Trek @ Masinagudi and Safari @ Bandipur

A sense of nostalgia clouds me over when I recollect my first Trek Trip to Masinagudi, for it was the last one as an employee of Qualcomm. It was a 2 day trip covering Wild Life at Bandipur forest, Trek in Masinagudi jungle and Gopalaswamy Betta - a hill top historic temple.

Now I am not that macho boy who can rock climb, but this trek was lot easier. And coz this is my first trek, there are some learnings which u sink in.

Lesson 1: Watch your foot. Sliding, slipping, falling are not uncommon.
Lesson 2: Get used to Multi-Task. See, when u trek in a jungle - walking with firm steps like a dumb ass would not solve the purpose.

U need to -
a) Walk forward in the jungle and
b) Watch Trees, Flowers, mountains around
c) Hear the sounds the nature is leaving behind with streams of water, leaves, birds, n other ecological xyz.

d) Look out for foot marks of Tigers, Elephants (gives u satisfaction that n seconds earlier a Tiger walked along the same route)

e) Make no sound (coz it could distract animals and you could miss seeing them from distance)
f) Keep a track of your guide and group (for god sake u can't get lost in a forest)
g) Listen to the stories which your guide unfolds. These include how he got bitten by a Bear, how he fought a Tiger - good ones to pass your time through.
f) Photography:SNAPS - most important to many of us who want to show off that we trek

As said, I was with my Qualcomm colleagues.
We were 20 adults+4kids = huge group => Lot of phun.

We gathered and started at 7 AM on December 8th 2007 from Sara's (colleague who deserves a special mention later) house. Breakfast at Kamat hotel (awesome food) around 10 AM. The route was through Mysore via Nanjangud. We crossed Sholur Town to notice the local Panchayats and their - "What an IDEA Sirji" discussions.

We crossed the Border check and were approaching our destination when cross landscapes, tall trees, deers and monkeys made the drive all more pleasant.

Forest Hill Resorts - is where we stayed. I truly recommend this place, coz of its good rooms, cool ambiance and top of that - great food. They would provide u guides during trek too.

We could cover Madumalai and Bandipur Wild Life Sanctuary on Saturday evening. Don't expect to see lions or tigers, all we could find were bisons and its friends, monkeys (they are everywhere), deers (who posed a lot for our cameras) and Mr Dad Elephant, Ms Mom Elephant and their loved one.
The safari was for 50 min and we were back to our cottages around 6.30 PM. Followed was dinner and phun at campfire.

Just when we thought of going back to our cottages - something happened which changed the total course of the trip. The climate was all same and the night breeze was getting more chilly. There was some synchronized symphony going in the air. Smiles, laugh, giggles touched my ears.

The origin for the acoustics was - Sara and his split personality :) within him. In his new incarnation - he started jacking one after the other. Narrated umpteen stories criticizing and mocking everything possible on earth. Victims were Dipanwita, Neelam, Manisha, Vinil, Deepika and Bitsians in general. I can pledge that I never laughed so much in my life, and that too for so long.

Finally around 11.30 PM we were back onto our beds, only to recollect some fanatic arguments of Sara and laugh over.

Next day - 9th December, was the actual trek. Started a little late around 8 AM, carried some sandwiches. Married female junta stayed back to take care of kids. Came across a couple of waterfalls. Kacccchak - Kodak Moments!!

After exercising our bodies which equals working out for near to 4 days in a gym, we headed back finished our lunch. Bought a souvenir - tshirt, packed our stuff and bid farewell to Forest Hills Resorts.

Stopped by the historic temple at Gopalswamy Betta and drove back to reach Bangalore around 10 PM on Sunday.

Wooow!! Great job by the organizers : {Vi+Su}(nil).
One more flower into my Garland of Memories :)