Skay's Camp — Hotel in Tala

The purpose of our trip was 8 days of photography, in April into May 2024, specifically for the Tigers and other fauna of Bandhavgarh. Key for my friends and I, was maximising opportunities to encounter and document these. ||SKAYS CAMP is the home of Satyendra and Kaye both of whom have been involved with the Tigers at Bandhavgarh for decades. Their knowledge of the park, tigers and other fauna is second to none. They have expanded their home to cater for small numbers of guests and provide safari drives into the park twice a day. They specifically cater for photographers. Satyendra is an accomplished and published photographer and understands the needs of photographers when visiting the park. Our accommodation, food, park entry arrangements, jeeps, drivers, park warden escorts and flight transfers were all arranged by Satyendra and included in the price of our trip. Our driver for the tour was Hariom, Satyendra’s brother, who has spent years taking tours into the park and has extensive knowledge of the park and has established links with the other drivers and guides. This was invaluable in gathering information about sightings and behaviours and getting us onto our quarry and in prime position to photograph them. Our trip would not have been anywhere near as successful without him and Satyendra and Kayes intimate knowledge. We had sightings of Tigers every trip. ||Satyendra and Kaye have an ethos of self-sustainability. Water for washing and showering is provided from wells and much of our food is home grown on the premises or their ranch. There is excellent wi-fi coverage and all the rooms are equipped with air conditioning, powered by solar power gathered at the homestead, with ensuite showers and toilets. The rooms are no frills but perfect for what we needed for our stay|| Food consisted of brunch following the morning safari. Muesli and fresh fruits from the garden, locally made vegetarian samosas (truly addictive) followed by omelettes, stuffed paratha etc. Our evening meal, post the afternoon safari, was soup, handmade Indian bhajis and pakoras, a vegetarian meal with 4 different dishes and a sweet. The food again utilised produce grown by Satyendra and Kaye. We were asked if we wanted a meat dish one evening but in honesty it wasn’t missed (and this from someone who once moaned when his wife cooked a vegetarian meal about not having meat!) It is important to both Kaye and Satyendra that their guests have the best possible experience of the Tigers and this has extended into considering the meals. They try to use ingredients that they have either grown themselves or sourced and themselves. ||If you are looking for hotel style accommodation, SKAYS may not be for you. However…. If you are looking for a warm welcome into a family home in rural India, delicious hearty home sourced and cooked meals, expertise on the tigers and fauna of Bandhavgarh and the best chances of sighting Tigers then I would have no hesitation in recommending SKAYS. Satyendra, Kaye, Hariom and their small team will assist you in tailoring a trip to fit your needs and do everything in their power to deliver it. It was a pleasure to meet and share time with these warm, generous people. – I will certainly...

We spent 4 days with Kay and Satyendra in Skay's Camp in Bandhavgarh (Tala) in early February 2019 and it was really amazing. The main reason why we booked (not only) tiger safaris with Kay/Satyendra was simple - there are very good reviews of their knowledge and guiding skills. And we can fully confirm that from our experience. They know the park, they know the animals, they know where and how to find them and - they love them. As a bonus - they are both wildlife photographers (Kay also a great wildlife painter) - so they understand well it's one thing to have a good animal sighting but to make a good picture - it can be a different story. They have their own safari jeeps/drivers and their connections to park employees are very valuable. We were in Bandhavgarh not only after tigers - we are interested in all animals, even small birds - but we managed 3 close tiger encounters/photographing opportunities in 5 morning/evening safaris (plus 1 sloth bear, but just from a distance, hard luck :-(||||We are not very choosy about accommodation/meals but we were surprised how comfortable, friendly and functional it can be. Even for people used to European standards. We can compare that with the previous 4-day-stay in Kanha, in a similar, also locally owned family resort. And for the same price. I wouldn't call the stay in Kanha really bad - but you know, "the devil is in the detail". If wildlife/animals are your priority you can survive some lack of comfort easily. But hot water for washing (in Skay's Camp any time), sunny well aired room, clean bed-clothes, usefully located shelves, etc. - such things multiply your joy of the surrounding wildlife.||||Meals are only vegetarian (for us no problem) but plentiful and tasty and Kay and Satyendra regularly joined us at mealtimes so there was always a good opportunity for chatting and learning more about India and its wildlife. Check all the paintings and pictures in the dining room - and don't miss the tigers 'family tree'. ||I spent all my daylight time between safari drives in the garden that surrounds all buildings. It is full of flowers, scrubs and fruit trees and I wish I had more time to photograph all the birds living there.||||If you plan to visit Bandhavgarh we do recommend to consider Skay's Camp - both for accommodation and for safari drives. Especially if you are a wildlife photographer. Remember that tigers are great but they are only a part of Indian wildlife - it is worth to pay your attention also to all other animals there. Kay and Satyendra will help you...

Recently returned from a safari trip to Bandhavgarh National Tiger Reserve in Madaya Pradesh staying at Skays Camp. The overall experience was fantastic. Our hosts Satyendra and Kay have an intimate knowledge of the Reserve and its wildlife inhabitants that is like an encylopedia and its hard to imagine there is anyone who knows more about Bandhavgarhs tigers they do . This knowledge combined with the superb driver Hariom ensured we always seemed to be in the right place at the right time for Tiger sightings as well as the numerous other species of birds and mammals that we saw and photographed during our 9 days at the camp. We chose to go in t dry season and daytime temeratures were always above 100 degrees so our air conditioned room was a very welcome sanctuary. The food was vegetarian and whilst I am not a vegetarian myself I thouroughly enjoyed all the tasty meals that were served and during the downtime from our twice daily safaris it was enjoyable trying to photograph the numerous birds and butterflies that frequent the camp garden . I guess everyone who visits Tiger Reserves in India does so to see the magnificent Bengal Tiger and I cannot thank the team enough for their efforts which resulted in us seeing at least one Tiger every day of our stay and on most days multiple sightings plus 3 Leopards , elephants , jungle cat, many other mammals and well over 70 species of birds with some amazing photographic opportunities. Haven't got a specific favourite wildlife encounter as there were so many and Satyendra and the team certainly provided a wonderful experience I will treasure. Already thinking of an opportunity to return to Skays Camp to relive it...