SubscribeOur next destination was Kamath Lokruchi. By then thankfully the options had narrowed down to Nagarhole and Madikeri. Prem had gone to Nagarhole earlier and was not impressed. He had even trekked through Brahmagiri. He had not visited Madikeri though. Som had been to Madikeri multiple times. I was all for Nagarhole. We reached Kamat Lokruchi at 11:45 AM. Everybody ordered for neer dosa or poori and discussion resumed. At one point the pitch was so high that the guys at the next table were staring at us. Finally it was decided that we will go to Nagarhole as we can get accomodation and there is Iruppu falls nearby to be visited.
Around 12:15 we started from KL and headed towards sri rangapatna. Close to Srirangapatna Just after a bridge we took the deviation(right) going towards ranganthittu bird sanctuary. After couple of kilometers we hit the hunsur road. On the Hunsur road you will also find deviation towards Brindavan Gardens and you will also get a Balmuri Ganesha temple near Belagola. Hunsur road was being broadened repair was on. At some places it had been repaired already. We reached Hunsur via Yelwal and Billikere. When it is very close to Hunsur the road divides into one going towards Nagarhole and one to Madikeri. Before this division itself the signboards for Nagarhole can be seen. We took a break at Hunsur and had some water and bananans. Little bit urgency to reach Nagarhole started up. We did not wanted to delay and miss the evening safari. In Hunsur just after the Petrol bunk we took a left to go towards Nagarhole.This also the road connecting to HD Kote. After around 8 kms at Neerpalla junction we took the raod going towarWe ds nagarhole. (Other one goes to HD Kote). From here onwards raods are pretty bad we could manage a speed better that 30km.We passed through Jungle Inn resorts, Som was very keen on staying there. We reached first gate of Nagarhole at Veerhasanhalli. Gaurd took the vehicle number and told code of conduct No Horns, No Music system and No loud noise. You have to be out of the park by 6:45 PM and the safari's arranged between 3:00 - 5:00 PM in the evening and the Parks opens at 6:00 AM in the morning. ( In contrast to Bandipur where safari's allowed only in the evening. Morning there is only elephant ride, not elephant safari) Next was the Murkal gate around 10 Km from the first gate and we saw some tamed elephants grazing around. Again guard noted down the vehicle numbers and asked we had already booked the stay and provided us with a option for stay. Around 4:30 we reached forest depart office and lodging facility from where safari's are arranged. They had stopped the Jeep safari's. The other was a van safari which took 19 people at a time for which forest department charged Rs 75. I registered my name on the book and the waiting began. Then we discovered that private vehicles are allowed but with Rs 400 vehicle entry fee, 150 guard fee and there was per head fee of 50 bucks. But cars were not allowed and 400 entry fee was for a zeep. We could not manage to tag up with others who were taking their own vehicle. In the mean time we saw some spotted dears which crossed the raod and then we there was a lone spotted dear which was grazing on the grass infront of the guest house.
In the mean time we came to know that most of the guest houses are full and it will be tough to get a stay. I discussed with sitting forest officer and gave couple of options for stay. There was also a option to come back in the morning for safari with a private vehicle hired from Kutta which would have cost us another 400 buks. Again the debate started to go for the safari now or comeback in the morning.. As we had waited enough we decided to go for the safari. In the meantime Som and Prem talked to the parking lot attendant, Raju and he said he will take us to guest house. Then there was a bull elephant came close to the area, i did not see as I was in the queue to get tickets for the safari.
The safari started at 6:30PM and we managed to get 2 window seats. We were surprised to know that while issuing the tickets they allot the seat numbers. The safari was worth the wait it started with spotted deer and herds of bison. Sambar followed soon. Jungle fowl and Pea fowl were pretty close to the trail. Next we saw elephant herd which had around 10 elephants. At around around 7:00 PM the sun set and still we had some light as it was next to the full moon day. In the moon light we kept comping across spotted deer, bison and sambar. When we were very close to the base we saw a bull elephant just 10 m away from the trail. It did a mock charge at the van. That was the first time I saw a mock charge. 7:30 pm he safari ended and we were on our way to Kutta. One the way we came to know that it was raining on the repvious day. The clouds had started to gather. We were worried that it might rain. We reached Kutta and made couple of phone calls. From there we had to drive around 6km to reach our guest house. It started raining at Kutta we drove in the rain and when we reached the guest house there was no power.
We got into a huge bedroom and then there was huge bathroom (of the size of a bedroom in bangalore) with bathtub. Som was delighted. We took bath and started off to emptying the bottles we had bought on the way. Soon we were joined by Raju and then Gopal who was owner of the guesthouse. We were sitting on the spacious balcony and cool breeze was coming over the coffee estates below. Rain had stopped by then. At 10:30PM the dinner was ready with Chapathi's, beetroot curry, Pulav, rice, samabr, rasam, raitha etc. Som also got to taste the Chicken cooked in Kodava style. Everybody was hungry as the last proper food we had was at 11:45AM. We went to bed.
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