Thekkady - Periyar Natural Reserves

THEKKADY

This is part of theWestern Ghats range and is located in the state of Kerala.  Its about 550 Kms from Bangalore http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bangalore,+Karnataka,+India+to+Thekkady+Wild+Corridor,+Kerala,+India&aq=0&sll=13.116747,77.577746&sspn=0.042548,0.055189&vpsrc=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&z=7  

 The roads were good in  September 2011 in spite of the monsoons earlier.  We did this distance in our Ford Figo aram se.  This was in the month of September 2011 and it was rainy season.  We stayed at Mahindra Resorts in Thekkady town. 

They have lots of activities, such as  Day Trips inside the forest, Camping inside the forest, Elephant rides, trekking etc., in Thekkady, but we chose to spend an entire day at the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary.  We booked a 4x4 from our resort  alternatively you can book one from the Forest office- Kerala Forest Development Corporation Ltd (they are located near Mahindra Resorts).   You can find so many of them from the site.

We were picked up from the lodge at 6.00 in the morning.  We had a long drive to reach the entry gate of the forest.  The road from the city to the gate was not good.  We reached the gate at 6.30  & had a cup of chai.  The guide cum driver was registered our names against the vehicle number at the gate before entering the forest. 

It was green and very moist; to top the beauty, the sunlight was out just then.   The drivers here are not strict on anything.  They let you do anything (sometimes to our advantage but not always).  We don’t like throwing garbage in the forest, we won’t like people smoking inside the forest etc, but unfortunately these are possible here.  We hated the crowd who came in the other vehicles as they had no regard for the forest.

First, we spotted some Elephants just few kms as we entered; they were not on the road side but a little inside.  The vehicle was stopped we stepped down and went a bit inside to have a better view.  There were 4 or 5 of them .  Since the we were too many of us,  the elephants started moving to the other side.  The early spotting of those elephants relaxed our mind to while proportionately fuelling our interest.  Water streams, waterfalls, chirps of birds added to our experience.  Thekkady is full of ups & downs.  So the view is good.  

The driver was able to spot some Bisons & Sambar Deer on top of the cliff,   we then opened our Binocs and saw them.   It was quite a distance and tiny looking; so no videos or photos.  I have always wondered how these guides are able to spot something so minuscule to our sights.  Similarly, we again spotted a few elephants, but this time on the other side of the water stream inside the lush green.  Not a very clear view.  We continued our drive with some panoramic view of mountains and taking some snaps.

We reached a place called GAVI and office is named Gavi Eco Tourism.  I discovered  that they also have a website named gaviecotourism.com.  We had to register again in the office.  The officials are very kind and nice to you helping with all sorts of queries.  We learnt on packages offered while the breakfast was being prepared.  If you go for full day trip you will be provided with breakfast, lunch and tea with snacks.  The office  associated us with a guide; a guide who is dedicated to you for the entire day.  They follow strict timings for all food and trips.  Morning after breakfast we went for a drive by paying extra.  Lunch at 1.30pm follows the trek/drive  After relaxing for few minutes we were taken for a boat ride that lasted an hour or so. 

We took a drive inside (instead of trekking) since the talk of Leeches all over the forest due to the heavy rains was alarming/scary.  The drive into deeper pockets of the forest started at 9.30.  We spotted a huge herd of Bisons and some elephants again.  We also saw Nilgiri Langurs, Sambar Deer and Lion tailed Macaques, but all these were too far to photograh.  We drove for 3 hours and blesssed with no rains. 

As we returned to the office, the other groups who went trekking were excited showing some snaps in the digital camera.  We also peeked in and it was a tiger.  They spotted the tiger not very far from the beaten track which they took.  They were excited and sharing their moments with all of us.   While we were enjoying the delicious lunch, mist covered  the  entire space.  What a wonderful feeling!  

Boating was our next activity.  We saw cottages/tents already laid up at the banks where one could stay.  As you move further you will spot a huge water falls called Gavi Falls.  One shouldnt miss having a bath in this falls.  We thouroughly enjoyed ours.  After the shower in the falls we rowed back to the dining area.  You hardly see any animals on these stretches due to the movement of too many people.  We had tea, snacks and left the place for our lodge in our 4x4. 

We are planning to revisit this place in Dec, this time we want to go and stay at Gavi Eco Tourism place.   The accommodation looks attractive and also more opportunities to spot animals.   We will update soon.

B R HILLS {Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Hills}

B R Hills connects Western & Eastern ghats, Biligiri Rangana Hills belongs to Chamarajnagar district of Karnataka state.  We visited during Aug 2011.  We drove from Bangalore through Kanakapura for about 185kms in our Ford Figo.  The roads were good all thru drive.  http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bangalore,+Karnataka,+India+to+B+R+Hills,+Karnataka,+India&aq=0&sll=11.290335,77.665805&sspn=5.48179,7.064209&vpsrc=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&z=9

We stayed in Gorukana Resort. http://gorukana.org/. We took around 4 hours to reach from Bangalore.  Our trip was for 3 days/2nights.  The resort was ideal place to stay if you are really serious in animals and also to relax.  The resort helped us with a guide (Jadeya) who is a tribal conversant in English.  More than to say that he knows the place, he is fast in spotting the animals.  August, the weather was little rainy but pleasant. 

