Kabini Forest May2012

Our Kabini trip was another beautiful experiene. We travelled in May.  Good season to spot animals starts from April.  We stayed in Jungle Lodges & Resorts.  www.kabiniriverlodge.com, please use this link for your accommodation booking and also for the route map in case if you are travelling by road.  Its not too far from Bangalore and will approximately take 5 hours. You can either go Jeep safari or Boat ride.  Normally boat rides are suggested for evenings and Jeep safari for mornings.  Staying for 2 nights is really worth for spotting animals.  The guides in the lodge are really good.

We reached by noon, so that we dont miss any of the activities that are included in the package.  As we reached we were taken to a nice cosy room.  Relaxed for few minutes, by then the lunch was served in the dining hall (all buffet system).  We were ready with our binoculars, cameras and also suntan lotion at 3.00pm.

Got into the boat, since its summer the water in the river was not too high.  Once u start cruising in the boat first thing you will spot is lot of birds in the dried tree stumps amidst the river.

Different Birds on the tree in the river.

Tusker by the river side 

Jeep safari morning at 6.00 and evening 3.30.  We had 4 trips in Jeep, we enjoyed all the trips. 

We happened to spot lot of elephants including baby elephant in all our jeep safaries and also our boat rides.  Monkeys, Serpant eagle, Bison, etc.,  were some of the other animals and birds spotted.  

Infact one of the baby elephant we spotted was limping, the back leg was injured and we felt so bad for that baby.  The mother elephant was trying to cover the baby and closely moving together as seen below.

Wild Dogs the famous killer, they come in a pack of 10 to 12 at a time.  We spotted a pack by the river banks, where they just finished their kill and running towards the river.  Normally spotting wild dogs is very rare, we were lucky.

Leopard, we spotted one in the tree branch by the side of the road.  The leopard was literally hanging in the branch as you see in the below pictures.  This we spotted in our first safari trip itself.  The next day also we saw the same leopard but in a different tree branch.

Infact the second day after coming back from our morning safari, we had our breakfast and took off with our Pajero to the same road to see the leopard once again, which was still there.  With binoculars the sighting we had was great.

The same tusker that we saw from the boat ride was also spotted the next day morning in the Jeep safari.

Tusker by the river banks.

Birds, especially Changeover Hawk Eagle(?) was sighted very close to our jeep.

The other baby elephants, bisons, monkeys as we spotted. The limping baby elephant which was very close to our jeep.

The Bison trying to grasp a tree branch for some food.

Another baby elephant but not looking healthy.

Sitting like three musketeers in the tree looking seriously at something.

On the whole this trip we enjoyed since we saw all except the tiger.  The food, the service and the rides organised by the Jungle Lodge was really good and nothing to complain.  Its worth a trip to Junglelodges, Kabini.

The next trip as we travel will be updated in the blog.

Banasura Hill

Where is Banasura Hill?? Banasura hill is near Mananthavadi in Wayanad District of Kerala. It is about 275kms from Bangalore. http://maps.google.co.in/maps?q=banasura+hill&hl=en&ll=11.715297,75.922801&spn=0.012585,0.01929&fb=1&gl=in&hq=banasura+hill&cid=0,0,14523390092277175736&t=m&z=16

  

Four of us left in our Pajero at 12.00noon from Bangalore via Bandipur taking right at Gundalpet.  The ghat section starts after about 20kms from Gundalpet. The roads are good.  After about an hours drive in the ghat road, we sighted a herd of Elephants crossing the road.  There were two baby Elephants and few adults.  It was a beautiful sight with Baby Elephants moving around and the adults protecting it.  

We carried on to reach Sulthan Bathery and then to Mananthavadi and finally Banasura Hill resort at about 8.00 in the night.

Banasura Hill Resort is in a valley surrounded by hills, the tallest peak being Banasura Hill.  The location of the resort is wonderful.  As we went in December the weather was a bit cold but very refreshing. 

