Bandipur

A long overdue family trip warranted me to search for a place located near Bangalore so we could do a quick weekend getaway.

After a bit of search, finalized on Bandipur as it suited us both distance wise and cost wise.  We left around 6 am on a Saturday morning, 5 of us by car. We took the Kanakapura road as we knew it was more scenic (and less traffic). There are not many places to eat on this road after Kanakapura. So we stopped for an early breakfast around 7.30 am at a small neat restaurant called Udupi Upahaar in Kanakapura.

Started driving again and enjoyed the drive along Kanakapura road/Malavalli/Nanjanagud/Gundlupete. We had made reservations at the Bandipur jungle lodges which is on the main road and at the beginning of the forest area. 

The gorgeous sunflower fields

We reached Bandipur before noon, so before checking in we continued driving a bit further into the forest area where we saw lots of deer and an elephant family of 3. 

After checking in to the jungle lodges and freshening up in our rooms, we had a nice lunch. The buffet lunch had a wide spread and was very tasty food. After eating we sat near our rooms for a while. At 3 we left for our first jeep safari. It was an amazing ride for 3 and 1/2 hours. Even though the hype is to spot a tiger, which we did not, the whole journey was so perfect - the freshness of the forest, the silence, so many kinds of birds, a variety of animals, the anticipation of seeing the wildest animals and the greenary consisting of a huge range of trees and plants!

We saw lots and lots of deer and peacocks everywhere along with a herd of gaurs, elephants, wild boars, sambar deer, malabhar squirrel, lot of birds - blue jays, white throated kingfishers, honey buzzard (which was a huge bird), green bee eaters and a leapord just before it was about to get dark :) We got back from the safari at 6.30 pm. 

Herd of Gaur

We had tea and pakoras and sat around outside our rooms. It was chilly and windy in the night. Kids watched a small documentary on wild life and after that we were ready for dinner. The dinner spread was also very good and yummy. After enjoying our dinner we went back to our rooms as were all tired. I read for a while before hitting the bed.

We woke up very early the next morning and got ready as we had our second safari at 6 am. All of us were excited and were inside the jeep by 6 am after having coffee and biscuits. We enjoyed the morning freshness with more birds chirping all along, the sun rays peeping between the tall trees, sky colour changing constantly and the herds of deer seeming more alert :) 

Mongoose

A fresh pug mark we followed

We spotted a baby elephant, two types of mongoose, blue jays, kingfishers, samba deer, serpant eagle, lots of deer and peacocks. We got back to the lodges around 9.30 am. 

One of the highlights of the safari for me was seeing a gorgeous peacock opening his feathers and dancing - he literally showed off for a good 5 minutes and then slowly closed the feathers and flew to a tree near our jeep :) It was like my birthday gift from nature 😂

We had a nice long heavy breakfast and relaxed for a while before packing our bags to check out. We had booked another place for the second day :)) 

So we went to Windflower resort from jungle lodges around 11am. It was around a 20 minute drive in the forest and we saw more animals along the path. Since we were checking in on a Sunday, it was almost empty and serene. We loved the rooms and the whole place. Kids were running around as if they owned the place, used the swimming pool even though it was cold, played all kinds of games and ate nicely. I also got to laze around on the benches and read my book and used the spa for a quick head massage in between after convincing my mom to get a foot massage 😀 And I got into the pool after two long years! Felt so good :)

Each one of us needed this trip, we all were able to relax and have fun in our own ways. I am so thankful for this trip :) A memorable one :)

We woke up early the next day, had coffee watching the rain. Kids brushed and went to the restaurant to have breakfast on their own, swam again and were playing till it was time for us to leave the place.

Near the swimming pool

It was a pleasant journey back to Bangalore as well, with a pitstop for lunch near Mysore at a place called Jalmahal resort.

Cheers!