The Wild Ways of Masinagudi

 

The Philosophy of Travel

       
    The urge for travel might be a genetic trait of human beings .The history of human journeys are as old as the origin of the human civilizations .Inspired by the various instincts, Human beings used to travel from the very beginning of ancient ages.The Great human migration,which began from African continent, crosses the country and continent borders and spread all over the globe, then ,by the ages , the human beings aimed the extra terrestrial world and began their journeys to the unknown planets of the universe.The human journeys were motivated by various instincts , some of then were the painful dispersals,some of them were migrations to the lands of promises in search of better prospects , some of them were sacred pilgrimages in search of holy blessings , Yet some journeys had nothing to do with declared goals, they were just the wanderings without any pre determined itinerary .They are the journeys inspired by the curiosity to see the unknown world , to enjoy the beauty of nature , to know the lives of the outside world and to decode the secrets of some

mysteries of the universe .These humans spent their entire life for travel or dedicated their life for travel , to them life is to travel , they gained knowledge and attained wisdom through their journeys . They revealed the unknown parts of the globe to us , and amused the entire civilization with the tales and fables of unexplored world, they spread the myths and culture of our land to farthest of the globe and ignited our genetical urge to travel with the travelogues of their adventure journeys .They strongly believed that the various cultures of the world should be fused together in order to form a huge liberal world civilization that will treat the entire human civilization as the strings of a same garland . They dreamt of such a world and spread the message global humanity around the globe .

            Huyan tsang, Fahiyan , Magellan,Ibn batuta, Lawrence, Muhammed Asad etc are the historical personalities, who led the world travel culture and paved the way for the crazy travelers .Of course, the urge for travel is the genetical trait of human beings , and this genus contributed a lot to the great idea of universal humanity .The human civilization still pursue their travels to the new destinations , they keep traveling together even though the goal varies .
 

Travel Trance 

     Some journeys are to go only once in life , such itinerary meant just to have a look and return back and the curiosity of such places will vanish with a first look itself .Every traveler might have such offbeat destinations in his nomadic life, which the traveler wouldn't like to visit again.Yet some trips are to go back again and again , such place will seduce the traveler with fresh visuals and ethereal feelings, one cannot depart the place for ever, each returns of the traveler becomes an interval for another visit .The travels ,which seems like a pilgrimage might be spiritual wanderings of the traveler .Most probably , a traveler finds such destinations accidentally or in an unexpected manner , often a step in wrong direction from the route or the result of a purposeful deviation in search of a resting place .

I turned up in Masinagudi, a Tamil forest village , in such an unexpected way of travel.Years before, inspired by wildlife photography , my travel to bandipur ended up in masinagudi.The lorry driver who offered a lift from gudallur , told me about masinagudi and detailed how to get there.He added that the possibility of sighting animals will be high at Masinagudi and one can have an economic stay there.Its a place the so called tourists rarely visiting and for a jungle traveler , it would be the an ideal place.After getting down at theppakkadu tri junction, took a deviation in to the right direction and started my repeated travel to masinagudi.That,later, proved to be one of the right moment in my travel life.

Some History of Masinagudi

    Masinagudi got its name from the name of goddess masiniyamma.This place believed to be, once, the capital city of Wayanad kingdom. The myths about this place is that , several communities were migrated to this place in order to find an asylum during the attack of Tipu sultan.These communities included the Okkiliyars, who were farmers; the Vokkaligas, a warrior community; the Kannadiya Naickers of Lingayath origin, which comprised of mainly infantry; the Siviars, mainly palanquin bearers; the Besthavars, which included fishermen, palanquin bearers, lime burners and kiln workers; the Kurumbars, who were mainly shepherds; and the Rauths, that made up the cavalry. The people brought their family deities along with them. Legend has it that when the army closed in on them, these many different communities prayed to “Masiniamman” to keep them safe. After the people crossed the Moyaar River, it flooded, hence preventing the army from effectively pursuing them. This happened around the present town of Masinagudi. To show their gratitude, the people constructed a temple and consecrated the deities of “Masiniamman”, who continues to be the family deity of these communities in the area. 

