Sarath’s Journal

Strange things have been happening to me and my Training schedule has been de-railed. It all started off in Kabini , last friday…i had a 1.5 hr cycling session early in the morning. Then we had a highway inspection to finish ( were basically looking at how to take measures to protect wildlife from speeding vehicles, once the road is up-graded), which took 4 hours. A bad head-ache started building up..it became worse, by the time i drove into Bangalore..have been out of action ever since..as far as Training is concerned…there’s a strange loss-of-energy feeling and a constant buzz in my head ! Have to get a thorough check-up done..am very upset that my Training is interuppted..have only a month to go to fly to Tanzania !

On the 2nd of July, a curious incident happened at Kabini. I was cycling on the forest road, when i saw one of our jeeps speeding towards me, with Umesh, a Naturalist with us, craning his body out and wanting to tell me something frantic..”Sir, this man was attacked by a Leopard right in front of our eyes..can we take him to the hospital?!” I peered inside ( the jeep’s hood was on as it was drizzling) and saw this hapless man shivering and with blood streaming down his face…i ordered Umesh to whisk him away to the Health Centre at Belthur village. I cycled on and in a couple of minutes reached the scene of action…four other labourers, who were digging a trench, excitedly gave me this account, while still looking back towards the jungle every now and then for the Leopard ! Apparently, a child was being fed on the culvert ( i saw the abandoned meal), when a Leopard growled..the mother screamed, which alerted the men and they came running to her side. The Leopard, according to them, was about to attack the child…seeing the men run to the scene, it withdrew behind the culvert and before they knew, it sprang on one of them, who fell on the road. Meanwhile, our jeep came to the spot and hearing the vehicle, the Leopard left the man and ran back into the forest ! I checked for signs…and found pug-marks along the road…one was a skid mark of the Leopard’s paw..i was totally perplexed, why a Leopard attack without provocation? With such thoughts i continued my cycling. On my way back, i stopped at the Health Centre and enquired about the injured man. The compounder told me that his injuries were not too serious but asked me if i can help to shift him to the Govt. hospital at HD Kote ( 30 kms away). I immediately instructed one of our jeeps to do the needful. The curious incident went off my mind for some time…i went on the evening safari as usual…

Around 5.45 pm , while we were driving in the forest, a frantic message crackled on the radio..” Sir, we found a dead Leopard here “! It turned out to be at the same spot as the morning’s incident and since we were not far from there, i reached quickly enough. A terrible scene presented itself in front of me..there was a carcass of a Leopard lying between a ditch (which those labourers were digging) and the forest..and already many jeeps were at the scene and people were getting off the vehicles to have a closer look. I hate it when people do not even allow ‘dignity’ to a dead wild animal. I took instant charge of the situation and barked orders at all our jeeps to pack-up and leave. I had a quick look at the carcass… it was a young female and did not show any external wounds…i was mystified how it could have died and drove back, as it was getting dark. I reported to the local Forest officers and came back to the scene, later at night to have a closer look. I first checked, if it was a mother..thankfully, her teats were not full..a Leopard was reported in this area with small cubs. I once again checked for wounds, but in the torch-light, i could not find any..the RFO took charge of the scene and told me that he already asked for the Vets to come in the morning for a Post-mortem.

It was raining when the Post-mortem began the next morning. Dr.Nagaraj,an experienced Vet from the Forest Dept. and his assistant got on to the job. The local RFO, Ravindra Kumar, ACF A.N Gowda, both good forest officers and my old friends, were there with many other staff members. We first had the undergrowth removed from the culvert and observed tell-tale Pug-marks all over…as if the Leopard escaped into the culvert and then emerged from the other side to spring on the men.The Vets began with a close examination of the dead Leopard…they immediately spotted two injuries on the right flank (the side it was lying on ). One wound was a blunt one but the second one was deep one and as the Vet inserted his gloved finger in it, it was apparent that it was caused by a sharp curved instrument. When they cut open the body, we could see the damage caused to the internal organs by the second wound..death occured because of this. I was very curious about the contents of the stomach and was stumped , when we saw that it was full..the Leopard had eaten something (looked like a Chital), about 8 hours before it’s death ! Then, why did it attack the men?!

