If you are an avid traveller, flying gets mundane after a while, even business class for that matter. Yet, the idea of racing the clouds in hot air balloons watching the world grow smaller and spotting beautiful species from the sky is an experience that never gets old. Kolitmara in the West Pench Range of the Pench Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, is adding hot air balloons and paramotoring to their list of tourist offerings. This tribal village is best known for its wildlife tourism.
Nestled in the warm embrace of forest hills, sprawling farm fields and River Pench, the reserve features jungle safaris and boat rides at the backwaters of Pench Dam. Sighting tigers is a rare occurrence and when the fortunate few do, the tigers are very aware of our presence. But imagine how fun it would be to fly over them and observe them in their natural habitat. And Kolitmara promises exactly that, as it is set to become the first tiger reserve in the country to offer adventure sports in its buffer zone.
The launch of the adventure sports was signed off by the Statutory Local Advisory Committee (LAC), which was headed by Commissioner Vijayalakshmi Bidari. Thanks to this initiative, tourists will now be able to savour the scenic beauty that surrounds the River Pench from a vantage point. The dense forests, the tribal communities and the beauty of Kolitmara will add to the viewing experience.
This project is a joint initiative by Maharshi Adventure Sports, Gondia and the Kolitmara Eco-development Committee. They believe that through these sports, wildlife tourism will attract more visitors who wish to experience something new. Each tourist will be charged `2,500 for paramotoring and `1,500 for a hot air balloon ride. Kolitmara has already got a head start to their agro-tourism with bullock cart rides, nature camps for more than 1,000 students and a cycle trail, among other attractions.