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-   -   2500 kms, Mumbai - Bhadra - Madikeri - Kabini. 2 Leopards & 0 Tigers (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/137173-2500-kms-mumbai-bhadra-madikeri-kabini-2-leopards-0-tigers.html)

Summer vacations for kids can be extremely trying for parents: how to keep them entertained for 4 to 6 weeks? During the last 2-3 years, our summer plans were dictated by my work schedules, so this year I decided to plan early. The plan was dictated by three major considerations:

1. Visiting various parts of India with the family has been on my agenda since 2010; there's so much beauty, diversity and excitement across India, beyond the usual suspect Goa / Agra type holidays.
2. We visited Pench and Ranthambore national parks during the 2011 and 2012 Diwali breaks; didn't get to see any tigers. Everyone said that summer is the best time for wildlife viewing.
3. Last year, I got a new car (Mitsubishi Outlander)... the goal was to use it for long drives but apart from the usual Pune and Alibaug drives, it had been used mostly for city driving. That needed to change.

Early in Feb this year, I had zeroed in on Karnataka as the area to visit this year in May. Not too close to Mumbai but still within reasonable driving distance. I reached out to my friend with whose family we had visited Pench - he was in Bangalore and liked the idea of a road trip to Bhadra and Coorg. We started researching options to stay.

Now that the basic plan was falling into place, I started thinking about the drive itself. Over 1000kms each way was daunting, yet exciting. After spending several hours on the Team BHP site, I realized that there was a lot of information but several queries remained unanswered. I had to become a member and start engaging with the other, more experienced people on the platform. That's how in Feb 2013 I became a Newbie and posted on the Mumbai to Coorg route thread.

We chose JLR's River Tern for our Bhadra (2-night) stay. For Coorg (3 nights), we found RainForest's ecolodge as an interesting option. Within a week, we had made our bookings and paid for the stay in advance -- in some ways, that was a way of committing ourselves to the plan.

Over the course of the next couple of months, there was more planning, queries answered (thanks to ampere and hvkumar for their responses) and anticipation. Meanwhile, I thought that if we were driving so far, why not add Kabini (which was on the original HighOnTravel plan) - so we booked an additional two nights at JLR's Kabini River Lodge.

The kids were quite excited about the program except for the fact that none of the hotels had television! Also, they did not sound too excited about spending several hours in the car... they'd have preferred a train journey, but that was anyway ruled out since we did not have any bookings and the itinerary was designed around driving from one location to the other. In the days leading up to Day 0, I got my car serviced which included replacing a wiper blade and the AC filter.

The drive plan was Mumbai to Bhadra with a night halt in Hubli, Bhadra to Madikeri, Madikeri to Kabini and Kabini to Mumbai with a night halt in Hubli.

Now to the drive itself.

Day 0: Mumbai - Pune, 174kms
In order to reduce my Day 1 driving burden and knowing that we would not be able to leave early in the morning, we left Mumbai on the Friday evening. The drive to Pune was quite simple (and familiar). We stayed overnight at my office guest-house in Dighi (a long drive from the highway but there was no point in wasting too much money on a hotel there).

Day 1: Pune - Hubli, 440kms
We knew we had the whole day to get to Hubli, so we left Dighi at 10am after a good breakfast. Even though it was a Saturday morning, it took us almost an hour to get to the highway. The drive on NH4 was largely uneventful, I was able to manage 80-100kmph for most stretches but there was a lot of honking and cutting lanes involved. Since we had packed dry lunch we did not have to stop except for a fueling / bathroom break at 1pm.

A short while later, we entered Karnataka and what a change it was. The road suddenly opened up (to a 6-lane mostly) and the average speed shot up by about 20-30kmph. I was at 120 regularly and was often touching 140 to the disapproving look of my navigator and wife.

A word on navigation -- we used Google Maps for the most part; I had Nokia Maps on my Lumia also running for a second opinion. The advantage of Nokia Maps is that it can be downloaded to the device and does not require Internet connectivity (except to find a destination that's not listed in the map).

