The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
Visiting Kabini in peak summer, we hadn’t bargained for the rains,
which dominated our three days at the Lodge. While animal sightings were
understandably lesser than usual, seeing the forest in the rain was an
interesting experience in its own way. However, as we headed back into the
forest for our second and third safaris, we hoped the rains would let up, and
allow us to see more animals!
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| Winding jungle paths |
As we entered the reserve, the sun rose, bringing a promise of
a bright day ahead.
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| Sunrise in the forest |
A peacock basked in the fresh rays, perched on a branch,
its feathers hanging down, perfectly posed for a photograph!
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| Peacock |
It looked like it would be a day for birds. We spotted Crested Serpent
Eagles and Indian Rollers, are we made our way deeper into the forest.
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| Crested Serpent Eagle |
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| Indian Roller |
A single Racket-Tailed Drongo sat on a
branch, one of its tails broken…
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| Racket-tailed Drongo |
A pair of Great Black Woodpeckers cavorted on
a tree….
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| Black Woodpecker |
And two young Langurs fought for their mother's attention!
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| Langur family |
No big animals showed themselves, and as our time drew to a
close, we headed back, only to pause, and admire, a spotted deer suckling its
fawn!
A little further, we stopped again, once more noticing a pair
of deer. This time, they were too busy to be bothered by us, their antlers
locked, either in play or combat, we weren’t too sure, which!
Scanty as the sightings were, it was a strangely satisfied
bunch which emerged from the forest, the day after the rains!
The next morning, the forest was all abuzz….. with buzzing
insects! Rainflies were everywhere, and trying to catch and eat them, were
monkeys, and a mongoose!
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| Mongoose |
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| Mongoose rearing up on its hind legs to catch rain flies! |
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| Can you spot the rain flies here? |
We stopped and watched, amused, as the mongoose ran
round and round, gobbling up the flies! It must have been quite a treat!
Tearing ourselves away, we headed deeper inside, hoping for a
tiger to cross our path. However, what appeared was a Brown Fish Owl, busy with its
breakfast!
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| Brown Fish Owl with its breakfast |
We watched, unabashedly, as the owl gobbled up the frog it had caught
for breakfast, and continued clicking as it stared back balefully at us…
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| Brown Fish Owl |
We were so engrossed in watching the owl, that we didn’t even
notice the elephant which suddenly emerged from the bushes!
The young elephant scratched away happily on a conveniently
placed branch, and was soon followed by an older member of the herd.
It was such fun to watch them eat, carefully brushing the
grass against their legs, swatting away the flies!
We drove on, in search of the tiger, which remained as elusive
as ever, for us at least. A flock of Yellow Footed Green Pigeons were all
we saw, until… our naturalist stopped the car, and pointed towards the trees.
“There! Can you see the dark trunk of a tree? Can you see a horizontal branch?
Look beyond it. There’s a leopard there!”
At the magic word, we craned our necks once more, and peered
through the dense foliage. Once again, it was Samhith who spotted it first in
our group…
The leopard was far nearer this time, than on our first day. We
could actually spot it, even without the camera, but of course, the zoom
helped!
All other animals forgotten, we stood by, and watched, once
more, as the leopard made itself comfortable, and settled in for a nap!
It was only when it was almost time, and one by one the jeeps
that had joined us left, that we too, reluctantly turned back towards the
lodge. Our tryst with the wildlife at Kabini was almost over…. almost.
A Malabar Giant squirrel hurried down
a tree, making us wonder how it ran down vertically!
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| Malabar Giant Squirrel |
And a Changeable Hawk-Eagle poked into a
hole in a rock, trying to catch its supper. This was yet another fascinating
sight, and we had to draw ourselves away with the greatest of regret.
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| Changeable Hawk Eagle |
Returning to the lodge, the one thing on everyone’s lips was
the leopard – both, the animal itself, as well as the quick way our naturalist
had spotted it, just like our driver had done, the previous day. But the other
thing everyone spoke about were the rain flies! How fascinating, isn’t it, that
two such different creatures were the highlight of a single safari?
Our three days of bliss at Kabini passed too quickly…. And we
were left wanting more. It had taken us years to make this trip happen, and we
hoped our next trip would happen sooner!
Disclaimer: I visited Kabini River Resort in May 2016, to celebrate my son's 13th birthday. As I have already mentioned, we admire and appreciate Jungle Lodges and Resorts' commitment to natural heritage and the environment, and sustainable wildlife tourism, and it is pleasure to visit them, and write about our experience too. I am adding this disclaimer in response to a number of people asking me if this was a sponsored trip. Let me reiterate - It was a personal trip, and NOT a sponsored one. We booked online, and paid the full tariff.
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Fascinating pics of all the wildlife you encountered! I enjoyed the video clips too. It looks like the forest elephants are much more angular in their bodies and heads than their other cousins, and it is very interesting to watch them move about as they fed on the grasses.
ReplyDeleteThank you Natalie! I dont think the forest elephants are different physically. after all, all our tame elephants have been captured from the forest. the difference might be in the way they are fed, and their condition. But they are always fascinating to watch in the wild.
DeleteThat peacock is simply awesome,looks like you had a great time there
ReplyDeleteThank you Ani! We always have a great time at JLR. which is why we keep going back :)
DeleteWow...The pics are awesome....
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThank you sharing..... Pics are fabulous
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI know everyone has already said it, but the wildlife photos really are fantastic! Enjoyed the read as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! And its always good to see an appreciative comment :)
DeleteHi Anuradha
ReplyDeleteYour photos in this content are fabulous. I really like it.
Thank you!
Deleteawesome photos and amazing wildlife,i would definitely love to travel this place
ReplyDeleteThank you. You should. Its simply too beautiful!
DeleteHi.. anuradha.. I was searching for top travel bloggers in India and found your blog. I visited your blog for the first time and I must say it is very very amazing. Can't top scrolling your posts. I am a techie, whole day sitting in front of laptop. I wish I would roam like you on these mesmerizing destinations once in my life!
ReplyDeleteI have bookmarked your blog and will take time to look around other posts as well.
These pictures are amazing, I specially loved the woodpecker and Indian roller photo. What a beauty god has gifted to every living being.
Thank you! There indeed is beauty everywhere around us. We only have to look for it.
DeleteWow, there are some incredibly skilled artists
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your wonderful experience with us. Loved your blog!
Great Article. Thank you so much for typing these awesome words for us. I read your blogs which you posted recently, Blogs are too interesting and I will also connect with your blogs in future. Thanks
ReplyDeleteNot this your All blogs are Awesome . thanks again. Feel free to see Online Garden Store
Wow this blog is very nice …carry on, don’t stop...I really like your
ReplyDeleteBlog…
Konnecteum at
Pune, India
What a wonderful place to visit. I like to go there and see the master piece of the world that have wonderful creation. This nature give heal and peace. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDelete