Kulgi nature camp...

I always wanted to go Dandeli because I had been to Ganesh Gudi 10 years ago with my friends. The experience was amazing, might be because it was my first trek (it is true that after this trek, I did not trek after this;)) Memories are Shivpura (where we stayed) and Sathodi falls are very clear even today.

I had met Narayan 10 years ago at Shivpura, he came along with us to Sathodi falls and we are still in touch. Even now, it amazes me that he used to call me from a place where people cannot reach easily; even today, we do not have a bus facility to this place. He always wanted me to visit his place and I also wanted to, but unfortunately, I couldn't plan earlier. Finally, we decided to go to Dandeli. Thanks to Narayan, I got contact details of Dandeli Widlife Department and I could book tent houses in Kulgi Nature Camp.

Deputy Conservator of Forest,

Wildlife Division,

Dandeli – 581325

Phone: (08284) 231585 or 09916218630

As this was our first trip to Dandeli, we did not have any clue on how to plan, and so, we decided that we will take it as it comes. All we knew was to try white water rafting and some adventure sports. I got contact details of Mr. Pramod who organizes adventurous games, and so, we contacted him the day before we started. He promised us to organize white water rafting once we reach. So, all of us were excited, but were not sure when we would reach from Hubli. I think Dandeli is close to 100 Kms from Hubli and we have buses from Hubli, and we reached at around 2 pm.

We contacted Pramod and he took us to junglelodges. I did not understand how it works, but I think junglelodges organizes white water rafting and this is an yearly contract. So, all of them have to go through junglelodges for white water rafting. We were taken to the river on a Forest Department jeep. The driver was very sweet and he could converse very well in Hindi and Marthi.

All of us were excited when we reached the place from where we were supposed to start. We understood that there were 4 boats and max 8 could accommodate. We were given clear instructions and we were assigned to each group. Unfortunately, our team broke in two and that was the sad part. I am not sure whether I was afraid, but I was definitely anxious to get onto the boat. I had no fear because I knew that I had a life jacket. Our Captain gave us all the training in 15 mins. We moved left, right, stopped, got down, got up.. it was fun... It was little scary when Rashmi fell into the water because she was feeling uncomfortable initially, but she was OK after sometime. When my turn came, I did not think of anything and I jumped; I think I was worried about shoes :) I floated and I tried to balance. I thought I should try swimming, but ... All of us from our team were in the water and it was fun. We got back onto the boat and we started. It was very clear for me that I will learn something in next 1 hour and so, I concentrated on my Captain's instructions. I was putting all my efforts, but I knew that it is the Captain who is controlling the raft and we are just going down the stream... I think it was Grade 2 of rafting: Some rough water, maybe some rocks, might require some maneuvering.(Skill Level: Basic Paddling Skill) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafting. We were looking at our friends who were on the other raft and I saw CB falling onto the water, I was like ... oh ho..

I would always cherish those moments when I went down in the raft (the moment, our Captain ordered - Go Down...) and the water splashing on my face... and definitely when I was in the Kali river, unfortunately, I did not look inside the water (I was not aware how deep was the water)... As we went near the end point, I thought I would have loved to stay on the raft only if we were put across higher Grades, atleast Grade 3...

All of us got onto the jeep that was waiting for us. It was not cold, but it was odd as all of were soaked in water, and we hadn't carried towel. We reached Pramod's office and picked up our belongings. Kulgi is 12 kms from Dandeli and we were not sure how we would reach there. Finally, we hired a jeep and reached at 7:30.

Kulgi... a small village, and the nature camp is 1 km from the village. When we entered the premise, we could see tents and it was interesting. I had seen tents, but these were fixed ones. We had booked 2 rooms and we got them after waiting for 10-15 mins. The caretakers of this place are very good and helpful. I was informed that they organize for safari and trekking, but we had to book vehicle.

Forest Dept. does not organize for your food in this camp. They have given kitchen infra to an outsider, who comes and cooks food. Food is OK and decent. I liked the boy who is to take orders and serve food - Lakshman... very sweet and never said "no"...

The next day, Jan 14th, Sankrathi, eclipse day, we couldn't go for trekking as one of my friends had some problems on his toe and hence we decided to take rest in the camp. Staying the camp during the day is very different. We realised that Langoors all around our camps, but never did they come close to us. Langoors are different from our monkeys and never come close to humans. There were walking on our tents, they were near the windows/doors, but we never felt they were aggressive. Simple animals, fun to watch, never scared us... We had our breakfast at around 8:30 because the eclipse was supposed to start at 11:15 am. I had brought Solar shades to view the eclipse, and I was very keen to watch the Sun. We noticed a substantial bite in the Sun at 12 noon and it was beautiful. As the time passed, the Sun started to cut down on it's size from one side, and then, it regained its structure slowly. By 3 pm, it was almost back...

In the evening, we went for a walk. About 1 KM from the camp, we have a Bird watching point and we walked through the woods to reach the place. Later, we walked towards the village - kids were playing cricket and mostly they spoke in Marathi