Out of Office: Wolf Bain: On safari and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

So last week we went on a safari. The place we stayed at was called jungle retreat. It was a wonderful location. The food was great and the safaris were well orchestrated. We took the train from Bangalore down to Mysore again. It's cheap, fast, and a great way to travel. Plus it was nice to have Roshan on the trip with us this time.

After the train trip, we took a cab for about 2 hours south of Mysore to Bandipur national park. Let me say, traveling in the city is one thing but traveling on back country roads is an entirely different story. There are lots of slow moving trucks, and it seems to be a requirement to pass them at all costs. Unlike American roads, this quickly turns into a dangerous game of chicken. Even buses will pass slower moving cars and trucks. Just because your lane is clear doesn't mean you won't run into a bus and a truck coming barreling at you. Obviously given their size, we sometimes had to almost stop or get off the road to avoid being hit.

So after the exciting and very bumpy car ride, we reached the safari camp. We didn't hang out long and went straight out for an evening safari.

Me and Roshan when we got to Jungle Retreat

This first safari we went on stayed on the main roads. I wasn't sure we would see much wildlife from the main road but I was pleasantly surprised. We saw some peacocks, sambar deer, bison, wild boar, and elephants. We got some pictures but since we didn't want to use a flash, the pictures are a bit blurry.

Really cool to see a wild elephant

The next day we took a tour of the jungle retreat area. They have tree houses people can stay in. They're even equipped with full bathrooms! Unfortunately, they're only open during the summer but we were able to go up inside one and look around.


Tree house

In the afternoon, we took another safari into Bandipur national park. This one went off the main roads and out into the park. Saw similar wildlife from the night before and unfortunately, no tigers.