Birding in Bandipur

It is not a good idea to bird while you drive down Bandipur as parking is not allowed here. But I could not resist stopping for a few seconds when  the husband sighted this streak throated woodpecker on the tree.

The moon in Bandipur

This is not the night sky, but an early morning sky at about 5.45 am in Bandipur Wildlife Santuary in Karnataka, India .Our morning safari in the jungles had just begun.

If you want to do sky gazing, do visit Skywatch

The Bandipur Diary . Wild Conversations - Part 3

" Can you see the cattle ?" A herd has just stopped our jeep from moving any further.."Yes, so .. in India, you see cattle everywhere." " Yes, but this is forestland and you see cattle grazing right in the middle of a forest ..thats the problem..beginning of man-animal conflict." Mithun opens the book "Romancing the Elephants" . With him in the jeep are the German couple and us gazing at a satellite map where the greens and the browns merge.." The forests have become overgrazed, its just shrubbery now . This is illegal. and you will find villagers complaining that animals walk into their homes and lift their cattle..but they are actually encroaching.."

" But where will they go ? I mean, the villagers .." "Ah ! thats what you city bred thinks..most of the villagers are migrant..they dont live here..or they are tribals who were living in the forests and have been rehabilitated..and the cattle, you think they are for milk ? Its mainly for manure..to send to neighbouring states and towns..""You mean, Tamil Nadu and Kerala ? They have their own cattle.".."not enough..agricultural lands need manure..all these cattle are raised and the dung is processed into manure and sent there..also beef.."

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" See that hillock ..that is the crucial chicken neck of this corridor..and that is the resort I told you about..they have fenced all 40 acres , but the built up area is only 10 acres.." " But isnt tourism good in a way..I mean they hire local people, prevent poaching..?" " " They have to hire local people as they cant get anyone..yes, tourism is good in a way, but not all resorts here are into eco tourism..they are into what you call green washing..just having some huts and less towels doesnt become eco tourism .."

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" Does he carry a rifle with him now ? " " A double barrel gun .."elephants attacking sarva sadhanam .." " Very common,he says, he uses it then .." Nim hesaru .." "Kempanna." " Idhe oora ?" Illa, Chikatti ,Nanjangudu hathra..familyala ooru alli ." " He stays in the quarters here ? " " Can you pls translate what he says ? "

"He is Kempanna , a watcher and his beat is the Moyar range...4500 acres and only 3 of them watch the entire area...the three go together all the time." "Poaching, wildlife chasing him, looking for dead beasts.. " ." yen maduthu ?" " Biggest problem is he says is of cattle grazers and they are not allowed into the range and they have lots of fights." " So what time does he start his day ? " 8 am till 6 pm and night sometimes...if there is any problem ..nights there are elephants..its dangerous .."

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"Hey, Baaro illi.. Nim Hesaru ? " "Gaviyappa" " Yen, nimuhasugule jaasthiaagbittidhe.." " Aye ..aye..manne, ondhu kempu huli bandhuhodathabidithu ."

"Howda ! kempu hulia..athara yennum ille .." " Aye..Aye..challenge ..yeradu kara idhe..ondhu kappubare, inondhu kempu bare..."

Mithun laughs . " He is challenging me that there is a red tiger.." You mean, he is referring to the stripes.." "Yes, he says there are two..one he claims is red and the other black..one of them lifted his cattle day before yesterday .. " " Wild animals here ?.." " yes, elephants, leopards, hyenas , wild dogs also.."

" So, how many villages are there ?.." " About 10 and more cattle than people.." " But why is this land fenced ? " "One North Indian - he has bought the land here and fenced it.." " and is he building a homestay ? " " No, grows seasonal crops - here try, these "? Gaviyappa picks up some horse grams and gives us." Hope these fences do not electrocute him " ..We leave

"Aye aye..alli nodhu ..guddatha mele..aane idhe.." Gaviyappa 's eyes strain as he points to elephants on the yonder hill.
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" This village is Lokhire..and it is the best among VFC ..villages and forests conservation ..they are managing the entire area, growing crops, and ensuring that the cattle does not graze into farm lands ..very good cooperation..we also wanted to set up a home stay here and ensure the villagers get the benefit..now we will go to Chikyelshetty."
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" We will sit under this tree...and have some refreshments by the stream.." " Nice temple ."."yes, the priest and his family helped us to run this home stay..amazing...and a modern toilet too..yes, they had this idea of having plants as well.." "So, can we stay here ? " " Yes, only for you..we had to close this down as the authorities did not approve..we were only giving tourists a taste of rural tourism and wildlife..food is cooked by the villagers..no alcohol as there is a temple here..but you can drink by the stream.. ! " " Where can you get a view like this ..fields and a hillock outside your door ? "

