Daroji Bear Sanctuary
Daroji Bear Sanctuary
3.5
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3.5
89 reviews
Excellent
28
Very good
29
Average
18
Poor
7
Terrible
7
Sanket_SPS
Pune, India55 contributions
Dec 2022
Special help from Jigar and Rasul for guiding us to this only Bear Sanctuary in entire India. Jigar is a wild life specialist and a naturalist. Rasul was our Forest Guide and an expert in that Forest. We had booked a private Jeep Safari and they took us inside this large forest. They have such deep knowledge about the forest, wildlife and birds found in this sanctuary. If you want to book your private Jeep safari, you can reach out to them at Jigar - 9722527214 and Rasul - 7204151548. We can do some good bear sightings and also a lot of beautiful birds enroute inside this Bear Sanctuary.
Written 28 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RamblingRahul
Bengaluru, India99 contributions
Oct 2011 • Couples
It took us an hour to drive to the Daroji Bear Sanctuary from Hospet. The entry fee per vehicle was Rs. 500 and in addition you pay Rs. 50 per head. The guard cautions you that you have to return by 6pm, when the park closes. Then you drive a further 5kms inside the park to get to the watch tower. From there you can see the bears if you remember to bring binoculars, else you'll see black spots moving on the hillock in the distance. You can also see peacocks. The forest department feeds the bears at 1pm. The bears come out to eat and you can watch them. Otherwise you have to wait nearly for sunset for the bears to venture out again, then dash out before the gates close.
Not worth visiting.
Not worth visiting.
Written 15 November 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
M C
Dallas, TX13 contributions
Oct 2011 • Couples
You have to drive through a few kilometers of bad roads, so make sure your spare tire is in good condition. The entry fee per car/per person is steep. Very little information is available about the sanctuary - you are on your own, and there are no guides or forest personnel that can give you information. If you have senior citizens with you, please be aware that there are many steps to climb to get to the observatory. The bears are at a great distance and appear as mere specks to the eye. Do carry a good pair of binoculars. After waiting for nearly an hour, we saw about 3-4 bears in the distance. The clamour of people talking loudly doesn't help one bit, and scares the bears to keep their distance!
Written 23 November 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sinjana .
Bengaluru, India99 contributions
Sept 2018 • Couples
There is no organized safari, the entry fee allows you to enter the forest and explore it on your own
There is no jeep or car rental service here, so you need to hire a car from Hampi
No extra fee for the car, but you are not allowed to enter the forest without a car
There are no toilet or drinking water facilities here
You need to climb a watchtower which is not disability-friendly
Best time to see a bear is after 3 pm but you should have at least 2-hours
There is no jeep or car rental service here, so you need to hire a car from Hampi
No extra fee for the car, but you are not allowed to enter the forest without a car
There are no toilet or drinking water facilities here
You need to climb a watchtower which is not disability-friendly
Best time to see a bear is after 3 pm but you should have at least 2-hours
Written 3 June 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KartikLak
Bengaluru, India67 contributions
Dec 2014 • Friends
You might be disappointed when you see the entrance at first. Its located at a very lonely place and there is no hustle bustle at the gate. One can hardly see 1-2 people there. There are no government or private tour organizers there and hence, you need a vehicle of your own. Once you tread inside, you will reach a watch tower which gives a great view of boulder made mountains that are the home for these bears. During lunchtime, forest officials will serve them jaggery paste so bears will come out of their caves. There are quite a few peacocks also there and we caught 5-6 of them dancing.
Don't forget to take binoculars
Don't forget to take binoculars
Written 20 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
t1nkud
London, UK3,437 contributions
Aug 2014 • Family
On one of the mornings in Hampi, we were fortunate to enjoy a bird watching hike around the
beautiful Matanga Hills with a fantastic local naturalist/environmentalist/ornithologist/photographer
gentleman named Mr. Samad Kottur - saw the rare yellow throated bulbuls and yellow bellied cuckoo in this hike. It was the photographs of Mr. Kottur (check web) around Daroji, bears, and his influential work with setting up this sanctuary that appealed to me to check out the Daroji Bear sanctuary for a short visit with my family.
