Introduction

As per its name, night safari is nothing but surfing the forest after sunset. At Madhya Pradesh, this kind of safari option is offered at all popular tiger reserves like Bandhavgarh tiger reserve, Kanha tiger reserve, Satpura tiger reserve, Panna tiger reserve, Pench tiger reserve etc. Night safaris are always offered by using safari vehicle against booking of limited permits. It clearly means that we can do only jeep safari in night and no possibility of any walking safari or boat safari at any national park area. At Madhya Pradesh, this activity is technically termed as night patrol safari in which it is posed as if tourists will do night patroling in the forest area. As per rule of NTCA, after sunset, core forest area will remain undisturbed thus night patrol safari activity is only for buffer safari zones. In order to get exposure to nocturnal species of any national park, this kind of safari activity is the best way to experience wildlife in night hours. 

How to book ?

Night safari booking was possible from ticket counter only. At present Night safaris in Madhya Pradesh national parks has been suspended by forest department thus it is unavailable for tourists.

Safari Duration

Safari duration of night safari drives in Madhya Pradesh varies from one national park to another national park. Local park management authority takes decision on it. On an average it is of 03:00 hrs duration which is fair enought for safaris done after sunset. Here this duration has been decided after considering so many factors like 

• Night safari should start just after sunset thus its timing is decided as per closing time of afternoon safari. As sunset timing varies from month to month thus afternoon safari closing timing also varies. Due to this variation, sometimes night safari starts after closing of afternoon safari like in winters season (Nov-Feb) but in summers, night safari begins before closing of afternoon safaris.
• Night safari should must get over before restaurant closing timing of majority of local resorts and hotels. This is important point to consider because it is possible that guest will reach their resort in 30 min after closing of night safari drive. If safari duration will be increased then guests may miss the night dinner due to closing of restaurant thus in such situation they will be compelled to take early exit.
• Many of the visitors may have planned very next day morning safari drive for which they need to wake up before sunrise thus they should must exit on time so that they can have dinner and take timely sleep to get up early in next morning.
• Management convenience or local conditions also be one factor to decide the safari duration like safari duration of Kanha national park is longer then safari duration of Panna national park or Satpura national park. National parks where buffer safari zone entry gate is close to majority of resorts location, here we may find more safari duration like at Kanha national park. Similarly places where majority of resorts location is far away from night safari zone, here safari duration is slightly less so that tourists can take early exit and reach their hotels on time.

Night Safari Timings

Night safari timings at Madhya Pradesh national park varies from one tiger reserve to another tiger reserve. Due to variation in sunset timings, it may vary from season to season. Usually timings are decided as per timings of afternoon safari drive. Ideally night safari drive should begin after closing of afternoon safari drive so enable tourists to attend both the safari drives, if interested but reality is not so. In summers, due to late sunset, night safari drive begins before closing of afternoon safaris. In such situation, if guest has planned for both afternoon and night safaris in same date, they have to take early exit from afternoon safari and attend night patrol safari drive. As safari timing varies thus we can't specify any single timing information. On an average, night safari starts from 18:30 hr to 21:30 hr. This is for basic idea of readers. Guest have to enter in first one hour duration to attend any jeep safari else entry will be denied without any refund. As per their convenience, guests can take decision on early exit from safari zone. Sometimes, when hotel is too far from safari venue and guest have planned for next day morning safari, they take early exit.

Benefits

As per its name, night safari enhances our wildlife exposure. Till now we have explored the wildlife in natural day light but never experienced the nightlife of our popular tiger reserves. Large number of wildlife species are nocturnal in nature thus they are not seen during daytime safaris thus we remain ignorant about them. Night patrol safari is the best opportunity to personally see the forest after sunset and witness the movements, behavior, actions of such nocturnal species like jungle cat, rusty spotted cat porcupine, civet cat, sloth bear etc. This enhances our wildlife knowledge and through photography and videography, we can share our experience with the rest of the world. This enables more knowledge sharing and thus ensures better wildlife conservation.

