Who would have imagined the thrill of a 4X4 Gypsy ride in the middle of the night in the thick of a Jungle at the start of this trip? This was one day trip to Masinagudi, a place about 250 Kms from bangalore. Our journey began at 7 AM with all the three cars meeting in koramangala and then heading out on to Mysore Road towards Ooty. Our first stop was at Bidadi for the famous Thatte idli and to my surprise it was the first for a lot of my friends.
The journey took us through the Bandipur-Mudamali Tiger Reserve before reaching Masangudi. The resort or home stay wilds was located some 6 kms from Masangudi in the thick of a jungle. The hotel guys were supposed to meet us at a check gate to take up to the hotel in a Jeep. This was the moment of a thrilling ride. We started down a slope in to the woods. No roads all slurry and rocks through a dense coffee estate of Rafiq Sait. The driver showed us Tiger Pug marks and pop on the way to the hotel. We also were lucky to see the giant malabar Squirrel sitting on top of a hill. This wasn't our first animal siting though, it had started much earlier just as we entered Bandipur, we were lucky to catch a herd of elephants in their playful best. Loads of spotted dear, Sambar dear and Biasons had already made their presence felt. I am not very educated on birds but we did spot a lot of parrots, peacocks, wood peckers and many other birds.
Finally, we reached our hotel after all the stops and camera shoots around 1 PM. Wilds, the place was very neat with beautiful, Spacious rooms tastefully decorated. Among other things, there were these Tree houses and some huts, rather expensive huts. The place was serene and comfortable for stay however not too many options for food. And whatever was being offered was very expensive for the price one pays. After settling in our rooms and a hearty meal, all guys gathered to have a game of Cricket. This indeed was fun playing in the jungle and making all the noise, amply encouraged by our Monkey and langur audience around the play area. Our team won 2-1 in a 3 game series. Wat a start!! However, the most exciting leg of the journey was still to come, in the form of a nigh safari. Until then we all had time to catch up light up some fire, catch up some old jokes and sit around. I got my cooking hat on and this time it was not just potatoes but onions too cooked in the wood fire. I was so happy with the cooking and how everyone really enjoyed it or so I assume.
Here comes the show stopper, a journey in to the dark, in an open gypsy. What seemed to have been almost cancelled a while ago because of the rain was now a reality. Totally unaware of what to expect, we started on our way in to the jungle. We spotted a mice first thing we entered and I said to myself, certainly a good omen. Just as I said that started the thrilling ride, the roads where slippery and tricky, with large rocks and the car almost floating. Our driver had incredible control and even in that darkness very aware of the way around. I remember an instance when one of the cars following us just took a wrong turn, to catch the other guy, our driver had to speed up and he did just that, the accuracy of his turns and his speed was breath taking. This was certainly worth the ride even if we didnt spot any animals.
After riding in the jungle for a good hour or so we spotted some rabbits, deer and finally a herd of elephants. Now, this was the most exciting wild animal experience I have had. The driver of our car and his seeker seemed to be preety good at what they were doing. We saw a baby elephant and her mother on the right side of the car seemingly calm, what we didn't realise was that on a left was probably a giant elephant getting ready to charge in case we did anything to the mother or the child I guess. The ranting and charging of the elephant was simply amaging. Never heard a sound that loud this close. The elephant would charge a little but then we stood our ground and made some elephant noise ourselves, the elephant backed off in the jungle, or at least it seemed so. But that was not to be, he came charging once again and this time from behind us. A loud Grant, wowwww, it was awesome. We stood our ground and kept at it for sometime. We didnt mean to hurt the animal to enrage him more so we moved on, just as we moved a few 100 meters away from the elephants, the elephants crossed the road and was back into the group. It was an amaging sight. We were heading back to the hotel and almost in the final leg of our journey, just as we took a turn, I heard a feeble but a definite roar. Our seeker moved the light in the direction of the roar and there it was staring at us from a distance, a tiger. It made another one of its rumble. It was such an incredible feeling. The trip was such a success. The ride was simply awesome, but couple of hours of the ride was certainly exhausting, I wonder what would have been the case with the driver. The whole sequence of things and the ride was something I will cherish for a long long time..........As we go in to our beds, our minds are filled with some really good thoughts.
The next morning, some of our friends wanted to feel the jungle one more time before we leave. The rest of us choose to laze around and enjoy the nature walk around the coffee estate. A stream of water trickly down, fresh air, chill in the wind and chirping birds were such soothing sounds. It was so worth it. After our breakfast we were all set to return to the wilderness where we all belong, Bangalore calling bangalore.
