India Traveller

Thunderstorm in Las Vegas

2010-10-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

It normally doesn't rain in Las Vegas but when it does, it pours cats and dogs.

Next Day

Next day, it rained again, but this time the rain was confined to the hill tops. The setting sun illuminated the rain on the mountains into a golden glow:

Clouds signal the end of summer as they splatter colors on the sky's vast canvas:

A Normal Day

Everyday the rays of the morning sun, first illuminate the mountains on the west:

This night, I zoomed into the Las Vegas Strip and tried to capture Luxor Hotel and Casino - the casino is shaped like a giant pyramid and shines a light many miles into the sky. This light can be seen from anywhere in Vegas. You can also see this light illuminating clouds at night. I don't have a tripod which resulted in a shaky image at 20x zoom and low light:

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 5

2010-05-28T00:52:00.000-07:00

You can view the first 4 parts of this photo blog here: Part1 Part2 Part3 Part4

In this part of the photo blog on Himalayan birds, I shall showcase the birds shot at Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand, India. Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for its Himalayan bird species. It is said to inhabit 200 bird species. The average altitude of the sanctuary is 2412 metres. Binsar is also famous for its panoramic view of the Himalayan peaks like Kedarnath, Shivling, Trisul and majestic Nanda Devi from a place called 'Zero Point'. Zero point is a 2 Km trek inside the sanctuary along an abandoned jeep trail. You would be safer relying on your legs than a 4 wheel drive anyway :-)

Grey tit Flycatcher

Shooting this small bird was a challenge especially as the clouds/fog had engulfed the Binsar forest. Our guide helped identify this bird as Grey tit Flycatcher.

Oriental Turtle Dove

This bird was about 100 feet away on a branch. Keeping the camera steady was a challenge at 46x optical zoom (2 MP). However the image stabilization on Canon Powershot SX10 helped as I got a decent shot.

Binsar Forest

Starting at this altitude (7000 feet) you will find plenty of Rhododendron trees. You can see their red flowers below.

The forest was steep, dense and dark.

Zero Point

This is the summit of our trek. From here you can get great panoramic views of the Himalayan peaks. But on this occasion there were clouds blocking the view. However, we got great views from Nainital. You can view those wonderful pictures here: Uttarakhand Himalayas - Best views of the Himalayas

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Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 4

2010-05-26T01:12:00.000-07:00

The birds featured in Part1, Part2 and Part3 of this photo blog were shot in Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand. Some of the birds I showcased there could be found in Bangalore as well - as I guess both places share a similar altitude. However, the birds I am going to showcase below are true Himalayan species as they can be found only in these parts. The altitude is 1900m. The place is Ranikhet. Our stay in Holm Farm Heritage in Ranikhet offered a splendid photo opportunity.

Red-billed Blue Magpie

What a beautiful bird! Unfortunately I could not capture this bird in flight. Just like the Asian Paradise Fly-Catcher, this bird looks even more beautify when it flies. Its a multi-colored bird - the body is blue and white, the head is black and the beak is red. I saw this bird from the balcony of our hotel room. Determined to locate this bird and take a shot, we ventured into the surrounding hilly forest on foot. We were able locate it and shoot some pictures and videos.

Scarlet Minivet

The beauty of this bird is not its size or the length of its tail but its color. True to its name this bird is scarlet colored. Wikipedia defines scarlet color as "bright shade of red that is slightly toward orange". Perfect color! Shooting this bird however proved a challenge - the bird made regular appearances on the Silver Oak tree outside my bedroom balcony. It was a good 60 feet away. Utilizing the 560mm (20x optical) zoom lens on my Canon Powershot SX10is, I managed a decent hand-held shot. The light was not too good - it was an overcast day and the portions of black on this bird meant that exposure had to be compensated accordingly.

Green-backed Tit

Another tiny bird - this time bright yellow.

Himalayan Bulbul

After the Red-whiskered Bulbul and the Red-vented Bulbul, here's another Bulbul, the Himalayan one. I like this one the best among the three. What do you think?

Himalayan Swiftlet

These tiny birds are quite common in the Himalayan region but for 'plain' folks like us, they are different and need to be captured on camera :-)

You may be interested in this related post:Uttarakhand Himalayas - Best views of the Himalayas

You can post your comments below.

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 3

2010-05-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

You can read the first 2 parts of this photo blog here:

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 1

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 2

All the birds I post here were shot in Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.

Jungle Babbler

The Jungle Babbler (Turdoides striata) is an Old World babbler found in India and parts of Asia. I got a really good shot. While shooting I dint realize that there was a spider in this bill:

Flycatcher

Although this small bird might belong to the Flycatcher family, I am not sure. Please help me identify this bird by posting a comment.