Later in the evening, i and the RFO Ravi, pieced together the whole incident painstakingly..we had examined the ground for” signs” at the scene, Ravi spoke to the labourers in detail and we together spoke to our driver and Naturalist in detail…and with our combined wildlife knowledge and some sleuthing skills, this is the picture which emerged…the men had finished their meal and went to their respective positions along the trench (they were engaged by BSNL to dig a trench for some cable); the lady was feeding the child sitting on the culvert; the Leopard, which had a full stomach from the early morning kill, was resting inside the culvert ( a good shelter from the rain). The child wailed and in reaction the Leopard growled.. the lady panicked, picked up the child and ran screaming to the Mastigudi check-post, a mere 150 mts away; the men, in turn, ran to the spot and saw the Leopard, maybe coming out the culvert..one of them threw a crow-bar at the animal (the first blunt wound). The Leopard disappeared into one side of the culvert and emerged from the other side ( Pug-marks clearly told us this); injured and by now engraged, the Leopard saw the 5 men together and leapt on them..she was on top of one of them, when our Jeep came upon the scene ( Umesh told us that, as they came to the check-post, they heard the lady shout “hulli, hulli” (Tiger,Tiger) pointing out in that direction, to which they turned and drove to that spot..it was not their route at all). The driver Looking at the Leopard on top of the man, accelerated the engine to make a loud noise and the Leopard panicked, left the man and sprang back into the Jungle. In the melee, one of the men struck the Leopard with a pick-axe like digging instrument ( the second deep wound with a curved instrument). Umesh saw blood on the right flank of the animal, as it streaked back into the forest…in fact , if our Jeep did not arrive on the spot at that right moment, the Leopard would have surely killed the man.

Now, the injured Leopard sought the shelter of the Jungle and must have ‘lied-up’ somewhere licking it’s wounds…and a few hours later ( the incident occured at 9.30 am and the Vets put it’ s death around 2pm), she must have limped along to drink some water..the closest source was the rain-water puddles on the road..and must have died at the spot where we found it.. about 25 feet from the road…in fact, she had a full bladder, as revealed by the PM.

What a sad end to such a beautiful, young Leopard…the Vet had also confirmed that she mated about a month back…she was just 15 months old…she had successfully established her territory in a predator-dense habitat(which is such a tough thing ,by itself ), found herself a mate and then met a cruel fate at the hands of a merciless killer, man..

Cycling at Kabini was great this time too…the weather was classic monsson type..very cloudy and raining intermittently, i extented the distance to 40 kms per day and the wildlife– sights and sounds was superb !
I decided to avoid the village roads and start cycling at the beginning of the forest road, at Damanakatte and cycle to Balle gate, which is 15 kms distance. I then turn and cycle all the way back to Damanakatte. I do this almost non-stop, except for a couple of 2 min water-stops. At the end of 30 kms, i take a 5 min break and cycle another 10-12 kms , till it gets too dark ! On two days, i did 40 kms ( almost 3 hours) and 15 kms on one day, for lack of time. The track is very undulating and it’s quite a tough workout ! I am happy about my Training at this point of time !
Wildlife was good too , as i cycled along…saw elephants on all three sessions. Once, a Sambar called so loudly, that i almost fell off my cycle ! It was obviously reacting to me ! There were some serious alarm calls by Chital and Langurs too..a Big Cat was prowling along close by ! And , of course, there were a multitude of birds and bird-calls all along, which is such a beautiful treat of cycling quietly in the jungles !

I am driving back to Kabini now–my cycles are waiting ! Hopefully, some good wildlife is waiting too ! I have’nt seen a Tiger in many weeks now !

