Nagarahole

The warm sun was beating down hesitantly upon the huge glass windows in office when, Shashi, my Law school classmate called me and invited me to a trip to the Nagarahole National Park.

The 6 of us (Shashi, Singh, Murthy, Basha, Gawa and I), were supposed to leave on Saturday morning and spend that night and the next day in Kalhalla camp cottage. I felt that we would be missing out on any Saturday morning sightings, if we stick to the original plan. I managed to convince everybody to leave on Friday night itself and reach Nagarahole before the gates open.

We had an uneventful trip (Bangalore - Ramanagara - Maddur - Mandya - Srirangapatna - Hinkal deviation – Hunsur - Veeranahosalli gate). We got into the forest at around 6.15. Maintaining an average speed of 20 km, we cruised the misty road... The road was empty and the light was magical, as the morning dawned slowly upon the hallowed environs of the Nagarahole National Park.

Morning magic - Nagarahole

We sighted Warblers, Bulbuls, Kingfishers, Some raptors in the sky, Peacocks, Chital, and Gaurs on the way and with these sightings, our hopes of seeing either an Elephant or a big cat went up. We reached Murkal camp and took the left towards Heggadadevanakote (H.D.Kote). We reached the end of that road with the check post in sight and headed back to Murkal. We hadn’t sighted any pachyderms till now and were feeling slightly disappointed. But there was always the hope that there would one around the next corner (Imagine one not being there with 5000 of them around). We sighted our first elephant in Murkal, albeit, one in a Khedda (More on this chap later).

We passed Murkal and reached the Kalhalla camp and decided to drive around some more before checking in. We got to a deviation further on, one of which goes onto a small Coorgi Village called Karmadu. We took this road and drove till the Karmadu check post. We had a great sighting of a very frisky Malabar Giant Squirrel. We turned back at the check post and drove to the Nagarahole Reception and back to Kalhalla camp to check in.

Kalhalla camp

We reached the Kalhalla camp, only to find out that the rooms promised to us were already booked by somebody else. After hectic conversations with the resident ACF (The person who had promised us the rooms in the first place), it was decided that the other person will get the room after all but, we would be accommodated in an anti-poaching camp. This was heaven sent for us as people rarely get permission to visit such camps. So, this new twist was just terrific and I'm eternally grateful for this kind act of the officer and may his tribe increase.

The ACF decided to send us to the Paaradakada Anti-poaching camp and sent along Kalim Khan, a funny old man with a lot of forest stories in his kitty. We reached the camp after driving through the thick jungle for around 8KMS. The camp was managed by a cheerful lot which included one forest guard, Udesh and three forest watchers, Vinu, Prakash and Gajendra.

Paaradakada Anti-poaching camp

The Lakshmana Tirtha river flows right next to the camp and is a hot spot for the wildlife around there. The camp has a two room building which serves as the main house and a smaller thatched hut, which serves as a kitchen. The forest guard and watchers took us on a small walk, to a water hole. The walk was sheer pleasure and the anticipation of sighting an elephant in those surroundings filled me with sheer terror and also the desperation to see one at the same time. However, we didn't sight anything and came back to the camp and sat around the campfire listening to the watchers. The watchers are tribals, born and bought up in the forest and are a treasure trove of information and stories. Listening to stories about wild animal behavior from these true children of the forest, made the night a memorable one.

Vinu - Child of the Forest

Water hole near the camp

Lakshmana Tirtha river

We got up early next morning and went on a walk to the river bank. While on the way, we passed acres and acres of Bamboo forest destroyed by Elephant herds. Seeing the destruction there, made us realize the sheer strength of these magnificent animals. At the same time, the surroundings scared the s*** out of me. The antique double barrel gun with the guard was not exactly heartening. Anyways, the walk passed uneventfully with only a Monitor Lizard spotted by Gawa.

We got back to the camp, had breakfast and started back towards the Murkal camp. The Sumo was fuller now with the guard and the watchers jumping in. We were rolling along like an asthmatic cow, when all of a sudden; a Tusker loomed right in front. He was a massive giant and was in full musth unknowingly, we had strayed too near this giant and he started moving his bulk towards us... I realized how puny the Tata Sumo was when faced with this behemoth. The driver backed the vehicle slowly and the largest Mammal on earth abruptly turned away. He went back inside the thicket and we moved and passed him and stopped at a safe distance. He came out of the thicket and crossed the road, giving me enough time for these shots.

The Paaradakada Tusker

The Paaradakada Tusker

We drove along after this and went to the Murkal camp for our lunch. We finished it in due course and started home. Before that, we had to feed Jaggery to the camp Elephants. It was Singh's great wish and was carrying the Jaggery with him from H.D. Kote. First, we went to see the Elephant in the Khedda. Kyatha was in there because he had killed his mahout in a fit of rage. He is originally from B.R. Hills and was roaming around there chasing cars and scaring people. The Forest dept. decided to send him here after he killed his mahout and became unmanageable.

We gave him some Jaggery and moved on to feed Somashekara, one more camp elephant. Somashekara is a 39 year old stunner with a pair of very formidable tusks. After he greedily ate enough Jaggery to feed a school, he belched on our faces to convey this thanks and with a faint smell of Jaggery lingering, we left Nagarahole, promising to come back as soon as possible.

Murkal Shekara

Murkal Camp, Murkal Range, Nagarahole National Park.

Was great fun feeding Jaggery to the camp elephant in Murkal... He ate around 40 cubes of it till his mahout stopped the binge .... He burped all over us in the end and we went back home with more than a faint hint of Jaggery.

Shekara, with his eyes firmly fixed on Vinu and the Jaggery in his hand.