Red vented Bulbul

The Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) is a common bird found in Bangalore too. This particular shot was taken in Jim Corbett National Park. You can see it is just about to take off. I was waiting for it to turn its head so that I could get a good shot. You can see the red spot under its tail wig (near the left wing) which gives the bird its name.

Red-whiskered Bulbul

The Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), unlike its cousin the Red-vented Bulbul has a red spot just under the eye.

Here is another shot of the same bird, again a common resident in Bangalore.

Ring-necked Parakeet

There were several of these birds on the trees. Quite common in India. Getting a shot proved difficult as these birds generally prefer tall trees to perch.

Green bee eater

Another beautiful bird. This bird is also quite common in Karnataka although you need to get out of Bangalore city to be able to spot this. This picture is from Jim Corbett National Park.

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Best views of the Himalayas

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 2

2010-05-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

You can find the 1st Part of this photo blog here:Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 1

Chestnut-tailed Starling

This bird is also called Grey-headed Myna (Sturnia malabarica). It is a resident species found in wooded habitats in India and parts of Asia.

Ashy Prinia

This bird is also called Ashy Wren-Warbler (Prinia socialis). I managed a good capture with my Canon Powershot SX10is.

Common Tailorbird

The Common Tailorbird ( Orthotomus sutorius) is classified as a song bird. It is popular in India for its nest made of leaves "sewn" together and immortalized by Rudyard Kipling in his Jungle Book. These birds are quite shy and are difficult to capture on camera. Good luck, a long lens (560mm) and lots of patience finally paid off as I got this shot:

Hummingbird

Another difficult to shoot bird - as most small birds are. I saw this bird feeding on nectar of flowers in the resort garden in Corbett National Park. I managed a decent shot:

Asian Pied Starling

The Asian Pied Starling (Gracupica contra), is also known as Pied Myna. Nice looking bird. Not too shy. Easy to get close and shoot.

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Best views of the Himalayas

2010-05-13T02:47:00.000-07:00

Few sights in nature are as magnificent and striking as panoramic views of the Great Himalayan Range. For great views of the Himalayan range you need 2 things - heavy rain the previous day and clear skies on the day you are viewing. Heavy rain is required for clear views because in dry weather dust from the ground rises into the atmosphere hindering far-reaching views.

In Uttarakhand, the best views of Himalayas are available during the months of October and November - just after the monsoons. This is the time when the dust has been locked into the soil by the rains and the skies are clear from the monsoon clouds. The views get progressively worse from November onwards. June and July are the monsoon months. During the rest of the year if you get heavy rain you may stand a great chance of Himalayan views the following morning if the sky clears.

Time of the day is another factor you need to consider. The best time to see Himalayan peaks is early morning - when the first rays of sunlight kiss the top of the highest peaks resulting in a golden glow. After about 9 AM, clouds start forming just below the peaks blocking their view. This is because the sunlight evaporates water from these snow clad peaks and forms clouds which rise higher during the course of the day and block the top of these peaks.

Our own quest for great Himalyan views did not have the advantage of season - we planned our Uttarakhand trip in early May. However, we were optimistic of our chances and picked resorts that boasted great panaromic views of the Himalayas. We stayed at Holm Farm Heritage in Ranikhet and Mountain Resort, Khali Estate in Binsar. Both places offer great views of the Himalayas. But we were disappointed at both places as the dry dusty weather did not offer us any views. Our luck changed in Nainital when it rained cats and dogs during our first day there. Next day the sky cleared up and we set out to Dorothy's seat (7000 feet) on horse back along a steep winding horse-track. This is the view we got from Dorothy's seat in Nainital (click on images to enlarge):

Here is a close-up of one of the peaks:

Words cannot describe the majesty of the Himalayas. They were massive, snow covered and seemed to float in the air, high above other mountain ranges in the foreground - effectively dwarfing them.

From Dorothy's seat, we proceeded to another viewpoint - called Himalaya darshan. Thankfully, to reach this viewpoint one doesn't need to climb a horse as it is accessible by road. There was pandemonium on the narrow road at 7000 feet as everybody stopped to view the Himalayas:

This is the view we got (The Trishul and Nanda Devi peaks are visible clearly):

Here is a closeup of Trishul, which is shaped like Lord Shiva's trident:

I used Canon Powershot SX10is for photos and videos. A super-zoom camera and a pair of binoculars will help you get close up views:

Have a look at this video which was shot from the same place:

Pictures cannot describe the beauty of what one sees with the naked eye. Start planning your trip to the Himalayas soon. You can post comments below.

