MASINAGUDI 2015

Masinagudi, a Village on the Mysore-Bandipur-Ooty Road. Its about 280 Kms from Bangalore.  Its just after Bandipur. Masinagudi is in Tamilnadu  and part of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

There are too many resorts in Masinagudi. We stayed in "Forest Hills Farm & Guest House". We found it thru Tripadvisor. www.foresthillsindia.com

The resort is located right on the foothills of Mudumalai, which itself is a fantastic location. They have Tree Tops, Bamboo Huts and Machan. The Machan and the Tree Houses are located at the end of the property, which is about 200 mts away,opening to the foot hills of Mudumalai.

We visited in May 2015. We were a group and stayed in the Machan and Tree Houses for 2 nights. The setting is so beautiful and serene and you will get the feeling of staying deep in the Jungle, especially when its dark.

The Machan

We arrived in the resort on time for lunch and checked in to the accommodation. After sumptuous lunch, we rested for some time. While resting in the Machan, we spotted lot of birds around and some wild boars and also heard the elephant trumpet. The Machan has a room to stay for 2, max 3 and a covered terrace on top which gives you a 360 deg view.

Tree Tops, very close to Machan

At around 6 pm we left for a drive in our vehicle(Thar,Duster) to Moyar Village road.  To reach Moyar Road, we have to go to Masinagudi Village, take a right turn (almost a U turn) at the jeep stand. We are told that this forms part of the core area of the forest. Access is allowed because the Moyar Village is situated at the end of the road. The distance from the Resort to the end of the core area(Moyar Village) is about 20 Kms.   We did spot a sloth bear, a bit far and it was getting dark. You can take a night drive on this road, but we should be back by 8.30 pm I believe. This drive was very nice as its very rear that you can take a night drive in the forest. If you don't have an SUV, the resort can arrange a jeep drive for you on this road.

Moyar River, Moyar Village

We came back to the resort, time for dinner. The resort has a very ethnic dinning area, with a fire place in it. We had dinner and proceeded to our rooms in the vehicle. It isn't advisable to walk back to the tree top or the machan after 6.30 pm. It is most likely that you might come across a silent Bull Elephant or Wild Boars or any other wild life standing in the dark, without you noticing. Some of the guests have sighted sloth bear very close to the machan.

We settled in the terrace of the machan for the night. We decided to sleep in the terrace and requested the resort people to spread the beds for 4 of us, which they did willingly. We dropped the rest of the group to the tree top by car, even though its just about 200 ft away, its safer that way.

The weather was great and it started becoming a bit chill as well. As night grew, we started to hear the calls of many wild life from the forest. The Elephants trumpeted a lot of times and there were Spotted Deer calls now and then. We were cautioned not to come down from the machan as there might be wild animals around especially at night.

It was around midnight we heard a faint noise of the branch being broken, close to the resort. We were half asleep. After a few minutes the noise was much nearer, but from the opposite side. The Elephant had crossed from the Hill side to the left of the Machan and closer to the resort. Then we heard a lot bamboos being broken and chewed. It was middle of the night and we could hear all the noise made by the elephant. It was amazing and thrilling though a bit scary. It wasn't a sound sleep after that, always expecting some call from the wild.

We got up and left at 5.30 the next morning and went for the Moyar Road safari for some sightings. We saw Sambar Deer, Spotted Deer, Indian Gaur, Peacocks on trees and some Langurs. That's it and we came back for Breakfast.

The Masinagudi village has some Bakeries, Medical shops, Tea stall and a couple of Bars as well.

The afternoon we had lunch and relaxed in the Machan. We were discussing if we need to go for the drive to Moyar Village or wait on the machan terrace and be lucky  for some sighting. It was around 4.30 pm and we were watching some birds on one corner at the edge of the resort, where the forest starts. We took our eyes off and started to have some hot tea brought from the resort. After a few seconds I raised my head to look at the birds again and guess what, I saw the Mighty Tusker standing there. It took me a few seconds to react and to say others about it....

http://youtu.be/L_ID9zOpL74  This is the video link.

We were all thrilled to see the elephant very close to us and for almost 20 mts, sitting on the Machan. It was a fantastic experience we all had and wouldn't forget it.