"Uchaya the main guy is behind the furniture project and we will pick him up in Bandipur..he is coming from his village there "" Oh ! we cant see the furniture or the workshop ? " " They are kept locked inside a school, the workshop has shifted .".."So who runs it ?" " Uchayya is the main guy and there are two NGOs - Atree and ForestScapes. "

" This village has about 70 people...where ..I hardly see a few homes ? " "Full of lantena" .."we will go towards the school....you can take the pictures from the window .." " School hogthiya ..yava class ?" "Eight standard ..Ivathu raja " "They want to pose for a picture..with goats.."" Where are these guys ? I think we have lost our way..this is real India..nice..can we buy a bell like that ? The one around the cow's neck " "Will try in the market.. " "School yelli..?" "These are the furniture..any orders coming in ? yes, one small homestay have placed an order".."why not the others who say they promote eco tourism ? "

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Thanks for your patience in reading this series.Bandipur is a national park located in the state of Karnataka beyond Mysore.The forests extend into Tamil Nadu as Mudhumalai and into Kerala as Wynad.I have deliberately kept away facts and travel related information from this posts. The idea is also to create a diary feel, raw, unedited and little choppy without information or details ..but I wanted to try a new style of writing and I wanted to bring out some aspects of wildlife and eco tourism. The tendency is to always describe a safari and focus on sighting..but there is more to wildlife than just game. The conversations are of different subjects and it doesnt matter who is talking or even sometimes the context or the descriptions...In fact I had recorded a conversation on my phone, but my file transfer is not working well..I deliberately avoided posting pictures as well..

I didnt want these posts to go into a series of descriptions and narratives and the idea was to cut to the chase and get readers into thinking..of wildlife, eco tourism, man animal conflict...I am not an authority on any of these things to pass a judgement or even a solution to some of these issues..but I wanted to create an awareness ..the trip opened my eyes and I hope I have tried in my limited way to open your minds to some real stories..thanks..and here is one last conversation....the last word, I would say ..By the way, I acknowledge my husband's impatient contributions in helping me with the Kannada while writing this post.

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"Ah smellu..yestu gama gama idhe..basmati rice thra.." " Cooking inside the forest right in the afternoon..?" " No, the smell of basmati rice..a tiger's urine smells like that.." " Eh ? " " You mean, there is a tiger here, behind these bushes..?" " No, a tiger's urine smells for more than half an hour..even after the tiger has left..sometimes over 1/2kms..even some plants give out that smell..gama gama idhe alva..sakath smell ! " I have sinus and a blocked nose..

The Bandipur Diary - Wild Conversations - 2

"Morning." " Morning ." "Good sighting yesterday - elephants, gaurs, deer .Didnt know South India had so much wildlife."

6 am and the moon shines out of a bright blue sky .There are only 3 of us in the jeep. Olaf ,Katja and I .

" First time here ?" Yes.But we've been to Kanha,Ranthambore, Kaziranga ..this is beautiful, we've just been to Periyar.. Back home, this part of India is not promoted at all..only Rajasthan and Goa . Must tell the tourists going to Jaipur to come down and see the wildlife..do you get foreign tourists ? A herd of spotted deer stare at us as we slow down. "Sir, a crested serpent eagle.."

"We stay in Cologne for just 5-6 months .We're mainly in africa..we run a project, a park in Zambia..Ah South Africa is good, Botswana is very expensive, Kenya is very crowded.. you can see one leopard surrounded by 4 jeeps of tourists..In Zambia, not much of crowds ..but you will see a leopard for sure, though mornings can be like this, no sighting.."

" Sir,"..the jeep slows..." gaur behind the bush.." Ah ! It's sitting, not a good picture.."

" Do you know of any good projects in India ? Our focus is on elephants now, man animal conflict,conservation of forests..." Sir, in Bandipur, 1200 -1400 elephants and 70-80 tigers.." "We do a lot of work in Burma ..we've taken elephants from there to Cologne and brought rhinos to Burma from Africa..we're going to Bangkok for the elephant conference..let me give you my card, we 're vets, conservationists and this is my travel agency..we will promote India too.."

" Yen sikhthu ?" Alli yennu illa".."dam hathira?" "Ok..lets go .." You see these orange flowers.. "Lantena ." Yes, yes..they are weeds..they make the forests into a shrubbery, good ornamental plants..but bad for the forests.." Are you coming to the village where they are making furniture out of lantena ..? Yes, we are.."

