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!!!!!!!!!!!





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.

 

Bhandipur June 2012

Baby enjoying mothers milk

Bhandipur - Excellent trip, better than Kabini.  Stayed in Junlge Lodges again.  JLR is actually outside the forest entry gate.  Good accommodation and food with service as usual.  

Only Jeep Safari in Bhandipur.  Usual evening and morning rides.  We stayed for 2 days here as well.  So we got 4 trips into the forest.  One in the morning and the other one in the evening for 2 days.

Elephant heard

Evening safari is quiet cool and good.  The weather was not hot at 3.30pm.  Inside the forest it was totally dry. 

Of course as  tradition the first thing you get to see is the Spotted Deers.  The above picture was one of the rare sighting.  The next we spotted a heard of Elephants with 2 small babies.  They came for the water hole which was completely dry and they kept moving.

TIGER, ha!ha!hah! we spotted a tiger in the next day morning safari.  Near a small water hole coming to drink.  As it was coming we did spot and without much noise our safari jeep moved a bit in the front and close to the water hole.  The thirsty tiger started drinking water, once the thirst was quenched, tiger went inside the water hole to get a nice cool dip for the whole body.  Sat in the water for atleast 1/2 hour, trying to make no noise the whole jeep was quiet and thrilled watching tiger so close.

What a pose

Relaxing and Cooling

Once cooled got up and started a low growling.  Our Safari driver said its calling the babies to come to the water, but they never came.  We in fact waited to see if they will also come out to drink with their mother.  But no luck, time was running out so we left and came back to lodge.

Growling tiger 

Tiger reaching the water hole

The next day morning at 7.00, we saw the same tiger again.  It was just reaching the water hole as you see in this picture.

The morning jeep carried a different group, all holding big zoom lenses trying to  capture the great moment in their cameras.  We both were thrilled again to see the tiger and this time we stayed there for a longer time.

Drinking water, see the reflection in the water

What a muscular body!  Fully grown female.  This was commented by driver who was also clicking pictures in his cell phone.

Same procedure the tiger followed, drinking water first and getting down in the water to get cool.  This time she was not sitting in the water for a long time, since there was something moving on the other side of the bush, which we did not realise.

Trying to see what is moving the other side of the bush

Came out sat for a little while on the banks of the water hole trying to see what is on the other side of the bush.  Few seconds it got up and moved again growling, this was little panicky.  Driver said may be because the babies are alone and something is moving.   Once the tiger moved out of our sight we saw the elephants, tamed ones walking slowly with their bell on the neck, so this was the cause for the tiger to be restless.

The trip came to an end, we felt a bit sad to leave the place since may be the tiger will come again to the same spot in the next drive.  Anyways time for us to leave.  Shared the pictures with the other guests in the JLR and left for Bangalore.  

Kabini Forest May2012

Our Kabini trip was another beautiful experiene. We travelled in May.  Good season to spot animals starts from April.  We stayed in Jungle Lodges & Resorts.  www.kabiniriverlodge.com, please use this link for your accommodation booking and also for the route map in case if you are travelling by road.  Its not too far from Bangalore and will approximately take 5 hours. You can either go Jeep safari or Boat ride.  Normally boat rides are suggested for evenings and Jeep safari for mornings.  Staying for 2 nights is really worth for spotting animals.  The guides in the lodge are really good.

We reached by noon, so that we dont miss any of the activities that are included in the package.  As we reached we were taken to a nice cosy room.  Relaxed for few minutes, by then the lunch was served in the dining hall (all buffet system).  We were ready with our binoculars, cameras and also suntan lotion at 3.00pm.

Got into the boat, since its summer the water in the river was not too high.  Once u start cruising in the boat first thing you will spot is lot of birds in the dried tree stumps amidst the river.

Different Birds on the tree in the river.

Tusker by the river side 

Jeep safari morning at 6.00 and evening 3.30.  We had 4 trips in Jeep, we enjoyed all the trips. 

We happened to spot lot of elephants including baby elephant in all our jeep safaries and also our boat rides.  Monkeys, Serpant eagle, Bison, etc.,  were some of the other animals and birds spotted.  

Infact one of the baby elephant we spotted was limping, the back leg was injured and we felt so bad for that baby.  The mother elephant was trying to cover the baby and closely moving together as seen below.

Wild Dogs the famous killer, they come in a pack of 10 to 12 at a time.  We spotted a pack by the river banks, where they just finished their kill and running towards the river.  Normally spotting wild dogs is very rare, we were lucky.

Leopard, we spotted one in the tree branch by the side of the road.  The leopard was literally hanging in the branch as you see in the below pictures.  This we spotted in our first safari trip itself.  The next day also we saw the same leopard but in a different tree branch.

Infact the second day after coming back from our morning safari, we had our breakfast and took off with our Pajero to the same road to see the leopard once again, which was still there.  With binoculars the sighting we had was great.

