Bandipur and Nagarhole jungle safari - short Tour Diary
14/04/22 : CCU (Kolkata) > Bangalore - reached at 0810 hrs > Bandipur (By 13 - seater
Tempo Traveller – Rs 25,000 for 4 days) - Sleep at Bandipur
Evening safari at Bandipur at 1530 hrs (time taken to reach is 5.30 hours )
15/04 : Bandipur (Morning) and left for Nagarhole (2 hours away) for Evening Safari - Sleep at Nagarhole
16/04 : Nagarhole (Morning - 600 hours ) and Zone 4 (Evening 1500 hours) - Sleep at Nagarhole
17/04/22 : Nagarhole (Morning - 600 hours ) : > Bangalore airport (boarded plane at 2000 hrs) > CCU
We are a group of 9 people. Mohua will join us from N
Delhi (where she went for official work). Didi, Anindya, Sheta and Rai will join us
from Bangalore itself. They went to Bangalore on 13.04.22. Sovon, Arun, Sanjit
da and I left for airport (CCU), early morning by Uber .
We reached airport in 35 minutes.
However there was a crisis on 12.04.22. We were supposed to use Gozocab for our tour. But Gozocab
informed us they could not arrange Tata Winger for us, due to huge rush. So at
the last moment Anindya arranged a Winger, but we had to pay more. Our
starting point is near Bangalore University campus, where Anindya is staying.
From the airport we reached the Bangalore University
campus by a car provided by Gozocab. For that we paid Rs 1100. Mohua and Didi
reached in time. We left at around 1000 am . We had to reach the Bandipur resort
(Jungle Lodge and Resorts Ltd or JLR - owned by Govt of Karnataka) before last safari
car leaves. We reached at around 3.30 pm. Strangely you cannot check in to their resort before
1 pm ! So you have to wait if you reach early. We had to skip the lunch and kept our luggage in the Tata Winger, because
there is no time for check in. Since we were 9 people, one full safari car was
allocated to us. The entry point is around 10 km from our resort. It rained
heavily after we reached the forest. Therefore it was difficult to take
pictures. We saw a Tiger, but could not take any picture.
After the Safari we came back to our resort and had
some snacks. I went to see a documentary on Dhole (wild dog) in an auditorium
inside the resort. The food served in the dinner was sumptuous. But it is very
expensive. We paid Rs 12,036/- for 1 day - Viceroy package for 2 people. If you
have extra person (Didi stayed in our room) , then you have to pay at the
counter. There is no need to pay for the extra person. In all the rooms, there is enough place to accommodate another person. So 3 people can easily stay.
Both Bandipur and Nagarahole are
easily accessible by road, between 60 and 70 kilometres from Mysore, and around
210-225 kilometres from Bengaluru. Both forests
are part of the Nilgiri Biosphere reserve and are divided by the Kabini River,
which flows through the forest. Both the forests of Bandipur and Nagarahole
were famous hunting grounds for the Maharaja of Mysore, which was then
converted into Tiger Reserves.
Kabini is an area in the south of the
Nagarahole Tiger Reserve and National Park. Because of the Kapila river ( also
known as the Kabini river) and the famous Kabini dam, this area of the park is commonly known as Kabini. But technically,
Kabini comes under Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.
Bandipur is the larger forest at
about 874 sq. kilometres, whereas Nagarahole clocks in at just under 650 sq.
kilometres. The Kabini reservoir separates the two
parks. Bandipur is located at an extremely
interesting juncture in the Nilgiri Biosphere, bordering Mudumalai and Wayanad, where the forest is extremely dry and arid, almost
akin to a scrub jungle, at a higher altitude than Nagarahole.
Bandipur is a forest with rocky
outcrops and thick vegetation, with the grasslands at the hilltops providing
the only relief from the dense cover of wildlife that envelopes the
forest.
Nagarahole, on the other hand,
consists mainly of moist deciduous forests, interspersed with teak and
eucalyptus plantations, and is at a lower altitude, with open areas, which
makes it easy to spot wildlife.
The resident wildlife in both
Bandipur and Nagarahole is very identical, with both parks being havens for
rare, majestic and elusive animals like Tigers, Leopards, Asiatic Elephants,
Gaurs, Dholes (Indian wild dogs) etc.
