December 17th 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 17th, 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 18th, 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
Demonstration of the leopard skills
A better view
The good old lion faced macaque who gave the alarm calls and helped us spot the Leopard
Another Peacock, what a contrast of colors
The remaining part of the trip coming in the post. Stay tuned.
2 comments:
a wonderful post..we would like to share the post on our blog - Tales of the wild - would appreciate your permission to do so..thanks
thanks for your blog post i went to bandipur national park with my parents really it was amazing in that forest we all
enjoyed a lot and we stayed inBR Hills Resorts it was very good to stay i wish to vist again and stay there
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