Day 1:  We reached our resort around lunch time, had good food,rested for some time and started on our evening drive into the forest area.  We drove towards B R Hills road.  It was a nice evening with little sunshine, lucky no rain, cool & breezy.  Few kms of driving Jadeya spotted couple of elephants on the other hill side, bit far, since we had binoculars we had a good view.  It was a mother & a baby elephant, once we stopped our car to have a good look they started hiding behind the bushes/scrubs.  A long wait there was not much interesting but few mtrs ahead in the same hill Jadeya happened to sight a lone Sambar Deer.  Continued our drive in the same route, got lucky spotted a heard of Bisons so close to the road grazing, one was the giant male who was staring at us, we were admiring their muscular body and was shining in the sunlight.  By then a group of labourers with loud noise traveling in a tractor approached our sighting and started shouting as though there was nobody except them.  This noise was so scary for the heard of Bisons they started moving inside the bush, hardly giving us a chance to admire them any longer.  Almost we approached the entry gate of the forest area in the BR Hills road on the left side we spotted one more lone Tusker not a huge one, feeding himself on the trees by the side of the road.   No snaps this time since Jadeya was scared thinking we are too close to the tusker and also a guy on the opposite side driving a bike insisting that we leave that area right away.  The sun was setting, and the sky was clear but no drive after 6.00 in the evening as per rules and so we started driving back to our resort enjoying the sun set. 

After a nice drive reached the resort enjoyed a cup of hot tea with snacks leisurely talking about our sightings to the manager & the Chief of the guides Jadeyaswamy.

Day 2:  Early morning at 6.00 got into our Figo along with Jadeya who was prompt and erutook off, no humans or vehicles in the road,peaceful, unpolluted air and greenery was making us feel so energetic and fresh.  We took the opposite road from previus evening called K.Gudi road, where the gate opens at 6.00 and we were the first to cross and go.  Few kms we saw nothing, it was quiet and the weather was still misty not much view ahead while driving.  Driving slowly along the road curving to the right we spotted a Sloth Bear just out of the bush by the road side, hahahah it just saw/heard our vehicle and moved back into the bush.  We waited for a while in the same place switching off our engine thinking it will cross the road to go the otherside, but no luck we moved further but our eyes were still looking back to get the surprise again.  By then more cars and even BMTC bus started honking.  One point Jadeya said we will go back to resort.  On the way back we spotted a Nilgiri Langur and few birds -Crested Sepent Eagle, Brown fish owl, White throated Kingfisher.  Came back to resort and discussed about our sightings with the manager about the Sloth Bear and few Langurs, while having our breakfast, so were more thrilled to go back in the same road that evening. 

Evening drive, we left at 4.30pm after a hot cup of black tea to the same K Gudi Road.  This time no luck at all nothing we sighted.  Since the gate will close at 6.00 in the evening, Jadeya requested we will go back.  So we were back in the resort watching our snap etc.,

Day 3:  Early morning again we left at 6.00 for K Gudi road as previous day was not lucky.  As we crossed the gate we saw few Spotted Deers out of the group 1 female & 1 baby was giving us the pose for a nice picture, we didn’t stop there ,started driving further few kms Jadeya realized some movement in the bush to our right and told us to stop & switch off the engine.  We waited few seconds realizing something is behind those bushes opened our binoculars trying to see close to the bush when a Sloth Bear walked out, just few metres away we saw it very close.  There was a slight movement inside the car that the bear started moving into the bush in seconds before we could capture a snap of that lovely huge Bear.  That was a great sighting we were thrilled and excited, waiting few more minutes then realized that nothing will come out unless we move out of that area.  So we moved and again saw few birds-Malabar whistling thrush, Rocket tailed drongo ……. On the way driving slowly without much noise enjoying the greenery and suddenly we spotted  a pack of WILD DOG on the road. 

There were 11 of them in the pack just trying to cross, wow !! what a sighting it was . since we have been longing to see wild dogs in wild.  No words to express as we were silently watching them, we captured the video for few seconds.  This was something great for us.  Anyway, time came to say bye to them as well since one BMTC bus was honking behind us. we had  leave way for them to overtake & go the same road where the dogs were still smelling and gazing at something.  The bus driver didn’t bother to wait,.After the bus crossed them and went , a few minutes later, some of the wild dogs started coming out to the road again, but this time only 4 or 5 of them came out just smelling  something on the road, inspite of us watching  from the car they were not bothered at all.  This we can  talk about for a long time.  We were so happy talking to  Jadeyaswamy, the manager  and everybody in the resort.  In the same mood we started packing our baggage and checked out of the resort to take the BR Hills road to drive back to Bangalore.  We thoughtthe drive back would have more in store for us, but luck dosen't knock the doors again and again.  We reached the gate in ½ hour and drove back 185 kms home. It was one of the best trips we ever had.