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The journey home was long but tilak managed to squeeze a couple winks in

And before get all the way home we made a pit stop at the fine dining establishment of KFC

And just as we were complaining about how we missed being on safari what do we see but a herd of goats! Who says Bangalore doesn’t have wildlife 😂

What a trip I say! Next time we’ll see a tiger for sure I say 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽

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We never saw a tiger but every other group managed to not only see a tiger (or two!) and one lucky Jeep managed to see a pair of tiger cubs!! Such luck… for everyone else 😂

Our consolation prize however was catching a glimpse of an incredibly rare (and as we learned after the fact incredibly dangerous) sun bear.

We scared him and he scared us!

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Waking up at 5am the second day was wayyyyy harder than the first and everyone on the crew had a couple moments (at least) where they were caught with their eyes closed. Tons of deer, a massive Tusker who kept eyeing us and might have been considering charging the Jeep , mischievous monkeys and some wild boars were all spotted. But so far no tiger :(

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Evening consisted of some more rounds of table tennis. Tilak and Priya battled it out for the championship. The person who won more is still a matter up for debate.

Some evening drinks and another trip to our favorite restaurant Wildgrass (best dish: paneer tikka. worst dish: paneer tikka pizza) rounded out the night. We had to get to sleep early because 5:30am sharp the bus left for our final safari and last chance to see some tigers!

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Great group photo on the boat

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But the absolute best part of our boat safari were the elephants. Just as our just rounded the corner we saw a group of 20 or so elephants making their way down to the river. Alongside the normal sized elephants and babies was one of the biggest Tuskers we’d seen! This elephant made everything else we’d seen shrink in comparison

We spent a long time watching this group play and relax by the river and the main feeling throughout the boat was one of awe. Seeing so many of these majestic creatures and so close up is something that’ll stay with me forever.

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The croc resting on a mud flat looked positively prehistoric. Easily a ten footer with some huge teeth to match

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Birds were everywhere along the river bank, and we saw everything from cormorants to several bright blue kingfishers to even a fish hawk. Peacocks were common throughout the trip but we didn’t get any closeups of one with their tails fully open

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Afternoon itinerary: boat cruise! Aibi contemplates the meaning of life and if he should push someone in to get eaten by a croc.

The river flowed through 30 plus minutes of farmland before reaching the park entrance, so lots of time for photoshoots and games! The sky was absolutely stunning the whole trip and despite the ominous clouds, there was barely a drop of rain.

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Our jeep was very well cushioned so we didn’t feel all the bouncing that much, but a post safari nap was a definite must for half the crew.

While the sleepy heads were in bed, some of us took advantage of the riverside hammock and a new Wing of Fire book to relax…

…while others cracked a cold one open with the boys

We’d heard at breakfast that the people in section A (we were in B) but only saw a tiger, they saw a mama tiger and her THREE cubs and had these incredible photos to prove it. Definitely needed some cool off time after hearing that !

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We kept zooming around looking for some 🐅 🐅 but as our time would to a close, it didn’t look like we’d be seeing any on this safari :/ for Nisha and Tara, this meant their tiger-free safari streak was alive and well…

But! On our way out of the park our sharp eyed guide did see a malabar giant squirrel far up in a tree. Even after we parked and I had people pointing out the squirrels location it took me at least 5 minutes to locate it- no clue how our guide saw it in the first place. This squirrel sure was huge- looked like a normal sized house cat! No pictures were taken but here’s one from google so you get a sense.

Other sighting included a parasitic tree where when tree was slowly choking out its host tree along with some brightly colored birds.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

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Rounding out the US gang’s first ever safari was something very exciting- our first ever elephant sighting! There was definitely a mom and baby pair and the third elephant was a teenager we suspected but could have just been another elephant.

Three elephants in one go was super exciting and for me, even without a tiger, this sighting made the safari 110% successful (being fully honest, seeing the deer was had already made the safari a success in our books 😂 )

Even more exciting, Priya had 3 bars of LTE at this time and was even able to post a picture of the BeReal starring the elephants!

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Another impressive sighting as our Jeep zoomed through the jungle were Gaur, who looked like a very VERY muscular version of a cow crossed with a bison. Those horns were nothing to mess with.

The side eye Mama Gaur gave us definitely made me wonder why the side of our Jeep was fully uncovered but we did get a great view!

Couldn’t tell if it’s like this or if we came at the right time but there were baby animals everywhere! Every group of animals we saw had at least one young one along with it

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Along with spotting the spotted deer (haha) we also saw quite a few langur deer chilling alongside the other deer groups. Something about their ears really made me want to give them head scratches.

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Even on the ride over, I was keeping my eyes peeled for a tiger- who knows when it could pop up behind some bushes or be prowling next to us on the road. As we entered the park, my head felt like it was on a swivel going left and right and then left again. Yet all I could see were leaves, the dirt road and tree trunks.

“Look, a whole herd of spotted deer” says Rohan pointing.

“Where? I don’t see anything!!?”

Rohan points to the trees right alongside the Jeep which I had been determinedly scanning before and where I had only seen trees before was suddenly a whole herd of deer, at least 30 strong. Power of camouflage!

We spent quite a bit staring at the deer. Several males with their antlers looked almost like mythical creatures- so regal!

After the first deer sighting, I learned a little more of what I should be looking for and as we drove along I began to see groups of deer everywhere along our path. With so many deer around (and quite a few babies too) I hoped the tigers saw the easy pickings by us and was getting ready to hunt one down in front of us a la Animal Planet. Sadly no :(

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The speed of the jeep was a surprise for sure to the safari newbies. Taking some notes from our Tempo Traveler driver, our guide pressed the accelerator over the break when facing traffic!

Seasoned pros at early morning safari’s, T and R took full advantage to sleep for a little longer

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The safari going gang (plus top photographer Nisha!) thinking thoughts of all the tigers and elephants and wildlife we are about to see! Check out Tilak’s camo hat- heLLA good safari fit.

🧢 was so good the whole gang tried it on. Not pictured: Kiran in the bucket hat and some Tom cruise shades

Photographer Nisha modeling pre safari 💕