Bandipur National Park

Bandipur National park is a part of the Nilgiri forest range. Its a rain forest and hence the forest cover is thick and beautiful throughout the year. Jungle Lodges (JLR) is a good resort to stay in Bandipur (and other parks in karnataka as well). The only problem is that the Mysore-ooty highway cuts across the park and the resort is also located along the highway. So one does not feel completely in the presence of nature during the time spent at the resort because of the constant sound of vehicles. The safari however was good. Once the safari jeep goes in to the jungle, it is a truly wild experience. There is a high density of wild elephants here. We also managed to spot gaurs, leopards, wild dogs, sambar deers, chitals, boars, serpent eagle, malabar squirrel , the brainfever bird and some other bird species as well. We were unlucky not to see a tiger but extremely lucky to see a pack of wild dogs hunt down a sambar deer right in front of the vehicle. JLR folks had also arranged for a nature walk. One can choose between this and going for a safari one more time. We made the mistake of opting for the nature walk. Normally this involves trekking a good distance in to the jungle and is a very good experience. But the batch of people we were clubbed with consisted of many children and many old people who wouldnt be able to walk the distance. Hence we were all taken to a small hill that was near the main road itself. We could see the roads and vehicles throughout the walk which was a big turn off. One also has to be careful not to get clubbed with loud people or very young kids in the safari vehicle when going to a safari since they might cause birds ,most of which are extremely sensitive, to fly away.

Even though the overall experience was commercial, it wasnt bad. The large number of visitors during the weekends results in a large number of safari vehicles (also from other resorts and the public ones)that go into the forest and will make it difficult to spot shy creatures like tigers and leopards. So ,to experience the best of bandipur, my advice would be to take a couple of days off work and visit it in the week days.