I made up for the gap in Training by doing some intensive stuff at Kabini and Bandipur. This is how my Training looked in the last week:
June 24th: Workout at Gym–45 mins of treadmill at highest incline, speed 6.7 and with a 8 kilo back-pack strapped on+ 15 mins of rowing etc
June 25th: Cycling at Kabini–28 km, non-stop, 1hr 45 mins
June 26th: Cycling at Kabini–26 km, 2 hrs
June 27th: Power walking–1 hr with back-pack
June 28th: Cycling at Kabini–3o km, 2 hr 20 mins, non-stop
June 29th: Trekking at Bandipur– 16 km, 2 hr 10 mins, with back-pack (with one stop)
July 1st: Workout at Gym for an hour
Am feeling good once again and my confidence about making a decent attempt on Kilimanjaro is better.
Cycling at Kabini is an amazing experience. I made a nice circuit which takes me 5 km through the villages to the t-junction, turn right and cycle all the way to the edge of the forest at Damanakatte (9 km). Then turn around to cycle all the back to the Lodge (total of 28 kms).This trip takes me a little less than 2 hrs, non-stop. Sometimes i stop for anything interesting; once i came across a strong’ Tiger’ smell and went back to the spot a couple of times, only to notice remains of a fresh tiger scat trampled under a tyre of some vehicle ! At times, the weather was so alluring, cloudy and drizzling, that i go to Balle gate on the opposite side. As i cycle, i hear to a symphony of bird-calls all along, specially during early morning rides, which is such a soothing way of training! There is a good chance of seeing some wildlife, but there is always some tension of running into Elephants ! I saw them a couple of times but a bit inside the bush. And of course, there is a tantalising possibility of a Big Cat crossing the road !
One day, i had a surprise Training partner, Ishaa Koppikar from Bollywood ! She was staying with us and wanted to get some exercise– i offered that she can come along cycling with me. She lasted about 40 mins and remarked that it is much tougher to actually cycle, compared to doing the same in a gym ! She is a big wildlife enthusiast; how refreshing to hear that, given all the lust for ’shikar’, among many other similar celebrities.

I have been missing out on training for about a week, because of the Naturalists tarining programme and my travel to Calcutta. This makes me feel low, just as cycling up to Nandi Betta had boosted my confidence…
But i am determined to make up.. went to the Gym today…and i am off to Kabini with my cycles strapped on..will do a lot of training, including cycling on the Manantavady road, with trumpeting elephants chasing me !

We had another Training for Naturalists at Bannerghata Nature Camp, last week and it went off really well. This Training was aimed at general enthusiasts, who want to learn more about nature and wildlife. It was for 3 days on the weekend, as we wanted working people to also take up this opportunity. What a turnout we had: 5 IT professinals, one scientist from IISc, one vet who just returned from a similar course in S.Africa and many youngsters who want to be Naturalists in the Eco-tourism industry ( 15 people in all).
We had fine-tuned our Programme by now and included lot many hours in the field and we got some amazing response ! Kartik from WWF ( my training colleague) and i are quite pleased at the encouraging feedback..for instance, we had placed a lot of emphasis on Bird-watching and i have 2 e-mails from the participants that they have learnt a lot of useful field tips and are actually using them to watch birds ! The whole idea behind these workshops is to spark off an abiding interest in Nature and to give them such skills which will enable them to be active in the field, whether it is watching animals, birds,plants or insects. If i can inspire more younsters to be passionate about Nature, i have done my bit…

