My Eravikulam Visit No:2

Date: 22nd   May  2012



After an year's gap , I decided to revisit the Eravikulam NP. This time I felt more confident , had higher-end photographic equipment and was backed-up by my college friends for my assistance. They were always there for my assistance and this time ,all the planning were done by them.

We started our trip from my friend Arjun's house located at Kakkanad near Cochin. He was our tour leader, guide and he has got exceptional driving skills. He was having three four wheelers in his house and of them an MM 540 4x4 was the most antique and the most unique. It could easily occupy (8+1) passengers with ease and could handle any terrain with out a problem.

We started our trip early in the morning and reached Eravikulam by 11:00 am . As we reached there, we could see a very looong queue in front of the ticket counter. It was the time when the schools close for the summer vacation in various south Indian states . The crowd mostly consisted of tourists from other countries and states other than Kerala & Tamil Nadu.

After spending more than an hour in the queue , I managed to reach the park through the  mini-bus provided by the Kerala forest department. As soon as I reached the location, I headed towards the main entrance formed by a gate way . From there ,  a guard made a security check of my bag searching for anything suspicious (Warning!....liquor is banned here and can be a snare for U if you carry such items with U...Can easily get u behind the bars....) and checked my entrance tickets.

After the final checkup , I started walking through the short trekking path. I could easily spot a couple of Nilgiri Thars grazing close to the entrance.But the view was rather short-lived. The disappeared in to the adjoining kurinji bush  The initially clear climate started becoming  a bit misty and soon it felt as if the clouds were coming down.There was no sign if them when I started my trip and in no time, the sun vanished out of sight and tiny droplets of water started to fall out of the white sky. The temperature dropped drastically and on every step that I took me further on to the Rajamalai , my visibility got lower and lower.....

I started getting that bad feeling of getting my camera frozen as last time...But compared to that day,the climate was not at all wild at me...:-) That day was in the rainy season and I got embarrassed experiencing the shear fury of the Nilgiris.

This magic equation formulates my previous visit :

Heavy(Rain+Wind+Fog)  =   [Wet (clothes+bag+camera+shoes) + A Torn & Broken Umbrella + Zero Visibility]+ Fatigue for the man and the machine involved

This time , there was no wind and the temperature was not un-bearable. The drizzle was not disturbing either...I made a trek over the tarmac track till its extreme end. I could see the whole landscape around me from that point...could spot few new birds and had a view at the shola forests that in fact , are the forest patches formed in-between two adjoining hills. Also I could get a view of the majestic Aanamudi preak which is of the highest out here and has got its name from its physical appearance as that of an elephant (Aana in Malayalam means elephant)


But still I couldn't photograph the flagship species of the sanctuary.I searched around but there was no sign of them...I tried to get some place to sit on and wait... But the other tourists had already reserved their seats...I moved on cursing them....

On my way down , I was stopped by a small piece of rock that rolled down from the slopes aside me..As I looked above..the Rock-star emerged out of the mist...heads up and looked down straight at me as if it was
the king...That was just the moment I was waiting for...I pulled out my camera and had no time to make decisions over the lens to be used...The camera was mounted with a macro lens (Which is typically used for shooting insects and small subjects) which I did attached to shoot the plants and flowers on the way...I pointed it at the animal and kept on clicking...

I was not ready for waiting for another animal to take another shot...I chased the thar and fired my shots  from a distance...But suddenly , I got surrounded by a family of thar, that emerged out of the bush and they felt to be so comfortable even in our presence and did even tasted my lens amazed by its reflection on the glass elements...:-)

After spending an hour or two, I trekked myself downhill  and back to the bus stop. While waiting for the bus to come for my pickup, I was amazed seeing one of the senior forest guards who was disposing  the  tourist leftovers in the bush, in to the trash-bins as a measure to prevent the littering of the forest area .
Note that most of the tourists here are well educated and highly qualified people...I don't know what makes these people to misbehave in such a protected area. More over , the animals can get irritated by the tourists who touch and groom them without understanding that the horns on thar are not just meant for a fancy...
Any time they could be put in to action. Its only due to such devoted protectors that these iconic creatures thrive in these rocky and mountainous terrain and definitely the Nilgiri Thar is the Rockstar Of these Rockies.....

