Huddled couples at Ranganathittu, The beasts were missing.

We set out at daybreak. And we set out without  breaking our fast. Our driver was ready with his rickety jeep. Rickety on city roads, but a tough one for the jungle. The vehicle seems to have adapted itself to the ways of the jungle.

The jeep dropped us at the usual stop from where we have to go on foot. A few meters inside, we could feel the earth reverberating.  Not those violent ones you see on movies. It was a light vibration, and the driver was quick enough to alert us of an approaching herd of elephants.

We herded ourselves together, an instinctive impulse to secure ourselves.  But that was not needed. We were safe. Imagine seeing twenty elephants at a time in a herd! Cameras whirred, and some guys went to the extremes, taking pictures from various angles as if they were clicking for the Nat Geo.

And the trek went on in an even tenor. Nothing special excepting the crested serpent eagle. It is not a common nor is it rare to spot a serpent eagle. However, call it coincidence, wherever I go I spot one.

There is something about this bird. We shall see more of this in the next blog.

We returned to our deep jungle home for lunch. A bit tired, but we were ready to start once again. It was about three in the afternoon when we reached Rangananthittu. A bird sanctuary, Rangananthittu in Karnataka was inaccessible today. They said that the river Kaveri was in spate. So we went back empty handed. All we could see were young couples in love scattered everywhere. They were quick to cover their faces lest they should be photographed and posted on a blog like this.

Our boys didn’t care. They had come here for the wild!