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 1

2010-05-12T01:58:00.000-07:00

The incredibly beautiful Asian Paradise Flycatcher - with its long white forked tail, black head and blue eyes returned again and again to its nest on the mango tree outside our cottage on the fringes of Jim Corbett National Park.

I had seen this beautiful bird once before while camping at Jungle Lodge's Bheemeshwari Camp on the banks of the Cauvery. At that time I missed a photographic shoot of this elusive bird. However, Corbett National Park not only gave me an opportunity to capture this bird in photographs and videos but also allowed me to observe how it constructed its nest, how an Oriental White Eye pair stole nest building material from the Fly-catcher's nest and how different the female Fly-catcher looked as compared to the male.

I will talk about our resort later. Let's get down to the birds first!

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

I managed real-close up shots of this bird as I had discovered its nest right outside our cottage. On occasions, I did not even have to use the full 20x optical zoom of my camera - Canon Powershot SX10is.

Here are 3 shots of this bird:

You can see it seated on its nest-under-construction in this shot:

What a beautiful bird:

This is the female Asian Paradise Fly-catcher:

Here is a video of the fly-catcher building its nest. Unfortunately, blogger does not support a higher resolution of this video:

Streak-throated Woodpecker

We spotted this beautiful bird while on jeep safari in the Lohachaur area within Corbett National Park.

It seemed unperturbed by our presence as it went looking for insects under the leaves:

Kalij Pheasant

The Kalij Pheasant, Lophura leucomelanos, is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills.

The female Kalij Pheasant looks quite different from the male:

I managed to capture a brief video of this bird using my Canon Powershot SX10is, the same camera I used for the pictures:

Oriental Magpie Robin:

This bird, when found on the ground, holds its tail upright. The Magpie Robin is famous for its songs. The bird was about 10 yards away from our jeep, I had to use all of the 20x zoom my camera had to capture this shot:

Oriental Turtle Dove:

This bird with colorful feathers appeared in between 2 trees. I stopped the safari jeep and got a good capture:

Spring in Bangalore

2010-03-28T03:14:00.000-07:00

Its late march - the spring season in Bangalore and most of the trees lining the roads are in full bloom. They are an absolute treasure to watch.

One of the most beautiful tree flowering in spring is the Jacaranda which is said to have originated from Brazil. It has purple flowers and when if full bloom, its spectacular. During February the tree sheds all its leaves and the flowers start appearing in March. Post March, the tree starts regaining its leaves. These trees are found along airport road in Bangalore. Here's a picture of several Jacaranda trees in Lal Bagh botanical gardens:

Jacaranda trees

Jacaranda flowers

The Pink Tabebuia is another spectacle to watch during spring in Bangalore. It is common along the main thoroughfares of the city.

Here are some other pictures of spring:

Bougainvillea

Multiple colours

Fresh new leaves

Lotus bloom

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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA

2009-12-19T00:46:00.000-08:00

James Riddle and I went on tour to the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. His keen eye spotted movement soon after we entered the park. We spotted a small herd of Rocky mountain big horn sheep in the mountains. These are wild animals which feed on the desert vegetation.

These sheep species are believed to have migrated from Siberia some 750,000 years ago when the Bering Land Bridge connected the continents of Asia and North America at Alaska.

In the video below, you can see these sheep feeding on desert vegetation.

The video is a bit shaky because I had to shoot at 20x optical zoom without a tripod with my Canon PowerShot SX10 digital camera. The quality of the video was much better before Google compressed it for this blog.

These sheep feed on the small poodles of water - as James explains in the video - that collect on hollow rocks in the desert mountains. These are the only sources of water in the otherwise barren land. You can see the big-horn sheep drinking water from a small poodle in this video:

We were following the White Domes trail in the Valley of Fire State park. The canyon walls slowly started to close-in on us until there was just a foot of gap between the two walls. This geological feature, as James explains in the video is called a slot canyon.

Here's a picture of the slot canyon:
There were numerous cavities and holes in the rocks caused by millions of years of erosion. This video has been shot from one of these holes.

This picture gives you a better idea of the place from where I took the video:

2009-12-04T00:16:00.000-08:00

Bellagio Hotel & Casino - Giant musical fountain

The giant musical fountain in front of Bellagio Hotel and Casino is one of the major 'free' shows in Las Vegas. You can just stand on the road and watch the spectacle. The show is repeated every half hour.

You can watch these fountains dance to the tunes of other popular songs on you tube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bellagio+fountain&search_type=&aq=f

An ode to a mountain

2009-07-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Our company recently undertook a trek to Kumara Parvatha in India's Western Ghats. Here's a lyrical account of our trek :-) Love it or hate it? Do post a comment.

An ode to a mountain

Shrouded in a blanket of mist and cloud
Your heights held a challenge we loved.
So we set out to conquer your slopes
With a beautiful view among our hopes

We marched steadily towards your peak
A glorious view is all that we would seek.
But, will you lift your cloudy veil
And let us savour your beauty so frail?

Battling blood-sucking leeches
With no time for songs or speeches
Along we marched into the dense jungle
Watching our step, so not to fumble

Carrying a heavy load on our backs
And trekking along the mountain tracks
We got soaked in heavy rain
Knowing our efforts will not be in vain.

Alas it was not to be...
Your beauty we could not fully see
You never lifted your cloudy veil
With all our efforts only to fail.

But we are not all that dejected,
As some mountaineer once suggested..
"You can never conquer the mountain
You can only conquer yourself and gain".

Jnana Teja

KSRTC to introduce Mercedes Benz buses

2009-06-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

Do you like travelling by the Swedish Volvo buses? Then I am sure you would love to travel by the German Mercedes Benz buses. KSRTC which has the largest fleet of inter-city Volvo buses is planning to acquire Mercedes Benz buses by the end of March 2010. Mercedes Benz has expanded its Pune facility to churn out buses. MSRTC has also inked a deal with Mercedes Benz.

Soon, you could be travelling in buses such as these:

These buses have a capacity of 44/49 seats - similar to the Volvo buses.

For further information check these links:
http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedkingdom/mpc/mpc_unitedkingdom_website/en/home_mpc/bus.flash.html

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Interview/Wilfried-Aulbur-Mercedes-Benz-India-CEO/articleshow/4685155.cms

Birds of Lalbagh, Bangalore

2009-04-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Armed with our new Canon SX10, we set out to Lalbagh on a Sunday morning in April to shoot some birds. We reached Lalbagh at around 9am. It turned out to be a cloudy day, not great for photography. Once inside the garden, we headed straight to the lake.

We saw plenty of Black Kites roaming about on the ground, close to the pond.

Black Kite (Milvus migrans)

As we reached the pond, the scene looked promising. Lots of birds. There were several Purple Moorhen in the lotus pond and one on a close-by tree.

Purple Moorhen (Gallinula Chloropus) with a duck

Purple Moorhen (Gallinula Chloropus)

Purple Moorhen (Gallinula Chloropus)

Compared to the Moorhens, the Pond Herons were less active. One of them stood like a statue for several minutes, posing for a photograph.

Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii)

I like the egrets, they are always majestic - in pure white. I wonder how they manage to maintain the colour.

Little Egret ( Egretta garzetta)

In contrast, Cormorants are the darkest black I have ever seen. I call them scuba divers as they dive deep into the water to hunt for fish. Here's one taking rest...

Little Cormorant (Phalacrocorax niger)

Little Cormorant (Phalacrocorax niger)

..and here's one just emerging out of a dive...

Little Cormorant (Phalacrocorax niger)

There were a pair of geese wading in the water and were a delight to watch...

Of course, who doesn't like the squirrels, especially if they obligingly pose for a photograph?

Finally, here's a lotus to sign off.

Weekend getaway: Cauvery Fishing Camp at Bheemeshwari

2009-03-08T04:28:00.000-07:00

After some hectic work during the week, we wanted a relaxing getaway close to Bangalore. We wanted to go to a place where we could just relax and do nothing. Cauvery Fishing Camp at Bheemeshwari not only fulfilled these requirements, but also turned out to be one of the best places we had ever visited.

We booked our log-hut through the website of Jungle Lodges. We left Bangalore on a Saturday morning at 9AM. We had breakfast in the city and proceeded to Kanakapura road via Banashankari. Kanakapura road is a great road to drive. Though it is not as well constructed as the Bangalore-Mysore highway, it is mostly devoid of traffic and passes through scenic countryside. You will see several ponds dotted with birds and lotus flowers along the route.

After driving through a bad patch of road inside Kanakapura town and passing through Sathnur village, we finally reached Hallaguru. Here we enquired the route to the camp at a shop. An elderly gentleman, apparently eager to ostentate his English skills approached us with much pomp and gave us the directions. Although we couldn't fathom his utterances, we could comprehend from his gestures that he wanted us to drive 10 Kms down an adjacent road.

This 10 Km stretch from Halaguru to Bheemeshwari winds through hills and forests and is completely devoid of people. Occasionally though, you will encounter herds of sheep which test your patience as you try to teach them the niceties of heeding to a car-horn. It was getting just too beautiful for us to continue driving on. So we stopped and stepped out of the car to soak in the landscape. The trees were just shedding their leaves revealing their beautiful fractal shaped branches and the leaves were resplendent with colours of autumn.

After three hours of leisurely driving we reached the camp at 12 noon, just in time for check-in. After the paperwork and gulping down the welcome drink, we were escorted to our very own log-hut. The log-hut is actually a brick and mortar structure beautifully camouflaged with logs and a sloping roof. It is air-conditioned, has its own attached bathroom and a verandah. It is a treat to sit on the verandah along with your coffee and enjoy the melodious orchestra of bird calls.

Each log-hut has its own hammock outside where one can lie down and watch the undulating waters of the Cauvery river as it flows down the valley.

The resort is secluded as it is nestled between two hills. The Cauvery flows in-between these hills and along the resort cottages. After checking into our accommodation, we proceeded to check-out the river in front of our log-hut.

It was a wonderful experience sitting along the riverside with none but the birds to keep us company. We watched the antics of night-herons as they dove into the river at one spot and emerged out of a different spot. We then got a wonderful photo opportunity when a Stone Plover landed near us and went about its business searching for food. This bird is not too shy and allowed us to get some reasonably good shots. Several birds fly along the surface of the river taking advantage of the ground-effect phenomenon which gives them additional lift. We spotted some more bids which we could not identify.

It was 4 PM and time for our coracle ride. After strapping on the life jackets, we hopped into the coracle along with another couple. The coracle man took us some distance upstream. The ride

was pretty uneventful except for the sighting of a crocodile swimming in the water.

After the coracle ride, we decided to do a bit of kayaking. Kayaking costs Rs.300 for a couple.

You are your own although there will be a trained person following you in case you need help or advice. It was the first time that both of us handled an oar and we did manage to row some distance into the river. No doubt, it was fun. During monsoon, Bheemeshwari provides white water rafting at extra cost in addition to kayaking.

After the kayaking, we settled down on the river bank and enjoyed the beautiful sunset.

At 7 PM, there was a barbecue around a small, almost unnoticable camp fire. The vegans had bhajji and peanuts for the barbecue! It was a clear night and we could see hundreds of stars sparkling in the sky. We spent some time identifying constellations and then retreated to bed.

Early next morning, we went to the dining house at 7 AM ready for the trek. As we were waiting for other guests to arrive, we had a chat with Mr. Asif, the friendly assistant manager of the resort. He ushered us towards a small lemon tree near the resort office and showed us a beautiful bird unlike any we had ever seen before. It was the asian paradise fly-catcher with an incredibly long tail for its body size. It was white in colour and was restless, jumping from one branch to another, although the long tail made this activity look clumsy. Although we tried to take a snap of the bird, we couldn't get anything worth keeping due to lack of proper camera equipment.

Soon our guide arrived and we started the trek. The trek involved a walk along the forest

and a trek up the neighbouring hillocks. During our trek, we were lucky enough to see a spotted deer. There was a watch tower on top of the hill from where we had a splendid view of the river and the fog engulfed mountains. We were taken along a different route on our way down the mountain. This route was along the Cauvery river and offered us spectacular views of the landscape.

After the trek, we had a sumptuous breakfast, not just because it

was good but also because we knew that it would be very difficult to find restaurants along the way back home where we could stop for lunch. During the course of the breakfast, we met the assistant manager, Mr. Asif and thanked him for giving us a rare glimpse of the paradise flycatcher.

After breakfast, we again settled down on a rock along the river bank. The river water was sparkling against the morning sun. Sitting all by ourselves along the sprakling waters of the Cauvery and watching the birdlife was one of the high points of our trip.

The river is interspersed with rocks and on one such rock far in the middle of the river, we spotted what looked like a crocodile.

It was well camouflaged against the rock. After a closer look through the binoculars, we could see its

menacing teeth. Then we spotted another croc.

Though it was wonderful sitting there, it was a bit disconcerting with the crocs around. As it was time for check-out, we took one last deep breath, one last look around the wonderful landscape and went back to our log-hut.

After check out, it was once again back to the hustle and bustle of the city, but not before another enjoyable drive along the beautiful Kanakapura road with memories to cherish.

Please post your feedback about this travelogue. If you could identify any of the birds, do drop in a comment.

THE GUIDEBOOK

Jungle Lodges and Resorts is a unit of Govt. of Karnataka. There are three camps in close proximity to each other of which Bheemeshwari is the largest and most easily accessible. The other two are Doddamakali and Galibore. Doddamakali is 7 Kms upstream and Galibore 15 Kms downstream from Bheemeshwari. Doddamakali and Galibore are really remote. They have only tented cottages and no electricity. Furthermore, you either need to trek or have a four-wheel drive to reach them. Bheemeshwari however offers air-conditioning and other comforts.