Challenges

There are few points to be kept in mind while taking decision for night safari drive. Like:

• One of the obvious challenges of night safari drives is the absence of natural light. In absence of natural light, we have very limited visibility which means our sighting chances are very limited. In this jeep safari drive, we can only see that portion of forest which comes under the headlight of the safari vehicle. Search light fixing over safari vehicles is not allowed. At some national parks, a powerful torch is allowed for safari guides which enhances our chance to watch the happenings on the left and right side of safari vehicles.
• For animal tracking, here guides rely more on jungle calls and information exchange with other safari vehicles. Due to negligible human disturbance, after sunset, jungle calls are better heard and noticed which proves very helpful in tracking.
• From photographers point of view, night safaris are more challenging as due to absence of proper light, photographs are not of fine quality but comes with graining touch thus here videography is more useful.
• As birds and butterflies mostly restricts their movement after sunset thus we can’t expect any good experience in these categories.
• At some national parks, we will notice that some villages are still existing inside the buffer zone safari area. Thus during safari jeep drive, we will find local villagers vehicle will pass and they sometimes blow horn in ignorance which is very much disturbing for tourists who expects peaceful atmosphere safari drive so that they can clearly focus on jungle calls and try their luck.

Preparations

Night safari is done by using safari vehicles and is done on buffer safari zones. Here safari preparations are usually same as we do for daytime safaris still we need to work on some points like:

• Due to safari drive in buffer zone, here we can’t expect too good restroom facility with proper electricity supply. Thus better we free ourself from any such requirement, during night safari drive.
• Keep your items and things intact at safe pockets of bag or dress. Due to complete darkness, we may not be able to see the things which are inside your vehicle. Thus keep your mobile phone, camera, cap, water bottles, papers etc intact. During jeep drive, with the blow of winds, if they flew away, we may not be able to notice it and may get lost in the forest. So here we need to be more careful.
• While leaving for night safari drive, always inform your hotel front-office so that they will remain aware that guest will take dinner, after returning back from safari.
• Before leaving the hotel, check your camera settings in light and then go with it. During safari drive, due to darkness we may not be able to change settings easily.
• Insects could pose a challenge in night drive thus try to wear full-sleeve clothing and wear plain glasses.

Visitors Analysis

While planning for a safari holiday, sometimes we find ourself in a state of dilemma. We get confused with our safari schedule as how many safaris to be done in morning hours, evening hours and in night. Here we have shared some vital difference in between them which will help you to take suitable decision. Lets check the basic difference in between them.

Criteria	Morning / Evening Safari	Night Safari
Operation	These safaris are operated approx. in between 30 minutes before sunrise till 30 minutes after sunset	It starts after sunset. During summers we find some light in initial few minutes.
Safari Zones	Here we have chance to visit core safari zones and buffer safari zones	Here we will visit only buffer safari zones.
Safari Duration	Morning safari duration is approx. 05:30 hr and evening safari is of approx. 03:00 hr	It is approx. 03:00 hr.
Booking	It can be booked online or from ticket counter.	It can be booked only from ticket counter.
Advance Booking	It can be booked in advance.	It can't be booked in advance, but on same day basis.
Safari Types	In morning and afternoon hours, we can do jeep safari, boat safari, walking safari.	Here we can do only jeep safari.
Sighting	We have chance to see diurnal species	We have chance to see nocturnal species
Tracking	Here tracking options are more as due to better light conditions we track animals through pugmarks, jungle calls, message exchanging, binoculars.	Here tracking is more challenging, mainly based on jungle calls and message exchanging.
Crowding	It is more popular among visitors and its safari quota is hight thus we may face crowding problem	Here very few permits are issued thus we will not have any crowding problem.
Camera Friendliness	These safaris are more camera friendly as offers good opportunity for photography and videography	It is more challenging as due to low light photography results not comes good but good for videography.
Costing	Here core zone safaris are costly in compare to buffer zone safaris.	Here we do only buffer zone safari thus will cost less in compare to core zones.

As per above shared information, we hope you will be able to judge the differences well and take suitable decision as per your requirements.