31 Dec 2022
I found this company through online reviews, including on Tripadvisor. My wife and I were traveling from US - with a stop in Mumbai to visit our family. It was confusing to figure out how to book the safaris, in which zones, at what times, and which vehicles.
Vardi, advised us that one of the safaris has to be in a prime zone, and since we were booking late, only ~10-15 days in advance, all Gypsy bookings for good zones were gone. So, he insisted on booking a canter - although I had reservations about that type of vehicle.
But it turned out to be a great advice. We saw 4 tigers on our safari. A side note - for people whose hotels don't have a canter pick-up (our hotel in Barwara was 30 minute drive away), use a canter pick-up spot closest to the depot from where the canters leave - that way you will get the front seat. The back row (which we got) is absolutely horrific. It will rattle your bones for all 3 1/2 hours :)
We also booked a private jeep safari for zone 8 (which is a marginal zone) because I wanted to have at least 2 safaris, and zone 8 was the best that was available. However, we later also bought a safari for zone 1 for the same timeslot (since we couldn't accommodate 3 safaris), using Tatkal booking service - which opens up only 7 days before the day of safari.
Vardi, monitored the availability of Tatkal for us - the bookings opened at 10:00 AM, by 10:02 he could only get zone 1, by 10:05 all reservations were gone. We were doing the safari on a late December weekend, probably the most busy time of the year. But this company made sure to get us the appropriate reservations in a busy time.
We saw one tiger in action as it tried to hunt and Sambar dear on this second safari.
The company also arranged to send a car to pick us from our hotel, (Six Senses in Chauth Ka Barwara) and bring us back. The cars were good quality, drivers always arrived on time, they were courteous and drove sensibly (not typical Indian driving - if you know what I mean).
After our first safari, we also visited Ranathambore Fort, which is definitely worth visiting.
Overall, a great experience. I will recommend this company - to anyone planning a safari at Ranathambore.