I was invited to make a Presentation on ‘Wildlife Tourism’, at a Seminar on Eco-Tourism, organised my Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India, at Calcutta. Initially, i was reluctant to go and i had several excuses for that..1.had too many things to do this week…2. i cannot go to Sunderbans, as the monsoon has already set in there… 3. the heat is touching delerious levels in Calcutta ! …and 4. who wants to wake up at 4 am for the flight?!
I realised, what a fool i would have been, if i declined to go, very soon on the day of the Seminar…we were put up at this elegant hotel called ‘ Sonar Bangla’ (luxury in marxland!)… at breakfast in the Coffee Shop, i ran into Mandy of Ibex Expeditions, an old friend…who was now looking like a seasoned eco-warrier…he runs a very admirable adventure tourism outfit and has himself done a lot of climbing, been to Antartica etc…as we got talking, the guy at the next table joined in..’ have you guys also come for the seminar?’..he introduced himself and soon i realised that he is Samit Sawhny,whose amazing travelogue,”All the world is a spittoon”, i just finished reading !
Samit is an incredible character, who gave up a high corporate position in London and decided to hitch-hike his way back to India, via Turkey, Mongolia, Siberia, China, Tibet and Nepal ! His Book is a hilarious account of the adventures he had on the way ! He has now set up a beautiful resort in the Andamans…it was amazing to meet and talk to him…he invited me come over..’come and spend a month, at least’…! I should..it’s a pity that i have never been there..in our own country, we have such natural treasures,which i have’nt yet explored…
My presentation was very well received and quite a few people came up to me at the tea-break and spoke to me..some of them have small eco-lodges in great places like Sunderbans, Manas…I also met Pradeep Vyas, the dynamic Field Director of Sunderbans, who invited me to come anytime after September, for a visit. Another interesting person, i renewed my contacts with, was Arin Ghosh, the no.2 man in West Bengal Forest Dept..a colourful character,very unlike an average Forest Officer…and i did’nt want to go for the Seminar !
What i learnt from interacting with the many people is that, eco-tourism,done the right way, has quite a few takers and the stake-holders also are quite convinced about the conservation-linked benefits that eco-tourism has in store for the society in general.I also came back from the Seminar with a renewed determination to make a trip to the North-east and Andamans, soon after my Kilimanjaro trip !

After i made up my mind that i will climb Kilimanjaro this year, i had two challenges to face: to get fit once again (it was only ten years back that i was truly fit) and to ‘fix’ my knee, which was troubling me for years now. I started off , by going on a 6 hour trek to Malki Betta in BRT on January 1st…it was a great way to begin the Kilimanjaro year. I also backed it up by regularly going for exercise, at least 5 times a week. I started taking simple walks in my neighbourhood, if i was in Bangalore or treks in the jungles , when i was there. I also consulted my Ortho and friend, Dr.Nitin Bhandary, who encouraged me to walk regularly and consult him after 3-4 months. In April, i went to Dr.Nitin again and after taking an x-ray , he cleared my knee for Kili ! I realised the value of ’simple’ but regular exercising !
Since then i have taken my exercise regimen to a higher level…for the past 3 months, i have been ‘power-walking’ and working out on the treadmill with a heavy back-pack strapped on, going on long treks in Bandipur and cycling for long distances. I just cycled up Nandi Betta, last Sunday..it was really tough to do all the 38 hair-pin bends , after 10 kms of cycling on the plains…it a good feeling to reach the top of the hill, non-stop!
I now feel quite FIT and confident about making a decent attempt to Summit Kilimanjaro…Kili, here i come !!

This is a picture of Mt.Kilimanjaro, i took on my first trip to Africa in July 1998. I was eternally fascinated by Kilimanjaro (right from the days, when as an young lad, i saw stunning images of this enthralling Mountain). So on my first trip to Africa, i set out to Amboselli National Park, on the foothills of Kilimanjaro, to gaze at it in real life.
I was disappointed, as for the first two days of my trip, the Mountain was totally shrouded in clouds. I extended my trip by another day, although i was warned that during the season i was in, it’s almost impossible to get clear views; and it was very expensive to extend and postpone everything, including my flights back to India. But i persisted… I was always looking in the direction of the Mountain and praying for at least, a glimpse. I could ‘feel’ her constant presence, but she remained something ‘mystic and enigmatic’…i had asked for a room overlooking her and even from my bed at night, every now and then, i would look in her direction!
On my last evening , i was out on a Safari in the Park and was photographing some Giraffes, when i felt a ‘looming’ presence behind me…i turned back and there she was…unveiled…with the snow on her summit catching the evening Sun…i stood transfixed and mesmerised…i just cannot express the feelings and emotions i went through during those magical moments…
After such an emotional experience, i felt an irresistible urge deep inside me , that one day i should Climb Mt.Kilimanjaro…this is my story of how i got pulled in by the Great Mountain…i vacillated and hesitated to take the final plunge for all these years…this year, i woke up on New Year’s day in BRT Sanctuary and just announced to myself that i will do it in 2005…so i have been researching and training all these months to attempt to Climb Kilimanjaro in August 2005…thought i should share the story of my Kilimanjaro Saga, with all of you…