[jacs]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Hey Jacs, nice TL.

As addyhemmige said, the dears are not tame. Ecologists use the word ecologically naive - they dont know that humans are dangerous!!The only enemy they know is inside the forest with stripes or spots.

Thanks mallumowgli.

Yeah! they are finding the human movements safe to keep away from predators. BTW black bucks will always keep away from human or rather human will keep away from black bucks after Sallu bhai was jailed without bail.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

@addy : Surprised to hear this. When we went there 4 years back, only JLR safari vehicles were allowed inside the core area

This was about 5 years ago (IIRC). We had gone to BR Temple and were passing by K Gudi and enquired about the safari in the office there. First we enquired in JLR, but they said they are fully booked. Then we asked about it in the office there and they said, all jeeps have been booked by JLR and told us that we could take our vehicle inside. They would send a guard with us.

AFAIK, even JLR vehicles don't go into core areas. They are out of bounds for tourists.

Originally Posted by jacs

Have you seen thousands of butterflies together? Its coming up shortly. As of now the Blue tigers seen near Bandipur.
Attachment 431502


Peafowls were common sight but very few snaps were clear since they fly away or run into the shrubs
Attachment 431504

Nice pictures again jacs. I personally liked the butterfly and the peacock pictures.

[subs]

Hi Jacs

Overall how would you rate your stay at the wilderness on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being above expectations.

Tariff
Ambience
Food
Resort Staff (room service)
Cleanliness

I am planning a 2 day stay with my wife. So please advise if you think its an ideal place to spend that time.

Cheers
Subs

[sami316]

Hi Jacs,

Really nice TL and very well narrated. The pic of the butterflies was a real beauty, really liked the color of the butterflies. Waiting for the surprise that awaited for you at The Wilderness.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Nice pictures again jacs. I personally liked the butterfly and the peacock pictures.

Thank for boosting my spirits addyhemmige. If you liked this butterfly snap, I promise to make you more happy if you can bear with me for couple of days .

Originally Posted by subs

Hi Jacs

Overall how would you rate your stay at the wilderness on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being above expectations.

Tariff - Not sure since a cheat arranged it for me. But its offcouse not on the higher side.
Ambience - Its a true jungle resort, no frills
Food- Very homely food, no tastemakers or colors or nothing special about it. We all liked it and I added atleast 2 Kgs.
Resort Staff (room service) - Two tribals are there to take care of everything. Very reliable and decent guys. No ring a bell kinda service.
Cleanliness - Rooms and premises are clean. Though not served in Corelle ware, everything is hygenic.

I am planning a 2 day stay with my wife. So please advise if you think its an ideal place to spend that time.

Cheers
Subs

Hi Subs, they met my expectations (it depends on our priorities) and would give them 8 out of 10. My comments inline with your queries. Please wait and go through the upcoming posts to have a view of place and facilities and decide. Feel free to PM me for any support.

Originally Posted by sami316

Hi Jacs,

Really nice TL and very well narrated. The pic of the butterflies was a real beauty, really liked the color of the butterflies. Waiting for the surprise that awaited for you at The Wilderness.

Thanks Sami, shall give you a feast of butterflies soon if you could hold your patience. Yes! suprise will be revealed tomorrow .

[MohsinRoadster]

I did ride along the roads of bandipur till the begining of Madumalai forest ..never got inside either of the forests though.
It was the best ride i ever did.

[jacs]

We just stepped out of the car to take some fresh air and to feast the eyes with beautiful view of the coffee plantation. Just called up the contact person (based in Bangalore office) to inform we have reached.

There comes the shocking surprise, our fraud MR.x of the professional vacation provider hasn’t made the payment or any communication to the resort booking office. And as usual telephones are just kept in showcase without responding.

We are in the middle of the jungle with no shelter! Signal is available only for Vodaphone and BSNL. No signal for my Tata photon, so chance of online payment is also not there. Somehow need to handover the payment to resort booking office in Bangalore, being a working day everyone is busy with work. Took a little over freedom and called up our friend Anish who rescued us by making the payment through his wife Preethi. It was a rush hour, I felt real blood gush throughout the body though not shown to wife and inlaws. If MR.x was on reachable distance, I would have enjoyed the rest of my life in Central jail! Just kidding.

Without Anish & Preethi, this trip would have become the worst trip we ever had. As a token of thanks, we dedicate this amazing wildlife trip to their cute little son and Joshu’s dear friend Sanjappan.

[jacs]

Immediately after the payment is arranged, MR.Siddu who is the caretaker of “The Wilderness” and MR.Sathish who is his assistant came out to the car parking and took us to our cottages.

The whole property is about five acres of coffee plantation and has lot of other vegetation too. There are only three individual cottages, a dining area made around a natural tree and an antique type building which has two spacious accommodation plus kitchen and facilities for the caretakers. So each building has its own privacy being distributed across.

View from the car parking, see our cottages behind


Walk from parking to cottage



We have booked two cottages named Cuckoo & Hornbill as I remember, each has a small verandah, a decent spacious bedroom and attached toilets. Everything was in order, no frills like a chandelier or bathtub. Cot was queen size and good enough for a couple and a baby, there were two chairs and a small tea table too. Toilets were as good as new, scored 9/10 since hot water would be supplied on demand.

