KABINI NAGERHOLE WILD LIFE SAFARI
11 APRIL TO 14 APRIL 2013
On the banks of a picturesque river,
against the backdrop of a rising sun, the calls of an Eagle cut
through the morning air as an Elephant grazes peacefully on the
verdant grass. Suddenly, the Langur monkeys, watching on quietly
hitherto, cough out in alarmed frenzy at the sight of a Leopard
walking out regally. It’s just another day in an Indian forest but
could be a life-changing experience for an impressionable mind.
Where and how is this Camp?
Snaking its way pristinely through the Nilgiri Biosphere, the Kabini, the backwaters of which part Nagarahole from the adjoining Bandipur, forms a spectacular backdrop to the abundant wildlife of the region.
Composed of mixed deciduous forest, its green environs are well-endowed with mystery, beauty and mesmeric charm, which seep into your veins thick and fast. In its hallowed folds it harbours such riches that in summer, its receding width draws hundreds of Elephants to its banks, and in winter, it attracts a spectacular variety of avian life to throng its misty surface and green shores.
Often seen hanging off a tree like an enticing fruit, the Kabini Leopard adds a dash of orange panache to a dominance of green environs. There is consensus that spots seldom come in a more desirable form than on an indolent Leopard in its high-rise quarters regarding the affairs below with contempt. And on occasion, when in a more down-to-earth mood, a sight of it sitting by the track or crossing your path like a poem on legs can stick to your memory cells inseparably.
Kabini can be explored by multiple modes. While the vehicle safari offers high chances of producing a Leopard sighting, the boat safari provides tremendous opportunity to learn about birds, mammals and even reptiles, in a breathtaking setting. Huge Crocodiles can sometimes be seen basking in the late afternoon sun and some fortune can produce the coveted sight of Otters.
Rubbing shoulders with Nagarahole’s most famous penthouse-tenant is a multitude of wildlife, including a thriving population of the endangered Asiatic Wild Dog. The Kabini area is also a part of the largest refuge of the threatened Asiatic Elephant and is still home to magnificent tuskers.
Highlights of avian life include the Great Black Woodpecker, the Osprey and the Greater Spotted Eagle; winter migrants, of which the Peregrine Falcon is perhaps the most notable; and four Western Ghats endemic species including the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon.
setting for a long-awaited vacation. Once the hunting lodge of the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, Kabini River Lodge is today rated by the British Tatler’s Travel Guide as one of the top 5 wildlife resorts in the world. Kabini is pure elephant country as one can see numerous herds at a time. However, the blaze of the elusive tiger always haunts you as you roam through the verdant jungle here. Once widely known for the mass elephant-trapping operations called 'Khedda', Kabini stands as the one of the brightest beacons for wildlife preservation in India today.
Where and how is this Camp?
Snaking its way pristinely through the Nilgiri Biosphere, the Kabini, the backwaters of which part Nagarahole from the adjoining Bandipur, forms a spectacular backdrop to the abundant wildlife of the region.
Composed of mixed deciduous forest, its green environs are well-endowed with mystery, beauty and mesmeric charm, which seep into your veins thick and fast. In its hallowed folds it harbours such riches that in summer, its receding width draws hundreds of Elephants to its banks, and in winter, it attracts a spectacular variety of avian life to throng its misty surface and green shores.
Often seen hanging off a tree like an enticing fruit, the Kabini Leopard adds a dash of orange panache to a dominance of green environs. There is consensus that spots seldom come in a more desirable form than on an indolent Leopard in its high-rise quarters regarding the affairs below with contempt. And on occasion, when in a more down-to-earth mood, a sight of it sitting by the track or crossing your path like a poem on legs can stick to your memory cells inseparably.
Kabini can be explored by multiple modes. While the vehicle safari offers high chances of producing a Leopard sighting, the boat safari provides tremendous opportunity to learn about birds, mammals and even reptiles, in a breathtaking setting. Huge Crocodiles can sometimes be seen basking in the late afternoon sun and some fortune can produce the coveted sight of Otters.
Rubbing shoulders with Nagarahole’s most famous penthouse-tenant is a multitude of wildlife, including a thriving population of the endangered Asiatic Wild Dog. The Kabini area is also a part of the largest refuge of the threatened Asiatic Elephant and is still home to magnificent tuskers.
