I did a family trip to India in Dec 2025 and had planned a 10-day trip to Northeast India. It included a 7-day trek plus a few days in Darjeeling. But due to Indigo flight cancellations in the first week of December, our plans were disrupted, and that’s when we decided on a trip to the Kali Tiger Reserve and booked a three-night stay at Kali Adventure Camp in Dandeli.
After our flights got cancelled, we spent a week in Satara, Kasturi’s hometown and then took a cab to Dandeli. We left early in the morning, but due to ongoing construction, it was busy until we reached the Maharashtra-Karnataka border. We had a lunch break in Belgaum and then reached Kali Adventure Camp around 4 pm. It took us more than 8 hours to cover the 350+ km journey from Satara to Dandeli.
Kali Tiger Reserve is in Uttara (Northern) Kannada district in Karnataka State and is home to tigers, panthers, bears and elephants, among other animals. The name Kali originates from the Kali River that flows through the Tiger Reserve.
Kali Adventure Camp is a Jungle Lodges Resort property and one of the oldest ones in the area. It was established in 1990, even before the tiger reserve was created. The resort is right next to the Kali river and we had a river-view tent booked for our stay here.
Our tent cabin was spacious with two queen beds and a bathroom. We even had extra blankets as it did get cold at night. Ours was the last tent cabin to the left, facing the river, and close to a machaan (platform on a tree) from where we had good views of the Kali River and the resident crocodile.
On the property, there were other accommodations to suit different group sizes and comfort levels. Most visitors we met during our stay were from either Karnataka or nearby states.
The resort offered buffet-style breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the vegetarian and non-vegetarian options were really good. The staff would prepare chapati, bhakari and dosas right there, and it was a treat to get these hot off the stove/oven. For snacks, they would have some kind of fritters and coffee/tea. The staff was super friendly and always there to help us with any of our requests.
The only issue I had with this resort was its location. Back in 1990, when it was first established, it was probably quite isolated. But that is not the case now. The town of Dandeli has grown quite a bit, and with the increased population, there are multiple places of worship, paper mills and constant traffic on the nearby state highway and Kulagi road. The noise is not constant, but it’s there, and it’s not exactly the “adventure camp” setting I imagined.
Over the course of our stay, we signed up for morning and evening Safari trips at Kali Tiger Reserve, Bird Watching at the Timber Depot, a hike around the property and a Coracle ride. All of these activities were included in our package at the Kali Adventure Camp. The only activity we paid for out of pocket was white-water rafting.
Kali Tiger Reserve – Safari
One of the benefits of staying at the Kali Adventure Camp was the short drive to the Kali Tiger Reserve. We did three safaris in total, one in the morning and two in the evening.
Our first Safari was early in the morning, and we left at around 5:30 am. It was cold as we drove to the registration office at Kulagi Nature Camp in the open jeep. Kulagi Nature Camp offers tent stays and would be a great option for maximizing your chances of seeing wildlife. Our naturalist guide registered the group, then drove us to the checkpost.
Just before starting the safari, the guide would provide an overview of the tiger reserve and some dos and don’ts for the safari. Kali Tiger Reserve spans 1,300 square kilometres and comprises six sections. The safari is restricted to a single section. The reserve has an estimated population of 17-22 tigers, 25-30 black panthers/leopards and 55-60 elephants.
As we passed the checkpost, even inside the reserve, we could still see people and houses, which was surprising. The guide mentioned that people have been living here long before the reserve was created. While some people did relocate, others decided to stay. There were smaller settlements farther in the forest, and kids from the Gowli or Gavli (Indigenous) community walk 5 km one way to school every day. On our way out, our guide gave some of the kids a ride to the checkpost.
About two km from the checkpost, we saw another arch of the Kali Tiger Reserve. Soon, we had our first sighting of Spotted Deer. We didn’t realize at that time, but this would end up being one of the highlights of our morning safari. The other prominent sighting for us was a Barking Deer. Most of the other sightings were birds – grey hornbill, kingfisher, egret, etc. No tiger or leopard.
About an hour into the safari, we stopped at the parking spot for Shiroli Valley Lookout. From here, it was a short hike to the lookout with beautiful views of the forest and the mountain range.
By 8 am, we were back at the checkpost. In two hours, we had driven about 20 km on safari trails inside the tiger reserve, including the drive to the lookout. Our drive back was still chilly, but thankfully hot breakfast was ready for us when we got back to the camp.
On our evening safaris, the sightings were slightly better, and we saw Sloth Bear, Wild Boar, Sambar, Mongoose, Malabar Giant Squirrel, Langur, and many birds. On our last safari, just as we were heading out, we saw something in the bushes, but it ran off soon after. The guide thought it was a leopard, but it was hard to tell.