Day1:  A small trek to a very nearby waterfall called Banasura Waterfall in the early morning.  We also did an off road drive up the hill in the same track for a few kms to reach the top of the falls.  We had  a nice cold shower in that falls and relaxed for a couple of hours there.  We came back had an awesome lunch in the restaurant.  We visited the pond inside the resort had a seat and did some bird watching.

Day2:  Early morning we started on a trek to Cherapul Peak which is adjacent to Banasura Hill.  We were six of us with a Tribal named Ravi as our guide.

We left at 7.00 am, trekked through steep mountains, crossing through shola forest.  We saw evidence of Elephants and Antelopes in the area.  Fortunately there were no leeches.  The weather was very nice and pleasant but too very windy as we climbed higher on the mountains. It took us about 3 hrs to reach the peak. The peak was about 800 mts above the Banasura Resort. It was like a small plateau on top with a water body that had just dried up. We saw a lot of evidence of recent movement of elephant and bison around the water body. We had our breakfast that we brought from the resort. After exploring the peak for a while, we started our journey downwards on a different track.  It was a good experience on trekking, we had beautiful view of valleys and the mountains.  It was a challenge to climb this hill.

Day3:  We visited the caves where Pazhassi Raja, the kerala king who fought against the British, spent his days hiding.  We enjoyed our stay in the resort which had spacious rooms made of mud, well furnished and also a good multi cuisine restaurant serving excellent food.  The staff rendered very good service with a smile.  www.banasura.com

Had breakfast and left the resort to drive back to Bangalore this time via passing through Tholpatty and Nagarhole Reserve.  Thollpatty reserve was closed due to Tiger Census and we could not visit.  We reached Nagarhole at about 4.00pm in time for the safari drive inside.

We sighted a lot of spotted Deers, few Elephants and Bisons in the safari.  The drive was for about 1 ½ hours.  

We started to drive back to Bangalore through the forest.  The road was good, it was also getting dark.  After about ½ hour drive, we saw a Tusker on the right side of the road.  

We had to stop as we were not sure if he is going to cross the road and getting ready to reverse if required.  After about 5 minute drama he moved a bit away from the road, we started to move getting closer to the tusker which was huge and alone.  We had to leave as it was getting dark and a bit scary also.  As we drove further in the darkness, came across a herd of Bison crossing the road.  

We had to stop as it was a huge herd of about 25.  They came very close to our vehicle, a few big ones were on the right side and few were on the left trying to cross the road along with many calves.  It was too dark we could not take fotos as we cannot use the flash.  We were virtually in the middle of the Bison herd.  After a few minutes, one of the bulls grunted and the whole herd panicked and ran helter skelter.  Some ran into the bush on the left and some in the right.  It was a bit scary as there was chaos on the road for a few minutes.  After this we started driving and eager to get out of the forest roads before any further encounters.  We reached Bangalore late in the night.

It was a good experience on both trekking and wildlife sighting.  We recommend this trip to people who want to do trekking, especially Banasura resort and the Cherapul peak.  Next time we want to try climbing the Banasura Hill, which is a bit higher than the Cherapul peak and should be more challenging!!!!.

Parambikulam

Parambikulam is part of the Anamalaia hills of the Kerala side of Western Ghats  Range of mountains. 

http://www.parambikulam.org/

We visited in Oct 2011. A rainy season, the forest infested with leeches. Five of us let from Bangalore in the  Pajero. This was our 5^th visit to this beautiful wildlife reserve. This is declared as Tiger Reserve and hence the authorities are very strict on the visitors. This is however, the first time we are writing about it.

To save time, we left at 11p.m from Bangalore and drove thru the night. We reached Pollachi early morning around 6 a.m and had breakfast there, a welcome break. From Pollachi, we drove to Sethumadai, which is the foothills of Topslip(Tamilnadu side)en route to Parambikulam. 

