Bandipor Wildlife, Mudumalai National Park

Elephant Love

Our incredible accommodation

After taking our own private van (which has sick LED lights in the back when it hits nighttime) for 6 hours to our destination, we were welcomed into the dining area of “Safari Land Resort” with mango juice and our first lunch buffet. I knew after that first meal that this was going to be one of the best weekends I have spent in India. Once I was finished inhaling mounds of dhal, veggies and roti, we were taken to our tree houses where we would be spending the night (and YES, it was as cool as it sounds). I had no idea that it was even legal to charge people to sleep in a tree house or furthermore fathom the thought of a tree house with state of the art plumbing and access to hot water and showers.  Can you say swanky?!

Relaxing Resort

As we walked around the small gated area near our living quarters, we casually passed by a couple of emus and chickens into a beautiful recreational area with swings, a ping pong and fous ball table, and smaller games. It was so nice to be able to hear the birds chirping in a relaxing setting, which is something I definitely miss while being in the city of Bangalore.

Later in the afternoon we were taken on our first safari in two open jeeps. Although I felt like a narcoleptic the whole ride due to the cool breeze and relaxing drive, I knew I needed to stay very attentive to the sounds and stirs in the woods. Unfortunately, we did not see many animals but came across a momma and baby elephant in nearby grassland after the sun set on our way back to the resort.After reaching our lodge, the staff created a “private” bonfire for the 10 of us, and even had speedy beer service right next to the fire (Win!) I thought it couldn’t get any better until they brought out a sound system with top 100 hits, as well as the ultimate throwbacks like Backstreet boys, Christina Aguileria, and Aaron Carter.

Jeep Safari!

We woke up at 5:45am Saturday morning for our second safari, and had a chance to grab our “coffee and biscuits” before we left (disclaimer: free unlimited coffee and chai the whole weekend AND the coffee actually tasted good for once!) After spending only 30 minutes in the safari bus, we were a bit disappointed that we did not see any animals, especially tigers. As it was still early in the morning, we headed over to the nearby elephant camp and were able to watch the elephants make their way 

back to their general quarters which obviously 

involved taking hundreds of pictures throughout the viewing process.

Monkey Mayhem

After making it back and enjoying a delicious breakfast, my roommate Becca informed us that  there were monkeys in our treehouses, and actually found them going through all of our belongings when she went back to get something. Not only did they get into our treehouse (I was petrified to go in for the first ten minutes until the coast was clear), but they had gotten into all 3 of our treehouses and did quite a bit of damage. The monkeys managed to dismantle our entire room, eat all of the food out of my other roommates bag, bite into two bottles of bugspray and suck down my entire bottle of Listerine.  Can you say drunk monkeys?! Luckily, we were just about to move all of our bags into our second night’s stay, which would be in small cottages across the way. It was a great experience, but I think we were all glad to be sleeping in a room that night with real windows and a door that closed.

Open up and show those pearly whites!

Later in the afternoon (once everyone settled down from the monkey catastrophe), we made our way back to the elephant camp and had the opportunity to watch the elephants get bathed and fed. Although were surrounding by monkeys (I’m really starting to hate the monkeys) it was so adorable to watch the elephants and know first-hand that they are receiving proper care in a natural habitat (Did you know that each elephant at the camp is assigned a trainer who is responsible for providing 24 hour care, and even sleeps with them if they arrive as a baby without their mother?)

Dancing around the campfire

My favorite part of the trip definitely had to be Saturday evening, where we watched a tribal dance performance around the fire at our resort (the natives used the fire to heat their instruments in order to generate desirable sounds). In addition to men walking around the circle playing a steady beat on drums and wind instruments, the native musicians were accompanied by 4 younger aged males and 2 very young female dancers. After a while they allowed us to join the circle, which was so incredible to be a part of!

Early Sunday morning we set out on a trek up a mountain to a temple that held the most glorious view of the surrounding area (which I was able to enjoy after I finished catching my breath).  It was so peaceful and calm, which made it extremely difficult to prepare to leave later that day.

An incredible view of the wildlife reserve

When it was time to check out of our cottages a couple of hours later, the manager surprised us with one more ride out in the forest, where we packed 10 people into one tiny jeep. Although I assumed that it would be another safari adventure the driver (who was the owner’s son) took us for a “ride”, which entailed going down and up huge hills. Open jeep + no seatbelts = holding on extremely tight. After about 15 minutes, he took us to a temple that was over 7000 years old, surrounded by breathtaking scenery.  The nature, all animals included, was all spectacular-a highly recommended site in India!