Getting there
Bheemeshwari is a remote place and it is better to hire your own transport. Take the Bangalore-Kanakapura road. Drive past towns of Kanakapura, Sathnur and Halaguru. From Halaguru you have to drive about 10Kms towards Muttatti. Don't be perturbed if you feel you are on a road going nowhere. You are on the right track! Most of the intersections are well marked to guide you towards the camp. When in doubt, ask the locals.

Accomodation
Bheemeshwari offers log-huts, mud-huts and tented cottages. Log-huts and mud-huts are air-conditioned with attached bath. Log-huts are a good option at Bheemeshwari as they are located close to the river.

Cost
Log-huts cost Rs.2750 per person per day and includes accomodation, food and all activities. You will have to pay extra for angling and rafting, though.

Best time to visit
Best time to visit is soon after the monsoon as the river is full and rafting is possible. However, if you are interested in birds, January is a good time. Water starts to recede from January onwards.

Best moments of the trip
-Stargazing at the campfire
-Birdwatching sitting along the river in the morning
-Glimpse of the elusive paradise fly-catcher

Ranganathittu bird sanctuary, Tipu Sultan's summer palace and Sangam

2008-11-06T07:05:00.000-08:00

Ranganathittu bird sanctuary:

Ranganathittu is a beautiful bird sanctuary just 130 Kms away from Bangalore near the historical town of Srirangapatna. It is a small bird sanctuary (0.67 sq. Kms) with a large concentration of birds. The sanctuary basically consists of small islets on the river Cauvery. The trees on this river serve as nesting sites for a variety of migratory birds.

Once you reach the sanctuary, you have to take a boat which will take you close to the birds. The boatman will give you information on the different species of birds.

Birds of Ranganathittu:

The most common birds during the winter season are the black headed ibis. We saw several of these birds nesting in the trees and feeding their young.

Black-headed Ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus)

Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster), also called the Snake Bird

Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster)

River Tern (Sterna aurantia)

Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala)

Openbill Stork (Anastomus oscitans)

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Indian Pond Heron or Paddybird (Ardeola grayii)

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)

Best time to visit:

The best time to visit the sanctuary, according to the local bird guide is late February to early May. That's when you can see a large variety of birds. However, you will not be disappointed anytime of the year you visit here.

Getting there: (Bangalore to Ranganathittu)

From Bangalore, take the 4-lane Mysore Highway. After about 125Kms, you will reach the historical town of Srirangapatna. Drive further beyond the exit arch of Srirangapatna. Just a kilometre after leaving the town and just after you cross a bridge across the river Cauvery, you have to take a road to your right. You can see Karnataka tourism signpost pointing towards Ranganthittu. Just a couple of Kilometres down this road is the sanctuary.

Timings and Fee:

The park is open from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. The charges are Rs. 25 per adult, Rs. 35 for four-wheeler parking and Rs. 25 for a still camera. You will have to hire a boat to see the birds and it will cost you Rs. 50 per head or Rs. 250 for an exclusive boat. The boat ride lasts for 20-30 minutes.

When you are boating in Ranganathittu, be careful not to put your hand inside the water, as they are infested with marsh crocodiles also known as the mugger.

Marsh or Mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris)

Nearby places:

You are not likely to spend more than a couple of hourse in Raganathittu. So, you can spend the rest of your day visiting the nearby places. Here is a tourist map of Srirangapatna and Ranganathittu:

Nature lovers and historians alike will love Dariah Daulat Bagh or Tipu Sultan's Summer palace. It has beautiful landscaped gardens. From Ranganathittu, you have to come back a kilometre towards Bangalore and then take a right turn to reach this place. Here's a panoramic view of the place:

As you can see it has well maintained gardens with beautiful flowers. Where there are flowers, there are honey-bees:

Just a few kilometres down the same road is Sangam - where two branches of Cauvery meet. If you like boats, you can take a coracle ride here.

Kalavarahalli Betta (Skandagiri)

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Also read: Goa Travellogue and Trip to Shivanasamudra waterfalls

Kalavarahalli Betta (Skandagiri) is a hill which is part of the Nandi Hill ranges, North of Bangalore. It offers trekking and moderate-to-easy climbing options close to the city of Bangalore, India. It is situated in the district of Chickballapur, about 56 Kms from Bangalore city.

How to reach

To reach the place, take the National Highway 7 to Hyderabad via the new Bangalore International Airport. There are two routes to the place:

1) Hebbal flyover - Devanahalli - Nandi Hills - Muddenahalli - Kalavarahalli - Skandagiri

2) Hebbal flyover - Devanahalli - Chikkaballapur - Kalavarahalli - Skandagiri

Things to take

Please carry lots of water, adequate food and first-aid as there is virtually nothing available here.

