Dubbare elephant camp

Dubbare elephant camp is a joint project of Karnataka State Forest Department and the jungle lodges and resorts Ltd (http://www.junglelodges.com/dubare-elephant-camp). This place is mainly used for training the elephants that participate in the Mysore Dasara procession. Dubbare is near Kushalnagar in Coorg district 234 Kms away from Bangalore. We visited on Saturday, 1^st March 2008. The team was much bigger as this was meant to be a farewell for our dear friend Ramesh who was leaving for Singapore. Accordingly we hired a bigger vehicle, Swaraj Mazda.

It was afternoon by the time we reached the Camp. The vehicle was parked on the opposite shore, and we reached the camp by coracle. The first thing was a sumptuous lunch. The stay here was in cottages.

After lunch, we stayed on the river side, soaking our feet in Cauvery getting pecked by the fish. After relaxing for some time, we left for the safari by jeeps. This was thrilling, as we kept looking for a wild elephant. All of us sighted elephants at some distance, but one group had a close sighting.

Pedicure by fish

Post dinner was the farewell part, and all of us participated in singing and talent show. The youngsters were very enthusiastic. 

Next morning we were taken to the elephant camp where we could join the naturalists in bathing and feeding the elephants. They also explained lot of things about elephants.  This was followed by a ride on the elephant back.

We came back to the camp and went around the river side. The return was once again by coracle to the opposite shore and return to the vehicle.

Dubbare remains memorable for the elephants, both tamed and wild. This was the first time I got so close with them.