We stopped at a way-side restaurant for a coffee and feet-stretching break at 4pm but the quality of the coffee was so-so. So an hour later, when we saw a Kamat at Mummigatti, just ahead of Dharwad, we took a long coffee/snack break. From the menu, I got this picture of all the Kamat's in Karnataka (this has been posted here before, but it is useful nevertheless).



I also took a couple of photos of my car at the Kamat (probably the only photos of the car in the trip -- there was too much wildlife / nature later).





When we left, about 45 minutes later, the map suggested that we take the Hubli-Dharwad highway (off the NH4). I had remembered reading on this forum about traffic police with speed guns in Dharwad. I was skeptical about cops being so diligent (on a Saturday evening), yet I slowed down to under 50kmph. And there, within minutes, I spotted a Traffic police van with a speed gun! The road was quite open at that time and if not for the warning, I would have been at 60-70 at least. I was probably at the 40kmph city limit, so the cops did not stop me. Thanks Team-BHP.

The Hubli-Dharwad road is undergoing many repairs, so the going was a bit slow but anyway I couldn't cross 40. At about 6.45pm, we reached Hans Hotel after having covered about 440kms in about 7h15m of driving (average 60kmph).

Day 2: Hubli - Bhadra, 245km
Before we proceed, a quick mention regarding Hotel Hans in Hubli. I had made an online booking at the hotel but then I received adverse feedback about the hotel. I tried to get the booking canceled but could not. I will post a detailed review separately, but it was just OK. We paid Rs 3500 for the night (with an extra bed) - the room was decent but it was quite clear that the hotel was a bit run-down. We ordered room-service for dinner - the food was tasty but extremely spicy. Breakfast was included in the tariff and was excellent.

At 9.30am, we left the hotel and drove towards NH4; in two hours we covered the 145kms to Harihar for the exit to Shimoga (having passed Haveri and Ranebennur). I was not sure how the state highways in Karnataka would be - my overall experience was pretty good. The 70kms from NH4 to Shimoga (SH25via Malebennur and Honnali) was covered in about 80mins. We stopped for a few minutes at Shimoga for refueling / toilet.

The River Tern staff had advised us to look for the road towards Kuvempu University - we went towards the Honnaver Shimoga road and found the exit just after Sahyadri College. The next 30kms to Bhadra reservoir / River Tern lodge was a breeze and we reached the lodge in 30mins, just before 2pm in time for lunch. The directions to River Tern are well marked and you cannot make a mistake.

We stayed the next two nights at Bhadra (detailed review of the property will be posted to Tripadvisor soon). We went on three safari drives and one boat ride; we saw several interesting birds and spotted a sloth bear (unfortunately, no photo) but not much luck in the jungle. Also, we felt that the jungle drives were not managed as well as the other JLR property we experienced (Kabini). We had a wonderful room overlooking the Bhadra reservoir (and no cellular coverage!) and we were well-fed all meals of the day.

Some pictures from Bhadra:
View of the cottages from Bhadra river (during boat ride)


Close-up shot of the cottages (balcony)


Entrance to Bhadra Tiger Reserve


Peacock dancing (back-view)


I am posting the best of my photos to my Facebook album.

I will cover the next phase of our trip in the next post.

Day 4: Bhadra - Madikeri, 276kms
The big dilemma the previous night was whether we should go for the morning safari drive or not. We hadn't seen much during the previous three outings, so it was probably pointless waking up at 5.30am (with the day's travel coming up later), but maybe, we could give it one more shot? My friend decided to skip the drive; however, my family (driven by my enthusiasm, perhaps) decided to take the morning safari. The saving grace was the sloth bear that we spotted and a few interesting birds...

