An Indian wild dog at Nagarhole. Picture by the author

The sun was down when we left Mudumalai for Bandipur. We weren’t yet out of the Mudumalai forest when a pack of elephants trundled in from the left to cross the road. Bhanu immediately slammed the brakes and pulled back.

After a dull day at Mudumalai, I was thrilled to see the elephants. Armed with my camera, which was loaded with a black-and-white film for some unknown reason, I ran after them. It was a bit risky and Bhanu tried to stop me but I was already out of his reach.

The jungle was thicker where I stood, clicking away at the elephants. Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound from the back. I turned around to see a tusker staring at me barely 10 ft away!

He charged at me and my blood ran cold. Just then, Bhanu yelled at me and I took to my heels. A close shave, yet again!

It had indeed been very foolish of me. What I didn’t realise was that the tusker was trailing the pack and when he saw me running after his teammates he stopped back to see what I was up to.

Unfortunately, all my elephant pictures turned out to be underexposed because of the low light.

The next day, we left for Nagarhole. But sadly, it was no different from Mudumalai. There were loads of people who had come to picnic with balloons sticking out of their cars, playing loud music.

I didn’t like the ambience at all. The authorities didn’t allow us to roam inside the Nagarhole forest. So all we could do was loiter around and take pictures of elephants or wild boars.

After a while, it seemed as if we were walking around in a horticultural garden. So we decided to return to Bangalore.

On our way back, we stopped at the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary. Here, the trees were all covered with various kinds of birds, while the water body was filled with crocodiles. The crocs lay in wait; when small birds fall off the nests, they gobble these up. We took a boat ride and then resumed our trip to Bangalore.

We halted for a day in Bangalore and then started for Calcutta. On the way, we stopped to see the beautiful Mysore Palace.

After some time, we lost our way, driving through villages and paddy fields. Finally, a truck driver gave us the right directions. But we managed to reach Calcutta in three days, with two night halts at Vijaywada and Chilika.

(Next week: Feluda at Kulik)