The mesmerising KGudi of BRT Tiger Reserve
The Biligiri Ranga Temple Tiger reserve is one of the 50+ tiger reserves of India situated at the meeting of the eastern ghats and the western ghats and approximately 200 kms from Bengaluru.
The K Gudi Wilderness Camp:
The K Gudi wilderness camp is situated right inside the forest reserved and is one of the very few camps in India located inside a reserve forest. The KGudi is a unit of Jungle Lodges & resorts, started in the year 1994. This camp is about 30 kms from Chamarajanagar tow and approx. 210 kms from Bangalore. The camp is well planned, has an amazing location, and is situated about 1000m above the seas level and in the midst of the hills and the forest and is in one of the pristine eco spaces of Karnataka. It consists of 3 Log Huts, 8 Tented Cottages, 1 suite room, and 3 Standard rooms.
At the night you get to see the beautifully starlit skies which are a rarity in the cities nowadays. It is a peaceful feeling surrounded by nature with the calls of the forest all around.
If possible take up the log huts or cottages. Staying in those in the middle of the forest is out of the world experience. Also, be alert at the night and you can hear the animal growls and many times tiger roar too!!
[Click here to book KGudi]
[Click here to know sightings and kinds of mammals/birds/reptiles you get to see there]
About the BRT (BILIGIRI RANGASWAMY TEMPLE) Tiger Reserve:
The Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRT) is located in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka State. This unique Bio-geographical habitat is in the middle of the bridge between the Western and the Eastern ghats in South India. It is a protected reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
The site was declared a tiger reserve in January 2011 by the Karnataka. The tiger reserve derives its name from ‘BILIGIRI’. the white rocky cliff which has a temple of Lord ‘VISHNU’ locally known as ‘Rangaswamy’. It is also believed that the hill range gets its name due to white mist and silvery clouds which cover these lofty hills for a greater part of the year.
An annual festival of Lord Vishnu, held in the month of April, draws pilgrims from far and wide. The Soliga Tribals present a 1-foot and 9 inches slipper, made of skin, to the deity in Biligiri ranga Hills.
Area of the Tiger Reserve: 574.82 sq kms. Consisting of
Core Area: 359.10 sq kms
Buffer Area: 215.72 sq kms
The major corridors of the reserve are:
- Edayarhalli-Doddasampige (Bekkathur-Arabikere)
- Chamarajanagar-Talamalai at Punjur (Punjanur-Kolipalya)
- Chamarajanagar-Talamalai at Mudahalli(Talavadi-Mudahalli)
There are major elephant corridors, viz. Punjur-Sathyamangalam and Bylore-Ediyarahally. These corridors are vital as they help in the movement of animals including elephants during pinch periods in the forest.
The Tiger Reserve has two sub-divisions, namely, Chamarajanagar and Yelandur sub-divisions.
The Safari Experience
You get two jeep safari per night stay. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. This is a shared safari with 8 guests sharing one jeep. It’s an open jeep safari. The morning one starts around 6.30 and the afternoon one starts around 3.30 pm. It starts from the resort and this is exclusively for the resort guests.
The safari experience is amazing and out of the world. Since the resort itself is inside the forest, theer are high chances you get to see say deers, wild boars, elephants, and wild dogs on the road itself and even tiger sighting possibility is there and has happened too. After a couple of kms on the state road, you enter the forest and the next 2.5 hours are going to be pure bliss with dense forests and pure air and you can feel the fragrance of the forest so well. You can get to see gaurs (Indian bison), elephants, deers of various varieties, malbar giant squirrel, jungle hens, wild dogs, wild boars, and if you are lucky, tigers and leopards (checkout the sightings log here).
Also, BRT is a bird watchers’ paradise. You get various species of birds many are native and many are migratory. Some of the birds you get to see are Blue bearded bee-eater, puff throated babbler, grey wagtail, vernal hanging parrot, golden fronted leaf bird, paradise flycatcher, green bee-eater, brown fish owl, chestnut bellied nuthatch, crested serpent eagle, Crested hawk eagle, streak throated woodpecker and Malabar parakeets to name a few.
How to get there?:
There are three routes from Bangalore:
1) Bangalore – Kanakapura – Malavalli – Kollegala- Gumballi check-post – BR Hills-K Gudi (Approx 210 kms).
2) Bangalore – Maddur Malavalli- Kollegala – Yalandur – Gumalli check-post – BRT – K gudi
3) Bangalore – Mysore – Nanjangud – Chamarajnagar – K gudi (Approx 230 kms).
On this route, one can also visit the Nanjangud Srikanteshwara Temple.
It is a magnificent piece of architecture with a history exceeding a thousand years.
From the check-post, it’s all uphill and breath-taking views of the forest and you will already feel the fresh air and the amazing forest sounds. (Better to roll down your car windows and enjoy the surroundings and the fresh forest air and the forest sounds)
Program Details:
Check-in time: 01-00pm
Lunch : 1-30 to till 2- 45pm
Coffee : 3-45pm
Jeep safari : 4,00pm to 6-45pm.
Coffee/ Tea and snacks with Documentory show: 7-00pm
Dinner: 8-30pm to till 10-00pm.
Morning wake up call at 5-30am
Coffee/ Tea – 6-00am
Jeep safari : 6-10am to 9-00am
Breakfast : 9-00am to 10-00am
Check out time: 10-30am.
Note:
* Wi-Fi is available in all the rooms,
*In the package 2 jeep safaris are available.
The Food:
The food consists of lunch as soon as check-in, evening snacks after the safari, dinner, and morning breakfast after the safari – all these are part of the package and comes with every night’s stay. The food is cooked from the locally available vegetables and done the local way and it is yummy and the spread is amazing.
Weather Details:
The forest can get chilly at night. In the mornings, one can feel the formation of the dense mist with the temperatures dropping down.
Temperature ranges from 9 °C to 16 °C minimum and 20 °C to 38 °C maximum and annual rainfall of about 600 mm at the base and 3000 mm at the top of the hills.
How to Book?
You can click here to book your favorite BRT-KGudi vacation.
Meet the manager – Prasanna Gowda!!
It will be incomplete if I write about the K Gudi camp experience without mentioning Prasanna Gowda, the experienced campaigner, and the manager at KGudi.
Since he started there, he has taken up the improvements to a greater extent bringing transparency at every stage and is the most popular naturalist in this state and someone almost every forest loving celebrity knows him. You should make it a point to say to him when you are there and have a chat with him over lunch or dinner or breakfast and engage about his wildlife experiences as he is a local boy from HD Kote which borders the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve. Also don’t forget to follow his Instagram handle
Read also: “Mr Kabini” who followed his father’s footsteps – WildTrails
[You can click here to book your favorite BRT-KGudi vacation. You can follow WIldTrails Instagram account here.]
[Click here to know the sightings logs of kGudi & BRT]
k gudi wilderness camp br hills
kgudi wilderness camp resort br hills brhills
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