Upon our return at 9am, we consumed a hearty breakfast and then finished the last packing rites in a hurry. Yet, it was 11am before we could set out for Madikeri. The planned route was Bhadra - Tarikere - Chikmagalur - Belur - Kodlipet - Somwarpet - Madikeri, about 230kms (per Google Maps) to be covered in 5hrs driving. We knew that Rainforest lodge was in the midst of a plantation and we wanted to get there before it was dark. Alas, that was not to be.

A major reason for the problem was using too many maps :). We had Google Maps and Nokia Maps on our phones; my friend was using MapMyIndia on his iPhone - all three of them seemed to be working at cross-purposes at critical junctures. In Belur, for instance, Google Maps guided us to the Belur-Somwarpet road but we just could not find the exit. We went around a temple three times (completing a car pradakshina!), and asked some locals for the road to Somwarpet, yet we were stuck. So we chose the MMI map suggestion of going via Hassan - at least we would go somewhere.

It had taken us over 3hours to cover the 135kms to the outskirts of Hassan and we were all famished. We noticed signs for Hoysala Village Resort and stopped there for a sumptuous lunch, that included an interesting Jackfruit Dosa. At 3.30pm, we left the place and now we were racing against time. My recollections of the route we took are now a bit hazy since we were following what the map was telling us. Most likely it was the SH21 towards Arakalagud and then via Shanivarasanthe and Somwarpet to Madikeri. At a few intersections, manual GPS (somebody standing at the local tea-stall) scored over technology... meanwhile, we were separated from my friend who seemed to have taken a different route somewhere. Lack of cellular coverage during large parts of the journey ensured that we could not connect with them till Madikeri.

Finally, we reached Madikeri at about 7pm (130kms in 3.5hrs); while some of the ghat roads and the surrounding plantations were really scenic, we were in no mood to slow down and admire them. Now began the tough task of finding Rainforest Retreat - about 11kms from the town. The first half - till Club Mahindra - was easy since the road was clearly marked with signs. About 3kms from the destination, we lost cellular coverage, so there was no way of keeping in touch with the lodge staff - we were on our own, on a narrow dark road amidst the plantations. The lodge manager had ominously suggested that at one point we would feel that we were headed nowhere, and then we would reach the lodge. Somewhere along the way, I took the wrong turn and we did proceed to the point of nowhere; luckily we ran into a small van of workers who told us to go back almost 2kms to take the correct road. Stress levels were increasing and tempers shortening when we found the promised red and green gate of the property. It was nearly 8pm and we had been on the road for 9hrs and taken 7.5hrs to cover 275kms.

We spent three nights at Rainforest Retreat; it is not really a hotel or a lodge. It can at best be characterized as a guest house in the middle of a small plantation. The cottage was like any you would find in a small town or village; there was no electric supply - we had solar powered lamps in the rooms and no fans. Food was basic, home-made local style which you share with the staff. If you were looking for solitude and relaxation in the midst of nature, far away from everywhere else, with basic/limited "service", this could be an interesting option. But in comparison with any decent retreat / resort, this cannot be recommended as a family getaway More feedback again in my upcoming Tripadvisor review.

View of the room (ignore the mess - this was just before we were checking out):


View of the room, from the bed


Reminded me of my grandfather's armchair


On the second day, we made a trip to Dubare Elephant Camp (30-35kms from Madikeri, operated by JLR) where you can bathe, feed and ride on elephants. Perhaps it was the summer vacation season, but the place was quite crowded and we had to wait almost 2hrs for the kids to get a 10-min ride. The two elephants giving the rides actually looked very tired and very irritated. Overall, the place appeared poorly run.

Bathing the Elephants


Elephant being fed a cucumber


On our way back from Dubare, we took the Mysore-Madikeri highway (a much better though 5km longer option than going via the road to Siddapura). About 2-3kms ahead of Madikeri, both my friend and I were caught for speeding: I was driving at 58kmph in a 40kmph town-limit. The cops produced a print-out of the speed gun results with a photo of my car number-plate. We shelled out Rs 300 each without much argument. We noticed that they were occasionally turning the speed gun on vehicles that were leaving Madikeri too (made a mental note to be cautious on our way out!).

