Travel Review: Tusker Trails, Bandipur

Its raining ants!! I shrieked and jumped out of the bed. That was the only negative experience we had at the Tusker Trails lodge situated within the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka, part of the vast expanse of forests spanning Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu - part of the erstwhile hunting grounds, quite literally, of first the Mysore Wodeyars and then, the poacher-brigand Veerappan. There were ants falling from the roof of our room right on our bed. It wasn't the fault of the management of Tusker Trials. They told us that the rooms had been fumigated but ants have a way of returning, especially in the rains. Our rooms were immediately changed and we spent our night in Bandipur in relative comfort after shooing away a pony who toddled towards us for an apple or two in the middle of the night.

Tusker Trails has a beautiful rustic look to it and is reasonably priced. The food is simple but delicious and the service prompt and friendly. The rooms are simple and pretty and the swimming pool inviting.

The safari provided by Tusker Trails into the Bandipur forests was fun and despite lasting two hours the picturesque scenery and animals caught off guard made it an exciting ride.

We drove at least 40 km into the forest and saw quite a few animals such as the Dhol (wild dogs), lazy cud-munching bison, deer, sambhar but missed the leopard sitting on a branch right above our jeep as we were too busy clicking away at the Dhols!

Which, obviously, came as a huge disappointment when a Venetian couple who had been in the Jeep behind us later on showed us pictures of the leopard who continued to sit at the same spot with a huge bellyfull of deer. But as we drove back to the Campus we heard another leopard snarling in the bushes and spook the deer that were busy grazing. But we didn't get to view the elusive leopard.

Deer are ample in Bandipur and so are wild boars. Tigers are a rare sighting but our safari driver swore he saw one ten days ago.

We did see wild elephants who turned tail and hid in the bushes waiting for us to leave.

The weather was cold and the forests were lush filled with beautiful birds like peacocks, bulbuls, woodpeckers etc.

When we returned to Tusker Trails by about eight in the night, we were pretty hungry and were greeted by candle lit dinner and congenial company.

Early in the morning we went for another Safari ride but got to see fewer animals - some bison, birds and some memorable scenic views. Ideally the evening safari is better than the morning one since by the time the morning safari starts, the animals go down by the riverside and the jeeps are not allowed to access to those areas.

After the morning Safari we had a hearty breakfast at Tusker Trails and drove on towards Ooty.

Bandipur is a good weekend getaway for nature lovers and those who still want the city amenities such as air conditioners, televisions etc could try the new Cicada Resorts.