Included
Everything from the moment you reach the station or airport.
- Airport / station transfers
- All safaris
- Permits, jeep, driver, guide
- Resort, double occupancy
- All meals
Bandipur
The land of giants — gaur, elephant and dhole in the foothills below our own doorstep, on a trip short enough to take a long weekend.
The park, mapped
How Bandipur sits
Bandipur runs along the old Mysore–Ooty road, dry deciduous forest that greens hard in the monsoon, with the Moyar marking its southern edge on the map. It joins Nagarhole, Mudumalai and Wayanad into one of the largest stretches of tiger habitat in the country — which is what the open scale of the map is showing you. Camps sit near the highway gates.
The place
Twelve hundred square kilometres under the Nilgiris
Bandipur runs along the northern foot of the Nilgiris, 1,200 square kilometres of moist and mixed deciduous forest with patches of Shola grassland where the land lifts. It is the western end of a single unbroken forest that carries on through Mudumalai, Wayanad and Nagarhole — the largest protected block of habitat left in southern India, and the reason the animals here move on a scale the park boundary does not describe.
The client's own phrase for it is the land of giants, and it is the right one. This is gaur and elephant country first. A gaur bull is the largest wild cattle on earth and the forest is thick with them; the elephant herds are the ones the Nilgiri corridor is famous for. Tiger and leopard are here and are seen, but a first-time visitor who comes for a tiger and leaves without one has usually missed what was actually in front of them.
It is also the closest reserve to us. Coonoor to the Bandipur gate is a morning's drive up over the plateau, which is why this is the trip we can run at short notice and the one where the drivers and guides are people we know rather than people we booked.
The essentials
Bandipur in numbers
- State
- Karnataka
- Area
- About 1,200 sq km
- Terrain
- Moist and mixed deciduous forest, Shola grassland
- Part of
- The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, continuous with Mudumalai, Wayanad and Nagarhole
- Known for
- Gaur, elephant, dhole — and tiger and leopard
- Season
- Gate calendar confirmed on enquiry
- From Coonoor
- About an hour and a half by road
The two nights
How the trip runs
Four safaris across three days, written out of the itinerary rather than summarised from it.
Day 1 · one safari
Arrive at the resort by 12:30 and check in. Lunch, and time to get acquainted. The vehicle collects us from the resort for the afternoon safari; high tea is waiting when we come back. Before dinner we sit down together and go through the forest, whatever we saw, the photography and the animal behaviour behind it. Early night — day 2 starts before light.
Day 2 · two safaris
At the pick-up point early enough to be the first vehicle through the gate. Back to the resort afterwards to rest and clean up, another session on what the morning gave us, then lunch. Out again for the afternoon safari, high tea on return, dinner, and another early night.
Day 3 · one safari, then home
The vehicle collects us for the morning safari and breakfast is served inside the park. Out of the gate, back to the resort, and away.
The price covers
What is included, and what is not
Not included
Stated plainly so there is nothing to discover later.
- Flights and trains
- Bar and bottled water
- Tips
- Anything unlisted
In the itinerary's own words
The exact wording
Included: cab to and from the nearest airport or railway station; all safaris with handpicked drivers and guides; forest entry permits, driver, guide and jeep fees; a resort stay on double occupancy — two people per room; all meals, tea, coffee and snacks.
Not included: flights or trains to and from the nearest airport or railway station; bar purchases and bottled mineral water; tips to resort and safari staff; anything not named in the inclusions.
That is the whole list. Forest entry permits, the jeep, the driver and the guide are all inside the price, which is worth saying because in this part of the country they very often are not.
Practical
Getting to Bandipur
- Length
- 2 nights, 4 safaris
- Base
- A resort at the edge of the reserve
- Nearest station
- Mysuru, about 2.5 hours by road
- Nearest airport
- Coimbatore (CJB) or Bengaluru (BLR)
- Transfers
- Included from the station or airport
- Rooms
- Double occupancy
- Price
- USD 900 per person, in a group of eight
- Dates
- On request
- Group size
- Small group
What to bring
The list is short
Hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and Odomos. Warm clothes or thermals if the season calls for it — mornings in the Nilgiri foothills are colder than people expect. A refillable water bottle, because bottled water is not included and does not need to be. Binoculars, cameras, cash.
Muted or earth-coloured clothing. And whatever medicines you take, packed before you leave: the chemist is not around the corner from either of these forests.
Bandipur questions
What will I actually see?
Gaur and elephant on most drives, spotted deer and langur constantly, dhole if you are lucky and tiger or leopard if you are luckier. Nobody who tells you otherwise about a two-night trip is being straight with you.
How is this different from Kabini?
Same forest block, different character. Bandipur is drier and bigger and is about the large herbivores; Kabini is built around water and has the leopard density. Doing both across four nights is the obvious move and we are happy to arrange it.
How many safaris do I get?
Four. One on the afternoon you arrive, two on the full day, and one on the morning you leave — with breakfast served inside the park on that last drive.
What does the trip cost?
We quote for your dates on enquiry — tell us when you would like to come and how many of you there are.
Is this a Safari with Lala trip or a naturalist-led one?
These carry the Safari with Lala mark. Tell us your dates and we will confirm the exact arrangement.
Ask about Bandipur
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are.