The night became cloudy and started to rain heavily. We had to sleep inside the machan. We got up next day very relaxed, had breakfast and back to Bangalore.

Paradise Fly Catcher

The Resort:

Our experience was very very good. The Hospitality, food and the service, we enjoyed. The staff took so much care about us and all our requests were met. In fact they called at 2.30 in the night to check if we were ok, as it was raining very heavily that night and stayed in the Machan. A special thanks to Sameer and his team!!!!!!!!!!!





B R HILLS 2015

 

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.

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.



 

KABINI 2015

We started our journey driving on the 23rd of February 2015 early morning.  Its about 240kms from Bangalore. We went through Mysore route.  It took about six hours.  We stayed in Kabini River Lodge which belongs to Jungle Lodges and Resorts located on the southern fringes of the Nagarhole National Park.  The website for online booking is junglelodges.com.  They have a schedule for the day as specified in their site.

We reached at 12 noon and settled in our room.  The lunch was served at 1.30pm, there is a bar lounge in this resort.  After lunch we rested for about an hour or so then 3.30pm was our first safari into the park.  Drive started and we went in to B zone.  That evening was quiet pleasant even though the tempareture in the afternoon was quite high.

 

The first sighting was at around 5.20pm in a waterhoele where 3 elephants walked out of the bush.  

 

 

Initially when they came out of the bush they were a bit scared smelling humans but then they started quenching their thirst and cooling themselves in the waterhole. We were there watching them for atleast half an hour until they crossed to the other side behind our jeep.  It was close enough that we were a little scared and the guide who came in our jeep asked the driver to start the engine and be ready.  http://youtu.be/DpiTfARdTuI



Elephants drinking water

 

The time we thought that this safari is ending with the this 3 elephants, we sighted a  few macaques,  spotted deers, and birds like Myna, Indian Roller, and other birds.  Later we went to a  watch tower in the edge of a water hole. To our surprise we saw a female tiger walking towards the bush. It disappeared after making a mark in the tree. It was awesome and we were thrilled to see like everybody else in that jeep.

 

http://youtu.be/Qzkrf1Sr500

 



The day ended with sumptuous dinner in the Golghar with sharing videos and sightings.

 

Next day early morning we assembled for a cup of coffee and ready to go for another safari.  Left the resort after coffee went around in a different zone. At around 7.50am we spotted a tiger family a mother and 2 cubs.  http://youtu.be/8ZC9t4nUTC8.  We were there for atleast 10 minutes watching them crossing one by one.  After a few minutes, we  proceeded with our drive back to the resort. 

After heavy breakfast we saw few birds like Eagle, Grey Heron, Large Egret, Little Egret, etc., in the boat ride on river kabini.

Eagle

Large Egret



Indian Pond Heron



Again relaxing time in the resort sat outside for a while and enjoyed the sounds of birds and had resting time until 1.30pm.  Proceeded for lunch and waited for the evening safari time which is 3.30pm.  Drive started in a different zone again.





Evening weather was pleasant and we were eager to see a tiger again.  First we spotted a Malabar Giant Squirel, then some Langurs.



Few elephants, birds, spotted deers, sambar deers were the sightings that evening.  We were not lucky.

After coming back we relaxed in the bar lounge and watched the documentary that was played by the resort. It was quite interesting and also chatted with other people staying in the resort about their experiences.


Next day early morning started the same way, the weather was quite chill that day and we were not prepared for this, still the thrill of seeing the animals kept us going.  We reached the tip of the kabini river inside the forest and heard some movement but it was very silent.  Few jeeps were along with us in the same zone Nobody had spotted anything that morning.  We waited at the edge of the river bed and suddenly something moved on the opposite bank when I first spotted the tiger with my binocular and that was it everybody was shouting tiger, tiger, so cute it was. It was a bit far and only binocular view was good.

The drive ended we did not see anything else that day eventhough we heard the sambar alarm call from far off.

We came back had our breakfast, settled our bill and started our drive back home.

 

PARAMBIKULAM DECEMBER 2014

This was the second time we visited Parambikulam Tiger Reserve this year, it was December 2014. We celebrated our New Year there amidst Tiger Sightings and Early morning bird calls waking us up.

