Pugdundee Safaris - Kanha Earth Lodge

It was an unbeatable experience. The lodging was unique. The service was wonderful. The common spaces were beautiful, although because of the safaris we did not get any time to enjoy them. Best of all was the food, and our interactions with the chef (Ark). On our last evening special care was taken to give us a great candlelight experience. Unforgettable. And a big 'thank you' to Ark.

Sorry - this review is long because I just loved our entire experience, and thus have a lot to say…. We were bowled over by this eco lodge on our first visit here 3 years ago, and in planning our trip to multiple parks, we wanted to repeat our stay at this wonderful property ( we had loved it so much that we stayed at all Pugdundee Properties at 3 peaks on this trip). Needless to say, we were just as thrilled with our stay this time as we were our first time. The lodge continues to offer warm service in this superb lodge. The property gives you the true feel of being on safari. The setting is very natural, and you feel you are in the jungle. In no way does this mean it lacks luxury. Rooms are HUGE with ceiling fans, AC and heaters, large comfortable beds, a seating area and desk, large doors that open into the patio which overlooks the forest. The bathrooms are big (with hot water availed within 5 minutes of turning on the heater). There is a coffee and tea station int he entry way, with flasks of water. The rooms are in separate cottages that are spaced so you have complete privacy. The lodge does NOT have manicured gardens and landscaping - the stay true to the feel of a safari lodge. I am glad that it doesn’t don’t feel like a “hotel in the city’ - most guests are here to enjoy the safari and the lodge gives you very authentic safari experience without compromising on quality. If you want a party hotel, this is not the place for you. This lodge, which located away from the bustle of lodges near the main gate and town, follows the ethos of the company in being very environmentally conscious - there was zero use of single use plastics. In the rooms, trash cans are lined with newspaper rather than plastic; shampoo, conditioner and lotion are all in glass bottles etc. Guests are supplied with a metal flasks to use. There is are water flasks in the room and water dispenser near the reception to refill the flasks you are given to use during the stay and you keep the flasks (encouraging you to continue to refrain from using single use plastic bottles). Safari meals are packed and served in metal containers. One of the highlights of the stay is the delicious, mouthwatering food. The menu is meals from different regions of India with a smattering of items from other parts of the world. The chef is so innovative in his preparation of meals, and discusses the menu with guests daily to make sure everyone is happy with options offered. He offers to make non Indian meals if desired, but I never saw anyone request non Indian meals - his selection of Indian dishes is so good you don’t feel the need to have any pasta / pizza type of food. Each meal is finished off with a different, freshly made ice cream and a dessert pairing. Be warned you get so much in your main meal you need to plan for the amazing desserts. There is a program offered each evening where you watch a documentary about the region and have your appetizer during the program. Alterna

Same very positive experience as at the King's lodge in Bandhavgarh - from where we came to Kanha. We liked the interior design of Kanha even more, the room was really king-size. Staff were likely attentive, and food equally good - but we had unfortunately no outdoor dining. The swimming pool seemed significantly bigger than at the King's, but we had no time to check whether it's large enough for lap swimming. A particular note for the butterfly garden: both lodges have one, but somehow the Kanha one had a bunch of rare, colourful butterfiles I never saw before. As for the dark side... same problem: wedding music at night was even worse that at the King's, if you can believe that!

This was the 3rd and final Pugdundee lodge of our 3 weeks in India on our latest holiday and it certainly did not disappoint. The food was up to the excellent standard of the other 2 Pugdundee lodges where we had stayed. Each chef had their own special flavours so it would be difficult to choose a favourite. They were all 3 perfect. Similarly the lodges themselves each had an individual character but were all excellent. We did find the safari drives to be quite tiring due to the distances involved in reaching the allocated zone after entering the NP. The distance needed depends on the luck of the draw for zones but it did impact on our enjoyment of the drives. I should mention that we are quite elderly. We did enjoy the drives but perhaps not as much as those in Satpura. Kanha seems to have more mammals than the other parks but viewing can be quite difficult due to the wonderfully dense forest. We did see one tiger and glimpsed a pack of wild dogs. It was good to see the very rare Barrasingha of Kanha. An unexpected highlight on our final evening was a visit to the weekly market in a local village. The colour, noise, smells and energy was intoxicating. We loved it. We had one of our very best holidays ever. Thank you to all at Kanha Earth Lodge, Denwa Backwaters and Waghoba Eco Lodge ***** with Swati back in Delhi.