The same tusker that we saw from the boat ride was also spotted the next day morning in the Jeep safari.

Tusker by the river banks.

Birds, especially Changeover Hawk Eagle(?) was sighted very close to our jeep.

The other baby elephants, bisons, monkeys as we spotted. The limping baby elephant which was very close to our jeep.

The Bison trying to grasp a tree branch for some food.

Another baby elephant but not looking healthy.

Sitting like three musketeers in the tree looking seriously at something.

On the whole this trip we enjoyed since we saw all except the tiger.  The food, the service and the rides organised by the Jungle Lodge was really good and nothing to complain.  Its worth a trip to Junglelodges, Kabini.

The next trip as we travel will be updated in the blog.

Banasura Hill

Where is Banasura Hill?? Banasura hill is near Mananthavadi in Wayanad District of Kerala. It is about 275kms from Bangalore. http://maps.google.co.in/maps?q=banasura+hill&hl=en&ll=11.715297,75.922801&spn=0.012585,0.01929&fb=1&gl=in&hq=banasura+hill&cid=0,0,14523390092277175736&t=m&z=16

  

Four of us left in our Pajero at 12.00noon from Bangalore via Bandipur taking right at Gundalpet.  The ghat section starts after about 20kms from Gundalpet. The roads are good.  After about an hours drive in the ghat road, we sighted a herd of Elephants crossing the road.  There were two baby Elephants and few adults.  It was a beautiful sight with Baby Elephants moving around and the adults protecting it.  

We carried on to reach Sulthan Bathery and then to Mananthavadi and finally Banasura Hill resort at about 8.00 in the night.

Banasura Hill Resort is in a valley surrounded by hills, the tallest peak being Banasura Hill.  The location of the resort is wonderful.  As we went in December the weather was a bit cold but very refreshing. 

Day1:  A small trek to a very nearby waterfall called Banasura Waterfall in the early morning.  We also did an off road drive up the hill in the same track for a few kms to reach the top of the falls.  We had  a nice cold shower in that falls and relaxed for a couple of hours there.  We came back had an awesome lunch in the restaurant.  We visited the pond inside the resort had a seat and did some bird watching.

Day2:  Early morning we started on a trek to Cherapul Peak which is adjacent to Banasura Hill.  We were six of us with a Tribal named Ravi as our guide.

We left at 7.00 am, trekked through steep mountains, crossing through shola forest.  We saw evidence of Elephants and Antelopes in the area.  Fortunately there were no leeches.  The weather was very nice and pleasant but too very windy as we climbed higher on the mountains. It took us about 3 hrs to reach the peak. The peak was about 800 mts above the Banasura Resort. It was like a small plateau on top with a water body that had just dried up. We saw a lot of evidence of recent movement of elephant and bison around the water body. We had our breakfast that we brought from the resort. After exploring the peak for a while, we started our journey downwards on a different track.  It was a good experience on trekking, we had beautiful view of valleys and the mountains.  It was a challenge to climb this hill.

Day3:  We visited the caves where Pazhassi Raja, the kerala king who fought against the British, spent his days hiding.  We enjoyed our stay in the resort which had spacious rooms made of mud, well furnished and also a good multi cuisine restaurant serving excellent food.  The staff rendered very good service with a smile.  www.banasura.com

Had breakfast and left the resort to drive back to Bangalore this time via passing through Tholpatty and Nagarhole Reserve.  Thollpatty reserve was closed due to Tiger Census and we could not visit.  We reached Nagarhole at about 4.00pm in time for the safari drive inside.

We sighted a lot of spotted Deers, few Elephants and Bisons in the safari.  The drive was for about 1 ½ hours.  

We started to drive back to Bangalore through the forest.  The road was good, it was also getting dark.  After about ½ hour drive, we saw a Tusker on the right side of the road.  

We had to stop as we were not sure if he is going to cross the road and getting ready to reverse if required.  After about 5 minute drama he moved a bit away from the road, we started to move getting closer to the tusker which was huge and alone.  We had to leave as it was getting dark and a bit scary also.  As we drove further in the darkness, came across a herd of Bison crossing the road.  

We had to stop as it was a huge herd of about 25.  They came very close to our vehicle, a few big ones were on the right side and few were on the left trying to cross the road along with many calves.  It was too dark we could not take fotos as we cannot use the flash.  We were virtually in the middle of the Bison herd.  After a few minutes, one of the bulls grunted and the whole herd panicked and ran helter skelter.  Some ran into the bush on the left and some in the right.  It was a bit scary as there was chaos on the road for a few minutes.  After this we started driving and eager to get out of the forest roads before any further encounters.  We reached Bangalore late in the night.

It was a good experience on both trekking and wildlife sighting.  We recommend this trip to people who want to do trekking, especially Banasura resort and the Cherapul peak.  Next time we want to try climbing the Banasura Hill, which is a bit higher than the Cherapul peak and should be more challenging!!!!.