So, after three safaris in the Kali Tiger Reserve, we had seen about 24 unique species of animals, but no tigers, leopards, or elephants. Apparently, the tiger sighting on these safaris is once every two months. For leopards, it was once a week or so.
List of animals/birds we saw on the safari –
Coracle Ride
Kali Adventure Camp also offers some activities on its property, and the coracle ride is one of them that we signed up for. It is a saucer-shaped boat that is used as a means of transport in some regions, but is now popular as a tourist activity in places like Dandeli. The coracle at the resort was fancy with cushions.
The coracler (coracle boat captain) helped us get seated and then took us on a 20-minute ride on the Kali River. The highlight was seeing the baby crocodiles resting on the banks. We also saw some monkeys and various bird species on our ride.
The sad part was seeing plastic bags filled with trash floating down the river. Apparently, people throw these trash bags into the river from the bridge in town.
Bird Watching
One morning, I signed up for birdwatching at the timber depot, a short ride from the camp. A few more people had signed up for this activity, but no one else showed up, so it was just me and Manjunath, one of the naturalist guides at the camp. When we reached the timber depot, a few guys from Bangalore were interested, and Manjunath allowed them to join our tour.
The timber depot, run by the Karnataka Government, is a prime spot for birdwatching in the area. We walked around the timber depot, and Manjunath helped us spot some birds and explained their unique characteristics. For e.g. the Fork-tailed Drongo mimics other birds to steal food. Also, the Indian Great Hornbill is now an endangered species, as it nests in 200-year-old trees and is now only found in protected forests.
The highlight of this short tour was probably seeing a Serpent Eagle grab something from a tree and then being chased by a crow. In total, we spotted some 22 unique birds in an hour-long tour at the timber depot. Manjunath mentioned that the Dandeli region has about 285 bird species.
List of birds spotted at timber depot –
Hike at Kali Adventure Camp
On our last day at the camp, I joined a small group on a hike led by Manjunath. The hike started right at the camp’s main entrance, and we continued along a trail past the riverside tent lodges.
One of the first things Manjunath showed us was the sindoor plant and its seeds that yield a bright red colour. As we continued our hike, he talked about the 150-year-old Jeera Mango tree, which fruits every 2-4 years, the Jamun tree, the Arjuna tree, and the Entada Creepers. It was amazing to see the biodiversity within a km of the camp during our hike.
One of the advantages of staying at the Kali Adventure Camp was having naturalist guides lead safari, birdwatching, and local hiking trips. All the guides were very knowledgeable and keen to share the information with the guests.
White Water Rafting
Kali Adventure Camp has a white-water rafting guide service on-site, but they only offer a long course (3-4 hours). So, we booked a cab to Ganeshgudi, which was about a 45-50 minute drive from our camp in Dandeli. The cab driver took us to a tour operator, and we booked a short one-hour rafting tour.
Given the crowd, we thought we would be on our way as soon as we got our life jackets and helmets. But there was some miscommunication between our guide and the person at the counter, which delayed our trip. There were also people ziplining, zorbing, and others enjoying the screams of their family and friends as they did these activities. It was chaotic.
After waiting around for some time, we had our group of seven and set out on our rafting trip. The guide had a GoPro mounted on his helmet, capturing photos and videos. The guiding company also had a photographer stationed at the first rapid to take our pictures.
Our guide first walked us through the basics of paddling and the instructions we were supposed to follow throughout our trip. From his expressions, I could see that he was frustrated as not everyone was following his instructions. One guy ziplined right past us, and our guide was furious.
Before getting to our first (and only) rapid, we took turns jumping into the water and then awkwardly trying to get back on the raft. Finally, we made our way to the rapids, and it was a fun experience going through them. Kavya was sitting right at the front, while Kasturi and I were right behind her, holding on to the rope along the edge of the raft.
We went back to the lower section of the rapid a couple of times, and once I almost fell in, but the guy right behind me grabbed my life jacket. The guide had prepared us for this scenario, but not sure if I would be as calm in the water as he wanted us to be. Anyway, the thrill was soon over as we got the raft out and mounted it on the jeep that drove us back to the main office.
It was a fun 3-day trip in Dandeli, considering the last-minute planning after our flight cancellations earlier in the month. Next, we would head to Udupi for a week-long trip with family and friends.
Resources:
Kali Tiger Reserve: https://kalitigerreserve.org/ | Karnataka Tourism Site
Rafting: Karnataka Tourism Site
Jungle Lodges Resort: Kali Adventure Camp
Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not Affiliate Links.
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tumba Chanda Raja
very nice