A Trip to Remember - Part 2

...Contd from the previous post

May 27th - Afternoon Safari

Well, I am trying to remember the sequence of events from the afternoon of the 27th to the 30th but my brain just wont cooperate. I will have to start looking at the time stamps from the photos and try and patch together what happened.

We had another shot at the Tala zone on the afternoon and this time we decided to take a different route in the hope of seeing the Kankatti tigress and her cubs. The tigress named Kankatti by the locals go her name, after a fight with another tigress left her with almost no vision in her left eye. Her last litter of cubs had grown past 1 year before being killed by a rival male tiger who hoped to propagate his genes.

Nevertheless, Kankatti has apparently given birth to a litter of 3 cubs who were about 203 months old according to the local guide. We were hoping for lady luck to be by our side as she had made a kill (or probably a bait was kept for her given her disabilities?) a few days back and most of the groups who had taken this route on earlier safaris had their share of luck in spotting her with the cubs.

We decided to stop at the location she was last seen and not take other detours like the other groups did. It was just a game of wait and watch for us. The afternoon sun was pretty merciless and the only sights I had for the first hour were of spotted deer feeding in the open meadows behind us.

I had just about given up hope of seeing anything when my friend Vallish, spotted the tigress descending from the woods to the thick grassland to the left of our jeep but a fair distance away (probably 150-200 meters). The next several minutes, are etched in my memory as she settled down in the grass and made a series of calls to her cubs. Through the 100-400 mm lens I could see the three little cubs make their way out from the thick cover of elephant grass to their mother. As a nature lover these are literally the sights you'd do anything to see and experience!

The tigress gently rolled on her back and began feeding the cubs and although I would not have close up photographs of the event to show, the experience was well and truly a magical one for me. The magic lasted for about 5 mins post which, she led her cubs back into the cover of the elephant grass and that was to be the last sighting I would have of her and the cubs during the trip. I cannot wait to get back to see the cubs next year!

Perhaps the only regret I had was not carrying my video camera with me. Lesson learned though!

We did not see much for the rest of the evening but I the sight I had witnessed was enough for me!

Photos: Kankatti and her cubs

Lens: Canon EF 100-400 USM IS

May 28th - Morning Safari

We found ourselves at the Tala gate once again at the crack of dawn on the 28th. We decided to take the same route as we did the previous evening in the hopes of seeing Kankatti and her cubs, hoping for a closer look this time. We rushed to the spot we saw her the last time around and waited for 10-15 mins when the driver received a call informing him about a sighting of a large male tiger in another part of the park. We decided to try our luck and were soon rushing to the spot which was a good 10 kms away from our present location.

The prospect of seeing a male tiger was excitement enough for me and when we reached the spot a good 20 mins later, we found several jeeps on the main road with camera shutters clicking away at a patch of grassland to the left of us. We drew up closer to the group and were blessed with the sight of the Bumera male, possibly the largest male in the park, sitting on the grass, relaxing after what appeared to be a big meal!

Sightings of Bumera were hugely popular with a lot of folks, I was told and there were photographers and film makers who who came to Bandhavgarh only to photograph him and no one else! Vallish did not like him too much as he was a "lazy" tiger who preferred to patrol the fringes of the park close to the outlying villages, in the hope of landing a easy kill in the form of a cow or a buffalo. He wasn't a real tiger in Vallish's books! 

He was also responsible for chasing away the mighty B-2 male (Charger and Sita's cubs) from his territory when he was in his prime. B-2 I gathered was Vallish's favorite tiger and this only made Bamera the villain in Vallish's books!

There were several park officials barking orders at the jeeps to go back after 5 mins and I did not understand the reason behind this. Three hundred rupee notes were passed on to the official and this meant we could linger on for however long we wanted. The magic of money works even in the deepest of jungles I wondered.

I took several shots of the big guy but could only get his face as his body was camouflaged in the grass. He finally got up several minutes later and I was able to get some full shots of him. He was certainly a pretty "fat" cat! He walked up to a bamboo thicket and made himself comfortable for the next 10-15 mins before more jeeps came into the area and the noise was annoying enough for him to finally get up and move across to the other side of the road. He almost brushed our jeep in the process and I could feel the hair in my arms just shoot up at the sight of seeing fully gown male tiger walk past you with nothing protecting you! Just 4-5 feet of space..that's all!

We saw a couple of barking deer on the way back out.

Photos: Bumera Male

Lens: Canon EF 100-400 USM IS

....to be continued!

A Trip to Remember - Part 1

This is going to end up being a fairly long post on a wonderful trip I made to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh from the May 26-29. I will therefore attempt to publish this in two separate parts.

The trip will go down as one of my most memorable trips and definitely the best wildlife experience I have had in all these years. I missed a chance to visit Bandhavgarh back in 2009 due to work commitments and when the opportunity to make this trip presented itself back in March this year, I did not want to miss the chance.

Vallish Vasuki, a wildlife conservationist whom I met on Facebook was running the trip and I highly recommend anyone wanting to experience wildlife in the Indian forest to participate in the tours he offers.

We were to be a group of 5 originally but had last minute drop outs and this meant only me and Vallish were to make the journey. The cost of this adventure had just jumped three fold but the excitement of being able to sport and photograph tigers laid to rest any apprehensions on the cost front.