Highlights of avian life include the Great Black Woodpecker, the Osprey and the Greater Spotted Eagle; winter migrants, of which the Peregrine Falcon is perhaps the most notable; and four Western Ghats endemic species including the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon.
setting for a long-awaited vacation. Once the hunting lodge of the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, Kabini River Lodge is today rated by the British Tatler’s Travel Guide as one of the top 5 wildlife resorts in the world. Kabini is pure elephant country as one can see numerous herds at a time. However, the blaze of the elusive tiger always haunts you as you roam through the verdant jungle here. Once widely known for the mass elephant-trapping operations called 'Khedda', Kabini stands as the one of the brightest beacons for wildlife preservation in India today.
Kabini River Lodge has a colonial style architecture equipped to accommodate 60 persons at a time. Fourteen spacious, colonial style double rooms with modern amenities, ten twin-bedded cottages in sylvan surroundings and six tented cottages with attached modern bath ensure that your stay here is in comfort. (But there is no A/c, or T.V. in any of the accommodation). All these is in a well maintained 54-acre campus, surrounded on three sides by the bend of the River Kabini, giving it a paradise like look.
Facilities
Apart from the luxurious living areas, the Viceroy's building house has well-equipped bar. There is also a large, charming room exclusively for seminars, meetings with multimedia projector and other conferencing facilities. Our communal dining area called the Ghol Ghar (circular, open-to-sides gazebo) overlooks River Kabini and is the perfect place for guests to share their experiences of the day with each other.
The Cuisine
Food is an integral part of every holiday. At Kabini River Lodge, we pamper your taste buds with delicious and piping hot buffet of Indian, Chinese or Continental cuisine. Fresh Tandoori preparations are offered daily.
The main wildlife viewing activity here is the exciting safaris on jeeps into the famed Nagarhole National Park. Our first ride into the Park is at the crack of dawn and we visit the park again at 4.30pm. A boat ride on the River Kabini would sure be a treat to your eyes, as many elephants tend to congregate on the banks in the evenings. You could be sure to see as many as 150-200 elephants on a summer evening. Guests can choose between the traditional, circular boat (made of bamboo and buffalo hide) and the regular motorboat for the river cruise. In the evening, movies on wildlife are shown in our audio-visual hall. We could also start a campfire and barbeque at the Ghol Ghar in the night. An ayurveda treatment option is also offered to guests.
Kabini offers an enchanting experience all through the year. However, during March, April and May, when the season is the driest, most of the elephants of the surrounding forests converge at Kabini, to take advantage of the back waters of river Kabini, and to feed on the grass growing on the dried out surface. This is when you can view the largest congregation of Asiatic wild elephants, anywhere in the world. During the rainy season, i.e., July, August & September, the trees will be at their greenest best, with fewer animals visible. During the other months, a fair number of a variety of wildlife including birds can be sighted.
Perhaps no where else in India can one see so much wildlife. Sighting of elephants, sambhar, spotted deer, gaur, wild boar, sloth bear, wild dogs, etc., are almost assured, while if one is lucky, a tiger or a panther too, could be sighted. Clients are permitted to shoot, not with guns but with camera and video. The sighting of wildlife in their eco-system creates awareness and respect among the humans towards other life forms.
Our Safari day No.1
While I and my safari mates whose names I will mention later(because it needs a separate ,elaborate note )were on our first day safari...driving around in the allotted zone, we saw suddenly witnessed some mysterious movements and strange rusling sounds in the adjoining thick bushes along the forest drive way..giving us a very errie feeling ,mixed with some unexplained anxiety with abnormal apprehension and fear often accompanied with physiological signs of sweating and increased pulse rate and doubting about the nature and reality of the threat itself..alas ...
The King has spotted us suddenly!through the thick bushes and came out royally, standing imperially ,befitting an Empror, with unusual size and Excellence..on 11th April 2013 while we were surfing and driving in the open gypsy vehicle..around the great Kabini dense forest covered with tall desiduous trees..!and we were all just stunned ,the sight made us all sensless ,felt like we were all it by a blow,stupefied or just bewildered by the majesty and regal imperious look.!!!
