With the new year bringing in a threat of lockdowns and restrictions due to Omicron, it looked like everyone wanted to go on a holiday before the next curfew began. We did not find too many open holiday spots for the year end but K-Gudi being one of the lesser known Jungle Lodges did have some availability. The drive from Bangalore is through Kanakpura and the bad roads made it longer than it should but the last stretch through the forest and hills is quite pleasant and peaceful since it does not connect any major hubs.
The lodges are as comfortable as the other JLRs and have quite a bit of bird life even in campus with us being able to spot blue bearded bee-eaters, common kingfishers, various woodpeckers, leaf birds, Tickel's blue flycatchers, rock thrushes, a scops owl and nut hatches within the campus itself. The safaris allowed us to see more raptors such as crested serpent eagles, hawk eagles, black eagles and owls. Mammal sighting though is quite tough given the hilly terrain and minimal line of sight, but we still spotted gaurs, a couple of barking deer, multiple giant squirrels and heard stories of wild dogs and sloth bear sightings.
In between the safaris on the second day, we managed to head out for a 45 minute drive through the forest to Sri Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple. The drive in the afternoon sun did not have any sightings other than a few turtles in a lake but the temple has some scenic views at the top. It is certainly a pleasant drive with almost no other vehicles. A lake near the parking area was also a nice place to spot more birds and deer in between safaris. We came back to Bangalore via Mysore road and despite being over 30 km longer it took the same time due to better roads. The trip was relaxing but quite a few of the other guests kept comparing it with Kabini and Bandipur saying sightings were far fewer. The animal sightings sure were lesser due to the terrain but it is a nice place to find birds in the winter.
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