Not many people have heard about this place which is a part of western ghats. The place is about 220 kms from Bangalore. We stayed in K Gudi Wilderness Camp which belongs to Jungle Lodges & Resorts. The website for booking is junglelodges.com. The service, the hospitality and the food are so good in all Jungle Lodges so far we have been to. We stayed in the tented cottage. The Accommodation cost of course is on the higher side especially in Bandipur & Kabini, but I think its worth it, especially cause of the game drives that you get, very good food and the service.
We travelled on the 8 April 2015 reached B R Hills at around noon via Kanakapura Route. Unfortunately, we didn't find any proper place to have breakfast in this route. Only a few bakeries, we had some Tea and Bun. The route was going thru a lot of villages and hence very narrow roads. A Bridge was under constrn, we changed the route and just followed our GPS. A better route might be to take Mysore road- Channapatna-Halaguru-Narasipura-BR Hills or Mysore-Najangud-Charmrajnagar-BRHills-this of course is a bit longer. Please check the roads before you leave, as many roads are under construction now, this side of Karnataka.
Immediately after the check post we started climbing. This is our second trip to B R Hills. There is a famous temple by the name Biligiri Ranganatha swamy temple, so the hill is named after this Diety. Through our drive we did not see any wildlife until we reached the camp.
Same schedule as in any other Jungle Lodges, had our lunch at 1.30pm and waited for the evening drive which starts at 3.30pm. While waiting in our tent we saw few birds like White Throated Thrush just above our tent making beautiful whistling noise as in the video:http://youtu.be/wv9fajIbBgw.
The place was awesome as though we were in the middle of the forest with the chirping sounds of various birds and spotted deer coming to graze almost in front of our tent, we both really enjoyed the camp. Few other birds that we spotted sitting outside our tent for your view:
Drongos, Scarlet Minivet, Jungle Owlet, Spotted Dove are some of them.
In the afternoon safari we spotted few more birds like Racket Tailed Drongo and Brown Fish Owl.
We sighted some Indian Gaurs, took a few pics and went around. Suddenly on a curve we saw the Sloth Bear, coming towards the road from the nearby bush, ahead of us. He started walking along the track in front of us for while, sniffing and digging the ground every now and then. He rubbed his back on some trees and enjoyed it so much.
We just kept following him on the track for about ten minutes. He was just glancing at us very often. After this long walk, he moved into the bush. The guide explained that its very rare to get such a sighting of the bear for such a long time. We have had sightings of bear before but not such a fantastic one. Please watch this video of the Bear sighting: http://youtu.be/7aFC4Gnttqk
On our way back to the resort we sighted a Barking Deer, which is also not a very common sight. The Bear sighting made our day.
The next day we went for the morning drive. We spotted a few birds-Indian Cuckoo also known as Brain Fever Bird, Coucal.. Then we spotted a few Indian Gaurs. That was it for the whole morning trip and nothing else. We came back, had lunch and rested. The Coucal's call can be seen in the video.http://youtu.be/lcn8WGIPSJg
We left at 3.30 in the afternoon after tea for the drive. We again sighted a bear on the track, which went in front of our jeep for quite some time.
After the Bear sighting, We were on the way back and another safari jeep informed us about the Leopard sighting. We rushed to the spot and WOW a Leopard was sitting on the branch very near the track, but it was getting a bit dark. We watched it for over ten minutes, not satisfied, we had to leave as it was getting late. It was a fantastic sighting and we really enjoyed it.
The leopard can be seen in the video: http://youtu.be/Y3yYAXte2R0
On the next day morning drive, we spotted a few Indian Gaurs and a Streak Throated Woodpecker, a rear sighting............
and nothing else we saw.
It was a fantastic trip to BR Hills which we had planned for a long time.
Immediately after the check post we started climbing. This is our second trip to B R Hills. There is a famous temple by the name Biligiri Ranganatha swamy temple, so the hill is named after this Diety. Through our drive we did not see any wildlife until we reached the camp.
Same schedule as in any other Jungle Lodges, had our lunch at 1.30pm and waited for the evening drive which starts at 3.30pm. While waiting in our tent we saw few birds like White Throated Thrush just above our tent making beautiful whistling noise as in the video:http://youtu.be/wv9fajIbBgw.
The place was awesome as though we were in the middle of the forest with the chirping sounds of various birds and spotted deer coming to graze almost in front of our tent, we both really enjoyed the camp. Few other birds that we spotted sitting outside our tent for your view:
Drongos, Scarlet Minivet, Jungle Owlet, Spotted Dove are some of them.
We sighted some Indian Gaurs, took a few pics and went around. Suddenly on a curve we saw the Sloth Bear, coming towards the road from the nearby bush, ahead of us. He started walking along the track in front of us for while, sniffing and digging the ground every now and then. He rubbed his back on some trees and enjoyed it so much.
We just kept following him on the track for about ten minutes. He was just glancing at us very often. After this long walk, he moved into the bush. The guide explained that its very rare to get such a sighting of the bear for such a long time. We have had sightings of bear before but not such a fantastic one. Please watch this video of the Bear sighting: http://youtu.be/7aFC4Gnttqk
On our way back to the resort we sighted a Barking Deer, which is also not a very common sight. The Bear sighting made our day.
The next day we went for the morning drive. We spotted a few birds-Indian Cuckoo also known as Brain Fever Bird, Coucal.. Then we spotted a few Indian Gaurs. That was it for the whole morning trip and nothing else. We came back, had lunch and rested. The Coucal's call can be seen in the video.http://youtu.be/lcn8WGIPSJg
We left at 3.30 in the afternoon after tea for the drive. We again sighted a bear on the track, which went in front of our jeep for quite some time.
After the Bear sighting, We were on the way back and another safari jeep informed us about the Leopard sighting. We rushed to the spot and WOW a Leopard was sitting on the branch very near the track, but it was getting a bit dark. We watched it for over ten minutes, not satisfied, we had to leave as it was getting late. It was a fantastic sighting and we really enjoyed it.
On the next day morning drive, we spotted a few Indian Gaurs and a Streak Throated Woodpecker, a rear sighting............
and nothing else we saw.
There is a small Bird bath next to Golghar in the property, where you can have good sighting/Photos of some birds. A picture of Oriental White Eye Bird in the bird bath.
It was a fantastic trip to BR Hills which we had planned for a long time.
