So far, all our trips were solo, myself, Ankur and our Sparky. This trip was little different, and hence special.
We were accompanied by 6 friends, so it was a big gang of 8 wanderlust Bongs. We hit the roads at 5:30 in the morning. It was cold in Bangalore; but to escape the city traffic we had no other choice but to leave the comfort of the quilts and head for an early start.
We took the Bangalore-->Mysore Road-->Maddur-->NH209-->Yelandur-->BR Hills route. The road was good except for a small patch from Maddur till NH209.
Before I forget and get into other things let me tell you about a very sad incident that we came to know once we reached our homestay in BR Hills. When we had about 15 km left to reach BR hills, we crossed a pond. There were about a hundred people who had gathered. We passed the place thinking that there must be some religious festival going on. We reached our homestay, had some tea and went out for a stroll. When we came back the owner of the homestay told us there has been an unfortunate incident. A baby elephant that had come with its mother to drink water has fallen into a pond and has died. Then we realised why so many villagers had gathered near the pond while we were coming.
We called our friends who were coming in another car, for they still had not reached. They told us that the road had been blocked by some male tuskers who had come out from the wild after the mother elephant sent out trumpets for help. They were forced to take another much longer route.
Okay, now back to our trip report. We stayed at Rajathadri hill villa. Rooms are good but food is pathetic. Since none of our friends had arrived before us, we decided to take a quick drive till the forest safari office(at K. Gudi) just to enquire about the safari timing. There is a 15 km of forest stretch between our homestay and the safari office. We drove really slow in case some unexpected inhabitant of the forest would greet us.
For a long long time we saw nothing, but many varieties of birds. We saw oriental white eye, kingfisher, babbler, minivet, munia, dove, barbet, bulbul, painted stork and ibis. Then all of a sudden, I noticed something moving very slowly by the road in the bushes. It was a big mongoose. We stopped our car to take a picture; but then alas. A car zoomed past from behind and the mongoose quickly disappeared into the bushes.
Some metres further we saw some spotted deer grazing peacefully. Next we said hello to a lone elephant. Once we reached the safari office, we were informed that there are safaris twice a day - one from morning 6:30 and
the other from evening 3:30. Safari charge is Rs 400 per person. Each safari is of one hour duration and they take you inside the forest in jeeps. We saw some wild boars and a big magnificent beehive within the safari office premises.
While coming back there was nothing much, except spotted deer. When we came back to our home stay, one group of friends had already arrived. We decided to have lunch as we were all very hungry. The last remaining group of friends informed us that they would be reaching late; because they were chased by wild elephants and were forced to take a different route.
The evening was well spent. It started with the adventurous tale of our last group of friends being chased by wild elephants. Then followed a camp fire, which was accompanied by ghost stories(an attempt to create an eerie atmosphere), that each of us had heard from our fathers, uncle's or grandfathers.
We decided to take the next day early morning safari.
Dinner was pathetic. Food was tasteless and on top that, some of us found hair in the food. When reported, the owner did not provide us with any other alternate food saying that he did not have any other arrangements.We had to survive on a half stomach. Biscuits, cakes and chips, that we had as backup, helped us for the night.
The next day, we started early as we had planned to take the 6:30 AM morning safari. The jungle check post gate opens at 6 am. We were 5 minutes early so had to wait. By 6:20 we were already standing in the safari booking queue. Though we were the first in the queue but some local bus drivers who had brought tourists, got their tickets before us. These things happen.....
Our group got one jeep at last. The jeep was small but everyone accommodated with a happy face. We were not much lucky with the trip either, all that we saw were spotted deer and a few sambar. We saw some birds, wrangled tail drongoes, common drongo, a beautiful flame back woodpecker, blue jars.
Back to homestay and after a quick shower and breakfast, we headed back for our home sweet home Bangalore, with a small de-tour to the famous
waterfall Shivana Samudra. Finally one more sentence before I finish - Although we did not see much of wild life and our high anticipations
were hurt, it was one of THE most enjoyable trips, all because of the lovely gang of 8 Bongs :)
Time of visit: 14th Dec, 2013
Onward route: Bangalore->Mysore rd->Maddur->NH-209->BR Hills
Return route: BR Hills->NH-209->Kanakpura road->Bangalore
tags:- br hills, shivanasamudra, k gudi, safari, jungle, camp fire
We were accompanied by 6 friends, so it was a big gang of 8 wanderlust Bongs. We hit the roads at 5:30 in the morning. It was cold in Bangalore; but to escape the city traffic we had no other choice but to leave the comfort of the quilts and head for an early start.
We took the Bangalore-->Mysore Road-->Maddur-->NH209-->Yelandur-->BR Hills route. The road was good except for a small patch from Maddur till NH209.
 |
| On the way to BR Hills. |
 |
| On the way to BR Hills |
 |
| On the way to BR Hills |
We called our friends who were coming in another car, for they still had not reached. They told us that the road had been blocked by some male tuskers who had come out from the wild after the mother elephant sent out trumpets for help. They were forced to take another much longer route.
Okay, now back to our trip report. We stayed at Rajathadri hill villa. Rooms are good but food is pathetic. Since none of our friends had arrived before us, we decided to take a quick drive till the forest safari office(at K. Gudi) just to enquire about the safari timing. There is a 15 km of forest stretch between our homestay and the safari office. We drove really slow in case some unexpected inhabitant of the forest would greet us.
 |
| Spotted Deer |
 |
| Spotted Deer |
the other from evening 3:30. Safari charge is Rs 400 per person. Each safari is of one hour duration and they take you inside the forest in jeeps. We saw some wild boars and a big magnificent beehive within the safari office premises.
 |
| Wild Boar |
 |
| Hive |
The evening was well spent. It started with the adventurous tale of our last group of friends being chased by wild elephants. Then followed a camp fire, which was accompanied by ghost stories(an attempt to create an eerie atmosphere), that each of us had heard from our fathers, uncle's or grandfathers.
 |
| The gang of eight bongs |
We decided to take the next day early morning safari.
Dinner was pathetic. Food was tasteless and on top that, some of us found hair in the food. When reported, the owner did not provide us with any other alternate food saying that he did not have any other arrangements.We had to survive on a half stomach. Biscuits, cakes and chips, that we had as backup, helped us for the night.
The next day, we started early as we had planned to take the 6:30 AM morning safari. The jungle check post gate opens at 6 am. We were 5 minutes early so had to wait. By 6:20 we were already standing in the safari booking queue. Though we were the first in the queue but some local bus drivers who had brought tourists, got their tickets before us. These things happen.....
Our group got one jeep at last. The jeep was small but everyone accommodated with a happy face. We were not much lucky with the trip either, all that we saw were spotted deer and a few sambar. We saw some birds, wrangled tail drongoes, common drongo, a beautiful flame back woodpecker, blue jars.
 |
| Tuskar |
 |
| Young Sambar |
 |
| Oriental white eye |
 |
| Bee eater |
 |
| Painted Stork |
 |
| Kingfisher |
 |
| Pigeon |
waterfall Shivana Samudra. Finally one more sentence before I finish - Although we did not see much of wild life and our high anticipations
were hurt, it was one of THE most enjoyable trips, all because of the lovely gang of 8 Bongs :)
 |
| Shivanasamudra |
Time of visit: 14th Dec, 2013
Onward route: Bangalore->Mysore rd->Maddur->NH-209->BR Hills
Return route: BR Hills->NH-209->Kanakpura road->Bangalore
tags:- br hills, shivanasamudra, k gudi, safari, jungle, camp fire