Day 7: Madikeri - Kabini, 140kms
Of all my drive days, this was to be the shortest and easiest of them all. We had a leisurely morning and left at 11am. We parted with our friends who were headed back to Bangalore that morning. I had a near-empty fuel tank and so we stopped at Madikeri for refueling and got onto the Mysore highway. We crossed Kushalnagar and turned onto SH86 at Hunsur - these 60kms took 2hrs to cover due to lot of traffic en route. An hour later at 2pm, we touched HD Kote having made some good time on SH86. When we called the lodge to confirm that we would reach in time for lunch, they warned us that the next 30kms would take us over an hour but promised to serve us lunch till 3.30pm. The real test of driving was the last 12kms when we had to take a diversion from SH33 (at one of the entrances to Nagarhole National Park) towards the lodge. At many places, there was no road to drive on, although there was evidence that improvement activities were underway. The Outlander proved its mettle and we reached Kabini, famished, at 2.45pm. The 140kms had taken us 3h15mins to cover.

The next two nights at Kabini were perhaps the highlight of our trip. The property was really huge and extremely well managed. We were in one of the tents that was quite spacious for our family of four. On our first drive itself, we spotted a leopard. Over the next two days, we had some very interesting wildlife / photography experiences.

Entrance to Nagerhole National Park


One of the Safari Vehicles


Angry Gaur that stared us down


Blue Jay / Indian Roller / Neelkantha


Crested Serpent Eagle


Highlight of the Holiday: Leopard


Picture Perfect - Family of Elephants


Three safaris and a boat ride later, we were at the last night of our holiday. A tiger hadn't still been spotted (though we had seen one more leopard that evening), causing us to question if tigers existed at all. The same debate raged -- do we go for the morning safari or not? The next day, we had a much longer drive than ever before: almost 600kms. Was it worth waking up so early for yet another attempt at finding the tiger?

Nevertheless, I was tempted to try out the Ayurvedic massage that was on offer - my first ever such massage. Perhaps it would help me prepare for the long drive ahead. It was a good experience but I was not blown away or something.

Ayurveda Massage Centre


The last stretch - back home, coming up in the next post.

Day 9: Kabini - Davanagere, 393km
In spite of our debate about waking up early, we were all up and ready by 6am for the final safari drive of the trip. It ended up being an anti-climax - nothing significant was spotted.

Anyhow, it was nearly 10am by the time we finished breakfast, and then getting ready and packed up took us some more time. We left Kabini at quarter to noon, with the expectation of getting to Hubli by 10pm or so. My primary goal was to get on to NH4 before sunset. Very early during the drive, I made a major decision - instead of following the route that I had planned (Kabini - Hunsur - Krishnarajasgara - Channarayapatna - Arsikere - Tarikere - Shimoga - Harihar - Hubli), I let the map dictate my route. I realized that my navigator and I were a bit sleepy, so trying to actively manage the routing could be tough. Following the map's instructions was relatively easier.

And that's how we found ourselves at Mysore, having followed SH33 all the way there. Apart from having to tackle some Sunday afternoon traffic in the city, it appeared to be good going. We stopped in the outskirts of Srirangapatna (90kms in 2hrs) for lunch and getting confirmation of the route we were taking. At Pandavapura crossing, we lost nearly 20minutes due to a massive traffic jam; subsequently, SH19 was pretty smooth sailing. We crossed Tiruvekere, Chiknayakanahalli and Huliyar. It was almost 5.30pm and it appeared that NH4 was about 50km away, so there was a good chance of getting there in daylight. Suddenly, it turned cloudy and we got a few short spells of rain. After an ATM and refueling break at Hiriyur, we touched the NH4 at 6.30pm, 290kms from Kabini and still 250kms to Hubli. The 10pm target still looked achievable.

