One more bottle
If you want to go for a wildlife sighting in Karnataka you may head to Bandipore or Kabini but if you want to see a forest you must go to K Gudi. The jungle itself is very diverse with respect to its flora and fauna and very dense undergrowth.
And so we did. Our second trip to K Gudi. And returned a little more learned about the birds of Karnataka and nature.
It’s a long 5–6 hours drive from Bengaluru to K Gudi. And the route I have preferred so far is through NICE Road — Ramanagram — Maddur — Malavalli — Kollegal — BR Hills — K Gudi. A little longer but with better options for food and comfort break.
As before the stay and safari were prior booked with Jungles and Lodges. This ensured a well-planned jungle safari and a very comfortable stay and food at the camp.
Since the previous visit to K Gudi had not been very eventful with respect to the sightings the expectations had been very modest this time. But the evening safari had a surprise planned for us by some strange coincidence and mother nature. We came across a small family of elephants with a newborn calf. And the pack didn’t like our presence thereby chasing us away a few yards. Although for a few seconds it was a first-hand account of what wildlife is and why there is an invisible line that shouldn’t be crossed. Nonetheless, it made our day and also the trip. The safari driver next took us to a watering hole where to our surprise a herd of almost ten to fifteen elephants had gathered. We looked in amazement from far and in silence. And then to our awe, we noticed the same pack of three elephants whose female lead had chased us a little while ago joining the herd. We anticipated another charge at us from this reinforced pack but luckily they chose to ignore us since we were quite a distance from them this time and by and large silent.
The next day's morning safari was less eventful. We didn’t see any of the big cats or the sloth bear. However, we grew more learned than last time about the birds. We understood the difference between the Indian cuckoo (Cuculus micropterus) and the Common hawk cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius) through their calls. The safari naturalist cum driver explained how the former’s call could be related to ‘one bottle more’ while the latter’s ‘brain fever’.
We were lucky enough to spot a flock of Indian gaurs, the largest bovine in the world. We did it last time too in our previous visit. This time it was a little closer. We also did spot the Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela, which feeds mainly on snakes and hence the name) and the Crested Hawk Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus) which has a beautiful hoot. Both looked spectacular when seen through a pair of binoculars. If you are serious about wildlife sightings then you must carry your own binoculars as the one lent by the safari team must be handled with extreme care so that no damage may occur.
Back home every one of us is going to hit the bed with the image of the angry female elephant charging at us since we disturbed its privacy while the body fluids are still in serpentine motion navigating up and down the BR hills.
Thank you K Gudi!
