2021 Travel Diary
December
Went to Kabini on a toehold tour with my friend and mentor, Sampath. This trip had a lot of near-misses, especially once when a tiger was eating its meal inside a bush, and we could hear it breaking the bones - but it did not come out. We also had a near-miss with the backwater female. Saw the huge and handsome tiger tank male for the first time, but from a distance near the backwaters. Not a photographic opportunity.
This trip also had a lot of tigers, including calves and big herds.
On the final morning we saw the beautiful Tiger tank female, who was sighted in the B-zone. Wonderful photo opportunity, where she walked by the road, was head-on for a short while, and then sat next to the road.
November
Went to Ranthambhore tiger reserve on a toehold tour led by Harsha. We stayed at the hotel Ranthambhore Regency. It rained heavily for the first one-and-a-half days, while we sat in open gypsies in rain.
Overall we did one evening safari, 3 full-day safaris and one morning safari, and apart from tigers saw crocodiles, birds like black stork, alexandrine parakeets, and the rest.
On the first afternoon, while there was some activity but did not sight a tiger.
We started our first full-day safari the next day, when in the morning saw the well-known tigress Riddhi sitting beside lake in zone-3. Wonderful winter coat - gave high-key opportunities.
On the 2nd full-day safari, in the morning saw Riddhi in an island on the lake. It was memorable that she chased a wild boar. In the afternoon, saw a male tiger named T-101 eating a kill inside the bushes in zone-1. After this saw Riddhi in all her glory - a sighting that was tremendous. She walked along the edge of the lake, chased a crocodile into the water, and came very close to our jeep.
On 3rd full-day safari, saw Riddhi on the main road in lowlight. After a while, saw her again, this time in an unforgettable morning light. Some of the best backlit and low-key photographic opportunities.
In the final morning took an additional safari, and sighted the huge male tiger T-101 in zone-1, resting beside the road.
October
Went on a family trip to Kabini - this was the first wildlife tour for my family. My wife and elder daughter saw the black panther, sitting on a tree for ~45 minutes. A memorable sighting for my wife of the most famous resident of Kabini. I went with our daughter on the second safari, where we saw TT Male tiger the next morning.
Also in October I went on a toehold tour to Bandipur. This trip is memorable for a few reasons: On the first night a leopard had come and sat on the fence of a building at the edge of the reserve, and we could see this from a nearby resort. In the second day afternoon safari, had a great sighting of two leopards: a mother and cub. It was the first leopard sighting in the wild for me. Apart from these we had many elephants and birds, and a huge monitor lizard on the road.
September
Spent an afternoon birding near Bengaluru. Nice photography opportunity of many common birds. This was a bird photography workshop by Toehold, led by Jayaram. It's surprising how many great birds about the garden city!
July
I visited Kabini again - on a monsoon tour led by Toehold. As per our expectations, it rained very heavily throughout.
While we saw loads of peacocks, the real highlight was the wild dog sighting - a pack of ~10 wild dogs drinking water, rested on the road, and chased a deer. No kill, but they ate a dead carcass. In the dying light of the day we saw a cub of backwater female camouflaged in a bush. Had a wonderful sighting of a Gaur mother with its calf. Also saw the backwater female tigress cross the main road - very close to the entry of the gate.
February
By the time February 2021 rolled in, covid's waves had receded, and travel had opened up. After nearly an year without travel, I was eager for another forest visit. My first stop was my second home - Kabini, with Toehold. On this visit we stayed in the tents.
This was a bumper trip, where we ended up seeing around six tigers. Within first few minutes of the first safari we saw two tigers, but they disappeared quickly without a chance to photograph. Post that we saw a sub-adult male tiger resting by a sambar deer kill. Photograph of the trip was when the tiger chased a crow which tried to peck at the meat. Later the tiger walked to the backwaters and cooled off in the water. In the meantime, a pack of wild dogs were sighted at the backwaters. Two more tigers were also sighted the next day, but not a good photo opportunity.
In the final Safari, we had a wonderful sighting of the backwater female, who walked very close to the jeep.