Our Safari day No.1
While I and my safari mates whose names I will mention later(because it needs a separate ,elaborate note )were on our first day safari...driving around in the allotted zone, we saw suddenly witnessed some mysterious movements and strange rusling sounds in the adjoining thick bushes along the forest drive way..giving us a very errie feeling ,mixed with some unexplained anxiety with abnormal apprehension and fear often accompanied with physiological signs of sweating and increased pulse rate and doubting about the nature and reality of the threat itself..alas ...
The King has spotted us suddenly!through the thick bushes and came out royally, standing imperially ,befitting an Empror, with unusual size and Excellence..on 11th April 2013 while we were surfing and driving in the open gypsy vehicle..around the great Kabini dense forest covered with tall desiduous trees..!and we were all just stunned ,the sight made us all sensless ,felt like we were all it by a blow,stupefied or just bewildered by the majesty and regal imperious look.!!!
After the astounding view and scene of utter joy and completley satisfied with eternal sight and flabberghasted ,we moved on our safari elsewhere to spot more glories of the Jungle.
Indian Gaur
The gaur is a strong and massively built species with a high convex ridge on the forehead between the Horns which bends forward, causing a deep hollow in the profile of the upper part of the head. There is a prominent ridge on the back. The ears are very large; the tail only just reaches the hocks and in old bulls the hair becomes very thin on the back. In colour, the adult male gaur is dark brown, approaching black in very old individuals; the upper part of the head, from above the eyes to the nape of the neck, is, however, ashy grey, or occasionally dirty white; the muzzle is pale coloured, and the lower part of the legs are pure white or tan. The cows and young bulls are paler, and in some instances have a rufous tinge, which is most marked in groups inhabiting dry and open districts. The tail is shorter than in the typical oxen, reaching only to the hocks. They have a distinct ridge running from the shoulders to the middle of the back; the shoulders may be as much as 12 cm (4.7 in) higher than the rump. This ridge is caused by the great length of the spinous processes of the vertebrae of the fore-part of the trunk as compared with those of the loins The hair is short, fine and glossy, and the hooves are narrow and pointed.
The gaur has a head-and-body length of 250 to 330 cm (8.2 to 10.8 ft) with a 70 to 105 cm (28 to 41 in) long tail, and is 165 to 220 cm (5.41 to 7.2 ft) high at the shoulder. The average weight is 650 to 1,000 kg (1,400 to 2,200 lb), with an occasional large bull weighing up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb). Males are about one-fourth larger and heavier than females.
Gaurs do not have a distinct dewlap on the throat and chest. Both sexes carry horns, which grow from the sides of the head, curving upwards. Between the horns is a high convex ridge on the forehead. At their bases they present an elliptical cross-section, a characteristic that is more strongly marked in bulls than in cows. The horns are decidedly flattened at the base and regularly curved throughout their length, and are bent inward and slightly backward at their tips. The colour of the horns is some shade of pale green or yellow throughout the greater part of their length, but the tips are black. The horns, of medium size by large bovid standards, grow to a length of 60 to 115 cm (24 to 45 in).
The cow is considerably lighter in make and in colour than the bull. The horns are more slender and upright, with more inward curvature, and the frontal ridge is scarcely perceptible. In young animals the horns are smooth and polished. In old bulls they are rugged and dented at the base.
Gaur are among the largest living animals. Only elephants the hippopotamus and the giraffe consistently grow heavier. Two species that naturally co-exist with the gaur are heavier: the Asian Elephants and Indian Rhinoceros.!
The Five Men Army at Kabini Nagerhole wild life
Jungle Lodge Resort
Standing from left to right
Nilesh Suravanshi..Architect learning modern design concepts
Andrew Samuel....man always on the run for the never ending race!!!
Kiran Poonacha..Man with tall achievements
Prasanna Venkatesh..Man with large accomplishments
Sudharshan ..man with tremendous management capabilities.
Our Safari day No.2.
Andysam at his elements with the borrowed super duper Bazooka ..He looks so happy and joyful....ready for the second day Safari..
Andysam at his elements with the borrowed super duper Bazooka ..He looks so happy and joyful....ready for the second day Safari..
Planning again to visit in October 2013
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