What influenced me about Kabini, were the umpteen posts on social network like Facebook, especially posts about the most elusive of the Big Cat species, Leopard. Leopard spotting seemed to be very common with the kind of photographs were being posted in online photography communities that it gave me a feeling that what I have not experienced in all of the decade of scouting thru the forests of Gujarat and Central India, I will be able to see my first leopard in wild here in Kabini.

Tiger being the premeier predator, other flagship species that are resident to this habitat are Asian Elephant, Indian Wild Dogs, Leopards, Giant Squirrel, Wild boar and many resident and migratory bird species. But what makes Kabini special are it's bold Leopards. It is still a matter of awe that how an elusive cat species, which is solitary and shy and very hard to spot in the other national parks and protected areas of the country, have been spotted and sighted regularly in Kabini.

After much contemplation to visit this amazing forest, the dates of trips were fixed in December 2013. As the visiting period coincided with one of the most busiest holiday period, I was careful enough to plan the trip and accomadation well in advance (6months) before the trip dates.

Even in any other part of India, if you are wishing to plan a vacation in a protected area or national park, you will have to book the trip well in advance as bookings for wildlife safari generally opens 90 days in advance and are booked very fast.

After the Dec 2013 visit, I again visited Kabini in August 2014. Well this is a good part of national parks in Southern India, unlike the parks of north India, these parks of South India are opened for tourism in monsoon season as well. And the forest is totally surreal and green duirng the monsoon season and a treat to watch. Though sightings are issues, as water is available every where due to rains, so animal movement is very restricted. But the scene of lush green forest and wet safari track is immensely beautiful.