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Panna Safari Zones

Introduction

Panna national park safari zones

Panna tiger reserve is a popular jungle safari destination in Madhya Pradesh. In recent year, after 2018, here tiger sighting was significantly improved and highly promoted which resulted into sudden growth in tourism. Due to nearby location from Khajuraho temples, it is very well suited for Khajuraho tourists also. In order to plan a safari holiday at Panna national park, one should must know the tourism system like what are different entry gates, where more resorts in different categories are located, how far is entry gates from resorts, where more activities are possible etc. Here we have share some useful information about various safari zones and there entrance gates with prominent safari attractions. This will be helpful in taking good decision and good planning.

Panna Safari Zones

In this section we have showcased the Panna safari zones information in tabular way to make it easily understandable. In this table we have shared the names of all tourism safari zones with there category as they fall in core zone forest or buffer zone forest. Further we have shared information on topography or described the type of landscape we will see during safari drive. These landscapes or topography also decided the type of wildlife we can see during safari drives thus it is important information for tourists. Here most popular safari zone is Madla. It is oldest safari zone thus very popular among tourism world. Majority of hotels are also located near by the Madla entry gate. Hinouta zone is far inside from main road and presence of accommodation option is negligible thus less preferred by tourists. Akola core zone is located on Katni-Panna route, on main road but due to lack of hotel options and poor infrastructure for tourists, it is least preferred zone for safaris. These safari zones are inter-connected from each other thus during safari drive, it is common practice that Madla zone tourists may enter inside the Hinouta zone forest area and return back. Many safari points are common where safari vehicles from different safari zones assemble and do information exchange. While doing safari permits booking, do not book two different zone as there safari entry gates are too far from each other.

Safari Zone Category Operational Season Landscape / Topography Safari Attractions
Madla Zone Core Oct to June Plateau top, grasslands, river banks, relocated village meadows, rocky gorges. rocky trails Tiger, Sloth Bear, Chinkara, Sambar, Nilgai, Crocodiles, Hyena, Vultures, Ken river
Hinouta Zone Core Oct to June Plains, plateau tops, hilly terrains, grassland, gorges, seasonal waterfalls Tiger, Leopard, Sambar, Nilgai, Sloth Bear, Vultures, Feral cattle, Elephant Camp
Akola Core Core Oct to June Slightly hilly, more rocky,  dry forest Tiger, Sambar, Spotted Deer, Sloth Bear, Leopard
Jinna Buffer Throughout the year Village presence with dense forest Leopard, Hyena, Sloth Bear, Jungle Cat, Rusty Spotted Cat
Akola Buffer Throughout the year More or less plain, not so dense, village sites Tiger, Nilgai, Spotted Deer, Hyena

Common mistakes on safari booking

Their are many points to consider before choosing your safari zones. Majority of times, we have seen that first time visitors made some common mistakes while doing safari permits booking by themselves. They don't even realize the mistake till they reach their resort and discuss about safaris with local resort management team or local agent. Some of the common mistakes are as follows:

  • Booking distant safari zones: Many times tourists made mistake like they choose their hotel at one point and book the safari gate which is too far from their hotel. Due to this mistake, they face problem of leaving too early their hotel to timely report at safari entry gate and similarly on completion of safari drive, reach the resort after a long drive. When they have back to back safaris, it becomes very frustrating for them as they will not get proper time to relax and get refreshed for next drive.
  • Booking less popular zone: Many time, first time visitors choose the safari zone by reading some old review by some previously visited tourist. Although such reviews are good to understand the topography and basic presence of wildlife species but due to dynamic nature animal sighting probabilities also get changed. The safari zone which is doing good in last season may not deliver similarly good results in subsequent season thus current updates are important to know before selecting safari zones. Sometimes, park management introduce some new rules like changing the safari zone boundaries, carving out new safari zone from large existing safari zone, closing some forest area due to local conditions or closing of some safari routes due to which sighting possibilities get changed.
  • Core-Buffer zones confusion: Many times tourists do safari permits booking without understanding the difference between core zones and buffer zones. They realize this difference when they reach Panna national park resort or when they go for first safari drive and guide explains them difference. Till that time, we lost the chance to get any safari cancellation refund and due to sold out status, we can't even change the safari zones.
  • Safari timing ignorance: Almost in all tiger reserves of Central India, safari timings get changed almost in every month. Actually it is adjusted as per change in timing sunrise and sunset. Due to this changing nature, morning safari becomes challenging for many visitors especially when visitors are of old age or visiting with infants or have problem with cold weather or late riser. On realizing the safari timing they even have to decided to skip some safari drives due to such challenges. This problem become more severe when, by mistake, they book safari zone whose entry gate is too far from their resort.

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