This year I was exploring Karnataka state of India and during the same trip I also visited Kabini Tiger reserve & wildlife sanctuary. I have done more than a dozen safaris in Wildlife sanctuaries in north India and success rate of Tiger sighting has been pretty low. I had never seen any Leopard in the wild and here I saw 2 leopard at the same time. And not only that, these leopards were around us for at least 15 minutes. We saw them drinking water in a pond and then taking some rest under the sun, before they headed back towards the forest. This post shares some of the such interesting experiences from Kabini Tiger Reserve. We have also tried to share some details details around - how to reach Kabini, main places to stay, what else to explore locally apart from Wildlife Safari.
Kabini is easily accessible by road from Mussore or Bengaluru. It's approximately 4.5 hrs drive from Bengaluru and 1.5 hrs drive from Mysore city. We were driving from Mysore to Kabini in an AC coach. Road condition is pretty good, so driving around this region of Karnataka state is awesome. Nearest railway station is Mysore and it's also connected well through bus network. So reaching Kabini is not an issue at all. You can chose what aligns well with your style of exploration and your budget.
When we talk about options to stay, there are plenty of places to stay around Kabini Tiger Reserve. And the options are available in all budget ranges. There are pocket friendly guest-houses as well as home stay. At the same time, you can chose luxury stay options by some of the popular hotel & resort groups. We stayed in Karnataka Tourism's resort near Kabini river and also enjoyed early morning
You may also want to check - Belur, Halebidu & Shravanbelagola : some of the brilliant sites to visit in Karnataka
You may also want to check - Belur, Halebidu & Shravanbelagola : some of the brilliant sites to visit in Karnataka
Above photograph shows a Leopard with it's cub. When we reached this place during our safari in Kabini Tiger reserve, both these leopards were drinking water and soon they came up and kept staring at us. They sat here for about 10 minutes and we clicked lot of photographs. Sorry about bad quality as I was not carrying any Zoom lens.
I always thought sighting leopards in wild is impossible but I was proved wrong by these 2 beauties who didn't even show up in front of us but kept posing for us. When they felt that we should save space on our cards, they planned to move out.
You may also want to check - Hampi, the exceptional place & not to miss heritage site in Karnataka, India
We noticed both the leopards walking at their leisure at Kabini Tiger Reserve. It was brilliant day and lucky for all of us.
Apart from seeing these 2 leopards, we also saw a tiger sitting around the water tank inside Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary. The very first photograph of this post shows you the tiger we saw.
Kabini forest is very beautiful, so it's not only about Tigers, Leopards, Elephants, Deers or birds but much beyond that. These muddy roads look amazing in these forests. This forest is also surrounded by Kabini river. Sighting of Asiatic elephants is very popular in Kabini Tiger reserve.
Above photograph shows the most common deer you see in all wildlife sanctuaries in India.
After a successful safari in Kabini Tiger Reserve we came back to River Lodges and it was time to take shower because you get coating of dirt during the safari. Do check out more about our Kabini experience here.
.jpg)