Magical Trails - The Karien Shola

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.

 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.

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...

So, what is 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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 .
  

The Thomman Kuthu Waterfalls Of Thodupuza

Front View Of The Waterfall

After our Eravikulam trip, we moved to our next destination,which is hidden in the remote jungles of Thodupuza. We had to utilize the GPS facility in one of our cellphones to route ourselves to the location. As  soon as we reached our destination,we moved towards the ticket counter and cashed for our entry passes. It costed 10 rs per head and an additional 10 rs was required for my camera. There is a short trek path through the patch of jungle .After a while , we started walking through the narrow path heading towards the waterfall.

 The climate was pretty warm and moist. The place was filled with a multitude of  sounds particularly that of cicadas.As we reached the waterfall,the sounds of the jungle got mixed with the noise of the falling water making it a music to both eyes & ears alike. We decided to chill off the day with a bath in the cool water. We had to skip over some slippery rocks to get ourselves in to the stream.

A small 'waterfall' on the way to the main waterfall

After a refreshing bath, we had a look around and could just see rocks,water and trees. The guards did warn us not to venture further and into the jungle. The daylight was fading as well. So we made our way back to the entrance and then back to our homes.

I wouldn't tell that it is one of the best locations, but still it is one of those destinations which you don't want to miss if you are visiting any of the nearby locations. Its small waterfall and the safer trek path covered by greenery is what you should expect from here. But still if you are for natural beauty, it can be an enchanting paradise.

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.....