distance. The feisty male splashed his tail
and disappeared under the water wildly
rocking our tiny boat (and our hearts).
If you don’t particularly fancy getting
into the water, you can keep an eye on
Crocodile Island from a watchtower at
the Jungle Lodges & Resorts property,
where, at certain times in the day,
you can see them sprawled over, basking,
sleeping, basically enjoying all the
attention and the hospitality. This is
also the best spot to watch birds from.
If you aren’t a birder, there’s an
excellent chance Dandeli will make one
of you. Mornings are filled with birdsong,
which is loud and melodious enough
to wake you. Hornbills, Malabar
Whistling Thrushes, Brahminy Kites,
Asian Paradise Flycatchers, the gorgeous
Malabar Trogons; the list is
quite long.
If you’d like to take
a safari, spend mornings
and evenings at the
Anshi-Dandeli Tiger
Reserve (now called
Kali Tiger Reserve),
which is part of the
Dandeli Wildlife
Sanctuary. Two tribes,
Gowlis, a herdingcommunity, and the Siddhis share this
teak and rosewood forest with the wildlife.
There’s also evidence of mining at Shilori
Peak before the ban in the 1990s. There are
big cats in this reserve, so there’s a chance
you’ll meet the tiger, or the leopard, or if
you’re truly lucky, the melanistic leopard,
popularly called the Black Panther. If that
isn’t incentive enough...GETTING THERE
BY AIR: Belgaum Airport is approximately
90km away.
BY RAIL: Belgaum is more convenient and
better connected. You can also take the
Hubli Exp from Belgaum to Londa and
take a taxi from there to Dandeli.
BY ROAD: Belgaum to Dandeli via NH748
and the Mirjan-Ramnagar Road.STAY
While Dandeli has enough options to stay
at, you can do the three-hour jeep safari
only if you’re staying on a Jungle Lodges
and Resorts (JLR) property. Otherwise,
there’s an hour’s ride in the forest for
travellers staying in other hotels. JLR has
two gorgeous properties here: KALI
ADVENTURE CAMP and THE OLD
MAGAZINE House. Visit http://www.junglelodges.
com for more details.KALI TIGER RESERVE,
KARNATAKA
Excellent for: Birding, crocs and the elusive
Black Panther
Some afternoons are just different.
They aren’t spent working, or reading,
but in a coracle in the middle of
a croc-infested river in Dandeli,
a small town in Karnataka.
The River Kali is known to be moody;
she’s tempestuous in some places and
serene in others. This particular stretch
was calm, making it appropriate to go
looking for crocodiles. The coracle
navigated the river with ease, its
roundness ensuring maximum proximity
to everything, while rowing close to the
banks to look for basking reptiles or
battling mid-river currents. For
a while, we enjoyed the
lazy turns as we floated
along, combing the
area, and then,
finally, we met one
- a young male,
resting close to the
shore. The boatman
took us close to him,
right until we were
almost at touching 123 RF X 3
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