Kabini Wildlife

Recurring sweet music of Common Cuckoo-Hawk; Picturesque grass lands; several stretches of thick bamboo vegetation; Sun rays piercing through the precious woods of the forest; beautiful spotted deers grazing by the road side; shy Sambar deers running away into the bushes; Malabar giant squirrel jumping from tree to tree in search of food; herd of elephants nonchalantly moving around in the pristine forest; foggy early mornings and the kiss of the mist - Rajiv Gandhi National Park has left an everlasting impression on me that makes me visit the place again and again.

Kabini, a part of Rajiv Gandhi National Park, had been on my list for a long time and by the time I decided to visit the place, there was ban on tourism in the Tiger reserves across India. However the ban was lifted recently. There couldn't have been a better occasion than the birthday of my wife to plan a first trip to Kabini. We spent a day in Kabini River Lodge situated along the backwaters of Kabini Reservoir. We had a great experience watching rich wildlife on both evening and morning safaris. It included a beautiful Tiger sighting as well, though an opportunity was missed (again!) to capture the perfect photo of the Tiger. 

There will be many more trips to this place in future for sure. Here are a few pictures of our first trip to  Kabini.

1. Indian Gaurs grazing along the dried up water body

2. India Gaur

3. Gaur looks on as a tusker approaches the grass land

4. We met a family from Kuwait who were on a tour across India and who seemed to be extremely excited about the wildlife here

5. Green bee eater

6. A pair of elephants approaching the backwater 

7. During summer herd of elephants graze along the Kabini river and backwater of the reservoir. The animals arrive to this point from both Bandipur and NagarahoLe.

8. As the Sun was setting to go down the horizon, we saw herd of elephants, Gaurs, and deers getting together along the backwater.

9. Do you see the Tiger? If it wasn't a great sighting eye of our guide, we could have missed to sight the striped beauty who seemed to be camouflaged inside the bush. 

10. It was perfect end for the day. Just 5 minutes before the Safari ended we had a Tiger sighting and one last look at the elephants with Sun set in the background.

11. A Sambar deer crossing the pathway inside the national park. During summers the forest department sets up controlled burn along the forest roads to prevent the likelihood of hotter fires.