My Memories: February 2011

Day 2 continued.

After the safari we headed straight back to the lodge packed all the stuff and headed for a late breakfast. We checked out at the lodge well before 12 noon and the next destination was the Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta. Soon we were atop of the hill. With my good friend (a forest guard) we dumped the luggage inside a room which belongs to temple. After the darshan we headed off for a small trek with the intention of spotting a few sambars and gentle giants.

We trekked down the hill till the fort and we were greeted by a herd of elephants. It is their world and we had to back off to a safer distance and watch these beasts go on with their routine stuff.

By now we had decided to head back to Mysore to stay at my colleague’s house. So we trekked back up the hill and relaxed for about 20 mins and it was time to ride back to Mysore. We planned to reach Mysore at least an hour before 7:30 pm to catch the Mysore Palace basking in the lights. The road up to Nanjanagud is pretty good. We stopped over for snacks and a cup of strong coffee to keep ourselves going for the rest of the day but not before we caught a glimpse of the sunset and the moon rise.

The nightmare started right from Nanjanagud to Mysore. You don’t need to hire a rocket and head to moon to see the moon’s surface. The road is a replica of the moon’s surface on the entire distance of 25 kms between Nanjanagud and Mysore as the potholes ranging from small to extra large is very evident. Finally we reached the Palace only to know that the lights would be turned off in a couple of mins. Managed to click one pic of the entrance.

Finally, reached my colleague’s house. After lapping up a tasty dinner it was time to hit the sacks.

Day 3: December 19^th, 2010

With not much being planned for the Sunday, we woke up to be familiar and inline for a Sunday morning. The plan was to visit the Zoo, finish lunch and head back home. As usual the visit to the zoo being pretty normal, I will let the pictures narrate more about it.

The hornbill

The warning signs for the visitors

White princess

The Royal Bengal Tiger

A glimpse of what’s inside the pretty face

Ancestors

The wolf

Naughty little boy

The leopard

King of the forest

The king is not just about brute power, but affection as well

The Rhino

After the zoo visit we headed back to my colleague’s house. A late lunch and it was time to get back on roads to be back at Bangalore.

I mentioned about an important learning in the previous post. My better half who was all enthu for the ride, finally found it tougher by the end of day 3. Though we had done a good 600 kms previously in a day, but not this time around. This might be the root cause for future statements like "No more rides with wifey". Probably a better plan with more leisure time will yield better results? A question that only time and my efforts in better planning & execution will answer.

Reached home by 9 pm due a very slow and leisurely ride with many stops. At least to me a part of the life was reclaimed.

December 17^th 2010, being a holiday on account of Moharam, had a long weekend. With loads of thinking and discussion with my wife, we decide we will have ride to BR Hills and the Bandipur over the next 3 days. There was an important learning at the end of the trip which I will mention at the end of the log.

Now, the next question was who all would join us. As usual our gang was contacted, then we were a team of 5 now (Myself, my better half, my cousin Ramesh, Vijay and Mahesh). By the way Vijay and Mahesh would join us at Gundlupet after the office hours as Vijay could not bargain for a leave with his manager.

Day 1: December 17^th, 2010

We left home by 11 am after packing all the stuff. On the way my cousin joined us at the Rajarajeshwarinagar arch and off we headed towards the NICE road but not before filling the petrol tanks to the brim.

It was time to deviate at the Kanakapura road and head towards Kanakapura. It was slow progress until we hit the Kanakapura Road. A ride of approximately 45 mins ensured we reached the Kanakapura town at right about lunch time. Had a quick lunch, and then moved on towards Kollegal via Malavalli. It was a very leisure ride and we finally were able to reach the BR Hills temple at 4 pm.

A couple of snaps on the way.

The Hella MicroDE Fog lamps

After paying a visit to the deity, we rode on towards Kyathadevara Gudi (K. Gudi) with lots of hope to spot a few wild animals. All that we spotted were elephant dung and a barking deer.

An old elephant at the Kyathadevara Gudi

We cross the forest check post by 6 pm (closing time) and rode on towards Chamarajanagar. It was time to take a break. We left Chamarajanagar by 7:30 pm and rode to Gundlupet where we had planned to stopover for the night.

After checking in to the lodge, we headed for dinner. With dinner over and with an early morning safari planned up, it was time to hit the sacks. So we did, but not before Vijay woke us up at 12:45 am.

Day 2: December 18^th, 2010

Got up as per alarm and we were ready to head to Bandipur office for the safari. However the gates would open only by 6 am.

The ride up to Bandipur office was almost a nightmare with absolutely poor visibility due to heavy fog. This is where the Hella made my life easier. See the pic to really understand the utility of the Hella microDE fog lamps coupled with 3000K HIDs.

The early morning fog

The Hella MicroDE Fog lamps with 3000K HID at work

With no gypsy available for the safari with the forest department, we had our shoulders dropping. But somehow I managed to talk to one of the resort jeep drivers and arranged a Jeep with a permit to enter the forests. (Cost – Rs. 750/- per head and non negotiable, peak season you see). Finally we were off for the safari at 7 am. The initial 45 mins we did not spot anything other than the an eagle atop a tree branch.

We headed towards a water hole and observed. We could not spot anything and we moved on, but something that caught our attention was the alarm call of the Langur or the lion faced macaque whatever the species is named as. We followed in the direction of the alarm call and we were not disappointed. We spotted the first leopard which was lazily sleeping on a tree branch quite high up. Spent quite a bit of time watching the beauty resting on a tree branch. A few more gypsies arrived at the spot. With the noise getting higher by the minute, the leopard slowly descended the tree and disappeared.

A lazy leopard

Looking at the intruders

A peacock on the way

We moved towards the waterhole in anticipation of spotting our national animal. The national animal is still eluding me.

We were lucky to spot a male leopard atop a tree, dozing off. As usual the remaining jeeps reached the same spot and disturbed the sleeping leopard. The leopard descended the tree, crossed our path and disappeared into the bushes, but not before posing for us while descending.

Spot the leopard contest

A neat little posing by the beauty or rather the beast

Yawn, its bed time for the leopard, but too many distracters to keep the sleep away

Another pose

Going down, head first in leopard style

On the way, we met another bunch of people who had spotted the tiger near (Hulikatte) in the Bandipur forest range. We drove towards the Hulikatte, but we could not spot the Tiger there. But on our way back to the forest office, we spotted another leopard (may be a little over a year old). This time the credit must be given to my wife who spotted it first.

The third one for the day