We had last minute headache's getting train tickets and this pushed back our trip by a day. We finally managed to get tickets for the 24th of May and I was wondering how the hell I was going to spend 38 hours on the train. Luckily, technology was there to lend a helping hand and I had loaded a couple of movies on my Nexus 7 and also took 3 books to read and I ended reading none of them but that's a different story. 

The train journey took us through the longest possible route in my opinion with stops at Chennai, Vijaywada, Warangal, Ramagundam, Nagpur, Itarsi and Jabalpur (and several other stations) before chugging into Katni Junction at 11:45 pm on the 25th of May. A full 38 hours after it left Bangalore City Junction. Food served by IRCTC was pleasant for a change and there were no upset stomach's, people running to bathrooms kind of episodes.

The alternative route to get to Bandhavgarh is to take a flight to Jabalpur but options are limited with only Spicejet flying out of Bangalore (via Bombay). Air India flies direct from Delhi. I had made arrangements to take the flight back to Bangalore.

We had a cab arranged by the resort at Katni and I found myself at the Tiger Inn at 2 am on the 26th after a 2 hour horror journey across non existent roads. We managed to spot the Indian Jackal on the way and also stopped by for some "chai" on the way at one of those dhabas that would have your better half shaking her head in disgust!

Contrary to the weather reports that forecast 45-47 degrees for the rest of the week, the weather was very pleasant.

Bandhavgarh apparently employs a system of advance bookings for safari's now that can be made on-line. Only 50 jeeps (mostly Maruti Gypsy) are allowed into the park for a safari. There are 3 major zones that people can opt forthe safari  namely Tala, Magadi and Tittoli (not sure if I got the spelling right). Tala is by far the most visited zone with Magadi being the next. Titoli is not used by many as it is the largest zone with the least probability of spotting the big cat.

We had booked safari's to Magadi on the morning of the 26th and the rest of the trips were all to the Tala zone.

Side notes: I had rented a 100-400 mm Canon zoom lens from Toehold. The rental was Rs 800 a day. As usual I carried my Canon EOS 450D with an assortment of SD cards (54 GB in total storage capacity) and a spare battery (a lesson I learned the hard way when I made a trip to Agumbe in Sept 2013 and ran out of battery on the first day)

May 26 Morning Safari:

We were on the jeep headed to Magadi at 4:30 am. The gates are opened at 5:30 am and the morning safari lasts a whole 4 hours (much longer than what the parks in South India like Kabini, Bandipur offer) with the afternoon one lasting 3 hours (1530-1830 hrs).

There were about 12 Gypsy's that morning but we were first in the line and I was quite alarmed to see the driver dashing through the jungle once the gates were opened. It seemed that every driver wanted to out do the other by trying to get to sighting spot first. Speed rules be damned. 

15 minutes into the drive we approached a bend and straight ahead of us was a sub adult female tigress sitting right in the middle of the tracks! An adrenaline rush swept by body and I pulled out the camera and began snapping away. A tinge of fear with all that excitement of seeing the apex predator of the Indian jungle just 10-15 feet way is one that I believe every wild life lover must experience at least once in their life time. I'll let the pictures do some talking for now

Subject: Sub-adult Female Tigress. She is one of three off springs (another female and an adult) of the Rajbhera Tigress. Age - approx a year and 4 months per the guide.

Spotted: 26 May at approx 5:45 am

Just as I was hoping to study this magnificent tigress for some more time, a Gypsy driver came beside our vehicle and literally stamped on his brakes making a noise that disturbed her and she quietly got up and walked away into the thicket's not to be seen again for the rest of my trip. She was of course spotted several times on other safari's but this was the last I saw of her. I wonder why people can be so stupid but such questions rarely give us the answers we need.

The rest of the morning safari was spent on trying to look out for the other cubs of the Rajbhera tigress. Vallish had seen these tigers when they were cubs back in 2013 and he knew the name of almost every tiger and their cubs which I found quite fascinating.

I did take some photos of the Indian Roller, Madhya Pradesh's state bird.

May 26 Afternoon Safari:

We headed to the Tala zone in the afternoon but had no luck with spotting anything significant. Towards the end of the safari we witnessed a strange spectacle that is worthy of mention. Vallish spotted a Rhesus macaque troubling a pea hen near by and on looking closer we were told by the guide that the peahen was protecting an egg she had just laid. The monkey sensed an easy meal and began to annoy the peahen. She finally gave up and left and the monkey quickly grabbed the egg and ran away with his prize. I did not know that monkeys ate eggs i.e until now.

May 27th  Morning Safari

We found ourselves back at Tala gate at 5 am and I was a little desperate to spot a tiger after "disappointing" afternoon the previous day. We took the route to the territory of the Rajbhera tigress in the hope of spotting her and we saw pug marks all around but did not see anything. We heard several alarm calls from the langurs and sambhar but our wait ended in disappointment. We were about to head back when a Sambhar alarm call once again ran out through the forest and we stopped and were rewarded with the sighting of the Rajbhera female, making her way down from the forest, possibly to a water hole that was to the left side of the track. 

She made her way down and sat down just about 6 feet from the vehicle and no amount of words in my limited vocabulary will be justice to the excitement I felt at spotting a fully grown female tigress sitting probably at striking distance from our jeep. She was too close at that point for me to get a full shot with my 100-400 mm lens but I managed to get quite a few closeup shots of the tigress and once again her stay was short lived when another idiot of a driver wanting to provide his guest with a better viewing angle raised the accelerator thereby disturbing the tigress. She ambled across the road and went off into the thickets, marking her territory on the way. She cross the road behind the gypsy but to my disappointment, I saw that the photos I took had been overexposed as I failed to adjust the focal length when she was crossing.

Subject: Rajbhera Female (approx 10 yrs old)

Spotted: 27 May at approx 8:30 am

Other Subjects:

Sambhar, Spotted Deer sparring, Indian Roller bird

...to be continued

An exciting May beckons!

In keeping with a promise to do a little more photography, I get a fantastic opportunity in May when I visit Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh for a 4 day trip. I spoke with the coordinator of the trip, a gentleman who has dedicated his life to wildlife conservation, Mr. Vallish Vasuki. Such men are indeed a rare breed and I have nothing but respect for such people. People who dare to dream and follow their dreams.

We may get a whole day trip into the national park if things workout and that's really gotten my excitement going. 

Bring it on mother nature! 

An Dedication to Elephas maximus

After being around on Blogger since 2004, the 100th post is finally here! Made me look back at some of the old posts and also got  me thinking as usual about how lazy I have been! Surely there were so many things that I could have penned my thoughts on for the last 6 years but since nothing can be done about it, I proceed to dedicate my 100th post to a creature I have come to love and admire. Just a sight of this giant among beasts pierces my soul and makes me offer a silent prayer to mother nature for I have been privileged to see this wonderful creature several times in the wild. Carefree and of course born free! Ladies and Gentleman a standing ovation for Elephas maximus aka The Asian Elephant.

Most of us in India do not need an introduction to the Elephant, for it symbolizes perhaps the most widely worshipped god in the country - the elephant headed remover of obstacles - Lord Ganesha. It would be impossible for me to imagine anyone from my generation not having been told the story of Lord Ganesha either when getting fed by their dear grand parents or when getting tucked  into bed by mommy or daddy dearest, so I shall spare the reader from going through the details of how Lord Ganesh got his elephant head. I also don't consider myself an expert in Zoology to be able to fill this post with details of the elephants anatomy, behavioral traits etc. Rather, I wish to share some of the memories I have had with these creatures during my numerous visits to the forests of South India.

The Western Ghats harbors the largest wild population of wild elephants in southern India. There are eight main populations in southern India, each fragmented from the others: northern Karnataka; the crestline of Karnataka–Western Ghats; Bhadra–Malnad; Brahmagiri–Nilgiris–Eastern Ghats; Nilambur–Silent Valley–Coimbatore; Anamalais–Parambikulam; Periyar–Srivilliputhur; and Agasthyamalais (Source: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/7140/0)

My first memories of seeing wild elephants are probably from my college days when I happened to see a few on the Mudumalai-Bandipur stretch but these were just fleeting glimpses. Years later, when my income allowed me to afford the luxury of having a camera, I had my first opportunity to photograph them in the wild. I still remember that day. I was on a weekend biking trip from Bangalore to Bheemeshwari with a close friend when I noticed tree branches scattered along the road. I shut the engine immediately and parked the bike to the side. The road was narrow and was flanked by a small gorge running to the left and hilly terrain to the right. I looked to my left and caught the sounds of twigs being trampled upon. After a few seconds, I finally got to see Elephas maximus not more than 100 yards away. She was lazily picking on some tree bark and din't bother to look at me. Is stood mesmerized by the sight when it struck me that my camera was lying in my backpack. Cursing myself I made my way across to the bike as silently as I could and pulled out my camera and fixed the 70-300 mm zoom and went back. I could see about 5 elephants but none of them were fully visible. Nevertheless I spent the next 10 minutes observing them and photographing some of them.

Mother and baby Elephant - Bheemeshwari - 2008

My next encounter with Elephants was to occur at Waynad in 2009. This time I managed to get close-ups of a female elephant. 

Female Elephant - Waynad WLS - 2009

I had the chance to photograph my first male elephant at Waynad/Nagarhole. He was just about 50 meters away from the jeep and offered me a couple of very nice shots.

Young Adult Male - Waynad WLS - 2009

I had the good fortune of getting some real close-up snaps of a young adult male in Nagarhole when I visited the Kabini River Lodge in Sept 2009. Below are some of the photographs:

 Adult Male Elephant - Nagarhole 2009

 Like any other species, Elephas maximus is facing a massive threat from all fronts. Human encroachments into their wild habitat have deprived them of space to live at peace and conflicts with man continues unabated with Elephants increasingly turning violent against us in their rightful quest for survival. Our forests are also de-fragmented and do not allow for free passage of elephants between national parks. This is something that is vital to not only the protection of elephants but also to vital to the preservation of a healthy gene pool. Enough has been written and spoken about the plight of these gentle creatures and true to the Indian way, we seem to have greater emphasis on talk and speech and not in action. We simply do not understand how important the species is to the well being of the eco-system and our quest for development at all costs will come at a price that will be too steep for our children to bear.  


