Monsoon Safari
It is a commonly held belief that the monsoons in India are not conducive for safaris. While I am in broad agreement with the above — I have had some memorable safari drives during the monsoon season. This is an account of one such safari.
The monsoon had arrived early and it was raining almost continuously for the past few days, the rain filling up the lake as the elephant matriarchs started leading their families back into the forest. The great elephant show on the banks of the Kabini had come to a premature end.
I was quite sure that wildlife sightings would be few and far between, as is the wont during the rains, and it was with few expectations that I set out for safari. With me were two guests from Belgium along with their infant child. They had heard about the elephant congregation on the Kabini and had planned their vacation at the end of summer to coincide with it. Nature, as is her wont, had pulled one on them.
After a hurried consultation with my driver Chamraj, we decided not to go towards the lake and instead concentrate on the other side. There was no rational reason for this just a gut feeling. As we got off the main road and took the safari road, we noticed some movement ahead and I realized, with a sigh of relief, that it was a Tusker grazing in the undergrowth. Hoping that the guests would be happy to have a good view of what I was sure was going to be their only elephant; I waited for some time for him to come out into the open. This proved fruitful, as he was a truly a magnificent specimen. He was completely at ease in our presence and went about peacefully grazing on the grass, paying us absolutely no heed. After a while, we drove on and a little further away saw another even larger tusker! Well, I thought, at least their trip was not in vain. The guests seemed quite pleased to have seen both animals.
We continued with our drive and as expected, we did not see much wildlife for quite some time. To top it all it had started raining and we were forced to put back the hood of our jeep thus effectively restricting our field of sight. We drove along listlessly for a while when suddenly Chamraj jammed the brakes. There peering out of the bushes was a Sloth Bear. He saw us and bolted into the undergrowth. We managed to get a quick look at him and elated with our good luck carried on with our safari in a more optimistic frame of mind.
We encountered a few Gaurs before the rain started slowing down. After some time the rain stopped and we decided to take off the hood. It was a relief being able to stand as I suffer from claustrophobia and a covered jeep is my idea of hell. Feeling liberated I said a silent prayer of thanks when suddenly there in front of us were a pack of wild dogs. Call me superstitious if you like but whenever I talk with Mother Nature she always answers.
The dogs were quite bold and approached close to the jeep. We counted ten individuals (three adults and seven juveniles) before they trotted off in single file. We were now close to the end of our safari and quite pleased with ourselves, it would have been a memorable safari under any circumstances let alone during a rainy evening.
As we got onto the main road, I heard some alarm calls to my right and immediately stopped the jeep. We waited for quite some time as these sporadic calls continued. Just as I decided to drive away, as it was getting dark now and I was a little worried about the infant child, I happened to look back over my shoulder and saw two leopards crossing the road. I gestured to the guests and they were able to get a good look even though visibility was not all that great.
We drove on. It was now pitch dark and I was in a hurry to get back as it was threatening to rain again. As we approached the T-junction, we saw a black shape in our headlights. The black shape turned out to be a sloth bear.
Thunderstruck and at a loss for words I spent the rest of the evening siting besides a fire listening to the sounds of approaching thunder. I felt as if nature was reminding me that she was supreme and full of surprises and never to take her for granted.
Now every time I go into the forest I do so without any preconceived ideas.