There are several types of accommodation and the show is run by Forest Development Agency, which benefits the Tribals living in Parambikulam. The agency has taken up measures in providing various amenities for the Tribals and has keen interest in their Development. The Agency runs a community based Eco Tourism. The service rendered by them are commendable and the food is excellent. The guests are well taken care and we can see the keen interest they have on Wildlife and their preservation. One can visit the site http://www.parambikulam.org or call Cell No 9442201690  and make reservations at Parambikulam Tiger Reserve  Please remember that the Reserve is a liquor free zone. The very fact that we visit the Reserve and stay there, provides the Tribals a job and keeps them busy. The Green shop sells among other things, items made by the Tribal women like caps, pen stands etc.,which are very attractive. They have very nice T shirts and over coats on display.

The Tiger Reserve was busy with guests as it was holiday season and all the accommodations were full.

We reached on 30th December, by noon as usual, had good lunch, rested and waited for the game drive in the afternoon. The mini bus was full of guests as all the accommodation were full. We saw nothing much in the game drive except for some Indian Gaur and sambar deer. We went for the Rafting and reached Parambikulam, where we saw a Fish eagle by the dam.

Fish Eagle

On the way back, during night drive, we were not that lucky to see any wildlife, except for some Indian Gaur and sambar deer. We came back had good dinner and went to bed early. Next day morning we chose to do trekking early instead of bird watching etc.,

We were lucky to manage a different route and not the routine beaten track. We had a couple of guides with us and took a longer route, the guide was confident of locating tigers on the way. They had heard the tiger roaring the previous day in that direction.

We came across the Elephant carcass we saw last time. We could only see the skull of the elephant, and other bones around, everything else had disappeared, eaten up by scavengers and the insects.

Remains of the Elephant Carcass-only the skull remaining

The river bed where we saw Tiger Pugmarks

We had gone a long way, may be an hour and a half and saw nothing on the way. After reaching a river bed, we saw some tiger pug marks criss crossing the river bed, but no tiger to be seen. We were thrilled to see the pug marks that too very recent ones and expected to see the tiger anytime.

With butterflies in the stomach, expecting to see the Tiger in close range, We followed a track and after some time saw tiger pug marks again in the same direction. This time there were a few of them. The guides explained that a family of 5 tigers were around and the pugmarks were of those tigers. We were repeatedly cautioned not to make any noise, not even to stamp on dried leaves, as the noise will alert the tigers if they are around.

Two tiger cubs of the family of five

We trekked for another km may be and reached a vayal, an open space, grass land. These grass lands are the hunting grounds for the tigers. We rested for a few minutes, a bit disappointed as well as we had come to almost end of the trek and we had sighted nothing, not even a Gaur or a sambar deer. We were in one corner of the vayal, on a little elevated ground surrounded by the trees. As we were watching the vayal, suddenly a sambar deer bellowed and ran into the grassland followed by a few more. We could see they were panicky and the guides immediately cautioned us to be quiet and observe, as they expected a tiger or a Leopard to follow the them.

As expected, a tiger walked out from behind the woods, majestically, following the deer. As we were watching the tiger, another one also walked out, and then another and then another. They were all moving up and down the grassland, and we were a bit confused as to how many were there. They were a bit far from us and we could enjoy the  sightings thru the binocs. The tigers were quite far for the cameras. We saw all the five tigers of the family. There were 3 cubs, about one and a half years old, almost the size of a fully grown adult.

 

We could identify the cubs only when they started to be playful and running and jumping over one another. It was a sighting of a life time, that we had, for all these years we visited Parambikulam.

The next day afternoon we went for the game drive and saw a family of Elephants on the road, when we were coming back from Parambikulam to the tent. All the elephants moved to the side of the road except for one male. He stood on the road and refused to move. We waited for about 5 minutes and the driver raved the engine, so that he will move. He still stood there doing nothing, just playing with the grass at the edge of the road. Eventually when all the elephants had moved away to safety,he moved out and let us go.

 

 

We had the best time in parambikulam and left the next day morning with happy memories.