This a serious sanctuary for sloth bears - one of its only kind in the world. So, I am not bothered if the place is not strung out for tourists - you don't want too many tourists in the last refuges of an animal in the world.
Aiming to reach the sanctuary around 4pm on a sunny August day, we started in a tuktuk from Virupaksha temple. Checked our way through the gates and onto the watch tower -
this is really about all you are allowed as a tourist in this sanctuary. Then sit and wait on top of the watch tower with binoculars ready waiting for the bears to show up on the rock faces 150 meters or so away - the terrain is interesting. They come for the honey/jaggery paste which is smeared onto these rock faces some hours before by a caretaker. Two bears crept out and we got to see these bears for half an hour or so. chatted to the caretaker who was also on the watchtower - he narrated an incident that morning where had to walk alone with a bucket of honey/jaggery mix to coat the rock faces - suddenly found himself between an angry mother bear and her cub - dropped the bucket and ran for his life to the watchtower.
He now had to go an retrieve the bucket from the bushes and he was still a bit apprehensive- my tuktuk driver volunteered to walk with him - and they walked out to get the bucket. We watched these two gentleman make their way in the jungle below from the watchtower.
beautiful Matanga Hills with a fantastic local naturalist/environmentalist/ornithologist/photographer
gentleman named Mr. Samad Kottur - saw the rare yellow throated bulbuls and yellow bellied cuckoo in this hike. It was the photographs of Mr. Kottur (check web) around Daroji, bears, and his influential work with setting up this sanctuary that appealed to me to check out the Daroji Bear sanctuary for a short visit with my family.
This a serious sanctuary for sloth bears - one of its only kind in the world. So, I am not bothered if the place is not strung out for tourists - you don't want too many tourists in the last refuges of an animal in the world.
Aiming to reach the sanctuary around 4pm on a sunny August day, we started in a tuktuk from Virupaksha temple. Checked our way through the gates and onto the watch tower -
this is really about all you are allowed as a tourist in this sanctuary. Then sit and wait on top of the watch tower with binoculars ready waiting for the bears to show up on the rock faces 150 meters or so away - the terrain is interesting. They come for the honey/jaggery paste which is smeared onto these rock faces some hours before by a caretaker. Two bears crept out and we got to see these bears for half an hour or so. chatted to the caretaker who was also on the watchtower - he narrated an incident that morning where had to walk alone with a bucket of honey/jaggery mix to coat the rock faces - suddenly found himself between an angry mother bear and her cub - dropped the bucket and ran for his life to the watchtower.
He now had to go an retrieve the bucket from the bushes and he was still a bit apprehensive- my tuktuk driver volunteered to walk with him - and they walked out to get the bucket. We watched these two gentleman make their way in the jungle below from the watchtower.
Written 10 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Geetanjali Dhar
Bengaluru, India376 contributions
Feb 2013 • Friends
It was a really really short trip as we had just one and a half days in hand. Driving down all the way from Bangalore, we wanted to concentrate only on bird watching ,leaving out the architectural tour of Hampi for the next time.
We did our birding in and around the forest guest house located at Kamalapur during the day. And had some awesome sighting of Eagle Owls, Painted Spurfowls and Jungle Bush-quails.
We were treated for wonderful meals by the caretaker family of the forest guest house. So obviously we prefered to have our meals here rather than at any other restaurant. Small way of contributing in make a difference to the livelihood of the local people.
Briefly made a visit to the watch tower where we could see a sloth bear mother and cub enjoying quality time together.
Great memories and hoping to visit the sanctuary soon !!
We did our birding in and around the forest guest house located at Kamalapur during the day. And had some awesome sighting of Eagle Owls, Painted Spurfowls and Jungle Bush-quails.
We were treated for wonderful meals by the caretaker family of the forest guest house. So obviously we prefered to have our meals here rather than at any other restaurant. Small way of contributing in make a difference to the livelihood of the local people.
Briefly made a visit to the watch tower where we could see a sloth bear mother and cub enjoying quality time together.
Great memories and hoping to visit the sanctuary soon !!
Written 11 February 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Carol Lobo
Mumbai, India81 contributions
June 2017 • Friends
There are 2 reasons the sanctuary is worth visiting. 1) Although you can see the bears only from a great distance, from the viewing point, it was a unique experience for me as I had never seen a bear before. That is reason enough.
