Unique Luxurious Wild Life Safaris in India
Welcome to True Luxury Tours, our company that was first established to conserve, revitalize, protect and promote The Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary and its extraordinary eco-system and wildlife. We named our firm True Luxury Tours for our belief that luxury is not a mass produced labeled product or a commercialized five star hotel but the ability to give clients True Luxury; unparalleled pampering, opulent and experiences that are truly one-off in a responsible manner. We immerse you into the wonderful world of India’s rarest eco-systems, endangered wildlife, off the beaten track architectural wonders and towns where endangered culture, arts and processes still exist. During your time with us you will be introduced to extraordinary people who truly care about conservation, their community and the special places we take you to.
For direct inquiries please contact Mrs. Shanane Davis Director of True Luxury Tours See below for further information under "Background"
The Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary is India's first and the only privately owned and operated wildlife sanctuary located on the ancestral lands of the Baronet Balwant Singh Chouhan...
RATES & ACTIVITIES
An exclusive agreement between the Count of Dhariyawad and True Luxury Tours has opened the virgin Sita Mata Jungle for wildlife safaris by foot during the day and by jeep during evenings...
This tour is tailored for guests to experience the extraordinary flora and fauna found at both of our Jungle properties, the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary, our privately owned Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Sitamata Sanctuary...
We believe luxury is the ability and knowledge to provide unmatched activities, services and pampering to our clients, at an affordable price, while you discover the subjects and places that most excite you...
The Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary, Dr. Sumit Dookia's Indian Gazelle project, and Kunal Patel's Rusty Spotted Cat project...
Special animals, insects, plants and bees...
Pre-production is under way for a one-hour wildlife documentary to be filmed in 2010-11 focusing on the life stories of extremely rare and elusive endangered wildlife found in the jungles we help protect...
This highly specialized tour focuses on the elusive and secretive small cats of India; the Rusty Spotted Cat, the Asian Steppe Wildcat, the Jungle Cat, and the Leopard Cat...
Our various safari options and projects...
Some impressions from our natural habitat... Click on on of the pictures to view the Silver Light Presentation
All photographs and text on this website is ©Gajendra Singh Chouhan 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 unless otherwise noted and have been taken on actual wildlife safaris with True Luxury Tours. Any plagiarism of text or photos will be pursued to the full extent of the law.
True Luxury Tours does not make profit from guests on:
Internet Charges
Local and International telephone calls
Airline and train reservations or tickets
Special Services
1 to 2 children under the age of 10 are gratis guests with each couple
Guests over the age of 65 receive a 10% discount on tour base cost.
Background
Gajendra Singh Chouhan and Shanane Davis established True Luxury Tours originally to publicize the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary which we (Baronet Balwant Singh Chouhan, Count Gajendra Singh Chouhan, Ravindra Singh Chouhan, and Shanane Davis) established in 2005. The land of the sanctuary belongs to the Chouhan family (Members of the Marwar aristocracy) and is located in a remote area of Jalore District located in Western Rajasthan, India. In 2005 very few breeding pairs of the endangered animal left in the newly established sanctuary were surviving and by 2009 all species have recovered well with our conservation and protection systems and projects. We wanted to combine responsible tourism with conservation and sustainable research from the beginning and first concentrated on re-vitalizing the area and establishing projects and systems for conservation such as our re-forestation project where we planted 2,000 indigenous plants and trees in an area of previous forest cover, totally re-vitalized the savannah, and stopped all poaching and deforestation by outsiders. This was accomplished with funding and ideas we provided among ourselves. The Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary has become a thriving eco-system with many species of rare and endangered wildlife now having the sanctuary as their home and our rarest species populations have increased dramatically in just four years (our last wildlife census is available if necessary for marketing purposes). We conduct studies inside our sanctuary with our resident Zoologist on our rarest species as well as re-vitalizing forests and grasslands.
