Topslip & Parambikulam National Park

                                                                                                        Text & photos  :  N.A.Varun

Gaur- The flagship species of the sanctuary

The Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Palakkad district of kerela. The park is located in the Anamali hills and shares boundaries with the Indiragandhi National Park in Tamil Nadu . The entrance to the park is through Tamil Nadu. Limited number of  Buses are available from Pollachi, the nearest town located in Tamil Nadu. Buses start from Pollachi at 6:10 am,10:00 am (KSRTC)  & 3:00 pm. There is also a bus at 11:30 am to Topslip, the nearest bus station to access the Indiragandhi National Park.

View from the hill - Topslip

The Topslip & Parambikulam forest offices are seperated by < 5 kms , but you wont be allowed to cover the distance on foot .

Apart from being a wildlife photographer, I am also a student of engineering (EEE). My collage is located in Coimbatore disrict near to Pollachi. With my friend Arjun K.P. ,a conservationist from Kerala. In our first trip, we got into the 11:30 am bus. The bus looked old  from the outside and was painted in green. We got in to the bus and asked for a 'Parambikulam' ticket. The conductor told me in Tamil that the bus wont go to parambikulam now. It will go only up to Topslip and will return. Then the same bus will be going for another trip at 3:00 pm. He told me to enter in the bus when it reach Topslip again at 4:30. He also told that I will be able to see animals on the way.

Topslip

While the bus was travelling from Sethumadi to Topslip, two travellers were argueing inside the bus. One was a n old woman who sell Murukku  at Topslip and the other was a young man. Very less number of travellers were there in the bus. We watched the fight silently. Thn one of the fellow travelers scolded them and put an end for the fight.Later only we understood that the lady was the young man's mother. "Its looking like everything is getting wild past Sethumadi....",my friend sighed.

Bonnet Macaque 

He was true. The landscape became more filled with thorny trees, the temperature dropped , the lighting started to become dim. Only the sound of the bus was audible. We entered in to the jungle.Signboards with pictures of tiger and gaur were placed along the sides. We peeped out to the wilderness around us through the rusty windows of the grandfather bus.We traveled through hills covered with bamboo and teak.As we reached on top of the hill, we could see a check post.  A troop of  bonnet macaques were playing near the check post. We started seeing some people and a few buildings. That was the main office building of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.

Spotted dove from the herbal garden - Topslip

The bus stopped at a bus stop and turned to go back to Pollachi. We got down.Only BSNL is having mobile phone network coverage up in here. The forest office building was having a canteen, a small museum    and an open restroom for having lunch. We went in to rest room which looked like a shed. We started eating the parippu vadi that we brought to eat from the bus. Suddenly, I saw my friend jumping up from his seat."Monkey!" he cried. A bonnet macaque took one vadi . "Why you gave food to that monkey? Now other monkeys will also come to disturb us...." one tourist from our state shouted in anger. We stood puzzled.

After our lunch(vadai), we moved out to see the things outside. We moved in to the bamboo forests and a temple nearby the restroom. We saw some Nilgiri Langaurs that were jumping and howling on the trees nearby the jungle. Compared to the machaques, the langaurs are larger in size and prefer high above the forest canopy. But they are less aggressive and more peaceful.

Nilgiri Langaur

A grassy hill was there in front of the bus stop. We moved on to the hill and near to a building on the top of it. Then we went to see the Machan tree houses and the herbal garden.Then we went in to the mini meusium where some stuffed animals along with the bones and remains of some animals. The only thing that I was interested among the jarred animals was a travancore flying squirrel .Any way , the museum is free of any charges so you can enjoy the views inside.

Roads through the jungle

In the evening, we went to parambikulam in the bus we came.We saw some spotted deer and  a wild boar.The bus was cruising through the jungle. So by the time I could aim my camera at any animal, it will be gone.In short , we could see less and photograph less in the bus journey .Cursing the bus,we went back to Pollachi and to our room. In short, dont think of a parambikulam trip on the transport bus.   

The elephant on the road is actually a sticker on the wind shield of the bus. You can also see a deer and the words saying 'Topslip' along with it.

Old photo of mine - Topslip

Years passed by. Again another boring weekend. I had my camera with me. I ringed to another friend for my company. He was a naturalist from Chitwan , Nepal . He agreed and this time we went well prepared. We got up early and catched  the first bus to Parambikulam. We reached there early and the jungle was just waking up. We reached Parambikulam information center and got down there. Then we took 150rs ticket per person for the bus safari. And entered the mini safari bus. As the bus got full, the safari  was started. A guide warned us to be careful to avoid leaches while moving through the grassy terrain.
The bus started gaining momentum.

We were sitting in the rear seat. I started to unpack my bag to gain access to my camera. The rear seat was shaking . Coupled with the poor roads inside the forest , I was thrown up of the seat as the bus was moving.
Suddenly, the sunlight started fading and water droplets started falling from the sky. I could feel a cool touch on my back. Yikes! .It was a big drop of water. The bus was having holes in-spite of its new look.
I moved away to prevent my camera from getting wet.

We could see large herds of Spotted deer(chithal) on the move. It felt like they are just everywhere. The bus stopped once and then never stoped in front of the other chithal herds.


Many peacocks were also roaming nearby the roads.

Then we saw a herd of Gaur, the flagship species of Parambikulam WLS.

Further moving we came across many herds of spotted deer and some sambar  deers.

We could see some wild dogs (dhole)on the road.


We also saw a big owl, but couldn't get a good photograph of it.

On the way, we could also see the "Kannimara Teak" the largest living teak tree in the world.

We also saw the beautiful Parambikulam Dam and the Thunakkadavu dam.

On the way to Parambikulam dam, there was a big Ashoka Piller and many small tea shops with the names of trees. We had tea and by that time, the sunlight came back.That's the climate here. At anytime the climate can change and expect a rain always.

My co travelers taking photo at valley view point. The bus near them is our safari bus

As our safari in Parambikulam came in to an end, we moved out of our bus and started exploring the parambikulam information center and nearby areas. The guards here are helpful and co-operative. They will give the necessary guidance for you. A nice canteen is there next to the information center. I could see a large heard of spotted deer and a troup of bonnet macaques nearby the gate. After having tea and snacks, we moved out. We saw a shop for selling Parambikulam T-shirts,caps,honey,photos,stickers etc. An A.C. T.V room is also provided showing wildlife filims (No need of paying any charges for seeing the T.V. Its included in the safari ticket).We brought some stickers for 10 Rs and moved to the bus station.

 The bus station was near by the information center.I went there just before Onam festival which is the most important festival of Kerala. So I could hear the chief forest officer warning the guards not to take leave as the time is also the most crowded time for the sanctuary.

The  bus came at about 1:00 pm and we entered in the KSRTC bus and got down at Topslip. We went for the safari and saw a sambar deer and a wild elephant. The vehicle took us to an elephant camp inside the forest where the Elephants are taught the leasons in guarding forests and people. The trained elephants are called Kunki elephants. They are free to roam without any chains in the nearby forests.

Me at the elephant training camp at Topslip

 By the time we returned from the safari, we could see a large herd of chithal on the grassland in front of the forest office. They seemed to be un disturbed by the many tourists who were looking at them. We could see many birds at that time. Wild boars were running through the area.

Sunset at Parambikulam

The sunlight started fading away making photography tough. We moved in to the bus stop and the bus came on time. On our way back to our room, my friend said " This place is just amazing. When can we go again?". I couldn't answer him. Because,I was about to ask the same question to him.....