Can I see clouds below the peak?

Yes you can, provided you are extremely lucky. The cool weather season of end November - early February is the best time to visit. You should be on top of the hill early in the morning in order to be able to admire the cloud formations under the peak.

Avoid rainy season as the climbing can get very dangerous.

Planning the trek

It will take you 2-3 hours to reach the peak of the hill (including breaks). You can plan to have lunch on the peak. It is best to be back on the ground before dark. The entire expedition will take you 6-7 hours.

Pictures:

View of Kalavarahalli Betta from the foot of the mountain:

Ruined fortification on top of the hill:

Temple on top of the hill:

View of Nandi Hill from the top of Kalavarahalli Betta:
Panoramic view from the top of the hill:

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Also read: Goa Travellogue and Trip to Shivanasamudra waterfalls

Shivanasamudra Falls

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You might also be interested in my Goa Travellogue.

Shivanasamudra Falls is situated off Kanakapura road (NH-209) on the border of Mandya and Chamrajnagar districts of South Karnataka. It consists of two falls Gaganachukki (in Mandya district) and Bharachukki (in Chamrajnagar district). Both these falls are seperated by a distance of 2-3 Kms by road and it is impossible to see both the falls from a single view-point. Each of these falls look similar.

Shivanasamudram is actually an island town. The Cauvery river, bifurcates around this town and creates the two waterfalls Gaganachukki and Bharachukki. The monsoon season of July to October is the best time to visit the waterfalls.

The plan

It was the month of August. The plan was to leave early in the morning, packing lunch and water. We planned to have breakfast en route on Mysore highway. We wanted to be back in Bangalore before dusk.

The transport

Our new Wagon-R Vxi. We filled 25 litres of petrol the previous day and checked the tyre pressure. Kept the first-aid kit, tool-kit and manual handy handy just in case there is a break-down. The car performed well throughout the journey. It handled the bad stretches of road between Maddur and Malavalli pretty well.

The essentials

We packed lunch, drinking water, camera, binoculours, Karnataka map and lots of snacks :-)

The Journey

We left our place in Bangalore at 6:30 AM on a Sunday. In 20 minutes we reached mysore road on the outskirts of bangalore. We stopped for breakfast on Mysore road at Kamat Lokaruchi, a popular dhaba.

Bangalore-Mysore road is a scenic a 4-lane highway. There are several restaurants and eateries along this route. You can find Coffee Day, Barista and the popular dhabha Kamat Lokaruchi on this route. Kamat is located about 70Kms from Bangalore after the town of Ramanagaram in a place called Janapada Loka.

For Shivanasamudra falls, if you are taking the mysore road, after Maddur, about 80 Kms from Bangalore, you have to take a left turn towards Malavalli. The road between Maddur and Malavalli is in pretty bad shape with some pot-holes as deep as 1-foot. Beware! A bad stretch of road:

The army can use this as a good testing ground for their battletanks :-)

After crossing Malavalli town, you have to go further to reach the falls. You will first come across a prominent arch on the left which will take you to the Gaganachukki falls and the hydro-project. We reached Gaganchukki at 10:30 AM. Approximate travel time was 3.5 hours.

Gaganachukki falls (Mandya district)

These falls are have good facilities like a guest-house overlooking the falls and a restaurant. There are steps and view-points which are easily accessible. However, you cannot go down to the waterfalls as it is completely fenced. You have to enjoy the view from a distance. We took some snaps of Gaganachukki:

Gaganachukki falls is the location of the first Hydro-electric Power station in Asia, which was set up in the year 1902. A view of the project:

These falls are infested with monkeys. So, if you need a picnic, choose Bharachukki instead.

Bharachukki falls (Chamrajnagar district)

After Gaganachukki, you have to travel some 2-3 Kms and cross the Cauvery via a bridge, to reach Bharachukki:

The Bharachukki waterfalls have a set of steep stone steps leading you to the base of the waterfalls:

You will be swamped by the mist at the base of the falls:

Here you can enjoy a coracle (a round boat) ride which takes you close to the falls, although it is dangerous to get into the water as the currents are strong. In the picture below, you can spot 7 coracles in Bharachukki:

Here's a picture of a coracle man, testing the waters at Bharachukki falls:

The Bharachukki falls are much more accessible than Gaganachukki. You can reach upto the water. You can find plenty of picnic spots here:

We headed back towards Bangalore at 3 PM and reached its outskirts at 6:30. All in all, it was a good outing for a day, however, there was not as much forest cover as we had seen during our trip to the Doudhsagar waterfall area in Goa.

