Stepping into the wild

Beautiful Kabini backwaters

As I walked into the reception area of Jungle Lodge, Kabini i was greeted by jaw dropping photographs of the big cats and smiling faces of two of the staff. I couldn't take off my eyes of the photograph, admiring the beautiful animals and gingerly also noting down the names of photographers proudly included in the frame.

My friend meanwhile had completed the short check in formalities and was discussing about when was the last significant sightings. "If the jungle is kind sir, you should see a leopard in your next 3 days of stay!". I did not fail to notice the reverence that these people had for the forest and the animals there. I did not give it much thought then, with my attention shifting to my primary interest photography. If only I could manage some good shots similar to these - they could be my modern day trophies from the forest. Thats all I ask for.

The next 6 days in the wild across the dense forests of Nagarhole, Bandipur & BR Hills were going to be so much more, an experience which way more expansive than what I could view through my viewfinder.


So beautiful is the light in wild, am convinced its a different sun out there.
For those of you who are into photography would agree that light is the most crucial thing, and here in wild during the morning and evening the forest would be washed in a beautiful golden light filtering through the trees almost creating a surreal environment. The warm hues filled my heart and soul in a way no digital sensor can ever capture. Photographs do not do justice yet thats the only way to share.

Backwaters - Kabini 

Evening @ Bandipur

Morning mist @ Bandipur

The jungle is not chaotic, on the contrary it almost 'always' follows its own rules
One can never take nature for granted, it continues to surprise us, yet I was quickly convinced that jungle is not chaotic. It was endearing to see how our guide Afsar, a local lad having spent years in the jungles would hear the monkey alarm calls and confidently announce that leopard has now stopped moving and is sitting down. I believed him when he explained that there are different calls that monkeys, deers and other animals make when the predator is moving and when not. He seemed to even suggest that with experience it is even possible to tell if its a leopard or a tiger moving in the jungle. A brown fish owl was spotted at same spot every day for 3 days and we are all familiar with the way big cats mark their territories in the wild.

The 2nd day, our guides were convinced of presence of leopards in one part of jungle and for 40 mins 6 jeeps waited for the shy leopard to come out after  one of the guides told us that the animal was attempting to cross the road but ran away hearing the sounds. Patient one has to be - it was only 10 minutes after we moved on, we got to know that a pair of leopards crossed the roads at the very same place.


This largely predictable behaviors of jungle and its animals is one of the reasons why its easy for human beings to get close to them and be able to study them. And sadly also one of the primary reasons why animals especially the big cats are such easy targets for poachers. 


The jungle rewards you when it wants to - there is little you can do. Pray perhaps!
Even with best of guides, sighting of big cats in wild is special, simple because they are shy animals. And if the true blue enthusiasts are to be believed its also a matter of good karma and ones attitude to the wild. Hard to digest - well one such brash young guy who was boasting how good he was sighting animals and how he hated dense Indian forests was classified by outcasts by the others in the bar an evening at Kabini. That he and all the members in his group failed to have any sighting thereafter was probably only a coincidence but much talked about topic later on how Jungle favors you only if you treat it with reverence.

One evening after a hard and dusty safari, we were on our way out discussing how hard it is to sight a leopard. "I have had 100 tiger sightings yet not a single leopard in my last 6 years of safari" Sandeep a fellow enthusiast told us. My friend had seen none in his 10 years of wildlife either! And so as we winded up at 615 pm, the jeep screeched to a halt to shout of stop by my friend and we see this beautiful male leopard on a tree by roadside. None spoke a word for next 3 minutes till he dashed off.

Leopard on the move - Kabini

The evening mood was ecstatic with lot of back slapping, and stories shared over drinks and food. Funny how one sighting could lift the mood of whole team of jungle lodge. It was indeed some good karma that we got treated to this sight.


There is more to jungle than big cats
Indeed there is more to Jungle than big cats and sightings. That I was treated to a Tiger sighting within a day of leopard sighting is a story I would keep for some other day. Yet everytime I stepped into the forest, the fresh air, the sound of forest and the thrill of unknown would be enough to keep the adrenaline flowing.

Zen Serenity - B R Hills

Jungle does not rush, yet it accomplishes everything - Tsu

The thoughts of my first tiger sighting in wild still gives me goosebumps, something i will never forget and i know will keep pulling me to the wild again and again. Do share your stories of the wild!


Conserve nature and love wild