Waking up to the alarm clocks and
running to meet those endless deadlines – is what I am left with at the end of
each day. More often than not I get officially bored which end up in being severely bitten by a call – call of the
wild! It was an autumn Friday and I just finished closing all my transactions
on time at work. I looked at my watch. 4:00 PM. I only had a weekend in hand
and nothing was in handy except a plan in my mind. Soul had already answered the inner call
and nothing could stop my adrenalin blast then.
Rather than rushing for a meeting
or fighting to reach office on time, I packed my bags and rushed to the
airport, booked a ticket to Bangalore, my much loved city. When I looked at my
watch, it was exact 8 hours since I left home and I was already there - where I
fancied to be for the preceding few hours; I was welcome with coconut water,
sringar, garland and wet tissues as I entered my destination, the Serai, Kabini.
Named after the river, Kabini is
an unadulterated escape that one would love to hide away into. It is peace, beauty and pureness all rolled
into one. The then hunting ground of the Maharajas of Mysore, is a wildlife
reserve now. It is river Kabini that makes this place so captivating and different from any other wildlife
reserves in the country.
Differentiating between a hooting
animal and warning calls for a big game, keeping an eye out for every minute
movement in the wild and be on standby to capture them on camera is all that I
did for the next 3 days. And, I tell you, all understood and done without
having to look at my watch.
Nagarhole National Park forms the largest part of the Nilgiri
biosphere as well as Kabini Wildlife Reserve, in particular. Kabini River,
turned into a reservoir, traversing though the forest, separates it from
Bandipur National Park, on the other side. The Park is divided into two Zones-
A & B & only 11 vehicles are allowed inside every day. The Serai offers
a three hour morning and evening safari which includes on-land and on-boat.
Nevertheless, the boat safari is more for a relaxing experience of birding and
soaking in the nature around.
Kabini tigers are not as bold as
their Tadoba counterparts. While spotting a Leopard or two and Asiatic
Elephants is more likely in Nagarhole, coming across Bison, Striped Necked
Mongoose and Langur and of course, Spotted Deer is also common. Russell’s
viper, Indian rock python etc. are some of the common reptile species found here.
This part of Nilgiri has a rich green cover with abundance of rosewood and
sandalwood.
Our safari gave us some great
sightings next morning. I, the other travellers and the guide Mahesh followed
the alarm calls of a distant barking deer religiously which ultimately made us reach the
climax pretty soon; we were hoping to see a tiger, instead, we happened to spot
an adult female leopard, lying on one of the angular branches of a teak tree...merrily basking in the sun. She once looked at us, growled as if she did
not like us ogling at her and got busy with forty winks. Now there was complete
silence in the jungle, excitement deep inside our heart and total disbelief in
our eyes for what we were witnessing at that point in time. She licked her
front limbs and put her head down with eyes fixed on each one of us. She was so
fear-provokingly stunning that I still have goose bumps while demonstrating this.
We were trying riotously to get the best shot of our life. However, no
photographs, no matter how bright, could substitute what we noticed and
perceived that day.
We further drove down hoping to
spot a tiger, this time more contented and ready to enjoy the nature, even if we did
not find our big cat. We kept looking and bumped into a semi-adult elephant, wondered
how was she separated from her family and friends! Our manifestations continued; we chased a wild boar right
up to the River, we spotted a pair of striped necked mongoose
playing around and a huge herd of Bisons camouflaged under the canopy of
thickets. We also spotted a Malabar Giant Squirrel crossing our way, what a
splendid fleeting sight it was!
We witnessed all of this in an
hour or so of our safari. However, the best was yet to happen; the
sun was rising, behind us, painting the sky pink. Nothing was more beautiful than the
loveliness of the woods in first light of the sun. I caught the sun perched on
the horizon of the woods filled with Yellow Flame Tree in full bloom and some herons,
flying across the Kabini. I felt blessed. Our journey ended on a very good note
by spotting the endangered Crested Serpent Eagle quietly sitting on a tree
branch and watching over the forest in its morning glory.
That evening was stormy; rain
pelted down and Kabini turned out to be brim-full. I was happy to sit by the
verandah and capture the shadows and the landscape ahead of me, wet and cloudy!
The stay in that Serai country
house was just as I expected; the word is ‘swish’ yet so stupendously rustic.
The food was lip-smacking. My next evening was rather more action-packed as I
thoroughly enjoyed kayaking and koracle ride in the river and retired to bed at
midnight after finishing my write-up, immensely satisfied and happy!
At long last, if I must give you my idea of Kabini in one line - it is a place where
nature takes a break and so should you!