A decent pair of binoculars is sufficient to watch the bears pretty clearly... silky black balls of fur with massive snouts lumbering across the rocks and scraping the 'honey' spread there for them by the Forest Department.
I went to the viewing point twice and, the first time, it was quite thrilling when the first bear came into sight as he/she climbed down the path they use and walked into a small clearing amid the brush and rocks. On my second visit, there was an adult female with two cubs feeding off the honey, along with a juvenile. Four bears... come on, that's got to be worth it, right?
And, yes, there is a hide or a covered machan at the base of the very rocks where the bears feed. I was told one needs special permission from the Forest Department to use this facility. Sadly, I didn't have any :(
2) The second reason I loved visiting Daroji was the 'enchanted wood' experience. I was staying at the nearby Hampi Heritage & Wilderness Resort and we were taken on 2 wonderful safaris through the forest. It was end-June, the skies were brooding, the sun was beginning to set and there was a cool breeze all around.
As our camper gently trundled through the woods, we spotted a multitude of birds (they seemed so busy!), and we were entertained by their numerous calls. We also spotted a few hare and many wild peacocks. It was like being in a fairy tale.
A truly magical and unforgettable experience!
A decent pair of binoculars is sufficient to watch the bears pretty clearly... silky black balls of fur with massive snouts lumbering across the rocks and scraping the 'honey' spread there for them by the Forest Department.
I went to the viewing point twice and, the first time, it was quite thrilling when the first bear came into sight as he/she climbed down the path they use and walked into a small clearing amid the brush and rocks. On my second visit, there was an adult female with two cubs feeding off the honey, along with a juvenile. Four bears... come on, that's got to be worth it, right?
And, yes, there is a hide or a covered machan at the base of the very rocks where the bears feed. I was told one needs special permission from the Forest Department to use this facility. Sadly, I didn't have any :(
2) The second reason I loved visiting Daroji was the 'enchanted wood' experience. I was staying at the nearby Hampi Heritage & Wilderness Resort and we were taken on 2 wonderful safaris through the forest. It was end-June, the skies were brooding, the sun was beginning to set and there was a cool breeze all around.
As our camper gently trundled through the woods, we spotted a multitude of birds (they seemed so busy!), and we were entertained by their numerous calls. We also spotted a few hare and many wild peacocks. It was like being in a fairy tale.
A truly magical and unforgettable experience!
Written 8 July 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kiran B
Bengaluru, India135 contributions
Mar 2017 • Solo
Daroji is around 25 kms from Hampi and it's definitely worth a visit while you are there. You are assured of a sloth bear 🐻 sighting since the forest guards ensure that they keep some snacks at some key places where the bears would come out to eat them. Otherwise the sighting chances might be very bleak in this huge shrub land . This place has the highest density of Sloth bears in the entire country.
Ensure that you are there at around 4 - 4.30 pm in the evening when the chances of bear coming out of its den are the highest and at the same time you are treated to a lovely cool breeze from high atop the watch tower.
Apart from bears the birding enthusiasts also get to chance upon some rear birds like lapwing, Babblers and cuckols ... etc.
You can be sure of seeing several peacocks!
Overall a satisfying experience! 😊
Ensure that you are there at around 4 - 4.30 pm in the evening when the chances of bear coming out of its den are the highest and at the same time you are treated to a lovely cool breeze from high atop the watch tower.
Apart from bears the birding enthusiasts also get to chance upon some rear birds like lapwing, Babblers and cuckols ... etc.
You can be sure of seeing several peacocks!
Overall a satisfying experience! 😊
Written 28 March 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mandhana98
57 contributions
Faar away from Hampi, takes quite some time to reach there (which is ok. Not good if you are running sorry of time).
We could hardly see any Bears though the view from the top is beautiful. Don't understand why they need to charge 500 bucks for your own Car.
You can give this place a Skip.
We could hardly see any Bears though the view from the top is beautiful. Don't understand why they need to charge 500 bucks for your own Car.
You can give this place a Skip.
Written 3 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Winter time, from december to march
Written 10 September 2019
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