The Bandipur Diary - Wild conversations -Part 1

" Karnataka alone has lost 100 elephants in less than a year and it is mainly female elephants that are dying ." The wood cracked as the smoke curled up , warming up the air. Mithun the naturalist in Bandipur is speaking to the guests. He moves on from one group to the other .The conversation gets heated.More figures are rattled. Unofficially it is claimed that 40 elephants in just 15 days have died.."maybe an exaggeration," someone muttered, chewing on groundnuts."It is a serious concern," he cried indignantly. "Didnt you read the papers ? Its poisoning and not poaching," He moved on to the next table.." So , did you enjoy the safari ? Did you see the herd ? Oh ! yesterday, there was a herd at the hilltop..." conversations drown in the drinks as tourists take over the conversation from conservation. "Give me a beer please !And a sprite for me !"
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"Travelling today is all about badge value," I say. " I agree," he nods. Tourists , today have a lot of disposable income, are educated , but their idea of a holiday is to come, get drunk, listen to loud music , eat good food and party ! Thats ok, but why come to a wild life destination..you could do that in any resort ? " And of course,throw a mineral water bottle or a lays chips plastic cover around .." lol...

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"Hi,do you need a wake up call ? 5.30 am ..that would be great ?" "By the way, Mithun,what was that about elephants .. ? Mithun turns around and the conversation goes back to conservation ." They are electrocuted, poisoned as there is a conflict..last time 60 elephants barged into a sugarcane field..their corridor is taken over by man. Resorts are being set up in their corridor..a recent upmarket resort with just 10 acres of built up area has fenced 40 acres and thats the crucial corridor, " His fingers trace a satellite map which shows the elephant trail.." Hey, do you want to go tomorrow after the safari to the villages ? You will get their perspective."Sounds good to me !

Back from Bandipura

Thanks for your wishes. I am back in Bangalore and it has been a day of power cuts and traffic jams.It was refreshing to be in the wilds again..I was staying at Bandipur Safari Lodge, a beautiful property of Jungle Lodges and Resorts overlooking the hills.A bit of a bad luck as I missed out most of the sighting. We missed leopards and elephants, but saw this beautiful peacock ready to do a jig for us.I believe there is more to a wild holiday than just safaris and wildlife and I will be posting about it soon.

Off to Bandipur

After a long time, I am off to the jungles..The last time I went a bit wild was probably a year ago..2008 has largely been heritage except for Coorg and Karwar. Finally I get to go to Bandipur courtesy JLR (Jungle Lodges & Resorts .)Few destinations are alluring enough to be visited again and again and Bandipur is one of them. I will see you all next week and have a good weekend and I will leave you with some great posts at CLAY of Mridula's Prashar Lake and Gowreesh's Daroji.

Bandipur-going wild

Here is a wild adventure this Deepavali. An elephant chase in Bandipur . Well,I am not going to post it here .Read more about this wild excapade in CLAY(Club Mahindra and You) a corporate blog of Club Mahindra where I am a guest writer. It is a great initiative by Club Mahindra which wants to promote travel , travel blogging and travel bloggers , so if you wish to be a guest writer , please do let me know.

A Wild Chase in the jungles of South India

It began as a wild goose chase ,only the goose happened to be missing.. It was wild, alright – what with elephants, monkeys, malabar squirrels , bears , boars and buffaloes providing company . And to cut to the chase, we have been camping in wildlife sanctuaries and jungle resorts over the last year - six of them in fact , all in the radius of a few hundred kilometers . In the forests of Bandipur, Nagarhole and Mudhumalai , in the camps at Masinagudi, K Gudi and Wynad. Our wild life hunt had begun

At the outset, I must confess that we are not die hard wild life enthusiasts. We would not wish to pretend to be one . A natural curiosity for wild life, a little bit of adrenalin in our veins, a desperate need to get away from the city combined
with practical possibility of getting leave only during weekends led us up the jungle trail.


Our ritual began every morning . The mist played with mountains, the dew had just settled in. It was cold and damp. And the jungle presented itself to us, a collage of greens, yellows and browns . Shivering underneath our jackets and enjoying the nippy air, we drove through the forest in an open jeep, hoping for an unusual sighting .

