After a wonderful day on Golden Chariot, we woke up when the train was parked at Mysore Railway Station. Last night, the train took only a few hours to reach Mysore from Bangalore and was parked in a secluded area, away from the noise of the railway station. Most of the folks had had a sound sleep as the train was stationary, although I missed the experience of sleeping in the train while it’s moving :).
We had breakfast at around 8am in Ruchi Restaurant onboard the Golden Chariot.
Breakfast menu included cut fruit, Mango/Pineapple/Orange juices, cornflakes, wheat flakes, Muesli, oatmeal, cheese, eggs accompanied by ham, bacon, chicken sausages, grilled potatoes, masala dosa, aloo parantha, fresh breads and beverages.
Breakfast menu included cut fruit, Mango/Pineapple/Orange juices, cornflakes, wheat flakes, Muesli, oatmeal, cheese, eggs accompanied by ham, bacon, chicken sausages, grilled potatoes, masala dosa, aloo parantha, fresh breads and beverages.
This morning, we had to pack some clothes and essentials as the night stay was planned in KSTDC Kabini River Lodges (Jungle Lodges).
After breakfast, we boarded the bus and headed towards Mysore Palace.
The Mysore Palace is a historical place in the city of Mysore in Karnataka state in south India. It is the official residence and seat of the Wodeyars — the royal family of Mysore, who ruled the princely state from 1399 to 1950. It’s considered as one of the most beautiful palaces in India and it’s amazing to see the kind of palace it was at that time. Brilliant art-works, teek wood work, chandeliers from Belgium, glass paintings from Glasgow etc. Mysore Palace has 2 durbar halls (ceremonial meeting halls of the royal court) and has various courtyards, gardens & buildings. The palace is in the central region of inner Mysore, facing the Chamundi Hills.
Mysore is commonly described as the City of Palaces. There are about seven palaces inclusive of this. However, Mysore Palace refers specifically to the one within the Old Fort. Built by the Maharaja Rajarshi His Highness Krishnarajendra Wadiyar IV , Mysore Palace is now one of the most famous tourist attractions in India , after the Taj Mahal. The only sad part is that you can’t click photographs inside the Mysore Palace.
Our guide Nazir took us through the whole campus and told various stories associated. There are some brilliant paintings inside Mysore palace depicting various forms of processions. There are paintings which are called as 3D paintings by guides because subject moves as you move in different directions. One of the painting depicts ambulances that were used during that period. Elephants used to be an integral part of the palace.
After Mysore Palace, we headed towards Kabini which is approximately 2 hrs drive from Mysore. There are beautiful landscapes on the way. Most of this stretch has villages surrounded by agricultural land. Banana, Coconut, Sugarcane and rice fields can be seen.
We reached Kabini by 1:45pm and headed towards our cottages/rooms.
Everyone went to their rooms and assembled in the restaurant for lunch. There was a little break to relax and gear up for the forest safari in KABINI TIGER Reserve.
We reached Kabini by 1:45pm and headed towards our cottages/rooms.
Everyone went to their rooms and assembled in the restaurant for lunch. There was a little break to relax and gear up for the forest safari in KABINI TIGER Reserve.
We started for the wildlife safari at 3:30pm. Looking at my success rate of sighting tigers in wild, I had no hopes of encountering a tiger. But I was expecting to see asiatic elephants which are in huge numbers at Kabini.
As usual, we were welcomed by spotted deer, monkeys, woodpeckers, peacocks and a lot of other birds in the forest.
After a while we reached tiger tank - a place with water pond, which falls in the territory of a tiger with 2 cubs. Our driver asked us to wait for 2 minutes and move ahead if there is no action by then.
Interestingly one of the tiger cubs came near Tiger tank within few minutes. He sat there and entertained us a lot. He was there for a good 10 minutes. I missed my zoom lens at this moment.
After a while we reached tiger tank - a place with water pond, which falls in the territory of a tiger with 2 cubs. Our driver asked us to wait for 2 minutes and move ahead if there is no action by then.
Interestingly one of the tiger cubs came near Tiger tank within few minutes. He sat there and entertained us a lot. He was there for a good 10 minutes. I missed my zoom lens at this moment.
None of us wanted to move ahead and even the cub was not in a mood. After a while, he just slept there. Now we took the hard call and asked our driver to move ahead. There was one jeep there, who decided to wait and see if the cub comes near the pond to drink water. When we came back, those jeep guys saw an elephant at the same place who scared the cub and he went away thirsty.
As we moved ahead, there was another jeep standing in front of another water pond. They were giving us some signal but we couldn’t really understand. One leopard with a cub was drinking water. As we reached there, they climbed up from base of the pond to a little elevated area. It looked like they wanted to give us better poses. I never imaged leopards sitting so patiently at one place when 2 jeeps are around.
These leopards were there for a good 15 minutes. Then we started moving in another direction.
We saw them going and walking on the road. At the same time, another jeep was going from the other side and that’s when these guys ran away.
These leopards were there for a good 15 minutes. Then we started moving in another direction.
We saw them going and walking on the road. At the same time, another jeep was going from the other side and that’s when these guys ran away.
I couldn’t believe that I saw one tiger cub and 2 leopards with an hour in the forest. Isn’t that awesome ?
Some of the folks from Golden Chariot group saw 2 Tigers, 2 Leopards and a few elephants. Overall it was a very successful day for most of us. Everyone came back with lots of excitement and plenty of photographs from the jungle safari. The above photograph is not of the forest but shot inside Kabini River Lodge (Jungle Lodges).
By the time we came back everyone was covered with thick layer of dirt, so it was important to have shower before heading towards the Viceregal cottage where a 45-minute-long movie was shown . That was the moment when I missed Vibha a lot. Vibha has keen interest in Tigers and she keeps watching documentaries on tigers from different wildlife sanctuaries in India. She knows a lot about many of the named tigers and she has written a lot about tiger conservation. She would have loved this documentary where Sundari was also mentioned.
After the movie, the dinner was set. The dining area of Jungle lodges is close to the Kabini river. One could see the river through the trees in the lodge area.
A bonfire was also planned but most of us were tired and the weather was not very favourable for a bonfire. So we sat around the bonfire for 15-20 minutes and headed towards our rooms.
A bonfire was also planned but most of us were tired and the weather was not very favourable for a bonfire. So we sat around the bonfire for 15-20 minutes and headed towards our rooms.
The day ended with big smile on everyone’s face after the sighting of tigers, leopards and elephants.
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If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
- Manage your waste well and don’t litter
- Use dustbins. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
- Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
- Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
- Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite.
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