I would urge people to take that ride to a nearby wildlife sanctuary and observer these gentle giants. Ten minutes spend with these creatures is all one needs to have a change in perspective and hopefully some will to do what one can to defend the rights of this wonderful animal. After all, can India survive without the real Ganesha roaming freely in her forests? I think not!

RIP - Col John 'Papa' Wakefield - 1905-2010

Wildlife enthusiasts around India and the world woke up this morning to news that Col John Wakefield a.k.a Papa John, passed away at his home in Karapur yesterday morning. He was 95. He was one of the pioneers in bringing eco wildlife tourism to India with the establishment of the Jungle Lodges Resorts. He will be sorely missed by every wildlife and animal lover and especially by those who visited the Kabini River Lodge.

India is in desperate need of men like Papa John, Billy Arjan Singh, Valmik Thapar and Ullas Karan and one by one as the legends pass away the baton needs to be passed to the younger generation so that the dreams of people like Papa John to see the Tiger regain its glory days do not remain just that..dreams.

Rest in Peace Papa John.

On-Line Photo Collection - My Best Series - 1

I have managed to put together a few photos from my shockingly big (to me) photo collection. I now seem to have almost 20GB of photos on my hard drive. I was initially a little hesitant to put this stuff up for everyone to see but I think sharing something that you absolutely love doing with the world gives other a chance to see what makes you happy. So here you go. I think this is going to be the first of many such "My Best" lists.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ganesh.raghavan/MyBestPhotos#

Most of the photos have been taken in and around the Western Ghats (Valparai, Bandipur, Nagarhole, BR Hills) and few from Siem Reap in Cambodia. I have added a Widget to the blog with all my public photos on Picasa. Comments and feedback are welcome.

Paradise Found

Spent the last couple of days at the famous Kabini River Lodge that is run by Jungle Lodges and Resorts and the place has left an everlasting impression in the mind. The property is set in the banks of the Kabini Reservoir about 230 kms from Bangalore and as the cliche goes, you really need to be there to get a feel of the surroundings. Simply brilliant.

The drive from Bangalore took me about 4 hours and 30 mins. The road from Mysore to entrance of the Nagarhole National Park (also called the Mysore - Mananthavadi Road) is superb and is scenic too. Now the only problem is that from Mysore getting directions is a real pain. Everyone seems to have a route of their own and it took me a good 30 mins to get out of the city. I reasoned that the best way to ask for directions is to ask a traffic cop for directions to H.D. Kote.

The Kabini River Lodge occupies about 5 or 10 acres of land beside the Kabini Reservoir. There are other private resorts that have come up in and around the area too but are way beyond the budget of the middle class Indian. The entire Nagarhole area was the private hunting property of the Maharajah of Mysore before good sense prevailed (god bless Indira Gandhi) and the area was sealed off the the public and made a National Park.

The resort has 3 kinds of accommodation. Tented cottages (the one I chose), bungalows and individual rooms. The tents are the cheapest (3500 a night per person incl food and 2 safari rides). The middle of the property houses an old British type bungalow which houses the quarters of Col. John Wakefield (affectionately known as Papa John and the person responsible for making Nagarhole what it is today) on one side and has a conference room, with an attached bar of course.

I also noticed over the course of my 2 day stay that the property attracts the following categories of visitors:

• The typical Indian family (papa, amma and the kids) visiting the jungles for the first time.
• The honeymooners who obviously have other interests in mind than wildlife and being one with nature and such mumbo jumbo.
• Retired people who come down to probably get a last and final glimpse of the big cats in the jungle.
• Typical Indian group of men who stop over for weekend booze party and chat politics
• Last but not the least the avid wildlife enthusiast and photographer to which I feel I belong

Part of reason why the facility attracts all kinds of people (and I have nothing against any of them as long as they learn to appreciate silence) is the comfortable accommodation that is provided and the food which I must say puts most city restaurants to shame.

Almost everyone who comes to Kabini wants to spot the tiger and leopard and is totally un-interested in anything else. Whilst this is understandable, it is rather sad that people come with set notions on what they want to see when coming to such a place. I for one and guilty of wanting to spot and photograph a big cat but I also have learned to appreciate nature and for a lot of city dwellers, this seems hard to come by. My hill billy instincts may have come to the fore here but again it's just my opinion.

The evening safari on the first day was not very eventful. I however did manage to get the first picture of an adult male Sambhar. Truly magnificent. A fully grown male weighs about 200+ kgs and maybe stands about 5 feet 8 in plus and it makes you truly appreciate the strength of the Tiger which is known to bring down such adults in one swift move!

Photograph 1: Male Sambhar, Nagarhole

We spotted a herd of female gaur towards the end of the safari but that was it. The monsoon season is clearly not ideal for spotting wildlife. The jungle is so green and the undergrowth of lantana so dense that we would miss spotting a tiger even if it were 10 or 20 feet away. But nevertheless the appearance of the Indian jungle after the rains is a sight worth beholding. Even for someone who is totally color blind like me, the array of colors you see in the forest is dazzling to say the least. The air is a little damp but the smell of the jungle is totally intoxicating.