We crossed Chitradurga, enjoying the 120kmph+ speeds at dusk, and suddenly the skies opened up. Accompanied by lightning and thunder, we experienced rain like never before. Thanking the Mitsubishi service chap who had changed my wiper blade (even though I hadn't asked for it), I kept driving in what was now pitch darkness, punctuated by frequent lightning. Davanagere was now less than 20kms away and we stopped at a Kamat, wondering what to do next. It appeared close to impossible to drive the remaining 150kms to Hubli... luckily I had canceled the Hans Hotel booking for the return with an intention of staying at Mayur Aaditya, so we could halt for the night at Davanagere too. But, where?

Luckily, Vodafone's Edge network was active and Google search suggested a few hotel names. With no way or time of doing any quality / reference checks, we picked up the name that showed up first: Hotel Shanti Park. A call confirmed that they were open and had rooms available. We got back to the highway to somehow cover the 10-12kms to the hotel. The first exit that we took off the highway was waterlogged; so I reversed back to NH4 looking for another way to get into Davanagere. Google Maps really came to our rescue that evening; we eventually reached the hotel at 8.30pm. We had covered 393km in about 8 driving hours.

Less I say about Hotel Shanti Park, the better. We were just happy to have found a place to sleep and wait out the rain that night.

Day 10: Davanagere - Mumbai, 723km
In the spirit of getting out of the hotel as early as possible, we were out by 8.15am. The weather had fully cleared out and it was a pleasure driving on NH4. I was determined to make up for the lost time before we got back into Maharashtra. We passed Hubli at 10am and made good speed. There were some stretches where I felt I was the only one on the road for a few kms.

As we approached Kolhapur, we saw the McDonald's and stopped there even though we were not too hungry by then. The kids got a few minutes to play there too as I picked up some CCD coffee for the post-lunch session.

Average speeds decreased thereon, with the Pune crossing being the slowest at about 60kmph. We were happy to cross Wakad at about 5pm, getting back into very familiar territory. I was a bit tired and wary of speed-gun toting cops, so I kept my Expressway speeds to the 80-90Kmph levels. Even with a snack-break at the Khalapur toll and slow-going from Panvel, we were home at 8.10pm, 12 hours after we left Davanagere. We had covered 723km in 10.5hrs of driving.

Trip Summary
Thus came to an end one of our longest holidays ever. The Outlander was superb through the journey - it handled all types of roads with grace and gave me confidence that long drives can be undertaken on Indian roads. My wife played the navigator (and watchful eye) role perfectly and of course, DJ-ed for us. The iPad and Kindle played a major part in keeping the kids busy and they endured the long trip with energy that only kids can exhibit.

The total trip was 2500kms on the dot; the Outlander consumed about 280 litres of petrol at an average mileage of 8.9kmpl. Tolls cost us Rs 1400 and the speeding fine was an additional Rs 300.

First of many more drives to come.

I've a few queries that I'm going to ask. Most national Parks open In October after a three month monsoon break. Till about March you would see one of the greenest forests ever. The Tiger could be sitting just 3 mtrs away from you in the foliage but no way can you see one. On the contrary, with a smirk on his/her face, the Tiger would be seeing you.

Is the Outlander a Diesel or petrol? What is the fuel tank capacity of the Outlander and the mileage that it gives? I was a bit surprised that you had to refuel enroute Hubli. The total distance was 614 kms.

Refuelling after 215 kms??

Why and why not here?

Agree; earlier our holidays were planned around Diwali breaks but it was clear that summer is much better for some types of wildlife spotting.


The Outlander is petrol, automatic; the tank capacity is 55 litres, and the average mileage is about 8-9kmpl. I am trying to recollect why we stopped for refueling when almost 45% of the tank was still available :) But most likely, we stopped for a toilet break and I just filled up to avoid having to stop later.

I have been uploading one photo daily to my FB album - all the current photos (and more) have been added to this travelogue, but I intend to upload more photos (with their stories) at FB, over the next few weeks.