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Wounded Tiger of Kabini
It all began one fine weekday afternoon with a phone call from my friend Rohit Kothawade. "Kabini chalna hai kya?" he asked. I said yes without a second thought, and within minutes we had a plan — two safaris, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and back home the same day. On paper, it looked perfectly doable.
We set off from our Bangalore home around 2 am and reached the safari gate by 5.30 am, waiting for the ticket counter to open before securing our safari tickets. The morning safari didn't bring us much luck, so with time to spare before the afternoon drive, we headed to the Kabini backwaters — a serene interlude in an otherwise packed day.
Barely 10–15 minutes into the afternoon safari, voila — a tiger began to emerge from the woods! Our canter was perfectly positioned near a waterhole, and our driver, reading the moment, said it would come to the water. He was right. The tiger walked right up close to our canter on its way to the waterhole — quite possibly the closest I have ever been to a tiger.
The tiger settled into the water to cool off, even attempting an afternoon nap. That's when we noticed it repeatedly licking its left shoulder. A closer look at the images on our cameras confirmed it — a wound, most likely from a territorial fight.
As the tiger shifted from one spot to another, we were treated to photo opportunities from every angle. The show lasted more than 35 minutes before it finally rose and melted back into the forest, heading towards its den deep inside. Looking around the canter, all we could see were the satisfied faces of fellow photographers who knew they had witnessed something special.
To round off the day, Rohit and I stopped at the old and famous Hotel Paradise in Mysore to savour a good masala dosa before reaching home at midnight. A trip that was completely impromptu — no stay planned, just pure focus on the safaris — rewarded with an unforgettable sighting of the WOUNDED TIGER.
Kabini in our hearts forever!
Travel notes
Anytime during the year, but Monsoon rains can be heavy.
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