I was left cursing my luck the next day morning. The driver turned up 10 mins late and the jeeps in front of us had luck on their side. They spotted a leopard just off the main road. We spent most of the time that morning waiting for the leopard to show up again but lady luck didn't want to do me any favors. The highlight was that the jeep got stuck in several inches of slush and without the 4 wheel drive it was left for us to heave and push the vehicle out of mess it found itself in. I met a couple on the safari and the guy has been visiting Nagarhole for the last 20 years! As he narrated his tales of seeing 5 tigers, tigers chasing gaur the likes I was left depressed wondering when I would have the chance to see such a spectacle.

The morning was spent reading a Kenneth Anderson book and was truly enjoyable! The evening safari was uneventful too till we came up to a herd of about 16 elephants consisting of both females and young males. I took a few snaps only to find that my battery died out! Was left cursing myself again. The Canon battery that I have seems to have developed some problem and it's going to cost me a fortune to get a new one. I also had to tolerate the constant giggles of a newly wed couple that came along with me on the evening safari and the chatter of an elderly gujju couple. I had half a mind to give them a mouthful but restrained myself. People who cannot keep quiet should not be allowed to go into the jungle and if that is made a rule, it would actually rule out 99% of the Indian population. We just cant seem to keep quiet for an extended period of time. It is a pity!

Photograph 2: Young male elephant, Nagarhole

Earlier in the day I also managed to get some snaps of the black cormorant and the painted stork. and afew close up photos of the Serpent Eagle. You can view these photos here. I was left feeling even more exasperated when I was told that the last group (made up of 6 old folks) spotted a leopard on the way back!

The safari on Tuesday morning was uneventful too bar the sighting of a mother and baby elephant. This time I had a Palakkad Iyer family for company and we spotted almost nothing and I found myself showing the children a few photos I had taken. Had a fleeting glimpse of the Malabar Pied Hornbill.

Each trip to the wilderness has taught me something and the I have come away with the feeling that I have been extremely privileged to be able to not only afford going on such trips but to have the god given ability to truly appreciate nature and silence. I left Kabini, committed more than ever to spend as much free time as I can in the pursuit of what truly is closest to my heart.

More pictures can be found at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ganesh.raghavan/NagarholeSept2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCMXOppje2eyIWA#

More Info on Kabini River Lodge:

Bookings: Reservations can be made online at www.junglelodges.com. Weekends are almost impossible to get. My suggestion would be to use a weekday.

Time to Visit: Dec to April is probably the best time to visit Kabini.

Getting There: Approx 240 kms from Bangalore. From Bangalore head to Mysore and then towards HD Kote. Detailed instructions are found here

Clothing: Wear either greens or browns. Most people seem to wear all kinds of dark colors which is not advisable when visiting the jungle. Winters are pretty chill.

Other Tips: Carry medicines with you if you are the type that falls sick due to weather changes. The nearest medical shop is about 20 kms from the property.

A Hot Summer Morning and Cursed Luck in Blackbuck Country

The lure of photographing the majestic Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) got me off my bed at 4:30 am on Saturday morning when the rest of the city was still lost in its dreams. The ride up-to Maidenahalli Blackbuck Reserve was about 145 kms through Tumkur (National Highway 4) and then a State Highway (via Madhugiri) for about 60 kms. I wasn't expecting too much traffic but as usual Bengaluru threw up a surprise. I was caught in an early morning jam just before turning into NH4. There were about 60 trucks, all fully loaded waiting in front of me. The first thought that struck me was why my favorite magazine The Economist keeps insisting that India's infrastructure is at best pathetic. After 15 mins I managed to make it to the highway towards Tumkur only to be met by a 100 diversions on the road. The first impression anyone would get looking at the construction work going on at NH4 would be a total breakdown on planning, coordination and execution. The Indian in me has just taken off cribbing about everything without doing anything about it so I shall stop.

The NH4 opens to an excellent 4 lane stretch after about 20 or 25 kms after entering the highway. The toll station collects Rs 23 for a one way ride. One takes a right towards Siri just before hitting Tumkur town. Another right after 4 kms into the Siri highway takes you towards Madhugiri which was about 40 kms. The document I carried said that the roads were bad but I was surprised to see that the road was recently tarred and the Swift didn't have too many problems except on couple of minor stretches. I reached the unpaved road that leads into the reserve area at about 8 and was pleasantly surprised to see the landscape. It seemed to be more like an African Savannah. A kilometer into the stretch and I spotted the first herd of Blackbuck. The females grazing and ever watchful while the males were busy fighting each other. I realized into the first shot from the camera that getting a close-up of these magnificent animals would prove to be extremely tough. A little further into the road, a male Blackbuck in all his splendor seemed to be posing for the camera and by the time I could get hold of him in the frame he jumped and ran! It was the closest I would get a fully grown male all day. Sigh!

