Tracking leopards and watching elephants at twilight along Kabini

Kabini had been on our bucket list for five years, and staying at this riverfront retreat lived up to every dream. The property sits right on the edge of the Kabini reservoir opposite Nagarhole National Park. On our second morning boat safari, we watched a mother elephant guide her two-week-old calf across the shallows while painted storks and serpent eagles circled above. That evening on our jeep safari into the forest zone, our naturalist driver cut the engine — ten meters ahead, a young leopard was casually walking along the mud track before disappearing into the bamboo thicket. Back at the lodge, dinner was served around a crackling campfire under an ocean of stars. Truly an unforgettable immersion into wild India.