View video - The Safari Experience
"safari"

A typical safari would read like this. It starts off as a smooth ride with a song in your heart. Add a dash of excitement and plenty of hope to the experience. Then, before you know it, the jeep will suddenly swerve into a narrow path, cutting amidst trees and tearing through the grass. Your adrenalin levels increase. The smooth roads turn into sharp curves as the jeep cuts through the vegetation . You spot an animal hide here and there, a shadow darting through the leaves, a rustle in the woods . You squint through the natural mosaic of greens and browns and imagine like Macbeth, that the woods are moving. By the end of it, however your excitement wanes , the thrill fades

View videos - The deer series-different species
"Deer"
"One more deer"
"Another deer"
"Lots of deer"

In the beginning were the deer, the spotted and the sambhar variety. In great hordes , skipping, frolicking, playing .The birds and the butterflies flitted around as the peacock obliged us before darting behind bushes . Next in line were the wild buffaloes, majestic and proud, ;looking at us askance. Rustling amidst the trees are the wild boars, which even greeted us near our tents in the K Gudi Camp.

Watch videos - The boars and the bisons
"bisons"
"wild boars"
"more boars"

We chased and were chased. Eyes, though invisible to us were tracking us. We saw pugmarks of tigers , dung of elephants and heard stories of leopards. But they eluded us. At one occasion, in Masinagudi we even smelt an elephant very close to us, almost breathing behind a bush , as we got out of our jeep and trekked. It mocked us with a cry, almost like tempting us for a game of hide and seek.

You must have heard this before . The frequent refrain at every safari tour is, “If you are lucky, then … Hope is a funny thing. You very well know that it may not be your day to catch an elusive glimpse of the giant cat or encounter a tusker, but you still persist


The roads are bumpy, you get covered with slush, your legs ache as you trek , but hope does not let you down. It is this hope that made us continue and yes, we were finally rewarded. Not with a tiger or a tusker, but a bear almost 100 metres from us, that paused in its journey and sized us up Its companion was not far away, but it soon merged with the colors of the forest.. It was the twilight hour. A hush fell. We felt a sense of awe and said a silent prayer.

View video - The bear look
"bear"

Very often, its not the destination so much, but the journey which is exciting.. And so it is with jungle life and safari tours. Sighting wild life alone is not fun, it’s the chase that makes it exciting…Like the one we went atop an elephant looking for a crouching tiger up hill through the forest in B R Hills. It was not the regular trail that day, somebody shouted tiger and off our mahout went in search of the beast. It mounted to nothing, but we felt the adventure in the steep climb, the dry and rocky terrain, the thorny bushes and in the unspoken excitement and fear . And the elephant farted away..

Watch video -Atop an elephant
"elephant ride"

Another adventure was atop a tree, 40 feet above the ground where we decided to stay and look at the life of the jungle It was in Masinbagudi, near the Mudhumalai Sanctuary, in a 300 acre of land populated by just another tree house and lots of wild animals. We were awakened in the dark by chimps dancing on our roof, shrieks and cries of wild elephants that threatened to encroach on our area ..We heard them all ;they were all around us, yet we saw nothing in the morning save peacocks, deer , chimps, wild boars and some rare birds


Every forest looked the same. Only the seasons change and with it, the colours. The water fronts get dried a bit, but they are still the haunts of the wild. We continued with same hope in our hearts as we touched Bandipur and this time , we got more than what we had bargained for. We pursued invisible shadows , but didn’t realize that it was our turn to be chased.

It must have been around quarter to seven , and darkness was slowly setting in. Shadows merged with trees and we were returning from another fruitless safari tour. We were on the Bangalore - Bandipur Highway , very close to our resort when suddenly we saw three elephants hardly 10 feet from us, on the edge of the road. We paused in an attempt to take photographs. We got out of the car . My friend was adjusting his camera, my husband standing outside the car beside us. Suddenly one of the elephants took a warning step forward. We backed a bit. A moment paused and we resumed our photography, when suddenly the elephant broke into a run…a very fast one at that . It was a race between man and beast.. a thin line between adventure and death, The car was at least 5 feet from where we were . We made a quick scramble to get in… We yelled, shouted, screamed and panted . We were unprepared for this ;. My friend rummaged for the keys . I flung the camera and looked back. The elephant stopped just a foot away from our bonnet.. A look which said, Get out of my territory.

The entire thing lasted for around 30 secs, may be a minute at the most. We raved, ranted and told the same story many times over, each from his /her perspective. We thought of the many possibilities of an IF added to the situation. I remember the last look, all it had to do was to stretch out its trunk and reach out to us. But it preferred not to do that.

We now speak of this incident in our inner circle as the most adventurous trip we ever had. We showcase our bravado and our story telling skills. We are probably looking for more adventures to score brownie points, to increase our adventure rankings. To us, it was a fantasy , an escape from our daily mundane lives But at that moment, however, it was about survival than exploits. It was fear , rather than hope and excitement . It was about encroaching another’s territory. And we were chased away.