There is a check post at sethumadai, where in you pay for the cameras and for passengers entering Topslip. It took us 2 hrs to reach Sethumadai.  From Topslip after a km drive, we hit the Kerala check post . We registered at the check post and gave them the particulars of our reservations for stay. TAfter confirming with their list of reservations and after checking our luggage and vehicle for prohibited goods, especially liquor,  let us thru. Liquor is banned in Parambikulam. This procedure took about half an hour.

The Kerala Forest office is located at Anapady, which is between Kerala Check post and Parambikulam. The entire stretch is thru forest and has a well tarred road. There are several options for stay in Parambikulam Reserve. For the adventurous, we have accommodations deep in the reserve, like Sambar Machan, Thellikal I.B. Unfortunately now, only these 2 are available. For the less adventurous, we have Tree tops, Tents and other lodgings around Anapady Office and also at Parambikulam, which is about 20 Kms away from Aanapady. We had made the reservations about a month ago for the accommodation inside the forest.  We carried all our requirements, food, drinking water etc., as we stayed deep inside the forest. There is a small shop selling almost all our requirements for staying in the forest, except water, as plastics are banned in Parambikulam. We need to carry our own drinking water. We were accompanied by 2 guides from Anapady office to our accommodation. The forest department normally provide for torches to the guides, together with flash lights to be used at nights in the jungle. We always carried our own torches to be on the safe side.

Day 1, we stayed at Sambar Machan. To reach, we drove inside the forest on tarmac for about half an hour. The road is a bit rough. It will be difficult with a sedan to do this drive. We parked the pajero  just before the wooden bridge beyond which vehicles are not allowed. After a 2 km walk, we reached the Sambar Machan. This Machan about 25 feet from ground with a deep hole dug all around to keep the elephants away. Food at Sambar machan is not a problem, as there is Thatha’s(Old man’s)house, near the bridge,wherein he can cook  for us with the ingredients we carried. We also enjoyed a lot of Katta Chai(Black Tea) made at Thatha’s place. We left the food items at Thatha’s place for him to cook and trekked  to Sambar Machan.The accommodation can sleep about 6 to 8. They gave us beddings for the night and there is toilet facilities also. This is a very peaceful place and we had a nice cold water bath in the river near by. Later at about 5 pm, we came to the nearby rocky place and sat quiet expecting some sightings. We heard the barking dear and nothing much in the evening. Food was brought from Thatha’s place and we had dinner. As we were getting ready to go to bed, we heard the Leopard growling (sounded like sawing) and a deer panicking and bellowing several times. The air was echoing with these sounds and we were all awe struck with it. A little later an elephant trumpeted and every thing became quiet after that. We could hear all this very clearly as there was no other noise and it was very peaceful.

Day 2 at 6 a.m, we decided to trek back to the pajero and take a drive.We sighted spotted deers, Monitor(Udumbu) and a croc in the banks of the Thunakadavu Dam. The morning drive was very good and refreshing as the air was unpolluted. After about a 2 hour drive, we came to Parambikulam and had breakfast at Lakshmi Mess-hot  Idllis and dosas, it was very tasty. One shouldn’t miss Lakshmi Mess food –tiffin or meals-its too good.

At about 3 pm we decided to do some trekking on the route back to the Sambar Machan with a slight deviation en route to Full Moon Census Machan. This Machan is now closed and no trekking is allowed any more as it has been declared a core area.  It was very cloudy and we expected a lot of rains, so no cameras, only Binocs. We also prepared ourselves for leech bites and applied snuff powder mixed with neem oil, it did help a lot. As we trekked, we saw a lot of spotted deer, a couple of Bisons hiding  in the very nearby bush and Nilgiri Langur in close quarters and were calling. 

