Friday, December 21, 2012

Coorg ... Dubare elephant camp

 The Dubare Elephant Camp near coorg is maintained by the Government and Jungle Lodges. The elephants here are the ones that were previously used in the mysore dasara celebrations and for logging. With all that now stopped, the camp has become the home for these retired elephants.
 
There are several lodges that have been built all around, that are used to house guests and the naturalists/forest rangers.

We saw some interesting trees all around. On the right below is a picture of the 'flame of the forest' - the butea monosperma






The rangers took us on a jeep ride through the forest, where we were fortunate to spot the wild bison.
 
 
The next morning started with a guided walk through the forest and along the banks of the river cauvery.


 I'm not entirely sure if this is the common floss flower.
 



















Up in the trees was the giant Malabar squirrel.


Another tree that I need to identify.


 
Seeds of the water lily or perhaps the lotus?



 
A giant anthill. The naturalist, to prove a point, broke off a small portion from an edge while we set out on the walk, and true enough by the time we came back, about an hour or two later, it had been rebuilt. These ants are quick workers.





 
A wasps nest.



Elephants being bathed... can they not do it themselves, I wondered.






Sunday, November 11, 2012

Wedding location

 

I could not be happier with where my wedding took place.. it was at an 8th century temple just outside of Bangalore .. away from all the hustle and bustle, in the midst of nature and old architecture.

The archeological society of India has done a pretty nice job of maintaining not just the temple but also the area around - here are some pictures.


 Nandi hills in the distance
Here is a black and white of the entrance
 


One of the structures within.


Sunday, September 23, 2012

A colourful delight in the midst of wedding shopping

This is from last September, as I was hurriedly trying to finish up my 'wedding shopping', we came across this oleander tree by the pavement near CMH road. It was almost as if someone had painted on the flowers, they looked so perfect!
 


Saturday, September 8, 2012

Pomegranate (punica granatum)

An outing to a resort just outside of Bangalore city in September made me stumble upon the pomegranate tree. I was the right time to see the flowers and the fruits.
 
 
 
 
 
There were other sights to be had besides the trees -
 

 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

A beautiful double colour champa

we came across this pretty flower while walking for breakfast to the Madurai Idly shop



Monday, August 20, 2012

Halebidu

Halebidu, like Belur is where the tourists flock to marvel at the exquisite 12th century sculpture of the Hoysala dynasty.




 






Sunday, August 19, 2012

Belur

 The town of Belur in Karnataka has special significance for me, for this is where we started planning out our wedding.

The town is famous for its Hoysala architecture, in particular for the 12th century Chennakesava temple.