Dubare Elephant Camp – A Journey beyond Nature’s boundaries

My friend is a great fan of the movie “Hangover”. He always compares us with the characters in the movie. Also we always regale how we had have a good time camping, and trekking and having a lot of adventure. We made it a point that whenever we meet we should create our own travel blog and pitch in our experiences and make it look interesting. Here is one of them.

We were all sitting on the rocks overlooking the River Hooghly when we felt we should go to some place in our long five day weekend. We zeroed in on Dubare Elephant Camp in the district of Coorg along the banks of the River Cauvery.

“Who runs this? “ I asked bringing in a coffee in my usual mug.

Tathagato said,” The Jungle Lodges and Resorts. They manage this and the fun activities here are exciting he added. We can feed elephants!

WE booked our tickets to Mysore from where we had to reach Coorg, which incidentally is also known as the Scotland of India.

The Shatabdi Express soon was speeding out of Howrah station headed to Mysore. The city of Mysore was very beautiful with its entire past splendor and glory in place. We took a car to Coorg from Mysore and after an intermittent halt at a motel to refresh we were really exhausted but excited to reach Coorg. Here we had booked ourselves in a lodge where we checked in.

Coorg with its lovely jungles, and beautiful tea plantations, and the mist falling over the small hills presented to the tourist a feast for a tired eye. With its equally magnificent coffee plantations and the splendid streets with their lovely view, Coorg is a destination which any tourist would love to visit. But we had to make our way to the Dubare Elephant Camp.

“Why this particular camp>?” asked Shailendra. I told them that this was the was the first camp at Dubare and was the inspirational venture by the Jungle Lodges and Resorts at the Forest of Karnataka. I also added that it was started to make the public more aware of the wildlife around

“You sure have done a PhD on Dubare Shonu,” said Ritwik and added that he also had read about this place before coming here and had come to know that this place protected the animals from getting extinct.

We got a car hired to reach the camp. There were 14 cottages in the place and these were wonderful constructions which gave most of the comforts to a tourist. WE booked ourselves in one of them. The attendant said that food was served in the dining area. We refreshed and unpacked in our rooms which were really simply decorated with a lot of comfortable sitting and sleeping area. We made our way towards the dining area. This place had the beautiful scene of the River Cauvery flowing by.

“The architecture is called the “Ayn Mane” “said a person standing behind us. Realizing that he was in charge of tourism here in the cottage we introduced ourselves and the also said that the dining area was known by the other name of Mane’ house or Coorg house.

We had gone at the right time after monsoons. This is the time the place looks wondrous and beautiful with the gift of Mother Nature smiling down at us. Coorg is located at an altitude so the atmosphere was radiant and cool with an element of pleasantness. It was evening by now and we decided to start our tour the next morning.

The next day, early morning booking ourselves for a jeep safari, we were excited that we were going on a safari. With the lovely ambience of the deciduous forests surrounding us, we were instilled with a sense of pleasure and enjoyment here. The safari started with a bang when we saw the Indian Bison right in front of our jeep. Whoa! That was a close shave and I was just numb and transfixed to one position. I dared not move or make a noise. Shailendra had the guts to take a photo. The Bison just lazily walked past! I was amazed. The safari was really enjoyable with a lot of wild animals being spotted. WE saw the wild dogs and also the sambar deer. There was a herd of sambar deer. The driver of the jeep Appanna told us that if we kept quiet and silent, we might spot a leopard or two. AS the jeep rumbled in the ruggedness of the road, we saw a movement in a thick bush ahead of us.

“Sssshh! “said Appanna. “It’s the leopard.” We waited with sweat trickling down our forehead. Ritwik whispered he felt like sneezing. Tathagatho slapped him on the back of his head indicating him to keep quiet. Finally we saw it after a long wait of one hour. She looked like a queen all resplendent and pompous. She had the air of arrogance of a teenager and the understanding of a patient character. With her stripes gleaming in the small trickle of sunshine seeping through, the leopard was a beautiful creation of God and we were glad we saw it.

As we moved on, we also saw many birds flying above our heads. We recollected how we had once gone to a bird sanctuary and hadn’t been able to as much find a sparrow. But today it was different. Today we were here amidst so many birds. With their myriad colors and shapes and sizes, they were parading around in the skies and trees and skittling from branch to branch as if they were part of a pageant. The serenity of the atmosphere and the quiet ambience was a perfect background for the twittering of the birds and the humming sounds made by the insects.

“Hey a peacock! “cried Shailendra. All of us had a ball looking at the peacock in front of us. With unabashed joy, the beautiful creature seemed to welcome us as she opened her full plumage. To see a peacock with its full plumage is a treat to watch and the beautiful sight complimented the beauty of the surroundings.

This done, we came back to our cottage as it was getting to be evening. WE saw the lovely sight of the birds returning back home. The sight of them returning in a row at twilight is something I will cherish forever.

With a lot of things to discuss and many more tales to share, we spent the night regaling ourselves with the lovely past.

The next morning, we decided to go for a ride on the elephants. There was a spot where we could book our tickets for this. We soon were on the backs of the elephants. The huge majestic creation of God seemed totally nonchalant as it took us around the verdant expanse of trees, plants, herbs and shrubs. With the gentleness of a timid insect and the firmness of a strong wild animal, the elephant sure was a perfect combination of both. Then we stopped at a spot where we saw how the elephants were groomed. Here we got down and saw how the elephants were scrubbed till they shone and how they were kept clean. The mahout said we could feed the elephant a banana. We had fun doing this and when the elephant seemingly saluted us, our day was done. It was interesting to see the elephants obeying the commands of their master.

Then the mahout took us to the kitchen to see how the balls of millet were made. These were fed to the elephants. The making of the “ragi “balls were videotaped by Shailendra.

The elephant ride was really exciting and then we went to the next exciting sport – water sports. First we registered ourselves for a short river rafting. Due to the slow moving river here, rafting was easy. WE sat on the boats and got ready and soon found ourselves smoothly progressing towards thick forests, with the loveliest of surroundings and the grandest of ambience. The flow of the river rejuvenated our tired bones and muscles. The smoothness of the rafting stretch held us in good stead and we really enjoyed this experience.

Then we tried some angling in the River Cauvery. We tried to get the finest fish Mahaseer but weren’t as lucky. All the same, the entire sport was interesting.

The following morning, we went to take a ride in the coracle boats made by the natives there. Made of hide and bamboo, this ride on the Kaveri River was a unique experience.

The next morning we went for a lovely trek with the pristine surroundings of Dubare and also got to see the Abbi Waterfalls on our way back to Mysore.

Parting Say: Live Dubare elephant size!