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.

 

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!!!!.