I organized a tour to visit this park in December 2019, and along with a group of 10 clients, set off from Colombo.
The flight was very short, and we reached Bangalore airport in 1 hour.
We landed at 2.30 AM and thereafter had a long 5 hour drive to Kabini River Lodge, which was our abode for the next 4 days
En-route we stopped over at Mysore for breakfast and reached the lodge by around 11.30 AM. The reception area onwards we could see the beautiful sprawling campus that is Kabini River Lodge. Once the personal hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Mysore, it was a very charming property with old buildings and a colonial nostalgic feel to the whole place. After check in processes were done, a naturalist gave a tour of the lodge and its schedules. The entire safari program is managed by the lodge and is scheduled.
The Reception
Jeewaka making fun of me for eating the cutlets Ranee made for us
The old colonial buildings were quite charming
Beautiful Sprawling Campus
Waiting to check in
Our rooms were charming tented cottages, which were very clean and neat. The meals are served in a restaurant area, with a large spread of Indian cuisine. Thereafter tea is served at 3.00 PM followed by the jeep safari. Allocations of the vehicles and park zones we are to visit are all determined by the Lodge.
Our group were assigned 2 jeeps, which were very comfortable and spacious. Infact these were the most comfortable jeeps I have ever been in.
The naturalist for my jeep was Wijay and our driver was Amjad, both worked together to get us the best sightings possible. They were top class guides and infact the best I have seen in India.
Wijay and Amjad
Our first venture was to the A Zone, which is best known for the Black Panther, as soon as we entered, I noticed the thick and tall foliage and trees, which were very interesting. There were open fire lines which ran across the zone, which gives a long range view. In one of these fire lines I saw a very large tusker and urged Amjad to drive towards him. It was a very impressive animal with thick long ivory. Initially I thought this was the famous Mr Kabini who had the most impressive ivory I have seen from an Asian Elephant, but it wasnt as this was a younger elephant. But nevertheless the tuskers in Kabini are far more impressive than the ones we see in Sri Lanka. The tusker quenched his thirst by the nearby water source and continued feeding on the grass.
We moved on, and continued our search. I noticed the sheer determination and observations of both driver and tracker which truly impressed me.
We turned on to a forested path, where we stopped and lied in wait as we heard the alarm calls of the Grey Langur's . After waiting around 20 minutes Wijay noticed a leopard coming out into the open, it was a female, and in a flash it crossed the road and dissapeared into the bush. Continuing our drive, we came across a large herd of elephants. It was impressive to note even in this herd we observed two young tuskers. On our way out, we came across the largest Indian Bison or Gaur which I had ever seen. Unfortunately the light was so low, I could not capture a good photograph. But the muscles and sheer size of this animal was very impressive.
Returning back to the lodge we were welcomed with tea and snacks and at night a very impressive dinner. This was truly a world class lodge, and a place which was very well managed. It is surprising to note its a state run property and yet so well managed.
Early the next day we headed on our second safari to the A Zone, we observed a mixed flock of birds, we simply switched our engines off and observed the many calls. We noticed there were quite a number of Raquet Tailed Drongo's among this flock.
Back at the lodge we enjoyed a lovely breakfast and spent the remainder of the day at leisure until our next Safari time.
That evening we ventured once again to the B zone and headed to a known water hole where Wijay claimed a mother and three semi adult cubs are seen. We waited there for over an hour, in idle waiting for something to happen, but nothing really did. Then another jeep drove towards us and the guides and drivers were having a friendly chat, when the guide of the jeep suddenly shouted out “Tiger, Tiger” and we saw the cat we were looking on further up the road. Driving there, we noticed one tiger walking into the forest, and one remained on the roadside. Not wanting to startle the cat, we waited. It took over quarter of an hour as the cat who was seated near a small mound began walking towards the tree line. Suddenly it did what we never expected, as it climbed a tree. This was unprecedented and I have never come across a case of a tiger climbing a tree, and nor have our guides or drivers. But given their weight and size this is not natural to them unlike leopards, and the cat slowly slid back down, with its hind quarters first, showing its not comfortable with the practice whereas leopards come down head first. Thereafter the young tiger slowly walked towards another tree, scent marked and made itself comfortable and sat and watched us.
It was a very eventful evening and as it was getting dark we left the beautiful cat and made our way out. Just as we passed the tiger, we came across a sloth bear on the roadside. This was truly an eventful evening.
The next day, we went along the park boundary, which was said to be a great place where tigers cross into the village and return back early morning. While driving we got news of a large male tiger asleep in the bush. We rushed to the site and saw the faint stripes and markings but could not get a clear view. We waited for over an hour but there were no signs of the big cat awakening, and hence we left this particular sighting and continued. The safaris itself were very pleasant as the surrounding forest habitats are beautiful and we came across yet another very big tusker.
The Tented Cottage at the Lodge
In the afternoon safari, we struck lucky with a pack of 6 Indian Wild Dog or Dhole, who I was dying to see, these tenacious animals are known as the top hunters in the Indian Jungle and known to take down animals much bigger than them. There are reports of super groups of wild dog even taking down tigers. Hence it was a pleasure to get up close with such a formidable predator. The pack was led by an Alpha who had a different coloration with a white underbelly which was not present in the others. When reading up about this it seems the more mature adult dogs have this white underbelly coloration. The unique call they were making was very un dog like, and hard to describe.
That evening we came across one more tusker who was quite large , and as well as a large single tusker who crossed the forest path. This park truly is one of the best if not the best location I have come across so far for Asian tuskers.
The next day was relatively uneventful, but we did come across another very large tusker with a female. Back at the lodge that night we celebrated our last night in this beautiful park.
With Wijay our excellent Tracker
The next day morning safari, proved uneventful for our jeep, but our second jeep ended up in Zone A where they came across another tiger sighting.
Overall it was sad to leave this place, and I hope to return back to this South Indian wideness paradise.
With Bheemaiya the senior tracker
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