Eravikulam National Park

                                                                                                                                                          Text & Photos by N.A.Varun


Since my childhood, I used to hear about the Nilgiris, which literally means means 'Blue Mountains'. They are called so because, once in 12 years, the neela kuruji plant flowers to produce a blue flower. These flowers along the western ghats will make them look as if they are covered by a beautiful blue blanket.The kurinji flowered last in 2006 and Eravikulam National Park was the focal point of tourists as the park witnessed the flowering in a larger area.

But in 2006 I was doing my school and was doing my 10th standard education. I remember reading about the kuriji bloom in the news paper. But I was not bold enough to take such long distances.Hardly,I missed that chance and will have to wait till 2018. There is also an information that another bloom will occur in 2014 as there are more than one species of kurinji in the western ghats. Next time, I won't be missing the chance again.

A small herd of Nilgiri Thar. The black line on their back is often mistaken as the reason behind their local name as 'Varayadu' .The real source of name is from Tamil,where varai means cliff and Aadu meaning goat. It is currently the state animal of  Tamil Nadu

Its not just that the Kurinji bloom that you would miss, if you have never visited Eravikulam. You will also miss the beautiful shola forests, grasslands and the mountains of  Rajamalai. In addition , you will miss a chance to see the Nilgiri Thar, an endangered species of mountain goat , which is endemic to the Nilgiris.The park is home to the largest population of this unique species.Thar's live in rocky terrain and can easily move over the steep and slippery rocks that even mountaineers will find extremely hard to get through. They are known for their capability to take on extreme terrain. Because of this, Mahindra Motors,one of the popular Indian automotive company have given the name 'Mahindra Thar' for their SUV, which is ment for the extreme offroaders.

The forest patches formed between two adjacent hills are called shola forests. They are home to unique species and house a verity of birds,reptiles and mammals.The formation of these forests is still of a debate between the various scientists and naturalists.These forests are of great abundance in the Eravikulam  NP.

A Thar fawn 

On my first trip to Eravikulam, I was accompanied by my friend Arjun K.P. It was in the monsoon season and we started our trip at 6:30 am from Coimbatore.We went to Pollachi and then to Udumalai. From Udumali , we had our breakfast from and entered the Munar bus. The bus goes from Udumali to Chinnar,Marayur,Eravikulam & finally to Munnar . After Chinnar, the route was full of rain forests and tea estates. By 12:00 Pm, we reached Eravikulam information center. The bus stopped right in front of it and we got down. Munnar is still at about 10 kms from Eravikulam.

There was a large queue in front of the ticket counter. The entrance to the park is by a mini bus. The ticket charge was Rs 35 and Rs 25 for still camera. After getting into the bus, I made my camera ready for action. We could see two herds of Nilgiri Thar with fawns, on the way. The climate was very cold ,foggy and rainy. It caused my camera to get cold. But had no problem until we got down at the visitors rest house at Rajamalai.. Due to fog, visibility was vary low and I couldn't get any landscapes in my frame.My umbrella got snapped and was destroyed in the wind. We moved into the photo gallery . From the inside, we put on our sweaters to protect us from the extreme cold.

Inside the photo gallery of Eravikulam NP

As the rain stopped, we trekked through the mountain ways. It was very cold and we were shivering in the cold with our sweaters on us. We could see a small Thar in the bush while we were trekking. I took out my camera and as I clicked, some thing felt very wrong. Yikes! I got mirror lock syndrome to my camera. The camera was frozen due to the extremes of temperature. It could no more take any photos. It sounded like it went crazy. The mirror was rattling non-stop inside, but no photos were taken and an 'Error' message appeared on my LCD screen which made me shivering with fear of the damage done to my equipment.