Goa Travellogue

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You might also be interested in my Shivanasamudra waterfall travellogue

Planning
We had 4 days to spare for our holiday and a plethora of potential destinations in India to choose from. We had to rule out Andamans and Lakshadweep as the hotels were completely booked. So we had to settle for Goa and in the end it turned out to be a great decision.

I am a nature lover and wanted to cover places of natural beauty in Goa. We were not really interested in seeing the old town or Goa's churches. As we had only 4 days and Goa being a large territory, we decided to restrict ourselves to the beaches of North Goa. However, we decided to cover Doudhsagar waterfalls if time permitted.

Things to take
Don't forget to carry your driving licence as the best way to see Goa is by renting a bike. Sun gear like Hat, goggles and sun-screen lotion are a must. Throw in a map to chart your itinerary.

Where to stay
Accommodation in Goa is expensive and there is a lot of demand in the peak season. Remember, Goa is a large territory. If you decide to explore North Goa, look for a hotel there.

Bangalore to Goa
Goa is connected to Bangalore via road, rail and air. If you have time, you can explore the snail paced Indian Railways as the train passes through the scenic Western Ghats. All flights starting from Bangalore reach Goa only in the afternoon. This meant that instead of 4 days, we now had only 3 and a half days!

It was a clear day and the view outside the plane was brilliant

Goa

Day1: Baga Beach

As it was around 3PM by the time we checked into the hotel, we wanted to head to the nearest beach to catch the sunset. Its called Baga beach. I would call Baga a complete beach sans the crowd. It has all water sports facilities and beach restaurants that Goa is famous for. Yet its not crowded and is quite clean. We could catch the setting sun on the Arabian Sea at Baga Beach:

After the sunset, we played Frisbee on the beach for sometime

Day 2: Vagator Beach and Chapora Fort

North of Baga Beach is Vagator Beach. We hired a bike (Rs.300 per day) and reached the cliff overlooking the Vagator beach:

Here are some more pictures of the Vagator beach:

On the northern end of the Vagator beach is the Chapora Fort (of Dil Chahta Hai fame) atop a hill. You can see the Vagator beach and Chapora fort on top of the hill in the distance:

We then made our way to the fort. It was a steep climb up the hill to reach the fort:

Once we reached the fort, we looked back at the lush greenery:

We then made our way to the sea-end of the fort for some breadth-taking scenery:

Day 3: Doudhsagar waterfalls

Doudhsagar waterfalls are located in the Western Ghats, 80 Kms away from Goa's coast. The best way to get there is to hire a cab. Once you reach the forest department checkpost, you will have to leave your car behind and take a government 4x4 (Rs.300 per person) for the last 10 Kms as the road through the forest is pretty bad. Here you can see our jeep crossing a stream:

The jeep will leave you 1 Km away from the falls. You have to trek from there. You will pass through the beautiful forest:

Here are some breadthtaking views of the falls. Notice that the waterfalls has a railway bridge running across it:

Day 4: Morjim, Ashwem and Arambol beaches

This was our last day in Goa and wanting to make the most of it, we decided to visit the beautiful beaches of Pernem, Goa's northern-most district. This district is separated from the rest of Goa by the Chapora river. While crossing the Chapora river via the road bridge, we spotted the beautiful house-boat of Tourism department:

We made our way across the river and reached the Morjim beach. This beach is near the mouth of the Chapora river and is mostly devoid of beach-restaurants. Here's a veiw of Morjim beach:

Morjim beach is famous for turtles. You can spot migratory birds on the Morjim beach:

Next, we made our way to Ashwem, the beach to the north of Morjim. Ashwem has quite a few restaurants and lodges right on the beach. You could also rent a beach chair and an umbrella and lie down on the beach and have food served. We spotted some crabs on this beach. Here's a view of Ashwem beach:

Finally our dream destination, Arambol beach. This is by-far the best beach in North Goa, it is simply incredible. It is vast like a playground. We took some snaps of this beautiful beach:

Arambol is famous for parasurfing:

Epilogue
Goa is not just about beaches and sea food. There is lots more to experience: from forests and waterfalls to Forts and hills. Goa has something for everybody: the young, the old, the vegans, the honeymooners and the adventurers.

Must do in Goa
1. Candle light dinner on the Baga beach. There are numerous restaurants right on the beach which serve food for all taste buds.

2. Parasailing: Parasailing is available at Baga and Calangute beaches. It costs Rs.500 per head and Rs.800 per couple. Life jackets are provided.

3. Driving: Goa is one of those places which behooves you to have your own vehicle to explore it. Honda Activa (Rs.200 per day) and Bajaj Pulsar (Rs.300 per day) are available for rent. The roads in Goa are in good condition but are narrow. The roads pass through beautiful landscapes and its a pleasure driving in Goa.

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