 Last weekends Tiger treat made me crave for the stretch of holidays coming up during the Independence Day weekend. Vijay, my good friend and an avid wildlife enthusiast was happy to join me this time. We had been out together on our bullets during same days last year and this time it was on my Gypsy.
We had a great drive towards Mysore and then stopped by my house for a few hours. The last 80 minute drive to Cicada – Kabini (Formerly known as Kapila Retreat) was a great one. It was a cloudy afternoon and we reached the resort by lunch time. On the way we happened to meet a small herd of elephants that had just crossed the road. The cow was aggressively guarding the young calf behind the thick vegetation.
Cicada – I thought was undergoing changes in all aspects. Every employee was found in uniforms, golf cars were introduced to carry the luggage of the guests, I happened to inaugurate a section of rooms with A/C and the new dining hall was launched. I also saw work nearing completion towards the swimming pool and the Conference room was in full swing. Over all it looked like I had stepped in to a Resort around Bangalore which caters to the IT sector. I thought the touch of Wilderness was depreciating. Anyway, least interested about the upgrade, I met up my friends Vikram Nanjappa and Arun of the resort and planned my activity.
 That afternoon Vikram, Vijay and I set out to our first Safari in the drizzle. Apart from Gaur, Chital and Sambars we found nothing else in the Safari as expected during a rainy evening. We quickly settled down in the evening and spent time talking about the last few months of our lives. Vijay and I had last been out to Kudremukha National Park in January.
 The next morning, we set out on time and hoped to have a better experience than the previous evening. That particular safari was drastically different from the other. Within a few minutes of venturing out on the main road, we saw a JLR bus standing on the road. We rushed towards the place and didn’t know what was seen around. We looked around and I heard the pleasant chuckles and remarked “I think that’s a pack of Dholes around” and immediately we spotted the alpha male smelling the ground and emerging out of the bushes. It panned across the road and was followed by the rest of the pack. Excited about the early morning Dhole treat we carried on.
 An hour had passed when we were about to cross a herd of deer on the jeep track and hardly 15 feet away on the right, we saw a Leopard jump down and vanish in to bushes. We were spell bound! It looked like a young leopard probably a year or two old. It had climbed a very steep branch and was probably eyeing the Deer below. Damn excited about what we had seen we continued our journey. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to click a photograph of the most elusive cat – the Leopard.
After a while, we spotted another pack of Wild Dogs playing around the Bisilvadi Lake area. We were on the other side of the lake and we could clearly see them run around the grasslands. Vikram remarked “Man it’s raining cats and dogs for you” and I was happy.
On the way back to the resort the same pack we met up in the morning were on their way towards the other side of the park. They had by now made a kill and were looking well fed. They got quite close to us and crossed the road to vanish inside the bushes.
I recalled Shivakumar’s comments on my previous trip report where he said I was getting luckier with Tigers and especially Wild Dogs. Now I was surely agreeing with him. I didn’t expect to see Wild Dogs thrice in a safari and it was overwhelming.
 The next two Safaris were mediocre. Apart from some elephants we had seen nothing outstanding. That evening, we watched David Attenborough’s “The Tiger” documentary shot in Kanha National Park. The new conference room was wonderful and I loved the video. I had seen it before during my five day stay but the large screen experience was simply superb. I also met up with a forest guard named “Kencha” and spoke to him about his disastrous encounter with a Tusker which broke his shoulder and injured his leg for life. I also met Mr. Raghavendra and his wife who is another member of INW and INP.
 Vijay and I had planned to stay in Masinagudi and do two safaris in Bandipur National Park. We reached the Bandipur office at 3:30pm and ventured in to the forests for 3 hours. Within a few minutes of entering the forest, we saw a pack of Wild Dogs lying on the ground and resting. They had done a kill just a few minutes back and were all well fed. We recognized this pack as the “Danahatti” pack I photographed in April this year. I decided to spend some time with them near the salt lick. I watched them from almost a ten foot distance for nearly two hours. With overwhelming satisfaction to my eyes I was a relieved man. I took plenty of pictures of them playing, yawing, sleeping, watching, biting, resting and it was a sight to see.
 Just next to the salt lick we saw a couple of female elephants come to the water hole for a drink. Suddenly an assembly of tourists caught up with the elephants. Most tourists were excited by the two elephants and they didn’t get a kick out of the Wild Dogs. A common man easily mistakes a Dhole for a street dog and most probably that’s what happened. Meanwhile the wild dogs were posing for my camera and tolerating the tourists who would flash, talk, laugh and do every nonsense one can do on a safari. One gentleman even started shouting to his family saying “This was the most ferocious animal of the jungle” – Fair enough. But I didn’t understand why he had to let the Dholes hear him.
 Another sighting of some Gaur and a lot of spotted deer marked the end of another eventful day in the jungle. Thanks to Dr. Deepak Rao for shipping my 4GB card, I had filled it with plenty of Wild Dog pictures.
 Being a very busy weekend almost all resorts of the place were full. Hugh Tyman, our friend from Bear Mountain Jungle Resort had kept a secret for us. He gave us the keys of his farm house near the Bokkapuram Village in Masinagudi Town. We had to take the dirt track which would really test my Gypsy’s 4 wheel drive. After a scary drive we reached this beautiful plot of 2 acres with a cute little house in the middle. With English style kitchen and a room this place was superb.
 That morning we reached the top of the Murugan temple hill in Bokkapuram and spent a lot of time in the morning after breakfast. I also met a couple of ladies who had hiked all the way to the top of this hill who were from Coimbatore. They seemed to be very interested in Wildlife and Nature in general. I also spent some time watching the bonnet macaque's play and mate. After a small chat with them we got down to the resort for lunch and then set out to our evening safari in Bandipur.
 The evening safari was pretty normal with respect to sighting. But I happened to see plenty of gaur and two very young calves. The light was low and it was drizzling that evening and we were about to end our Safari. On the edge of the Bandipur-Mudumalai border a humungous bull gaur was grazing next to the moyar gorge. We got back to Bear Mountain in the evening and met a few friends there. I also met up with Jagan and his wife from Mysore and a gang from office who also happened to be there.
The next morning after breakfast, we set out towards Mysore and stayed at my place on the Independence Day. It was a great break and very satisfying to have had overwhelming Wild Dog sighting. Vijay agreed that Wild Dogs were fascinating animals and he also said it was now his favorite animal. I just love hearing their chuckles and their beautiful brown eyes. I love the way they work as a team and rock the forests.
Until next time!
Click here for the pictures of this trip.
Sightings:
1. Leopard
2. Pack of 12 Wild Dogs in Kabini, Kharapur area
3. Pack of approximately 6 Wild Dogs in Kabini – Bisilvadi lake area from a distance.
4. Pack of 13 Wild Dogs in Ane katte – Bandipur
5. Crested Hawk Eagle
6. Crested Serpernt Eagle
7. White Throated Kingfisher
8. Jungle and Yellow billed babblers
9. White bellied Woodpecker,
10. Chital and sambars
11. Wild Boar
12. Gaurs
13. Elephants
14. Streak throated woodpecker
15. Jungle Fowl
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Cheers,
Jayanth Sharma
jay@wildlifetimes.com
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Do we need to get any permission to get into this place? Please mail me the details, rajarajangsATgmailDOTcom.