BANDIPUR WILDLIFE TOUR - (MAY-JUNE 2011)

I had been to Bandipur with fellow photographer friends
Sri H Satish, 
Sri. S Viswanath, and
Sri Harish
on May 31st, June 1st and June 2nd 2011


30th May 2011


We started our journey at 3-45 pm from Bangalore towards Bandipur, enroute we reached Mysore had a beautiful dosa at Mylari Hotel in Mysore and reached Gundlupet and we stayed at PWD IB at 09-30 pm  had Dinner,went to sleep.


31st May 2011


Morning at 5-00 am we moved from Gundlupet to Bandipur, now the route has been closed during 9-00 pm to morning 6-00 am, when we reached the Melkamanahalli (Bandipur Entry Gate) a lot of vehicles were in the queue exactly at 6-00 am the gate opened and we reached Bandipur by 7-00 am (first trip) as we reached Bandipur we booked for Safari and went the Driver Sebastian Vehicle we were lucky to spot Indian Guar, Crested Serpent Eagle, Peacock, Langur’s, Deer, Spotted Deer’s, Wild Boar, Varieties of Birds and many more


And after coming from first trip we again went next trip with the same vehicle nothing much it repeated as said earlier, after having beautiful breakfast Upma and Shavige Bhat we roamed in and around Bandipur Reception Centre had a some beautiful extravaganza games by monkeys in and around Cottages, we took some snaps as they playing etc


We decided to go exclusively in the private vehicle as we approached and requested DFO Office, Manager said I cannot arrange private vehicles inside the forest, I will get you a vehicle and arranged a Office Tata Sumo Vehicle. We had lunch and had took a small nap and fresh’n’up we reached the Reception Counter, Our Vehicle Tata Sumo with Driver Cheluvaraju was waiting, we entered the forest safari as soon as we entered we found Elephant with calf’s after taking some snaps we had moved towards shooting spot Driver Cheluvaraj Spotted a Leopard Saying "Chirathe Sir Chirathe” it was attacking something as soon as we stopped our vehicle we took some good snaps within a few minutes it went inside the bushes we followed to trace where the Leopard went and waited nearly 10-20 mts it was inside the bush r else it was moved to another place and finally we came back same route where the Elephant with Calf still there and had a nice view of Indian Guars rest again same peacock, mongoose etc, we came back to our Cottage had Dinner and Slept with We decided to go 2 continuous trips to the sanctuary next morning with the same vehicle.


Early morning we approached DFO, he informed that he cannot arrange the separate vehicle or private vehicle to enter Forest and asked us to take Gypsy which cost Rs. 3500 per trip and requested to get one trip with the same vehicle (TATA SUMO) in the evening by 3-00 pm and he instructed the Official there to arrange the evening safari with the TATA SUMO vehicle for us.


Again we had decided to have continuous trips in the VAN for safari with the same Mr. Sebastian Vehicle nothing spotted except the same mongoose, deer’s and peacocks and came back from Safari after having breakfast we decided to move towards Gopala Swamy Betta, We reached GS Betta by 11-00 am had darshan of Sri Venugopala Swamy and met priest over there who was a good friend of us, he performed special pooja for us and had a prasadam over there we had captured some good landscapes from there we came back and had Lunch. At 3-15 pm we reached the Reception Counter waiting for the Vehicle, as that Vehicle was not there as it was been directed  to deliver ration to the Anti Poaching  Camps, we waited upto 5-00 pm no sign of vehicle, dejected over, and after having tea at local tea shop, went towards  Border of Karnataka-Tamilnadu (Kakkanahalla) on the Ooty road from Bandipur. We saw a herd of Elephant with calf on the road side and a big herd of Indian Gaurs (nearly 30-40) soon lightning and a drizzle of Rain started, we took some good snaps of Elephant Crossing the Road.

Still to Come................................

THE INFORMATION ABOUT BANDIPUR

Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Introduction

Bandipur Tiger Reserve situated in Mysore District of Karnataka State of India was among the first nine Tiger Reserves created in India at the launch of Project Tiger in 1973. It is contiguous to Madhumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu state to south and Wynad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala state to the south-west.To the north-west lies Nagarhole National Park. The highest peak is Gopalaswamy hill.

The main perennial rivers of the Reserve are Nugu, Kabini and Moyar. The Nugu river flows in the middle of the Reserve. Whereas, the Moyar river forms the southern boundary between this reserve and Madhumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. The Kabini river, across which a major irrigation dam has come up at Beechanahalli, forms the boundary between this Reserve and Nagarhole

National Park of Karnataka. The Kabini reservoir provides water facility and the grazing ground on the foreshore, for hundreds of elephants during severe and prolonged pinch period. Seasonal streams like Wadli, Chammanahalla, Aidasanahattihalla, Hebballa, Warranchi, Chippanahalla and Mavinahalla are also present.

