Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Srirangapatna Karnataka : March 2011

Ranganathittu is about 3-4kms from Srirangapatna highway (take right from highway which goes towards Hunsur/ Coorg). Spread over an area of about 67sq km, it is located on the banks of Kaveri river including 6 islets. It is one of the nesting and breeding grounds for migratory birds from all across globe. The Sanctuary is now a paradise for bird watchers, wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers. Spoonbill, open bill stork, painted stork, little cormorants, egret, heron etc have made Ranganathittu their breeding abode. Few migratory birds even fly all the way from North America, Siberia and Australia for breeding.

Its open on all days from 0900 till 1800hrs.

March 21, 2011 : The Supermoon Day

I started early morning around 0600hrs from Bangalore towards Ranganathittu. Initial plan was to visit sanctuary and later during the day find accomodation somewhere nearby but outside the town limits to get clear clicks of Supermon during evening. Carrying my entire camera and lens gear over bike was difficult so took my car for this trip.


Great Egret



Open Bill Stork



Painted Stork

I reached sanctuary around 0915hrs and immediately took relevant entry/ car park/ boat ride tickets to avoid bright sun for pictures. I must admit, the way they have maintained sactuary is really nice. Not sure how i missed to visit all these years. However the biggest disappointment was to see vegetables being cultivated in vast lands within sanctuary limits.




Spoon Bill



Marsh Crocodile



Open Bill Stork

I was lucky enough to see the place full of Open Bill Stork, Painted Stork, Egret, Little Cormorants, Marsh Crocodiles etc, knowing that I was visiting during off season. The best time to visit is during end of monsoons. Boat ride was nice however for photographers, I believe building watch towers at regular distances is a good job.

Spot Billed Pelicans



Spoon Bill + Painted Stork + Open Bill Stork



By noon I was done with taking photographs. There is a small Veg Cafeteria inside the premises and they have decent options for lunch. I tried getting accomodation nearby but either it was full or was out of my planned budget for the trip. (Accomodation options nearby are KSTDC Mayura riverview, Amblee river resort, Young island resort etc. Since they are adjacent to Kaveri river, its a beautiful view being there during evening.)

Though I always carry my tent during all trips, but it was too hot to put up tent anywhere. So finally decided to drive back to Bangalore. On the way back the thought of stopping over at Ramnagara did cross my mind (I have been planning for a long time to do camping over one of those majestic hills of Ramnagara) but leaving car somewhere in the village would have been a challenge. Its best to reach Ramnagara town by bus and then trek.

Finally reached Bangalore around 1700hrs and took some photographs of Supermoon from the terrace of my apartment :-)

Supermoon - March 21, 2011

Kudremukh - Malpe Beach, Karnataka : Jan 2010

Day 1 : It was Saturday early morning around 0600hrs, the three of us started on our bikes from Bangalore towards Malpe Beach, Karnataka. The plan was for 4 days of ride, covering almost 1200kms. Though the shortest route would have been Bangalore - Hassan - Sakleshpur - Mangalore - Malpe Beach but keeping in mind the horrible condition of roads after Sakleshpur we instead chose to ride Bangalore - Hassan - Belur - Kudremukh - Udupi - Malpe Beach. Even here after Belur the roads were not so good till Kalasa but it was certainly much better than the Sakleshpur route.

Our first halt was at Silent Valley Resort, Kalasa after a ride of about 350kms. We reached Kalsa at around 1500hrs. Though the resort was fine, but certainly not worth of money what they charge. For us, we were made to stay in Drivers room since all other rooms were full. In short the resort was over sold to the capacity what it could hold. Unfortunately we paid in advance or else would have happily vacated the accommodation. (There are few good Hotels in Kalasa town which are much better than the resort and are worth checking). We had insects frequenting our room in the night and had tough time getting some peaceful sleep. Incidentally heard the same from other visitors too in morning. Food was ok.



View from Silent Valley Resort, Kalasa

Day 2 : Left Kalasa after b'fast at around 1000hrs. Malpe Beach from Kalasa is about 140kms. The ride through the green ghats via Karkala was amazingly beautiful. On the way we stopped at Kudremukh Iron Ore and Lakya Dam. Both are not operational now. Hanumanthappa Falls on the way is worth a stop. And then something not so good happened. The plastic vacuum pipe of my bullet somehow toched the engine fins and melted. It took me a while to somehow fix it temporarily. Once we reached Udupi, I managed to find a mechanic and got the pipe changed.



Lakya Dam, used to serve Kudremukh Iron Ore while it was functional



On the way to Malpe Beach

We reached Malpe beach around 1400hrs. Shipyard and beach was beautiful with smell of fresh fish around fishermen boats. With no advance bookings in Malpe, we took room in Hotel Paradise which is one of the best hotels to stay in Malpe. Being on a not so expensive trip, we opted for non-sea facing room which was almost 1/3rd the price. Me and Anirban being hardcore Non-Vegeterian, we went exploring some good seafood around the town. Sunset view was just awesome and what added to the beauty was the fact that we were swimming in the sea. We came back to our hotel and jumped in the swimming pool. Had dinner in the hotel dining hall and we went to the beach again in the night. The place was isolated and it was an experince being next to waves.



Hotel Paradise, Malpe Beach



Water was nice and cold with St. Mary's Island Behind



Shipyard in the night

Day 3: Had b'fast in hotel and we went to the ferry point near Shipyard to go to St. Mary's Island. Dolphins on the way were a sight. I must admit, St. Mary's Island is one of the best beach I have ever seen in India. The water is so clean and blue. But then despite of having bins placed at regular distances on island, empty water/ cold drink bottles are spread everywhere. We went to the other side of island which was virtually isolated and the view from there was just superb. Back in hotel we went to the spa. With masseur who apparently was a body builder, it felt more like he was washing some rugs out of us :-)



View from St. Mary's Island



St. Mary's Island



Having experienced bad road from Belur till Kalasa and Silent Valley Resort turning out to be a nightmare we decided to ride via Sringeri (Malpe - Udupi - Karkala - Sringeri - Chikmagalur) and halt at Chikmagalur for the night. This resulted is almost 80+ kms of extra ride. One mistake which we did was to start late after lunch from Malpe. We were still almost 80kms away from Chikmagalur and it was pitch dark and cold and all three of us were literally shivering. However the ride through the ghats of Bhadra forest were really nice. We reached Chikmagalur around 2100hrs and took accommodation in some not so expensive hotel. We were so cold that first thing which we did was went to have a drink to warm and relax ourselves.

Day 4 : Sumit was the only one amongts us who got up early around 0530hrs and went to Muthodi Wildlife Sanctuary (Bhadra Tiger Reserve). We started back to Bangalore around 1000hrs via Hassan. Yagachi Dam on the way, near to Chikmagalur is worth a halt for few mins. Traffic in city as usual took us almost 1+hr. We reached back home around 2000hrs.



Yagachi Dam, Near Chikmagalur