Not-so-candid camera

It's been a while since I last posted, hasn't it? Anyway, for those of you who have been reading, the angst has given way to a whole load of Blah. College is over, I am now a graduate and a lot of things are changing, and changing real fast. But this post is not about that. I've decided to hurl myself right back in the swirl of things by telling you a little something about my most recent vacation.

Now, a vacation is synonymous with photographs. If you don't believe me, just head on over to facebook and see what I mean. Pictures of road trips, weekend getaways, hell, even a midnight car ride to the airport. They're all there. Everyone wants to capture important, not-so-important, valid, drunk, happy, funny, gorgeous, embarrassing moments and everyone almost always does.

I just went to Kabini, which is this incredible place in Karnataka right at the edge of Nagarhole, or what is also known as the Rajiv Gandhi National Park. So this place is basically well known for wildlife, and a host of resorts have opened up around the river, which is a nice well-fed tributary of the Kaveri. We stayed at Jungle Lodges, in a nice cute little cottage right on the river bank. It was all very charming and calming and I spent a good deal of time chilling on the super-wide hammock and climbing the nice big net across many trees.

We took a lot of pictures, but there were a few amazing moments in particular where I was far too busy enjoying the moment to even fish out my camera. Now, I'm a huge fan of the environment, wildlife, forests, nature, and all that, so I tend to fade out and sort of drink in the surroundings in this very sleepy, happy way. However, these memories are stuck in my head, so I doubt I'll need pictures, really.

*Scene 1*

A jeep was slowly inching its way up to a small herd of elephants around the watering hole in the forest. The herd consisted of five wild Asian elephants, all happy with their flapping ears (now the happy is entirely my assumption). They didn't seem too bothered by the jeep at first, but, man being man, he just HAS to push it. I suppose the people in the jeep got rather excited and the jeep went quite close to the herd. There was this absolutely ADORABLE baby elephant there, too.

Too close.

The uncle (presumably) suddenly charged after the jeep, practically pushing it away. This was sort of unexpected for everyone, and we could only watch from our jeep as the elephant actually chased the jeep the hell out of there. Talk about adaptation. It was way cool, really, to watch an elephant do that. Go, elephant!

Would've been neat to have a video of that, though.

*Scene 2*

Two elephants and a baby elephant go swimming. The baby can barely keep its head above water, but it manages to, as elephants are supposedly born swimmers. Then they all come out of the water, baby in between. It truly is a sight, a baby elephant butt in between two elephant butts, all walking in unison.

*Scene 3*

Tiger, the beast of the forest, pacing across the bank of the watering hole.

Silence, everywhere, and not another creature in sight.

Wildlife is about experience. There's no point just reading about it, or watching documentaries about it. Those are nice, sure. But experiencing it first hand is something else.

What photographs did you wish you'd taken? (doesn't have to be about wildlife!)