On the Diwali weekend, we decided to give the festivities a miss and visited Kabini, a jungle resort nestled between Bandipur and Nagarhole National Parks in Southern Karnataka. It is reachable from Bangalore by road - 220km away. It is an eco-friendly resort with food and wildlife safari included along with sleeping rooms at Rs. 4000 per head per day - not a bad deal especially considering the excellent safari. Kabini is home to 3 main 
predators - tiger, leopard and wild dogs. On our first evening safari we saw none of them, but saw lots of deer, a couple of elephants, langur monkeys and a gaur (Indian Bison). As for the early morning safari, my wife and I took turns with one of us watching the kids in the room. The second morning, my wife and my elder daughter struck pay dirt with a sighting of the elusive tiger (it was the first sighting in 3 weeks).
predators - tiger, leopard and wild dogs. On our first evening safari we saw none of them, but saw lots of deer, a couple of elephants, langur monkeys and a gaur (Indian Bison). As for the early morning safari, my wife and I took turns with one of us watching the kids in the room. The second morning, my wife and my elder daughter struck pay dirt with a sighting of the elusive tiger (it was the first sighting in 3 weeks). In the US, the only national park that I have been to that had a safari was Denali. Safaris are indeed a good way to experience a national 
park. Since the guided safari is often the only way to get inside the park, it reduces human impact on the park. Also, you're going with a group of people and you have more eyes on the lookout increasing the chances of sightings. The flip side is of course that you might come away empty, but then the lack of a guarantee is what makes an actual sighting all the more thrilling - I saw it in my daughter's eyes when she came back to narrate the trip.
park. Since the guided safari is often the only way to get inside the park, it reduces human impact on the park. Also, you're going with a group of people and you have more eyes on the lookout increasing the chances of sightings. The flip side is of course that you might come away empty, but then the lack of a guarantee is what makes an actual sighting all the more thrilling - I saw it in my daughter's eyes when she came back to narrate the trip. In India, this is perhaps the only model that might work; it is not exactly democratic since the Rs. 4000 per day rate puts it beyond the reach of most people, but then narrows the visiting population to a manageable number. In any case, (non-religious) tourism in India is something a relatively small percentage of the population seems interested in. Many people gave me blank stares when I told them we had been to Kabini; and this is rated among wildlife enthusiasts as one of the top safaris in the world!
A standard refrain among Indians living in the US is that tourist destinations are not maintained and presented well - a belief I used to share. But Kabinis offer a counterpoint.
Anyway, the big cat continues to be on my list, while my wife and daughter have scratched it off theirs.
