The hassle of booking a safari at the Kabini backwaters from Damanakatte is a thing of the past. For, the Forest Department has launched the online booking facility on the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve website (www.nagaraholetigerreserve.com).
Though the online booking facility was in vogue since the last few weeks, authorities said it was a soft launch more like a trial to secure feedback on the ease of navigating and to iron out any technical glitches.
Mahesh Kumar, Director, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, said initially there were some complaints pertaining to payment gateway with errors reflected while making online payment.
“The technical team working on the site has informed us that the glitches have been rectified. But we want to ensure that the errors do not crop up again and the visitors have a hassle-free experience in getting their safari or room bookings confirmed. So we will continue to take feedback for some more time,” said Mahesh Kumar.
On logging into the official website, the visitor has to navigate to the booking section and provide relevant details as sought in the drop-down menu. The date and timings of the safari has to be selected before confirming the same and making the payment. The same document number as entered on the website during online booking has to be produced at the time of actual safari.
While a few more technical glitches could emerge before they are ironed out, the online facility has come as a relief to wildlife enthusiasts and tourists. In the absence of such a facility all these years, the only option left was to drive to H.D. Kote and take the road leading to Antharsanthe and wait for the early morning safari that starts at 6 a.m. This meant that the tourists had to leave Mysuru by 4.30 a.m. And if one were to be unlucky and there was a rush, which is normally the case, then one had to wait for the 3 p.m. safari and stand in queue again in the afternoon.
Complaints
But there were also complaints of irregularities in safari booking – especially in the Kabini backwaters – and the allegation was that the private resorts would block the seats depriving walk-in tourists of a chance. With limited vehicles, the local staff would be at their wits end to cope with the rush. The online booking facility is expected to make reservations more transparent.
