My photography sorties into places like Hesaraghtta, Valley School etc. led me to wish for more....and like any other newbie snapper, I was also getting drawn towards capturing forests and wildlife.
As they say, there is a lot of power in thought. Within a month of this thought getting into my mind, an opportunity came along to make a trip to Nagarhole. Have heard a lot about this wildlife sanctuary from my friends who are into photography.
Coaxed my wife and son to join me on the trip and I was on my way on a Friday afternoon. Drove for about 7 hours at a reasonable pace and reached Kutta by about 10.30 at night. Kutta is a small place about 5 kms from the Nagarhole sanctuary and offers a good variety of homestay options, which are quite clean, decent, and real value for money. Compared to a per person cost of about Rs 5000 plus at the Jungle Lodge, you pay about Rs 2000 per person for an even better stay. And you get personalised service.
Got up in the morning at 6.00 am and reached the Nagarhole sanctuary for the safari trip. The drive upto the safari starting point was a good starter for the trip. The forest is quite beautiful and especially the early morning ambience, with the chill in the air and mistiness all around, is really refreshing,
At the safari start point, they have a few noisy buses to take you around. I got to know that there are some jeeps as well but most of the times, they are busy on duty for visiting officials and general public does not get this option. The safari trip is always a game of chance, and my luck was probably left behind in Bangalore. My quest to see elephants and tigers remained unfulfilled. However, there were deers and stags, and a few wild boars, which sort of made up the safari to some extent.
It is human nature that we love something which is partially seen and partially hidden, and it was no different for me when I could manage this click of the animal half hidden behind a tree.
Another boar, and this time a close up.
Sighted a vulture which was sitting near the carcass of a buffalo.
It was now time for us to head for breakfast, which turned out to be a typical coorgi affair with rice rotis and sagoo. A fresh breakfast is always welcome and we ate to our hearts content. With our stomach full, it was time for the next item on the agenda. Irpu falls, which was about 10 kms from Kutta.
I had read a lot about shooting waterfall pics with slow shutter speed and hence had brought a tripod from Bangalore especially for this purpose. Reached the base of Irpu falls and then walked up with my gear on the stony stairpath for about 10 minutes to reach the waterfall. Once I saw the beautiful waterfall, realised that the uphill climb was well worth it.
While my wife and son got about enjoying the scenery, I got busy into setting up the tripod. This was my first experience with a tripod, and after juggling around the nuts and screws for sometime, finally managed to set it up. Started clicking the waterfalls with different shutterspeeds and from different angles.
This was the first one.
The next one was at a slower shutterspeed.
Felt happy with the result and this time tried a different perspective.
Overall I felt happy with my first waterfall clicks and that too with a tripod.
On our way back to the homestay for lunch, saw an old man sitting near the road. The man was lost in his thoughts, looking quite haggard and something in his appearance and the setting made me reach out to my camera for a quick snap.
Had a simple lunch at a roadside joint. Post lunch started out for Tholpetta sanctuary, which is quite nearby, in the quest for a sighting for elephants. On the way to Tholpetta, got a couple of interesting clicks.
My luck still eluded me at Tholpetta as well. The safari at Tholpetta was boring and uneventful. In fact there was hardly any sighting of any animal in the entire hourlong journey. Felt disappointed and contemplated another safari trip back at Nagarhole sanctuary. A local guy however, advised us to simply drive through the Nagarhole road instead of taking the safari. Decided to take that route and drove down in my own car. More sightings of deer and peafowl followed but that was not what I was looking for. It was getting dark by now and reluctantly started back towards the homestay. Just as we were reaching the exit gate, saw a group of people staring towards the bushes on one side of the road. Stopped my vehicle, and suddenly lo and behold, this is what I got to see ....
The elephant emerged from behind some trees, gave me about a few seconds to click and before I could try different other angles, it quickly disappeared behind the bushes. From the sounds we could make out that it was walking parallel to us in the thick bushes. In a few minutes, there were more sounds and we realised that there was in fact a large herd of about 10-12 elephants which was walking in the bushes about 100 feet from us. It was quite scary, and yet a very exciting feeling. We could catch fleeting glimpses of the large elephants but by now it was very dark and we were in a lonely track. The elephants were becoming quite noisy and we decided to exit the scene quickly. Anyway our day was made and the objective of the trip was now achieved.
The next day morning, we were on our way back, after breakfast. Just as we started, saw a beautiful sunbird perched high atop a litchi tree.
On our way back to Bangalore, we stopped for sometime at Karanji lake in Mysore. Some more clicks.
Reached Bangalore late in the evening with great memories of a a very enjoyable trip.
