The Tale of Kabini

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!