Sunday 5 June 2011

The Masinagudi Trails

It’s good to experience good and it’s even better to experience which is better. My Masinagudi travel experience was awesome to say the least. Last weekend I set to visit Masinagudi with my in laws and J.As Budhha once said ‘It is better to travel than to arrive’ .
The voyage from Bangalore to Mysore and then crossing Bandipur and eventually reaching Masinagudi was a spellbound feeling for me. Most of the times I have seen the hills from top, this time it was a novel experience to have the view from foot. Its get accentuated when the mysterious jungle looms over you


Masinagudi is nestled in The Madhumali Tiger reserve and surrounded by the lush green forests. I found the whole tiger reserve and the forests to be very well maintained .The serene and scenic beauty of these forests can catch anyone on his toes. We took our shelter in the resort of Nawab Shafath Ali Khan who is a well know man-animal conflict expert and was recently in news for hunting down a Man eater in Faizabad. We were completely impressed by the facilities of the resort and more importantly the wonderful behavior of the owners there.

The most superlative part came when Nawab sahab’s son extended us an offer to join them in a jeep ride in the forest. It was already dusk and it was supposed to be the time when the animals would start leering and loitering around. The thrill of the jeep ride still excites me, it was just an open jeep with around 10 people in it and a sense of safari scattering around. We were fortunate enough to sight Bears and and a Panther along with the other usual suspects like Deer and wild buffaloes.
Hustling the jeep into the forest and chasing the animals like hunters to fetch a glimpse of these exquisite animals was an enchanting and unforgettable experience for us. Less to say that it was unreal and an illusory occurrence of events for me.

If It was not enough, me and J were offered a night stay in the exotic Tree house in the resort by the Jo (Daughter-in-law of Nawab sahib).Special thanks to her who was generous and kind to us during the whole visit. And well the night stay at the tree house again was one of the most resplendent experiences I have seen.

The next day started with again a safari rides amongst the dense and impenetrable forests of Madhumalai.This time we were gifted by the glimpse of the famous Tuskers of Madhumalai.When the ride ended it was like waves of satisfaction sailing over the shores like faces of everyone. After breakfast we headed back to the high risings of cities leaving behind the mystery and aura of Madhumalai.Still when I recall the experiences which I had back there I want to scuttle back and immersed myself again in the puddle of that majestic flora and fauna.