A Journey With The Prince.
My journey was to the Kabani in Karnataka. As usual, the leopards which are always an inspiration of the wild life photography were my target. An evening safari! The wild trips of long ten years have gifted me with lot of fascinating memories in my life, although I haven’t ever got a chance to capture the deep scary pictures of a tiger nor a leopard. That day too we returned with desperation.
The time was creeping to dark. Unexpectedly an alarm call of deer came into our attention. The driver of our van switched on the head light and there we saw a leopard about 2-3 meters away from the vehicle. The star of the forest posed for a fascinating picture which reflected the beauty of forest and the deepness filled furious look. That picture has happened to be the best in a while, always making me happy and contented out of satisfaction.
The Safari
The safari journey on next morning also gave me the profound happiness. I saw the leopard sitting on a tree trunk in front of the bus. Suddenly reading the mind of the people it came down near to the vehicle and posed for the camera. This Kabini journey has gifted me with another happiest experience ever.
Most of the journeys are unexpected. The wings are born to such journeys only out of unexpected desires or due to the influence of friends. No planning might be done most of the times. Once I went to Wayanad and it was during that journey I decided to visit Kabini one more time. Soon I came to Kabini and took part in an evening safari.
I didn’t found any precious memory in the beginning. After waiting for a long with great hope we changed the nature of the journey out of the instruction of our guide. Heading forward we saw a leopard hiding inside the shrubs and everyone got wonder struck at that moment when it came out and gave a beautiful pose for the picture by walking through the surroundings, making roars etc for a while.
Kabini- The Love
Kabini has fascinated me so much. Once during an evening safari I met another leopard. I prepared myself with a camera to capture the pictures and that day I got many beautiful photographs. The wandering leopard was looking to the tree and once I looked there I saw a female leopard there. No one has noticed the love for the mate hidden deep inside the eyes of the leopard. After making a mysterious communication both the leopards escaped into the forest.
The discussion during one of our journey was about the driver of the van. He was not all a friendly person. He used to enjoy the morning journey rather than speaking. Passing a little distance there we saw a sambar deer in front of the vehicle. The element of wonder in this view was that these creatures used to hide by hearing even a small noise of the vehicles but this time they were still standing. But the real fact was that there was something that it fears near the surrounding. “Pay attention”, the driver told us in full of excitement. Suddenly a roaring tiger came out of the forest and disappeared soon.
Bandipur
The journey through the Bandipur forest and the experience was unforgettable. A friend of mine has accompanied me. The continuous journey of two days ended up in desperation. But then we saw a shadow of leopard. After assuring the presence of it we drove the van near to the location. The leopard was there wandering and at the same time it was targeting the deer. Without a second thought I captured the deer and leopard in one single frame.
With Prince
In spite of taking a huge effort for two days to see the tiger named Prince; the beauty of the forest, it was all in vain. The Prince was a popular star in the Bandipur forest and was died recently. It was after a long wandering that I was able to meet the tiger. The emotions were also as like the name; the furious beauty. The Prince went back to the forest after giving us a lot of unforgettable memories.