Safari - Part II – Nagarhole

Nagarhole is about 11/2 hours drive from Kabini. It is also a wild life Sanctuary. Here, it is said that the sighting of elephants is guaranteed. We were really lucky enough to sight five elephants (three on one side of the road and two on the other) late in the day. But our luck seem to have disappeared suddenly. Cause, at that precise moment, my camera displayed “Battery empty”. And as though this was not enough, my husband’s camera was displaying “use the flash” and he dare not use “the flash” as the elephants were pretty close (to our jeep) for comfort and the sudden use of flash may annoy them and they could come charging.

My husband somehow managed to click a Tusker (who was camera shy) a little earlier in the day.

I however, had to be satisfied with the pictures of flora on the following day after the batteries were recharged. Fortunately the place where we stayed (King’s Sanctuary) was fantastic with a lot of greenery and exotic plants and flowers. I am sharing these with you.

The sight that greeted us when we entered the gates of King's Sanctuary

   Tusker - picture borrowed from my husband

Crested Serpent Eagle - Picture borrowed from my husband

 Bird of Paradise

Heliconia (Lobster Claw)

Safari - Part I - Kabini

Hi ! Friends – Last month (May 2011) was quite busy in the sense that a lot of family functions were lined up and as you all know during these times, relatives meet after a long gap and naturally after the event is over generally we tend to spend whatever time left to get together and make the most of it.

So, this time too, we (me & my hubby) along with my cousin’s family planned a short trip to Kabini, Nagarhole and Coorg.

We just returned from this wonderful vacation and came back rejuvenated. We have always loved the nature and wild life. The greenery is amazing and the natural beauty of these places is something to cherish especially after a few showers.

In this post I would like to share the wild life that we spotted during our safaris (jeep as well as boat) in Kabini. We spotted so many birds that it is difficult to upload all the pictures.

We were greeted by this heavenly sight at the Kabini Jungle Lodges and Resorts.

 

Mom & Baby  - I borrowed this picture from my husband 

Spot Billed Duck

Night Heron - Isn't he cute?

Grey Heron - Picture borrowed from my husband

Apart from these animals and birds, we also saw sloth bear (unfortunately no picture), Gaur (Indian Bison), wild boar, Ibis (both black as well as white), egrets (little  as well as great egret), Osprey (Migratory bird from Scotland), peacock, cormorants, kingfisher, painted stork, open billed stork etc.

 Watch out for the Part II of Safari at Nagarhole

Some Birds & Animals of Sasan Gir Forest

Frankly speaking, I consider myself reasonably good at taking pictures of those objects that do not move! Hence I surprised myself when I managed to take a few pictures ( two to be precise) of the resident birds in the gardens of the lodge where we stayed. This place where we stayed is a bird lover's paradise. There were so many of them - tiny ones and they are so very fidgety that its very difficult to focus on them. One has to have a lot of patience.

It was with great difficulty I managed to get these shots. Generally I get the picture of the trees rather than the bird itself! There is much scope for improvement and as they say – No pain no gain.

Peacock - just finished his mating dance

Lapwing - keeping her eggs warm

Paradise Fly catcher - in the gardens of the lodge

Oriental white eye - very tiny birds sighted in the gardens of the lodge

Langur

male & female deers drinking water

Sambar Deer

Nilgai

Pride of Gujarat & Asia

Hi! Everybody! I am back ! No I did not run out of ideas for recipes !

We just returned from our vacation in Gujarat and Mumbai. I feel all refreshed and rejuvenated. We had a wonderful time at Sasan Gir Forest – the only home to Asiatic Lions. The safaris in Sasan Gir Forest in Gujarat were very rewarding. I got some good photographs (by my standards!) of the lion and the pride and other animals and birds too. I thought I will share them with you all.

The "Great Mom" crossing the road

The thrill of seeing a lion at such close quarters is very difficult to describe.

Two's Company

The Reunion!

Threesome

The curious one

Happy Family

The AnxiousWait

The cute one

For details of the trip report, you may visit my daughter’s blog ( Birds & Bees - on my web-page )

Watch out for the part II