Both parks are venerated Big Cat kingdoms, though the dynamic of sightings has
shifted over the past 2 decades. In the early 2000s, Bandipur was the go-to hub
for cat sightings, especially tiger sightings in South India, while Nagarahole
could boast very few sightings. However, about 10 years ago, Kabini rose to
prominence as the best place to photograph Leopards in South
India, with iconic images of Leopards on trees, climbing, and even hunting
began to make waves throughout the country. The latest addition to the
Kabini Hall of Fame, the phantom Black Panther.
A likely major factor to the
increasing frequency of sighting of cats in Kabini is the absence of
highway traffic unlike Bandipur, which has always been a major menace , because
of tourists driving through the forest on the way to Ooty. We booked our
Safaris in Bandipur and Nagarhole (not Kabini). Kabini is prohibitively
expensive - even more expensive than Masaimara . In Kabini, boat safari is
possible.
All the booking are done from https://www.junglelodges.com (for Nagarhole ) and for Bangipur from https://www.junglelodges.comafari-lodge-bandipur/
We had to call their Manager Salma at her mobile for clarification (given at the website) In Bandipur, there are resorts like Serai , Tusker Trails,Dhole’s Den. But I think booking the safari is simpler, if you stay at JLR . Some of the safaris are part of the package. You do not have to do anything.
The 15 resorts where you can stay in Kabini is https://www.toehold.in
(source : https://www.toehold.in .)
15th April 2022
In the morning the safari car leaves at 6.15 am from the resort. The sighting is not that good. We saw common birds and animals. The safari is over by 9.30 pm. After the safari we went back to our resort and had our breakfast and left for Nagarhole. On the way to Nagarhole , Kabini forest falls on the left hand side. It takes around 2 hours to reach Nagarhole from Bandipur.
After reaching Nagarhole, we had our lunch
and left for Safari at 3 pm. The safari area is quite far. It takes almost
45 minutes to reach there. We left the forest around 5.45 and reached the
lodge by 6.30 pm. So we have counted that actual time allotted for
Safari is not even 2 hours.We did not like it at all.
In Nagarhole they do not have zones like
Ranthambore. All the Safaris take the same route. so there is no mad rush for
booking the zones, unlike Ranthambhore. Now we understand why Bandipur and
Nagarhole is not so popular among wild life enthusiasts. We did not see many
tourists unlike Ranthambhore or Tadoba or Jim Corbet. After some time you get
bored of the predictable terrain. We booked 2 nights (4 safaris) in
Nagarhole - which is a mistake. We booked Maharaja package for 2 nights and
paid Rs 30,609 including GST for 2 persons. Didi paid extra for the additional
person, since she stayed with us like Bandipur (Mohua, Didi and I) In the
evening I saw a documentary in the open lawn. The dinner is
sumptuous.
16th April 2022
In the morning the safari car leaves at 6 am. The safari ends at 9 am. Since that actual time allotted for Safari is not even 2 hours, I would not recommend people to go to either Bandipur or Nagarhole. We did not go to Kabini - so I cannot comment. But again, considering value of money, I would not recommend Kabini to anybody. Kabini is the most expensive. It is even more expensive than Nagarhole.
After returning back to our resort we had our lunch and left at 3
pm for evening safari. The road to the safari gate is not good. Today we saw Elephant,
Malabar giant squirrel, Gaur.
17th April 2022
Today most of the team members opted out of the
last safari of the day ,because of the predictability of the terrain . So
we had to settle for Canter today. In fact today's safari is not part of the tour package. We had to pay around Rs 2500 for today's safari. Only
Aninday, Rai and I left for the safari. Today I saw Striped Necked Mongoose apart from Malabar giant squirrel, Streak Throated Woodpecker and Darter. We did not see any
Dhole.
After the morning safari we left for Bangalore. Didi has already left, since she has to reach Chikmagalur coffee Plantation. Her friend will join her from Bangalore. Sovan and Arun bought some Sarees from Bangalore with the guidance of Mohua. Our flight is at 10 pm. So we had time to go the market.
We reached Kolkata at around 1230 pm.