I managed to catch up with the forest watcher, one Mr. Murthy who was heading home for his breakfast. I was told to call the Ranger at Madhugiri to get permission to photograph and roam around the reserve. I did make the call and Murthy promised to be back after his breakfast which reminded me that I had a cheese sandwiches packed (by dear mom of-course) for breakfast. There are several trails that go into the reserve which one could traverse by car or jeep and I was brave enough to take the swift into these tracks and the experience of driving though jungle track was the only fun part for I never got to spot any herd. I managed to spot a lone male in the plains in front of me and decided to track him on foot and after gingerly stepping through the scrub and grass vegetation I thought I had come close only to find the male realize my presence and bolt! Darn! I walked back to the car and found Murthy waiting for me. We drove to a patch where he had seen a herd a while ago and we began tracking on foot. I spent the next 45 mins tracking a herd, creeping, crawling, hiding or trying to in the midst of the undergrowth to get closer to the guys only to come up short every time. I wasn't too disappointed for I was enjoying the entire exercise. Nature you beauty! The only annoying part was that Murthy kept insisting that my Canon EF 70-300 mm zoom lens was not up-to the task when I told him that I couldn't get a closeup shot! Rub it in dude! I kept saying to myself.

As I mentioned earlier, I was fascinated by the landscape. Here I was, in the middle of the plains of Karnataka, a 700 acre piece of land that looked right out of Africa. I imagine the entire area was once covered with these grasslands before Homo sapiens decided to usurp it from Nature for their greedy (and needy) needs. We wen't off to another location and this time I spent another 15 mins tracking a male only to be denied by this wonderful creature whose sensitive hearing capabilities always gave me away no matter how hard I tried.

I finally said goodbye to Murthy at about 11 and headed back towards Madhugiri. I managed to spot a couple of males on the way and took a few photographs. When I reached the tarred road, I decided to head back to make one last attempt. This time I decided to use a track that would its way into the park just before the main gates. I spotted a huge banyan tree that housed hundreds of Mynas. I spent a few minutes listening to their chattering before heading into the grass and shrubs vegetation to track another herd. This attempt went in vain too and I realized that the heat was draining me completely. I headed back towards the gates and took another track and this time I met a bigger herd of about 15 bucks and I decided to track them on car and this turned out to be a whole lot of fun! I managed to get close to two male bucks that seemed caught in their own world but before I could get a good shot they went behind a few rocks and I missed out getting a nice clean shot. I went in further and managed to snap a few female bucks only to find that I had run out of film. I din't bring extra rolls as I did not expect to shoot more than a roll. Disappointed I was about to turn back when I spotted two males coming towards the car.

Darn! Damn! &*#*!@!#&#(#()#&*#(#(@!$$&&&&!!!!!! Both the males stood about 10 feet away from the car and were posing away and I was using the all the swear words I knew in the dozen or so languages I knew (only the swear words unfortunately) on myself. Damn! Lesson learned - Always carry extra film rolls.

I spent 5 mins watching the males fight using their beautiful antlers to perfection. I turned back promising to come back after the monsoons with more rolls and hoping for better luck!

For those wanting to visit this unique place http://maidenahalli.googlepages.com/issues offers all the information you need. The forest department has almost finished constructing a guest house that will allow people to stay overnight.

I reached the outskirts of Bangalore at 2 pm and it took me an hour and half to reach home thanks to our wonderful politicians who have managed to fuck this once lovely city beyond repair!

Now for the visuals:

Photograph 1: Female Blackbucks
Place: Maidenahalli Blackbuck Reserve


Photograph 2: Adult Male Blackbucks
Place: Maidenahalli Blackbuck Reserve

Photograph 3:Landscape
Place: Maidenahalli Blackbuck Reserve


Photograph 4: Adult Blackbuck (Male)
Place: Maidenahalli Blackbuck Reserve

In the Land of Biligiri Rangaswamy

It's a boring (as usual) Tuesday afternoon at work. Yes, I have to do minutes from the call yesterday but it's a tad too boring. Speaking of boring, the past weekend was anything but boring. We (Mom, Sujeet and Supriya) set off to the K.Gudi Wilderness Camp located in the Biligirirangan Hills, about 250 kms from the claustrophobic confines of namma Bengaluru.

The journey took us a good six hours (we of course made the mandatory stop at Kamat's on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, had the usual Maddur Vada etc etc) and not surprisingly the roads after Chamrajnagar were pretty bad and I have come to expect this from most roads in Karnataka (If I ever have the kind of money Vijay Mallaya has, my first act of philanthropy would be to gift the Government of Karnataka a couple of road rollers).

We reached the gates of the BR Hills Wildlife Sanctuary at about 12. We moved slowly through the 10km section towards K.Gudi in the hope of seeing some wildlife. I was pretty amazed the the type of vegetation that grew in the area. The lower reaches are mainly shrub vegetation but I as we went up the vegetation changed to dry deciduous, grasslands, sholas and then to tropical evergreen at some parts. Truly wonderful and unique. We din't have any luck with wildlife considering the time of the day, but Supriya seemed horrified seeing a snake cross the road (managed to only get its tail). We spotted a couple of drongos, a few white crested kingfisher and the spectacular Paradise Flycatcher (no snaps unfortunately).

We reached K.Gudi at about 1:20 PM and were blown away by the place. There it was, a nice little resort tucked away right int he middle of a wildlife sanctuary. The tented accommodation we opted for was superbly done. The very first statement of bravado I made was to promise everyone that we would come here once a month. (Realizing what I has just said, I dint bring the topic up for the rest of the weekend).

