Hampi Utsav & Bear Fest!
The week of Nov. 5 was not just Diwali but also the famous Hampi Utsav. With half of Bangalore headed to Hampi, we decided to jump into the bandwagon with a few friends. We had a slightly different destination though — the Daroji Bear Sanctuary that is next door to Hampi (15km)
Daroji is a well-kept secret and a mind-blowing place to observe Sloth Bears. It is the Bandhavgarh for bears to put it mildly! In fact, Daroji is the only protected area in North Karnataka. The rock-strewn hillocks and the calm Tungabhadra River make a wonderful backdrop to this area. Though located at such close proximity to the world-renowned Hampi, Daroji receives very few visitors. Though a newly declared wildlife sanctuary (1994), Daroji has been an abode for Sloth Bears since time immemorial.
The forest department’s protection efforts have paid rich dividends here, with the entire landscape sheltering various local flora and fauna, including the Sloth Bear. With a lot of help from Mr. Vijay Mohan Raj (DCF Sirsi, expert wildlife photographer & fellow INWer), we were able to build a 2-day itinerary to cover Daroji and nearby birding habitat that included Hampi, the beautiful Kamalapura lake and the Thungabadra high-canal road. Overall, we had three interesting species to photograph in Daroji — Sloth Bear, Ruddy Mongoose and Painted Spurfowl. We had ample success with the first two and moderate with the third. Enjoy the pics! We also visited Hampi a couple of times — some of my non-wildlife Leica images of the ruins are hosted here. A more detailed report will follow.
–ramki, Nov 26, 2007 | Bangalore