PARAMBIKULAM OCTOBER 2014

We visited ParambikulamTiger Reserve twice during 2014. Easily reachable from Coimbatore, Pollachi. About 40 Kms from Pollachi.Its part of the Western Ghats Mountains.  The very atmosphere and the thought of the wilderness attracts us so much that we did go there twice. Even though the deep forest accommodations are no longer available to the visitor, its still worth a visit for the serenity, peace and the early morning bird calls that wake you up.

Our first visit this year was in October 2014. There were some rains, very unexpected, but good for the forest and greenery. We stayed in the Tented Niches. These tents are permanent tents in Annapady, by the side of the Reservation office and the Office of the Conservator. There are about ten tents and we are told that they want to add more. There are a few other accommodations available like the tree tops, about 2 of them, The Island package, Honey Comb Accommodation which are more like rooms in lodges.

 For the adventurous, The Island package will be ideal. You are taken to an Island in the middle of the dam by rafts, it takes about 1 hour or so. You will have to carry all your needs including the food that you want to cook and eat. There is no power in this Island. The Accommodation is a big room  in which about 5 can stay. It is very thrilling as it gets dark, and you are cut off from the whole world and in total darkness. You come out of the room and take a look at the night sky, it is breathtaking and awesome to see such a clear sky, which you may never experience any where else but in deep forests. If you have a pair of binoculars it will be fun identifying the stars.



A view of The Island

 Food will be prepared by the helpers who accompany you to the Island. It will be fun to help them cook the food you want and enjoying it under the clear night sky. The Island dosent have much of wildlife sighting except for Elephants which swim across to the Island in the evenings and stay in the Island at nights. You might hear the breaking of bamboos very close by, while the elephants are having a great meal. After a good night sleep, you can eat the breakfast you want and later leave for the mainland. You might get disturbed during night by rats running around in the room, but safe storage is provided so that the rats don't mess up your things or food. Overall it will be fantastic experience on the Island, very peaceful and right in the middle of the forest.

For those who stay in the tents, the activities available are a routine everyday, starting with early morning bird watch, come back and have breakfast and then leave for a trek in the forest. In the afternoons, after lunch, they take you for a game drive cum boating trip ending with a tribal dance at Tiger Hall in Parabikulam, which is about 20 Kms from the Tent Accommodation. This is more or less a set routine followed here. The cherry on the cake is the drive from Parambikulam back to the tents,after seeing the tribal dance. By the time they leave parambikulam, its a bit dark. The thrill is to sight animals by the bus lights in darkness. We have sighetd leopards on several occasions and your heart is in the mouth by every turn the road takes. Sighting Indian Gaur, Sambar Deers, Elephants are almost for sure. As the night approaches, these animals come to the road, for some reason, probably they feel safer by the road.

Unfortunately on the first day this September trip we didn't have much sightings on the night drive, except for a few  Indian Gaurs and sambar and spotted deers. The next day morning we got up to the singing of the birds, had a hot tea and got ready for the bird walk which was for an hour. We saw a lot of Drongos, but no Racket Tailed Drongo. We also saw beautiful Blue winged Parakeets and Alexandrine parakeets, Some Coucals and Snake Birds by the water. We came back from the bird walk and had a good breakfast. By the way food is very good here, I have seen people appreciating the food served, even though you don't have a big variety of it.

Blue Winged Prakeet

After some rest, we went for the trek in the forest. This was very thrilling, even though, we have done it several times in the last 6 years or so, each time we feel butterflies in the stomach. We went to Kariancholai range if im not wrong, which is behind the tents accommodation. We were just 2 of us and the guide in the front. We had trekked for about 2 kms of open space and over a few rocky places and  just entered the dense shola forest on a narrow track. We were trekking with a gap of about 15 feet between us. A few meters into it, all of a sudden, we saw  a lone Gaur on the right side, about 15 feet from the track. A huge male one. Initially the gaur had not noticed us. When he saw us he was taken aback and just gazed at us for about 10 secs and we too didn't know what to do and were gazing back at him. There was silence and he moved into the bush, turned and saw us again for about 5 secs. Then he made a big Whoofh sound and ran away making a lot of noise. We were still baffled and getting to senses and suddenly, very close to us we heard a low grumble. Again we three were frozen and took  a few secs to realise that it came from an Elephant that too from very near. The guide signalled us not to move and was trying to locate the elephant, but couldn't. We were getting a bit panicky as we were sure it was an elephant and that too very close. The guide signalled us to move back slowly without making any noise. One thing was clear, the elephant knew were we are but we couldn't see him and he was a bit upset with the gaur making so much noise while running away. It was like a warning grumble to say keep away. We stared retracing our steps as fast as we can but without panic, easily said than done. After a few steps back, we both turned around and started running as best as we can, into the open space. Well one cannot out run an elephant, if he is chasing you. The guide came a few feet behind and signalled us to go as he saw the elephant approaching us, atleast that's what he told us. As we ran down to the rocky place, we felt a bit safer and thanked god that the elephant didn't chase us further. After a while we felt it was thrilling to be in that situation.

