A cabin and camp elephant in the K. Gudi Wilderness Camp
Seven tigers in one day. That was the record among the current group of guides at the Kyatadevara Gudi (K. Gudi) Wilderness Camp in Karnataka’s Biligiriranga Swamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary. It was our last night in the sanctuary, and the affable camp manager, Ashish Tirkey, was regaling Jennifer and me with safari stories that were nearly as enjoyable as the camp chef’s freshly made gulab jamun. Unlike India’s famous tiger reserves, such as Jim Corbett and Kanha National Parks in Northern India or the much closer Bandipur and Nagarhole National Parks, the heavily forested and mountainous BRT Wildlife Sanctuary has never been known as a tiger Mecca, so seven in one day was an impressive and envious day.
We had finished our third and final jeep safari earlier that evening and had seen not even a trace of a tiger. Our last chance at a sighting would be during our morning trek through the forests above camp. Then it was back to Mysore for the overnight train to Chennai. Tigers were really never the goal of our trip to the wildlife sanctuary. We were drawn to the sanctuary’s lush mountainous forests with over 800 species of plant life, its diverse wildlife teeming with elephants, leopards, sloth bears, wild cattle, langur monkeys and its small ridge top camp offering solitude amidst the unfenced wilderness. A tiger sighting was to be the cherry on top, the gulabjamun of our trip.
Located in south-eastern Karnataka near the Tamil Nadu border, the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary, which encompasses 540 sq. km, is featured in very few travel guidebooks and is completely ignored by Lonely Planet’s current Indian edition, save for a meager listing on its map of Karnataka. Lonely Planet readers’ loss is our gain, as there are only two other guests enjoying the camp when we arrive on a Thursday. The camp, however, remains popular with the weekend warrior set from Mysore and Bangalore and was fully booked on the Saturday of our departure.
Elephant in the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary
Even when fully booked, the camp, with eight double-bedded tented cottages and three log cabins, never feels crowded. All tents and cabins have attached baths (and hot water in the morning) as well as roomy porches looking out into the forest and down to the plains below. Although electricity is available for just a few hours in the morning and in the evening, it is never really missed. Jennifer and I shared a log cabin near the edge of the camp, and we could have been content to spend our entire stay on our front porch, letting the wildlife come to us. The camp’s elephants were fond of grazing directly outside our cabin while families of wild hogs nervously ran the footpaths and barking deer moved stealthily through the forest just below. According to Ashish, leopards and tigers have also been spotted in the camp.
A stay at K. Gudi camp includes all meals and two safaris each day, one at 6:30 am and another at 4:30 pm. Jennifer and I arrived in the afternoon and no sooner had we dropped our bags and enjoyed warm mugs of chai and coffee than we were shuffled into a waiting jeep for our first safari. Leaving camp our eyes were locked on the forest speeding by as just the day before a tiger was spotted from the road not far from camp. Once deep in the forest the jeep rambled along the rugged road from water hole to water hole. The drive is continuously interrupted by the sharp eyed guide and driver who are both able to spot wildlife hidden deep in the bush. The highlight of that first safari was the herd of 10 female elephants we found playing and bathing in a small watering hole.
Forest Trek in the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary
The highlight of our stay at K. Gudi was the morning trek on our last day. Just Jennifer, myself and our guide Lokesh on a misty, cool morning, it felt great to hit the trail and stretch the legs especially after three consecutive jeep safaris. There is a feeling of intimacy while walking through the forest that is missed in a jeep bouncing between water holes on bumpy forest roads. One can feel the softness of the earth underfoot, the denseness of the jungle and the thrill of not knowing what might be lurking around the next bend. Unlike the jeep safari, the focus of the trek wasn’t solely on spotting wildlife but on understanding the ecology of the forest. Sure, it would have been epic to have spied a tiger bounding down the trail. Yet following faint elephant tracks through the cool jungle while langurs played in the tree tops before having to descend to the humid plains below was as satisfying as any tiger sighting.
For information on the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary and K. Gudi Wilderness Camp, visit the Jungle Lodges website or Ashish Tirkey’s wonderful photoblog.
