Hampi is (at the time of writing) the Lonely Planet's #1 sight to see in India, and after a long time, we finally made it for a trip. It is the site of an ancient city and was one of the richest cities in the world during it's heyday (1500AD), boosting an estimated population of 500,000, making it the second largest city in the world for the time. It was, however, concurred by the Deccan Muslim confederacy in 1565 and razed to the ground, leaving only ruins strewn amongst the builders! It is a fantastic place, and loved the landscape. We also visited the nearby Daroji Bear Sanctuary during this trip.
I was a recent trip to Hampi with my wife and son and, well, could not pass up the opportunity to visit the Daroji Bear Sanctuary. It does not have safari's, but you stand atop of a rocky outcrop looking over the boulder strewn forest that is the sanctuary, hoping to glimpse a sloth bear! We got lucky and saw three!
I led the first of my series of "Weekend Warrior" workshops this weekend taking some really great young photographers away for the weekend, leaving Bangalore early on Saturday and returning on Sunday afternoon... Sloth bears (yes plural), being one of the highlights of this trip!
Here is another one from the archives... A quick 3 day jaunt to Jerusalem in Israel back in 2011.
I like TED talks, but this one by Trey Ratcliff is great.... worth a watch! :)
Bhitarkanika in Odisha, is a lesser known national park, but well worth the visit if you are in the area. It is famous for The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) with nearly 10% of them over 6 meters long. I found it fantastic for king fishers, and i was pretty much alone the whole day I spent there!
The Ranganthittu bird sanctuary is a cluster of islands and one large island in a crocodile infested part of the Kaveri river. It is because of the lurking danger of the crocodiles that the birds thrive, as they are the guardians of the island which is so precious for the birds to nest on. The treat of the crocodiles is far less than the threat of the other predators that the crocodiles scare off (eat). Symbioses.