Snake Bird by the Water

We kept talking about it over lunch. we were the only guest that day and had the privilege of driving our vehicle into the forest that evening.

We managed to get a trip into the forest in the evening and were very lucky to see an Elephant carcass. We were told that a Tiger had killed the elephant, which was an adolescent and not a fully grown one. But how the Tiger managed to bring it down was a surprise and we couldn't understand. Normally elephants are in groups and how did the tiger manage this!!!!

We could see tiger pugmarks all around the carcass. The belly was open and all intestines were out, typicall of a tiger kill, as they first remove the intestines before they gorge on the meat. A part of its trunk was bitten off. But surprisingly the entire carcass was in tact but for these, and the for some reason, the Tiger had eaten nothing. We have been to Parambikulam several times and never had such a sighting!!!!

Elephant Carcass with intestines out

Raft ride in the dam

On the way back from Parambikulam to the tents, we were little late and it was dark. It was thrilling to see animals in the car head lights. We saw a lot of Indian Gaurs, Sambar, Spotted Deers and a few elephants. There was



a couple of elephants in one of the turns and they were on the mound very close to the road. A male and a female. As we approached them, they watched us and the male was visibly upset and didn't want us there. He trumpeted and it was really threatening as it was very close to the road. Later we were told that the male was protecting the pregnant female and that's why he behaved so.


It was fantastic trip we had in October, considering the Tiger kill sighting and the encounter with the elephants. Fantastic Parabikulam!!!!!!!!.

White Bellied Drongo

POINT CALIMERE

Most of you would not have heard of this place, Point Calimere.  Its the nose tip of Tamil Nadu, Southern India, very close to SriLanka, we are told its 22kms as the crow flies. Another name for the place is Kodikarai.  Its situated near Vedaranyam. A place famous for smugglers those days, I believe.

We travelled in our Pajero, early March this year.  We took the route from Bangalore through salem, Attur, Thanjavur,Kumbakonam, Nagapattinam, Velankanni, Vedharanyam and Kodikarai. 

 Its exactly in the tip and the sanctuary is next to the ocean.  Very beautiful.

We stayed in a hotel called VMT GUEST HOUSE at Kodikarai, as the forest Bunglow was not available, we were told so at the forest check post. The rooms were air conditioned  with TV and food was taken care by them. After check in, we just drove to the beach, fishing was going on and we could drive thru to the ocean, we didn't drive in the sea as we felt it was a bit risky. Kodikarai is a very small fishing village and not many people around. There are a couple of tea shops and food places(Mess) and a decent mini super market and that's it!!.

 

Later that afternoon, we drove to the sanctuary, about 5 kms may be. The name of the sanctuary is Blackbuck sanctuary, Kodikkarai.   Its very small sanctuary.  The link for booking a guest house in the sanctuary www.forests.tn.nic.in, in that you can choose wildbiodiversity and choose Point Calimere Wildlife & Bird sanctuary. Its a dry sandy forest leading to the sea coast with few bushes around.

 

 

There are Blackbucks, Wild horses, Wild boars and lots of birds, not much of wildlife. You can go into the sanctuary in your own vehicle, and you don't need a 4X4 as the gravel roads inside are good.  A day visit is enough. Its better you go early morning before the sun becomes too hot. I think the sanctuary opens only by 8am or so.

 

There is also a bird sanctuary nearby, you can visit any time, to view birds, and drive to the tip of the land. 

Little Egrett

Pond Heron

 

Red Vented Bulbul



Spotted Dove

Rosy Starling

 

Wild Boar

  

Drive inside the Sanctuary