We grabbed some lunch at the camp and needless to say it was good. I had some spasmodic bouts of depression when I saw some of the guys carrying their the digital SLR's and flaunting it. Someday I kept saying to myself (been saying that since the Rupee/$ exchange rate was at 35). The first thing I noticed when we reached the camp was that ominous clouds that hung over and I knew rain was not far away. True to my word, the rain came promptly at 1:30 and lasted an hour and a half. Reminded me so much of the Nilgiris.

We had tea at 4PM and got ready for the evening Safari. Our guide, Mr.Narayanan was a local tribal who is now employed by Jungle Lodges. With the gang of good luck charms I had, I was hoping to get a glimpse of a leopard this trip and the the entire group was hoping for the same. This was only made stronger by the fact that the previous evening the groups had spotted not one but two leopards. I even went to the extent of uttering the Gayathri Mantra before we started off. The photographic equipment that some folks got along was truly amazing (a lot of them had the huge telephoto lenses that I can only get to see on TV when they broadcast cricket matches). One of the jeeps broke down in front of the forest gate and we had to accommodate an extremely talkative gentlemen who would keep throwing random comments for the next 2 hours. But I've learned to live with such folks during a safari and concentrate instead on just admiring the natural beauty of the jungle. My friends on the other hand couldn't tolerate talkative folks (at least it gave us something to bitch about on the way back).

The group in front of us managed to spot a pair of wild dogs (Cuon alpinus- aka Dhol) and this information was communicated to the rest of the party through wireless but by the time we reached the spot, the dhols were long gone. We however managed to spot the elusive Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) and the regulars (Bisons, Elephants, Spotted Deer, Sambhars etc). We even had a female elephant give the jeep a brief charge which got everyone excited. Enough of text. Time for some visuals.

Photograph 1: Whitethroated Kingfisher
Location: BR Hills

Photograph 2: Bos Gaurus Herd
Location: BR Hills


Photograph 3: Elephas maximus
Location: BR Hills


Photograph 4:Trees at a Water Hole
Location: BR Hills

Photograph 4: Female Gaur (Bison)
Location: BR Hills

I managed to stand up throughout the safari and inhale the fresh air that somehow always carried a strong smell of herbs and eucalyptus . Each breath I drew seemed to have a magical effect that was soothing the mind and I was on my own trip (a very enjoyable one I must say and one that's done me a world of good). The only gripe I had was the sight of a large number of eucalyptus trees that the forest department has planted in the midst of all the other trees. I can never quite understand the purpose of doing this given the fact that blue gum eucalyptus is notorious for sucking the water table dry. Education for the forest department anyone? I also made it a point to tell mom and my friends how lucky they were to spot a sloth bear. Its not often you see one in the jungle and these creatures are known to be very shy. It seemed that they still had their beginners luck going (which Sujeet will vehemently deny and counter argue by saying that they had planned all this all along and strategized etc etc).

We made it back to the camp at 7:30 and were treated to a nice little video on the Indian Wild Dog. The whole thing was shot in the Nilgiris. We headed back to the tents and settled down and had a few pegs of nice Bacardi rum. Sappad followed and we hit the sack at 9:30 and the lights were off. I could hear the grunts of wild boars just outside the tent and the calm was broken at times by the call of a barking deer nearby.

We were ready by 6:15 next morning and were kept waiting for ages by this couple who ambled towards the jeep at 6:40 am (the other groups had already left much to our chagrin). A customary sorry followed and we were off. Unfortunately the safari turned out to be a damp squib for everyone. We only managed to spot the same elephant herd from the previous evening, barking deer, a couple of bisons and the usual spotted deer. Still I managed to take a few good snaps. The one below has managed to some rave (OK I'm going overboard) reviews from friends.

Photograph 5: Early Morning
Location: BR Hills


Photograph 6: Early Morning in the Forest
Location: BR Hills


Photograph 7: Male Barking Deer (Muntjac)
Location: BR Hills


We checked out at 10 making a promise to return soon. We headed towards the Biligiri Rangaswamy temple that was about 20 kms from K.Gudi. Sujeet and I opted to stay in the car and let mom and Supriya go to the temple and we busy appreciating the scenery from the temple when I noticed that the left front tyre had suffered a puncture. We spent the next hour or so trying to replace the tyre and managed to draw hearty giggles and laughs from passers by and with the help of a taxi driver we managed to replace the tyre. Mom and Supriya firmly believed that the puncture was caused by the almighty himself since we did not go and visit him at his abode. I felt a strange sense of guilt of not doing so and quickly made a trip to see the lord who was in all in glory (decked with ornaments and flowers). It was a truly remarkable sight that made me all humble. No one messes with the almighty.

We made the trip back to Mysore through an alternative route and car took a severe beating on the roads (if you can call them that). We reached home at about 6 but my thoughts were still at the abode of the almighty who rules the Biligirirangans.

28 hours - 670 kms and a Broken Wheel Rim

Impressed with the number of posts I seem to be churning out this March? That my friend is partly because I'm pretty jobless and partly because of my renewed enthusiasm for doing something constructive during the weekends.

