Most of the people who are venturing in to the wild usually resort only to a short jungle safari usually conducted in a safari vehicle,which follows a strict safari route. Its easy and safe, as you are armored from the animals outside and the soft and cushy seats will provide you a comfy ride through the wild. This is most suited if you are on a busy schedule or having a family trip with your kids.
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| Karien Shola |
Unlike the African savannas which all of us might have seen in popular TV channels, where most of the terrain is less treacherous and have less number of trees in the landscape, the Western Ghats has a three dimensional terrain with hills mountains and cliffs making any car/bus safari a nightmare. Moreover,these areas are covered by impenetrable rain-forests and gets covered in fog during a major part of the year.
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| Malabar giant squirrel ( Ratufa indica ) |
In my case,the thrill of being in the wild did not come from any safaris , but through a short trek through the deciduous forests of Parambikulam to a patch of evergreen Shola forests locally called as The Karien Shola. I never had any experience in trekking through any rain-forests before and it was indeed a very unique experience to me.
It was a holiday for my collage due to 'Srikrishna Jayanthi' , the birthday of the Hindu god Krishna. I was having regular class on the next day and hence couldn't go to my homeland , which was my usual practice. At Coimbatore, it was power-cut season and the sheer number of power-cuts was too annoying to me (Up to 16 hours per day of electric power blackout did existed in Coimbatore at that time) . Sitting in my room therefore was not an option for me. It was time fore me to execute my plan-B...
Take my camera and get lost in the jungles in the neighborhood...:-) Luckily, I was having my camera with all of it batteries fully charged. But still, it was raining slightly on the outside. But the climate got overridden my by over-confidence that the rains would eventually vanish. But I had to reach there to understand that I was wrong.....
As I reached the information center at Anappady , I was surprised to see that I was the only visitor that day. It was raining heavily and was not a tourist season in Kerala. There was no safari that day due to lack of tourists and all I could do was to trek through the jungle trails. I had no other choice and I cashed my bill for the Karien Shola Trail.
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| Drosera indica - An insectivorous plant |
After having my lunch, I was accompanied by my friend & guide , Mr Sashi , a young and energetic member from the forest department. We started walking from the information center through the tarmac towards the gateway. Then we entered in to a deciduous patch of forest through a rocky terrain. The rain was fairly heavy and the visibility was reducing. We could see two elephants on the way and had to wait for some time until our road was cleared. My guide was trying to clear the route by making loud noises and calls. I was a little scared and did keep a distance from them.
As the route got cleared, we moved on. As we reached the Karien Shola, the rain ceased for a while. The forest canopy became more thick and it seemed as if there was very little light down there. The Shola was filled with thick undergrowth and a multitude of sounds. The guide showed me a Malabar Giant Squirrel, running around on the top canopy. It was very big in comparison to an ordinary palm squirrel found in my house and its sound was so loud. It took a look over us for a moment and I could grab a shot.
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| Elephants On the road |
Suddenly, some thing felt so wrong.I looked at my shoes and OMG my legs were covered by leaches. Some 20 leaches over me and climbing up. I never knew that leaches were so extreme and was not prepared to face them. It was so tough to get off from my shoes and pants. You can never blow them away like a mosquito nor you can pick'em using your hand. I was totally scared seeing them climbing up so fast. The only way I had was to strike them using my index finger repeatedly as if I was playing caroms. The strike has to be delivered just at the very moment they move. Even though, one did grip on my nail and no shaking of could get it off from my finger. I took my memory card cover and swatted it. Some way I got them off.
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| My Guide - Mr Sashi |
Luckily, I had a good pair of socks and shoes and since I followed the instructions from my guide to put socks over my pants, I was not bitten by any of those blood suckers.They were so big and was dark brown to red in color.The easy way to get rid of them is by sprinkling salt on them. But , I was not expecting them and didn't had any salt with me.
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| Female Scarlet Minivet (Pericrocotus flammeus) |
As we ventured further, we could see a White bellied woodpecker, the largest of its kind on a tree nearby.Also we could spot birds like the White bellied treepie, Malabar grey horn bill Scarlet minivet,Malabar parakeet,Malabar whistling thrush and many other birds.
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| Ceylon Frogmouth - (Batrachostomus moniliger) |
Sambar deer were also spotted during the trail and we were amazed to find some pug-marks of the majestic Bengal Tiger on our way. From there, he took me to the bottom of a tree,were this pair of Ceylon frog-mouths (Batrachostomus moniliger) were photographed.
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| Peninsular Rock Agama (Psammophilus dorsalis) |
From there, we started our trek back to the information center. As we moved in to a large open area covered by rocks,I felt as if there is a movement on the rocks. As I looked closer, I could spot a small lizard called as the Peninsular Rock Agama (Psammophilus dorsalis). It is camouflaged as a piece of rock and hence is very tough to find. But there were lots of them on the rocks out here, that it was easy for me to find and photograph them. Moreover, the one that's in the photo was just circling around the same rock even when I chased it for a while.
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| Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii) |
After the trek, as we reached back to the information center, we were welcomed by a pair of Indian pond herons in the garden adjoining the information center. In total, I was charged INR 500 Rs for the trek and a I strongly recommend the trek for everybody who want to experience the tranquility of the evergreen shoals of the western ghats .