Still we trekked further and after reaching the end of the permitted route, we returned back.I thought that the camera would work after a few minutes. But it never did.By the evening,we reached back to the bus stop and entered a local bus to marayur as there were no direct buses back to Udumalai at that time. The bus was full of people and we couldn't get a seat. The roads were narrow and was not tarred well, making the  bus shake inside. I felt like I was about to vomit. I was praying to god to take me to to my destination fast. Suddenly, we could hear an explosion. The bus stopped and I could understand that the bus tire got punctured. Everybody got down and tried to catch the next bus. But not many buses are there in the route.

I was feeling very sick and I vomited out my lunch.My friend gave me water and told me that he was feeling the same too. We ate a sweet stuff called by the name "Home Made Chocolate" from the tea shop near by the ticket counter. That was probably the only thing which could have made me sick. At that instant itself, I took the packet out of my bag which contained the remaining amount of it and trowed it out in to the road with anger.

1 hour passed by and then another bus passed by us in the opposite direction. That  bus gave their stepney tire to our bus and after changing the tire, we moved to Marayur. From there, we could see a Munnar- Banglore express bus which had almost twice the ticket charge as compared to the local buses. The conductor told us that there are not many local buses by that time. So we got in to the luxury bus and was taken to Udumalai. I had a good sleep in the bus. After reaching Udumalai, we went back to our homes.

The trip was probably the most adventurous trip in my life.

• I was caught by viral fever and was admitted to hospital and was having a temperature measuring 103 degree Fahrenheit.
• My camera was damaged for the first time ever. I sent it to the service center and it took about 1 month to get it back to my hand.
• The camera lens got affected by fungus as it got wet in the cold and wet climate and was required to be cleaned.

After that unforgettable experience of walking in the clouds (thick fog) and facing unexpected accidents , I learned my lesson to be more cautious while traveling to and through such unpredictable places.

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.....


 

Bannerghatta Zoo

After an exciting safari, we were taken back to the gate of the Bannerghatta zoo. We moved inside. A white peacock welcomed us in the first exhibit.Those nursery students whom i mentioned before were standing around  the exhibit. I managed to move one kid in front of me saying "Move away from the cage or else it will bite you". The scared boy ran away from the front of my lens.The sunlight was causing glare in my images and I couldn't us my lens hood.So my cousin had to use his hand to prevent glare in front of some cages.

Then we moved in to some other small exhibits that were having birds like dove, owl and civet.

After taking a lot of shots , I felt like my cousin was starting to loose his patience. So we moved further to see the other exhibits.

One of the exhibits was adopted by Cricket Legend ,Shri Anil Kumble

The leopard is probably the only big cat inside the zoo. May be because that leopards needs fully closed exhibits or else, they may use the trees as ladders to get out . The leopard exhibit is the most impressive of the zoo.

Then we saw star tortoise, Mugger crocodile , Gharial  , Spotted deer , Indian gazelle, barking deer , a zebra, king cobra ,Indian elephant,various birds,macaques and many other small & large animals. The photographs of various animals in the Bannerghatta zoo are shown below.







There is a small bakery and a park available inside the zoo.

After spending much time in the zoo, we moved out of the zoo.At that time the gate man told us about a butterfly park nearby. It was within walking distance from the zoo. So we moved to explore our last destination in Bannerghatta.............

Prissoners Of The Wild

Gharial

Black Buck

Mugger Crocodile

River Turtoise

Jackal

Spotted Deer(chithal)

Exploring Bannerghatta National Park

                                                                                                              Text & photos by N.A.Varun

Wild animals have always fascinated me since my childhood. But seeing them in the wild had never been easy. If you want to observe wild animals up close & personal ,then the Bannergahtta NP is probably the best place you have got.