Our sanctuary and Responsible Tourism
We originally started with an eco-friendly campsite with luxury tents for guests inside the jungle core and have recently built independent bungalows in our safari campsite (also in the jungle core) for a maximum number of six guests. We want to maintain a maximum number of six guests per day to ensure two things. The first is to minimize any impact by guests on our eco-system and wildlife and two to give guests a unique and exciting experience to stay in comfort inside a jungle where wildlife and untouched jungle surrounds them which is all private land. We have had few guests to date as we wanted to first perfect our system of how we entertained guests at our aristocratic level as well as to perfect our safari campsite and to give them unparalleled wildlife safaris both by walking in the jungle with our warden and guards during the day and with our warden and guards at night by jeep. For the morning walking safaris different levels of difficulty are arranged depending on the guests wishes (beginner, intermediate level, and advanced level trekking). Guests are taken by foot through savannah and scrub forest at the beginner level to view animals up-close that include herds of Gazelle, Blue-Bull Antelope (Asia’s largest Antelope), Zird (a unique species indigenous to western Rajasthan that is similar to a Gerbil and is a main prey species), Mongoose, and many species of birds including the endangered Tawny Eagle, Eurasian Vulture and another 120 bird species. Our warden explains to guests about the flora and fauna they are seeing and the safari lasts 3 hours. For the intermediate level walking safari again the warden and guards first accompany guests through the savannah and scrub forest where they see the same species, then the safari moves into the deciduous forests on the foothills of the mountains where they will see troops of Hanuman Langoor, Eagle nests, Leopard caves, and rare and endangered flora. For the advanced level safari the same process is repeated with adding a further trek high into the mountains. The intermediate safari lasts for six hours where a light snack is served in the jungle and the advanced level lasts for 8 hours. Night safaris start one hour after dark by jeep with our warden and guards for guests to see nocturnal species such as the Asian Steppe Wildcat, an endangered cat where the estimate population of our sanctuary is the highest of any protected area, Leopard, Jungle Cat, the endangered Eurasian Eagle Owl, hundreds of rare spotted Owlet, the endangered Desert Fox, at-risk Striped Hyena, Desert Hare, and Indian Porcupine.
Guests first arrive in Jodhpur, Rajasthan (2.5 hours from the safari campsite) by flight from either Delhi or Bombay (Mumbai) where we collect them at the airport in an AC Luxury SUV Inova for the journey by road to the sanctuary. Flights arrive in Jodhpur in the early afternoon so guests arrive at the safari campsite by 6 in the evening. Guests are welcomed at the safari campsite as visiting royals and aristocrats are welcomed in the local tradition followed by a welcome tea and orientation. Guests have stayed for one, two and three nights. If guests stay for only one night then their wildlife safari by jeep at night will commence on the arrival evening and the local aristocratic dinner will be served on their return from safari by sustainable campfire in the safari campsite. Guests staying more than one night will not have a safari on their first night and drinks and local aristocratic dishes will be served by a sustainable campfire inside the safari campsite. Again, if guests stay only one night then the following morning only the beginning level walking safari will be offered. If staying more than one night guests have three options 1. They can choose any three levels of walking safaris 2. If they choose the beginning safari then once they return from safari to the safari campsite, by 11 in the morning, they will be served brunch followed by a further choice of activities that include A. Returning to the jungle to stay in natural camouflaged hideouts to watch either mammals or birds without being noticed by the wildlife B. A visit to the tribal village to see how tribals live and watch indigenous crafts being produced C. Relax in the safari campsite and enjoy the jungle surroundings (many herds of Gazelle and Blue-Bull Antelope, troops of Langoor and Eagles pass the campsite daily, there is a built up deck that guests can have lunch or a drink and watch the animals from the safari campsite.
3. A course may be given by our Zoologist on the flora and fauna of the sanctuary (must be arranged in advance). In the evenings guests will be served drinks and snacks followed by night safari.
Other destinations
We also offer guests tours where we take them to off-the-beaten track towns and jungles that have extraordinary wildlife, Architecture, and master artisans that create the last remaining endangered arts of India. Shanane Davis is an art historian and has written the book “The Bikaner School - Usta Artisans and Their Heritage” and she also documents the last remaining masters in India’s decorative arts and endangered Architecture. Count Gajendra Singh Chouhan is a master in translation of ancient Rajasthan languages and the Chouhan family patrons many classical musicians and artisans.