A trip that will remain as an experience I shall remember for some time to come. Thanks to all the friends and Vivek who did all the hard work to search and finalise on the place.
The journey took us through the Bandipur-Mudamali Tiger Reserve before reaching Masangudi. The resort or home stay wilds was located some 6 kms from Masangudi in the thick of a jungle. The hotel guys were supposed to meet us at a check gate to take up to the hotel in a Jeep. This was the moment of a thrilling ride. We started down a slope in to the woods. No roads all slurry and rocks through a dense coffee estate of Rafiq Sait. The driver showed us Tiger Pug marks and pop on the way to the hotel. We also were lucky to see the giant malabar Squirrel sitting on top of a hill. This wasn't our first animal siting though, it had started much earlier just as we entered Bandipur, we were lucky to catch a herd of elephants in their playful best. Loads of spotted dear, Sambar dear and Biasons had already made their presence felt. I am not very educated on birds but we did spot a lot of parrots, peacocks, wood peckers and many other birds.
Finally, we reached our hotel after all the stops and camera shoots around 1 PM. Wilds, the place was very neat with beautiful, Spacious rooms tastefully decorated. Among other things, there were these Tree houses and some huts, rather expensive huts. The place was serene and comfortable for stay however not too many options for food. And whatever was being offered was very expensive for the price one pays. After settling in our rooms and a hearty meal, all guys gathered to have a game of Cricket. This indeed was fun playing in the jungle and making all the noise, amply encouraged by our Monkey and langur audience around the play area. Our team won 2-1 in a 3 game series. Wat a start!! However, the most exciting leg of the journey was still to come, in the form of a nigh safari. Until then we all had time to catch up light up some fire, catch up some old jokes and sit around. I got my cooking hat on and this time it was not just potatoes but onions too cooked in the wood fire. I was so happy with the cooking and how everyone really enjoyed it or so I assume.
Here comes the show stopper, a journey in to the dark, in an open gypsy. What seemed to have been almost cancelled a while ago because of the rain was now a reality. Totally unaware of what to expect, we started on our way in to the jungle. We spotted a mice first thing we entered and I said to myself, certainly a good omen. Just as I said that started the thrilling ride, the roads where slippery and tricky, with large rocks and the car almost floating. Our driver had incredible control and even in that darkness very aware of the way around. I remember an instance when one of the cars following us just took a wrong turn, to catch the other guy, our driver had to speed up and he did just that, the accuracy of his turns and his speed was breath taking. This was certainly worth the ride even if we didnt spot any animals.
After riding in the jungle for a good hour or so we spotted some rabbits, deer and finally a herd of elephants. Now, this was the most exciting wild animal experience I have had. The driver of our car and his seeker seemed to be preety good at what they were doing. We saw a baby elephant and her mother on the right side of the car seemingly calm, what we didn't realise was that on a left was probably a giant elephant getting ready to charge in case we did anything to the mother or the child I guess. The ranting and charging of the elephant was simply amaging. Never heard a sound that loud this close. The elephant would charge a little but then we stood our ground and made some elephant noise ourselves, the elephant backed off in the jungle, or at least it seemed so. But that was not to be, he came charging once again and this time from behind us. A loud Grant, wowwww, it was awesome. We stood our ground and kept at it for sometime. We didnt mean to hurt the animal to enrage him more so we moved on, just as we moved a few 100 meters away from the elephants, the elephants crossed the road and was back into the group. It was an amaging sight. We were heading back to the hotel and almost in the final leg of our journey, just as we took a turn, I heard a feeble but a definite roar. Our seeker moved the light in the direction of the roar and there it was staring at us from a distance, a tiger. It made another one of its rumble. It was such an incredible feeling. The trip was such a success. The ride was simply awesome, but couple of hours of the ride was certainly exhausting, I wonder what would have been the case with the driver. The whole sequence of things and the ride was something I will cherish for a long long time..........As we go in to our beds, our minds are filled with some really good thoughts.
The next morning, some of our friends wanted to feel the jungle one more time before we leave. The rest of us choose to laze around and enjoy the nature walk around the coffee estate. A stream of water trickly down, fresh air, chill in the wind and chirping birds were such soothing sounds. It was so worth it. After our breakfast we were all set to return to the wilderness where we all belong, Bangalore calling bangalore.
A trip that will remain as an experience I shall remember for some time to come. Thanks to all the friends and Vivek who did all the hard work to search and finalise on the place.
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