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Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: February 22: When we first decided to take a holiday, our first in the last five years, the list of ‘places to see’ was enormous. I wouldn’t have minded the good old Mahabaleshwar but husband was planning ‘a real holiday’. He suggested Kabini (Nagarhole National Park or Rajiv Gandhi National Park) and I looked at him and kept on looking at him. Okay I guess, I had already stated I wouldn’t mind anything. So it was Kabini.

About 90 odd kms from Mysore, the ride to the Kapila lodges was bumpy, long and breathtakingly beautiful. Though we did a lot of surfing to find out what was in store for us. This was the real thing and it was like a dream. We were staying at the Kapila cottage resortswhich offered a great view of the river Kabini from the room. Just about 100 mt from the river, we would have spend days enjoying the tranquility and beauty in the rooms itself. After visiting the Mysore Palace on the previous day, this place was almost devoid of human beings. Walking in the palace was like walking on a railway platform, and here we were, with only 8 rooms in the resort ensured that the place is not over crowded. For umpteen time we wondered wish we knew this place earlier. This is ideal for a newly married couple, where they are spend time with each other. There are actually more animals around you than human beings.

Location
Once the hunting lodge of the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, Kabini is pure elephant country as one can see numerous herds at a time. Nagarahole National Park, which covers an area of 645 sq km is located from the south-west from Mysore at the foothills of the Brahmagir Hill Range. With the backdrop of misty Brahmagir Hill ranges and thickly forested terrain the Kabini river, which originates in the hills of Wayanad in Kerala and joins the Cauvery in Karnataka.

How to get there
Nagarhole is about 140 km from Bangalore and about 95 km from Mysore. You need to take a sturdy four-wheeler to get to the place. Our driver Thimmaya insisted that small cars are ‘useless’ in this place.

What to expect
Peace, tranquility, solitude, adventure, escapade, excellent service, great food, bumpy rides, herds of spotted deers, wild bulls, peacocks, monkeys, elephants and if you are the lucky ones a leopard and the tiger as well. Though we spotted a leopard we agreed that even if we did not the visit was definitely paisa vasul.

As part of the package at Kalinga, they offer you a wildlife safari.
A jungle jeep, takes you through the Nagarhole National Park where you are bound to see herds deers, elephants, wild dogs, bisons, deer, peacocks, wild boars a variety of birds and maybe if you're lucky tiger and the leopard.

Only the jungle jeeps are allowed to enter the terrain of the jungles, so unlike the other popular tourist haunts, these jungles have remained ‘untouched’ to a great extent. No littering of plastic bags and cola bottles…thank god!

A safari on elephant back is another experience altogether. Though I missed the ride-the ride in the jeep had taken a toll on my back- those who did insisted on another ride. “now I know why the kings and the emperors rode on elephants. It’s truly majestic,” they remarked.

Kabini Nagarhole abounds in other types of wildlife as well, and is probably the best place in South India to spot a tiger or a leopard.
Few places in the country left, where you can spot these wild animals in their natural surroundings and what better time to spot them than with your spouse. Share the adventure.

By Kanchan Apte