We also saw recent leopard pug marks on the track. It started to rain heavily and we took shelter under a huge tree, watching a few sambar deer in the nearby vayal. We were there for about ten minutes and wondering how to get back to the vehicle in the rain. All of us were fully drenched, but still trying to spot animals thru the Binocs. Suddenly our guide Babu, saw some thing moving by the corner of his eyes and whispered “Puli,Puli”-Tiger. All of us scrambled towards him asking where? Yes, we could see in the pouring rain in the distant vayal, very near the Sambar deer, a beautiful and majestic Tiger. He/She was gracefully walking past the Sambar. What a sight it was, there was silence amongst us. Everybody spell bound. The Tiger walked past the sambar very close and went beside a bush. The sambar were vigilant and was just watching the Tiger. The Tiger turned around and went past the Sambar again and into the bush. We sighted the Tiger for may be just about 2 mins only, but the sight was fantastic and very very rear one and worth walking thru pouring rain and bleeding from leech bites. The rain came down a bit and we found our way back to the Pajero fully drenched.It was an amazing trek even though it was only a short distance that we went. We reached Thatha’s place had a couple of katta chai and warmed ourselves. Nightfall came and we had an early supper, discussed a lot about the Tiger sighting  and went to bed happy as it was one of our best days in Parambikulam.

Day 3 We got up at about 7, had a wash finished our morning routines  and packed our bags. Had b/fast and chai at Thatha’s place, settled his bill and started driving back to Parambikulam. On the way we sighted a pack of wild dogs on the road, about 7 of them. They were a bit curious about us, walked a bit towards our vehicle and turned into the bush later. We spent about 10 mins watching them. 


We reached paramikulam,  picked up some eggs and veggies for our stay at Tellikal I.B. We drove back to Anapady office collected the keys for Tellikal I.B. We have to come back half way to enter into the forest to trek to Tellikal. We parked the Pajero close to the road, nearby a forest office, which is by the side of huge Dam. There are 2 new guest houses by the dam. We repacked our dresses, food to be taken to Tellikal and left the remaining clothes in the vehicle. We have to carry all our food, clothes,water etc. and trek about 5 kms to reach Tellikal I.B. We reached in just over an hour or so. We spotted some Bison on the way and a lot of Sambar in the vayal just opposite Tellikal I.B, This accommodation is like an inspection bunglow, which was recently done up and can accommodate about6-8 persons. There is no power and water has to be brought  from the near by river. The guides put up the beds and brought water and cooked the lunch. After lunch, around 3pm we went for trek to the nearby vayal after permission from the forest officer who stays by the vayal. We saw a huge herd of Bison in the far end of the vayal. It was cloudy, and they were grazing, looking up every now and then. We spent almost an hour there watching the Bison and expected some action. A sambar deer was panicking and came running towards the Bison herd and disappeared in the bush. We don’t know for what reason it did that.It was getting dark and we had to return to the I.B. We cooked dinner, while it was still drizzling. It’s a lot of fun when all of us take part and do some cooking. We do it every time in Tellikal I.B and never got tired of it. Had dinner and sat outside with our torches to spot some movement. We could see the same sambar herd we saw earlier in the vayal opposite. We heard a few bellowing of the sambar nearby  and expected some action but nothing else happened. The night was quiet and we could clearly hear the Langur calling far away, may be leopard or a Tiger  was on the prowl. We went to bed later in the night planning to make another trek to the  vayal in the morning.

Day 4 It was drizzling thru the night. Got up early, because of weather, only 2 of us went for trek, others went back to bed. The trekkers came back, no sightings. We all started to pack, the guides were busy making breakfast and cleaning up the place. After b/fast we all trekked back the distance to reach our Pajero. Almost near the dam, the guide in front suddenly stopped us and signed not to make any noise. We heard branch being broken off the tree and realised that Elephants were in the nearby bush, almost on our track. We waited for a few minutes and decided to back track and come around, as it is dangerous to go further near the elephants. Coming around, we saw 3 of them feeding almost on the track we took earlier. We spent some time watching the Elephants and then left for our vehicle. We started to drive at about 11 am, thanked and dropped the guides off at Anapady office, had some tea and left for Bangalore. A long drive back, talking about our sightings,and planning our next forest visit. Sighting a tiger was jackpot for us. We reached Bangalore at about 10 pm. It was a fantastic trip as usual, but extraordinary this time because we sighted Tiger.