So we checked in formally by 12 Noon, all of us wanted to freshen up before lunch. I decided to have a shower under the ice cold water, man it was an experience. Water was crystal clear and cold, took all the tiredness out of me and I became active as a schoolboy. By the time everyone changed and freshened up, I had a quick visit to the main building or rather the hut where cooking is happening. Siddu confirmed that lunch will be ready in 10 minutes. Cook was not there due to some reasons, so this poor chap is the all in all.

The dining area is actually a hut made around a live tree with straw roofing. Sides have bamboo curtains and a very natural feel with fresh air. All assembled for lunch by 1:00, no other guests were there being a weekday. Food is buffet, help ourselves and eat what all available. Our lunch had a Chicken Biriyani with raitha and Meals (Sona masuri rice, sambhar, rasam, cabbage dal koottu, chicken dry fry, curd and pickles) and Milk Payasam as sweet. Each dish had a magic touch; fairer sex among us had to accept masculine cooking is awesome. My son also had stomach full and everyone wanted a quick nap. Informed Siddu to provide the tea by 4PM so that we could go out for a road safari, went back to our cottage to take a nap.

Room had a small glass piece on the roof through which natural light comes in even if we close all curtains. It was fun watching the sky from bed, can see birds flying and leaves of trees dancing in the wind. Took some rest and got up around 3PM.

Just had a quick walk through the premises, lots of birds and insects around the place. One langur family is stationed in the resort itself. The view from the cottages towards backyard is very scenic, needle rock and frog hills are seen from here through the green paddy fields.


Some Macros from the walk





Spideys (lot of spiders were there, but this guy was near my cottage and hence tracked him till the day we left)





Langurs camping inside the resort



A wooden elephant in the entrance to welcome guests



View of cottage from dining area



Joshu had a nice time playing around



(to be continued...)

[KRRaj]

This looks like a real good place to stay in Bandipur. Is there any way to book one of these cottages beforehand?

[balan]

Originally Posted by jacs

Have you seen thousands of butterflies together? Its coming up shortly. As of now the Blue tigers seen near Bandipur.


We are exiting Karnataka and entering Mudumalai reserve. Here they have a small check post where commercial vehicles have to pay a ransom to cross. Private vehicles are checked randomly depending on passengers. They never bothered to check the Accent since it’s driven by a very decent fellow!

Lovely post Jacs bhai.

The butterfly migration is a sight to behold. It happens every year. You simply cant walk without being hit by butterflies. But not sure why it is happening so late this time. It usually happens during the summer months. Must be something to do with the climate change phenomenon.

The spider that you saw is a wood spider female which usually feasts on these butterflies.

As for the state border check post, you were lucky I should say. Usually the police have a good time doing a full search of KL registered vehicles espeicially if driven by guys

Best regards
Bala

[jacs]

Originally Posted by KRRaj

This looks like a real good place to stay in Bandipur. Is there any way to book one of these cottages beforehand?

It is not in Bandipur but between Mudumalai and Gudalur. Anyways its just 20-25KMs from Bandipur. You need to make a booking in Bangalore or online in advance as they do not accept payment directly at the resort.

Originally Posted by balan

Lovely post Jacs bhai.

The butterfly migration is a sight to behold. It happens every year. You simply cant walk without being hit by butterflies. But not sure why it is happening so late this time. It usually happens during the summer months. Must be something to do with the climate change phenomenon.

The spider that you saw is a wood spider female which usually feasts on these butterflies.

As for the state border check post, you were lucky I should say. Usually the police have a good time doing a full search of KL registered vehicles espeicially if driven by guys

Best regards
Bala

Thanks Bala.

You are 100% correct, its the climate change which is the culprit. These spiders feast on butterflies, i have snaps coming up.

[joe1980]

Amazing pictures. Did you spot the Tiger during your visit?

[jacs]

Originally Posted by joe1980

Amazing pictures. Did you spot the Tiger during your visit?

Hey joe, too early to ask this! I am on the first day still . One thing, not sure whether I would be able to satisfy you completely but you would not be disappointed .

[balan]

Originally Posted by joe1980

Amazing pictures. Did you spot the Tiger during your visit?

Well he did spot the Blue Tiger didnt he???? and thousands of them at one....
hehehehe

[jacs]

View from the backyard of the resort, please note the frog hills.



A tiny wildflower



Bamboo pots for hanging plants around the dining area



Both Siddu & Satheesh are tribals and they know things about nature better than a SME for that matter. A quick intro of these two characters. Siddu is more social being worked with several wildlife associations and forest department as guide for researchers to go inside forest. He was also trained for animal census and has a good understanding on birding (He has Sir Salim Ali’s books for reference). Sathish is a silent guy, very loyal and speaks only if we ask something.


While sipping the tea, we exchanges some nature talks. According to Siddu, due to rains animals tend to migrate more towards Bandipur and Masinagudi side. So suggested me to take this route for the evening safari. Jeeps are available for INR 1200 for 2 hours but they don’t have any advantages over car since nobody is allowed to core areas and only road safari.


We decided to take our car so that could save money for several such trips. It was drizzling while we reached the forest checkpost to enter Mudumalai around 4:40PM. We drove slowly to spot the wildlife and suddenly saw a small traffic before us.



Got out to see a mammoth on the road.



This elephant had some strange confusion while crossing the road, so everyone had to stop and wait for 5 minutes till it stepped out from the road.



On the way while we reach Karkudi, there is a small ground opposite to the forest quarters where peafowls and chitals are regular sight. We could find some peacocks here.



(to be continued…)