The park is accessible from the Bangalore central bus-station , and is connected by a variety of buses. At the time of my visit, my cousin was there to guide me through .We reached there via train and the Bangalore central bus-station is located very close to the railway station . We boarded a No 365 Volvo AC town bus. It was the first time I was entering into an air conditioned town bus. Half an hour in to the trip, we did reach our cousins room located at a nearby town . My watch pointed 10 o' clock . So I spent that night in my cousins flat for gaining energy for the trip next day.

The sound of a helicopter woke up both of us in the morning.An army air base was nearby. The city was  

emerging from the darkness of the cold night. The climate was just so nice that I felt as if the pillow and the woolen blanket was calling me to go back to sleep. My cousin seemed to have read my mind and presented  me a cup full of steaming hot tea. After having the tea and a hot water bath, all my sleepiness ran out of the city . We started to get ready for the trip and had our breakfast.We moved to the bus stop.

As soon as we reached the bus stop, a beautiful No 365 AC Volvo bus was standing there as if it was waiting just for us. We boarded the bus and gazed through the glass windows to see the beautiful city. After some distance, the city disappeared and it felt as if we entered into a tiny forest. It was the place where the offices of the wild life department of Karnataka were located. Within a couple of minutes, the bus reached the Bannerghatta bus station. The bus station was clean and well managed , but there are less number of good shops and hotels nearby. There was a garden close to the bus station and we walked through the garden. 

The time was 9:30 in the morning. A number of school buses were parked in the parking area nearby the entrance to the Bannerghatta Zoo. I saw lots of nursery students walking in line towards  the park entrance along with their teachers. Their sounds were filled in the atmosphere.

We took our tickets for the safari and the zoo from the ticket counter. One ticket costed  Rs 160. Also the ticket for my still camera was Rs 25. We proceeded towards the entrance. The guard teared the tickets a bit and returned it to us for marking that the ticket is used. We stood in the queue for the safari.

The safari is done in buses that are built like cages. Some holes are provided for sticking your camera lens a bit out. I used a 70-300 lens and hence the holes were useful for me. only one bus is allowed at a time for the safari. The people for safari will have to wait for some time before getting into their safari vehicle.

We got into our bus. The bus started moving. We spotted a sambar deer and its fawn in the distance. I could easily grab a shot of them. Luckily,they were on my side of the bus or else I would have to circle inside the moving bus hitting others heads with my big lens. by gods grace, most of the animals were at my side.

The guide started calling the photographers inside the bus and told that he would provide them with his front seet if they were willing to give him Rs 100. With a telephoto lens attached, the offer was not for me. I would hit the windscreen with my lens if  I were to sit there. Also the direct sunlight will cause flare & glare in the image degrading its quality. Hence, I could keep that money in my pocket. 

Then we moved in to the area for the Sloth bear. I was shocked to see about 20-30 bears collectively resting in the road. The honks made by the bus were not enough to wake those hairy creatures. Then the driver started sprinkling water from his water bottle to make way for the bus. The water did its job and we got way through 'bear-path' after giving them a 'bear-bath'  :-)

The bus stopped at a gate and there was an empty region. Again another gate was opened and the bus moved inside. We saw a lioness proudly waking nearby a waterhole. She posed for a photo as if she was the queen of Bannerghatta . The bus moved to another zone.

It contained the rare white tiger. We saw one lying very close to our window. It turned its head as if it was not at all interested in us.Its pale skin,fur and black stripes seemed as if it was a big painted house cat. My co-travelers howled and whistled to grab its attention. But it simply didn't pointed its eyes towards us.

The bus proceeded with the safari.

We moved to the next zone and the next gate opened as if it was a curtain with a VIP inside. It had the world favorite animal inside .It was a Bengal tiger , India's national pride. Everybody pressed their nose on the glass to see the most karizmatic cat in the world. It circled the bus and the bus moved towards the exit gate. The tiger waved its tail with its eyes and ears locked on to us. It seemed like it was telling Bye bye......