The weekend was spent road tripping across Talakad (well almost went there but the horrendous road condition prompted me to cut short the trip), Mysore, Bandipur, Mudmalai, Ooty and Lovedale within a span of 28 hours! I got back from Chennai on 6th morning and was all set to hit the road at 2pm with a childhood friend. My car must have been cursing me (if cars can even do that) for I was about to take it on another arduous journey. Its been 8months since I got the thing and its already clocked up 13000 kms.

Halfway towards Mysore, I decided on taking a diversion near Maddur to Talakad, the scene of an ancient temple complex that was buried in the sands on the Cauvery riverbanks before archeologists managed to dig it out. Talakad is about 53 kms from Maddur and it was about 4:30 and we imagined that we could cover the distance and watch the sunset at Talakad. Wah, I was becoming a romantic. Well plans were plans and we were halted about 25 kms before Talakad due to the pathetic condition of the roads. The front and rear suspensions of the car were literally begging for mercy. We stopped by a lake and decided to explore the bird life around the lake and the surrounding fields. I am not an expert on birds but I can guarantee that an ornithologist would have had a blast at this place. There were storks, eagles, pond herons, kingfishers, hornbills and plenty more. The sunset was beautiful and we managed to take a couple of good photos.

Photograph 1: Buffalo Lazing Around in the Water
Location: Lake near Talakad

Photograph 2: Watch the Birdie!
Location: Lake near Talakad

Photograph 3: Whatay Sunset!
Location: Lake near Talakad

Photograph 4: Reflections
Location: Lake near Talakad

We headed back towards Maddur after sunset only to find ourselves in New York! Hard to believe? Well that's what the milestone said:

We reached Mysore at about 8 and checked-in to the Ginger Hotel (www.gingerhotels.com). I'd highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to stop over at Mysore. The rooms are neat and comfortable and the price tag isn't too high (1700 for 2 persons per night all taxes inclusive). A chilled beer and dinner later, we hit the sack. We left for Bandipur at 4:30 am and the roads were pretty good till Gundlupet (Watch out for those unmarked speed breakers. They are chassis killers I tell you!). The stretch of road from Gundlupet to the entrance of Bandipur is horrendous to say the least (for about 12kms or so). You'd think you've been space lifted to the moon!. Wonder why Karnataka roads are so damn bad! Yeddy's gotta have a look at this road to beleive it. We reached the Bandipur Forest Department office at 6 am and had to wait for an hour or so before we could get on the safari bus. The forest guards warned us that there was very little wildlife to be spotted and that we ought to take the Rs90 safari by bus and not use the Jeep (Rs 400 per head).

The safari true to the guards words, wasn't spectacular. Large stretches of the jungle seemed to have fallen prey to the forest fires and all we saw were a couple of kingfishers, wild boar, chital (plenty of them), a male and female sambhar and a peacock. So much for all the excitement!

Photograph 1: Black Faced Monkey
Location:Bandipur

Photograph 2: Early Morning (Fanghorn forest anyone?)
Location:Bandipur

Next up was a drive through Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (the roads are ofcourse so muhc better once you cross over to Tamil Nadu (Tamilian pride? No sireee, just stating the facts)), to Ooty via the Sigur Ghat. I had traveled by this ghat road just once (when I was in 9th standard) and its an absolute thrill to drive. Forest on both sides, a good road with 36 hair pin bends. Breathing the fresh air of the Nilgiris was thrilling as always and as nostalgic too. We reached Ooty at about 10 and went around town buying those lovely home made chocolates, having fresh bun and butter at National Bakery (I'm glad that I am beginning to enjoy these small yet immensely pleasurable delights that brings be back to my childhood in the Nilgiris) etc. We decided to go to Lovedale and have a look at the school but all we could see was the Lovedale station. We were denied permission to enter the school because the frigging asshole of the Deputy Headmaster thought we would disturb the boys and girls who were preparing for their examinations. What a son of a bitch! I met Mr. Mani, my old Tamil teacher from school after almost 14 years and he hasn't changed one bit! (There a touch of gray hair here and there, the belly is gone but other than than the man hasn't aged a bit!). Disappointed, we left Lovedale cursing the DHM. We stopped by a one of my favorite places in Lovedale, Granduff Road and took some photos of the Ketty Valley. Floriculture seems to have taken off big time in the Nilgiris.

Photograph 1: At Lovedale Station
Location: Lovedale

Photograph 2: At Granduff Road overlooking the Ketti Valley
Location: Lovedale

We headed back towards Mysore at about 11:15 and on the way gave a life to a forest guard (who's number I stored) who apparently works at Vazhaithoppu (Banana Grove). This place was made famous by Kenneth Anderson who shot a man eating tiger here 30 or 40 years ago. I should probably plan on a trip here some day. On the way back we did spot a herd of 5 female elephants trying to salvage some food.

Photograph 1: Elephants
Location: Near Mavanhalla


We reached Mysore at about 1:15 and broke journey for an hour to have our lunch. I asked Shibu to take over the wheels till we reached Bangalore. The journey was uneventful till after Maddur when our man fell asleep on the wheel of the car for a second and luckily we only lost the wheel cap to the divider. There was silence for the rest of the way. We stopped over for a quick cuppa chai and reached Bangalore at about 7. The odo read 650 kms. Whatay weekend!