INDIAN GAUR

LANGOOR AT BANDIPUR, GETTING READY TO DRIVE  HIS VEHICLE

 

LEOPARD AT BANDIPUR



LEOPARD AT BANDIPUR



History : A Sanctuary of 90 sq. km. area was created in Bandipur Reserve Forest in 1931. Venugopala Wildlife Park &was constituted in 1941, extending over 800 sq. km. The Park was named after the god, Venugopala of the shrine atop Gopalsawamy Betta. Bandipur Tiger reserve was formed by including most of the forest area of the then Venugopala Wildlife Park and its sanctum sanctorum at Bandipur, in the year 1973 and named Bandipur National Park

Bandipur lies in the southern state of Karnataka and covers a forest area of 865 square kilometers. It was declared a National Park in 1974 and is one of the original 9 tiger reserves under the watchful eye of "Project Tiger".

Crested Serpent Eagle

Bandipur National Park begins to blossom with all its beauty due to the arrival of pre-monsoon showers in April. The grasslands with developing grass are dominated by elephants and the majestic gaur. Bandipur is a paradise between Aprils to October, for the tourist coming to watch the larger mammals in their natural habitats. During the summer season, when dryness exists over most parts of Bandipur, the backwaters of the Kabini Reservoir in the northwestern part of the park entertains huge gathering of large mammals, especially the elephant and the gaur. This rare character of Bandipur National Park makes a breathtaking view, and is almost the only one of its kind in Asia .

Forest Types

MONGOOSE

Dry deciduous scrub, Southern tropical/Dry deciduous & Southern Tropical Moist Mixed deciduous forests cover the reserve area.  

Major Flora

Main Species

Tectona grandis, Dalbergia latifolia, Pterocarpus marsupium, Adina cordifolia, Grewia tiliaefolia, Amblica officianalis, lagerstroemia lanceolata, Terminalia tomentosa, Anogeisus latifolia, Terminalia chebula, Schleichera trijuga, Odina wodiar, Butea monosperma, Cassia fistula, Dendrcalamus strictus, Bambusa arundinacea,Chloroxylon swetenia, Acacia catechu, Shorea talura, Randia uliginosa

Tiger, Leopard, Elephant, Gaur, Sambar, Spotted deer, Sloth bear, Mouse deer, Wild dog, four horned Antelope can be spotted in Bandipur National Park .

ELEPHANT WITH YOUNG ONE

Elephant Crossing Road

Birds

Common Vabbler, Wood Pecker, Warbler, Weaverbird, Kingfisher, Drongo, Fly catche, Hornbill etc.

Endangered Species

Tiger, Four horned Antelope, Gaur, Elephant, Panther, Sloth bear, Crocodiles, Mouse deer, Python, Osprey, Pea fowl.

Spotted Deer

Safari In Bandipur

Over about 1000 elephant's roam through the park and it also harbors a wide variety of other animals, reptiles and birds.

Bandipur Van safari Timings

Morning 6:30 AM to 9:00 AM.

Evening 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM.

Bandipur Jeep Safari Timings

Morning

First Trip: 6:30 AM to 9:00 AM.

Second Trip: 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM.

Evening

First Trip: 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM.

Second Trip: 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM.

VAN
[Rs.300 per head for 45 Mts round trip in a 25 seater van.]
(Rs. 200 Park Entry Fee and Rs. 100 for Safari)

GYPSY
Rs.3500 per Jeep (maximum six people allowed).

[Depends on the Visitors]



Accommodation

Forest Dept Guest House

[to be booked from Aranya Bhavan, Mysore -(0821-2480902)

Hotels / Resorts in Bandipur:

Accommodation can be arranged at forest rest house, resorts, guesthouses at Hangala, Mangala

Vali-Sugreeva

Here are some of the list of premium, luxury, budget hotels and resorts for your comfort accommodation in Mudumalai.

Angada Waiting

Premium / Five Star Resorts 

Jungle Lodges and Resorts
(http://www.junglelodges.com/index.php/resorts/bandipur.html)
Cicada (http://www.cicadaresorts.com/bandipur/index.html)
Tusker Trails  (http://www.tuskertrails.in/)

Luxury / Budget Accommodation

Jungle Home Guest House, Mudumalai

Forest Guest House, Bandipur

Tiger Ranch, Mangala

Country Club, Bush Betta, Mangala

Nilgiris Resort, Hangala

MC Resorts, Hangala
Dhole's Den, Hangala

Tourism Places

The places of tourist attractions are

Gopalswamy betta (Hill) temple is located at 21kms from Bandipur National Park . A god by name Venugopala shrine atop this hill.






A PANORAMA VIEW OF GOPALASWAMY BETTA



VIEW FROM GOPALASWAMY BETTA



Venugopala Swamy Temple, Himvad Gopalswamy Betta

 


WILD FLOWER AT GS BETTA

 


HIMVAD GOPALASWAMY BETTA TEMPLE WITH FOG



FOREST VIEW FROM GS BETTA

Aerial View of Bandipur Forest from Gopala Swamy Betta

Mudumalai (Tamil Nadu)

Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary is a combined Sanctuary with Bandipur National Park which is located at 12km on south side of Bandipur. Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary was the first sanctuary in south India . The land is extremely varied with hills, valleys, narrow valleys, waterways and swamps. It includes of tropical moist deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests and scrub forests