In Search of Tiger - Mudumalai National Park
Mudumalai national park in Tamilnadu is a tiger reserve located at the border of Karnataka and Bandipur national park. It's home to several vulnerable species including tiger, leopard. Its perfect weekend gateway from Bangalore as its just 270 km and takes around 5-6 hrs to reach.
You can do the safari in the national parks to witness the wildlife, though the safari is restricted and covers only limited areas of the national parks.
I had already explored Bandipur and done Safari there 3 times. This time explored the Mudumalai national park. The best way to explore it to stay in Masinagudi village, that is 7 km from the national park safari entry point. There are several hotels and homestay in Masinagudi.
Saturday early morning at 6 AM from Bangalore and reached Masinagudi at 12:30 PM. The route we took was Bangalore -> Ramanagara -> Mysuru Bypass -> Nanjangud -> Gundulpet -> Bandipur -> Masinagudi. In between mandatory stop at Kamat Lokaruchi (Ramanagara) for buffet breakfast.
Route from Bandipur entry to Masinagudi is scenic and we could see many dears, monkeys across the road.
We stayed in Safari Land Resort in Masinagudi. The resort was good, rooms are big enough and mountain facing, has facilities of various indoor games, swimming pool, and restaurant.
After having a good lunch, we took a nap, and then evening we drive up to Niligiri hills towards Ooty. Ooty is 30km from Masinagudi. Explored Bison valley viewpoint and Kalahatty waterfall.
Next Morning Sunday, we woke up early. The plan was to take the first safari at National park. Luckily not much crowd and we hopped into to first safari bus after paying an entry fee of 340 per person. Gypsy Safari will cost you 4200. There is a very interesting board where you would see numbers of animal sighting and when. One Tiger was sighted a day before and we were hoping that we will also get a chance to see the tiger.
It was 1-hour bus safari. We didn't get a chance to see a lot of wildlife. Only deers, monkeys, bird species spotted.
Another attraction of safari is the watchtower and viewpoint of the waterfall.
Disappointed because we could not spot Tiger, Bus left us to the entry point of the ticket counter. Nearby there is elephant camp that you can also visit, no separate ticket required as it combined into your bus safari ticket. Timing is 7:30am - 8am, just 30 minutes window but you can see many elephants and their feeding process.
Overall it was a nice weekend gateway. Road condition upto Masinagudi is excellent, many resorts and restaurants all the way. You could arrange camp fire at night and if you are lucky enough you could spot tiger during Safari. I didn't this time but better luck next time.
You can do the safari in the national parks to witness the wildlife, though the safari is restricted and covers only limited areas of the national parks.
I had already explored Bandipur and done Safari there 3 times. This time explored the Mudumalai national park. The best way to explore it to stay in Masinagudi village, that is 7 km from the national park safari entry point. There are several hotels and homestay in Masinagudi.
Saturday early morning at 6 AM from Bangalore and reached Masinagudi at 12:30 PM. The route we took was Bangalore -> Ramanagara -> Mysuru Bypass -> Nanjangud -> Gundulpet -> Bandipur -> Masinagudi. In between mandatory stop at Kamat Lokaruchi (Ramanagara) for buffet breakfast.
Route from Bandipur entry to Masinagudi is scenic and we could see many dears, monkeys across the road.
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| Entry gate and Tamilnadu checkpost |
We stayed in Safari Land Resort in Masinagudi. The resort was good, rooms are big enough and mountain facing, has facilities of various indoor games, swimming pool, and restaurant.
After having a good lunch, we took a nap, and then evening we drive up to Niligiri hills towards Ooty. Ooty is 30km from Masinagudi. Explored Bison valley viewpoint and Kalahatty waterfall.
Next Morning Sunday, we woke up early. The plan was to take the first safari at National park. Luckily not much crowd and we hopped into to first safari bus after paying an entry fee of 340 per person. Gypsy Safari will cost you 4200. There is a very interesting board where you would see numbers of animal sighting and when. One Tiger was sighted a day before and we were hoping that we will also get a chance to see the tiger.
It was 1-hour bus safari. We didn't get a chance to see a lot of wildlife. Only deers, monkeys, bird species spotted.
Another attraction of safari is the watchtower and viewpoint of the waterfall.
Disappointed because we could not spot Tiger, Bus left us to the entry point of the ticket counter. Nearby there is elephant camp that you can also visit, no separate ticket required as it combined into your bus safari ticket. Timing is 7:30am - 8am, just 30 minutes window but you can see many elephants and their feeding process.
Overall it was a nice weekend gateway. Road condition upto Masinagudi is excellent, many resorts and restaurants all the way. You could arrange camp fire at night and if you are lucky enough you could spot tiger during Safari. I didn't this time but better luck next time.
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