cat are all on the list. More than 200 bird species have been recorded here, among them the crested serpent eagle and the grey-headed fishing eagle. Bamboo and teak dominate the forest, with silk cottons flowering from late winter into spring.

Core zones close on Tuesdays. Buffer zones close on Wednesdays. Since December 2018 the forest department has banned mobile phones and tablets inside the reserve, and that applies to guides and drivers as well as guests. Camera fees stopped being charged separately in July 2025 and now sit inside the permit.

Twelve rooms on ten acres

Twelve suite rooms stand in ten acres of restored forest planted with native trees. The grounds are walkable and the lodge encourages you to walk them. There is a pool and a spa for the long gap between the morning and evening safaris. Most evenings the lodge screens a documentary on Tadoba before dinner. Wi-Fi reaches the main lounge and, since May 2023, the rooms.

The Teakhouse

Dinner is served at the Teakhouse, the lodge's own restaurant. Lunch and dinner are buffets, vegetarian and non-vegetarian, laid indoors and outdoors. The kitchen cooks regional Indian, continental and Varadi food, the cuisine of this part of Maharashtra. Tell them about a dietary requirement before you arrive, because some ingredients have to be brought in.

Naturalists

The lodge runs its own custom-fitted jeeps. It asks guests to book one of its naturalists for the safaris, at a cost on top of the permit, rather than going out with the forest guide alone. That is the difference between being driven around a park and having the animal found for you.

When to go

October to March has the best weather by the lodge's own account, sunny days and pleasant evenings. April to June is very hot, and it is the best stretch of the year for tiger sightings. July to September is monsoon, when safari permission rests on a forest department decision usually announced in June, and the lodge fills the days with nature walks, birding, village tours and lakeside picnics instead.