Nagarhole, Irpu falls and Karanji lake are lovely places and well recommended, for photographers as well as a nature lovers.
As they say, there is a lot of power in thought. Within a month of this thought getting into my mind, an opportunity came along to make a trip to Nagarhole. Have heard a lot about this wildlife sanctuary from my friends who are into photography.
Coaxed my wife and son to join me on the trip and I was on my way on a Friday afternoon. Drove for about 7 hours at a reasonable pace and reached Kutta by about 10.30 at night. Kutta is a small place about 5 kms from the Nagarhole sanctuary and offers a good variety of homestay options, which are quite clean, decent, and real value for money. Compared to a per person cost of about Rs 5000 plus at the Jungle Lodge, you pay about Rs 2000 per person for an even better stay. And you get personalised service.
Got up in the morning at 6.00 am and reached the Nagarhole sanctuary for the safari trip. The drive upto the safari starting point was a good starter for the trip. The forest is quite beautiful and especially the early morning ambience, with the chill in the air and mistiness all around, is really refreshing,
At the safari start point, they have a few noisy buses to take you around. I got to know that there are some jeeps as well but most of the times, they are busy on duty for visiting officials and general public does not get this option. The safari trip is always a game of chance, and my luck was probably left behind in Bangalore. My quest to see elephants and tigers remained unfulfilled. However, there were deers and stags, and a few wild boars, which sort of made up the safari to some extent.
It is human nature that we love something which is partially seen and partially hidden, and it was no different for me when I could manage this click of the animal half hidden behind a tree.
Another boar, and this time a close up.
Sighted a vulture which was sitting near the carcass of a buffalo.
It was now time for us to head for breakfast, which turned out to be a typical coorgi affair with rice rotis and sagoo. A fresh breakfast is always welcome and we ate to our hearts content. With our stomach full, it was time for the next item on the agenda. Irpu falls, which was about 10 kms from Kutta.
I had read a lot about shooting waterfall pics with slow shutter speed and hence had brought a tripod from Bangalore especially for this purpose. Reached the base of Irpu falls and then walked up with my gear on the stony stairpath for about 10 minutes to reach the waterfall. Once I saw the beautiful waterfall, realised that the uphill climb was well worth it.
While my wife and son got about enjoying the scenery, I got busy into setting up the tripod. This was my first experience with a tripod, and after juggling around the nuts and screws for sometime, finally managed to set it up. Started clicking the waterfalls with different shutterspeeds and from different angles.
This was the first one.
The next one was at a slower shutterspeed.
Felt happy with the result and this time tried a different perspective.
Overall I felt happy with my first waterfall clicks and that too with a tripod.
On our way back to the homestay for lunch, saw an old man sitting near the road. The man was lost in his thoughts, looking quite haggard and something in his appearance and the setting made me reach out to my camera for a quick snap.
Had a simple lunch at a roadside joint. Post lunch started out for Tholpetta sanctuary, which is quite nearby, in the quest for a sighting for elephants. On the way to Tholpetta, got a couple of interesting clicks.
My luck still eluded me at Tholpetta as well. The safari at Tholpetta was boring and uneventful. In fact there was hardly any sighting of any animal in the entire hourlong journey. Felt disappointed and contemplated another safari trip back at Nagarhole sanctuary. A local guy however, advised us to simply drive through the Nagarhole road instead of taking the safari. Decided to take that route and drove down in my own car. More sightings of deer and peafowl followed but that was not what I was looking for. It was getting dark by now and reluctantly started back towards the homestay. Just as we were reaching the exit gate, saw a group of people staring towards the bushes on one side of the road. Stopped my vehicle, and suddenly lo and behold, this is what I got to see ....
The elephant emerged from behind some trees, gave me about a few seconds to click and before I could try different other angles, it quickly disappeared behind the bushes. From the sounds we could make out that it was walking parallel to us in the thick bushes. In a few minutes, there were more sounds and we realised that there was in fact a large herd of about 10-12 elephants which was walking in the bushes about 100 feet from us. It was quite scary, and yet a very exciting feeling. We could catch fleeting glimpses of the large elephants but by now it was very dark and we were in a lonely track. The elephants were becoming quite noisy and we decided to exit the scene quickly. Anyway our day was made and the objective of the trip was now achieved.
The next day morning, we were on our way back, after breakfast. Just as we started, saw a beautiful sunbird perched high atop a litchi tree.
Reached Bangalore late in the evening with great memories of a a very enjoyable trip.
Nagarhole, Irpu falls and Karanji lake are lovely places and well recommended, for photographers as well as a nature lovers.
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