 

 Wilderness

              Masinagudi is an ecological sensitive area, It has of paramount importance in the ecological balancing process of our earth .This is an area ,where human beings and wildlife having a peaceful co existence .This area is the buffer zone of Mudumala Tiger Reserve and the border area of Bandipur National Park .The Moyar river,which is a tributary of bhavani river ,separates masinagudi and Bandipur .The Masinagudi is an integral part of 778.8 sqkm Segur plateau .Segur plateau is an important wildlife corridor which combines the Western ghat and Eastern ghat .This is home for more than 6000 elephants and holds the number one position in nation in number of elephants and tigers.The Segur Plateau is the most important part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the first biosphere reserve in India, incorporated in the UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB) project. So masinagudi is a geologically and ecologically important place in the region. It is not surprising that this region, which is a hot spot of Indian wildlife, has become a dream place of wildlife lovers and photographers.

 

          

           The jeep safari through the masinagudi moyar road is the highlight of Masinagudi trip .The 10 km long road ends in Moyar Dam area, then separated into smaller roads and entering moyar's suburbs.The dry forest ecosystem of this area turned this place as a haven for wildlife. Just because the geographical proximity to the Sathyamangalam forest and eastern ghat, this area is one of the most important elephant corridor in the nation and that is why elephant herds are a common sighting here , moreover,one can expect the sighting of tiger,leopard,sloth bear,wild dog,and black bucks here .Masinagudi is rich in bird diversity .Including the Red headed vulture and white rumped vulture, which are under the threat of extinction , this area hosts 260 species of birds .There has been reports of breeding sites of those vultures. This place has some reported sightings of very rare Egyptian vulture also .In masinagudi, one might have a chance to sight stripped hyena, if luck is there, and this is the only spot in south India,where one can expect the sighting of stripped hyenas .The hyena population in nilgiri area now fallen heavily and the population shrinked in to some pockets of masinagudi.

     The surrounding hamlets like singara,bokkapura,vazhathottam are the other attractions of the traveller and masinagudi really an entrance to that hamlets, it opens the door to some heavenly places. E.R.C Davidar, the jungle man of India,set up his dream jungle home named chital walk at Bokkapura, where he lived in complete harmony with wild animals . In this same place Mark davidar, son of E.R.C Davidar , lived with the company of wild elephants , Mark named the elephants after Brazilian football stars and his favorite was the giant Rivaldo.His was the story of unusual bonhomie of man animal co existence .

The Murugan Temple at Murugan Hill is another attraction of Bokkappura, a light trek leads you to a another world of scenic beauty .The aerial view of forests in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu can be enjoyed here. In spite of all its unique beauty, people rarely visiting this place , just because , one need to have a trek to get this place

    

        Masinagudi, now on the verge of a major turning point and facing a crucial moment in its history .A section of people in Masinagudi are worried about the decision to take over the private land in the forest related to the Tamil Nadu forest department's elephant development project. Though the government has agreed to the demand for rehabilitation of homes, they fear that this step will destroy Masinagudi's main source of income, as well as the resort and hotel business. The local people sharing their apprehension over after effects of such actions on the economy of masinagudi.But there are other sections which believe that the wildlife and environment of the Masinagudi, which have been destroyed by illegal resorts, home stays and tourism, will be preserved through it and ultimately it will strengthen the region's survival. Authorities say that there is only some restriction of tourism and they do not want to prohibit it. They have to retain the ecosystem of masinagudi , that has been collapsed due to the lack of some restrictions 

 

 

Tiger Trails in the land of Jim Corbett

         Shikar was  one of  the  most popular recreational activities during  pre independence age of India.From kings , princes, and to the British Indian rulers were proud of the size and nature of the hunted beast. The remains of their hunting legacy  can be  still found on the walls of ancient bungalows in the form of stuffed animal heads. Most of the kings and noblemen used to shoot at the animals without adequate knowledge and understanding about  the jungle or its methods, guided  by then experts, only to fire  bullets. But in those times, existed  men , who used to wander through the forest all alone and dared to shoot the dangerous  animals from their bases.They understood  every nook and corner of  the  forest and  animals as their own hands and  they later turned  in to  environmentalists and animal lovers. Kenneth Anderson and Jim Corbett are the big names among such jungle heroes . Both of them were very good writers and their books still inspire all the generations

           Their  adventures and enthusiasm in hunting was also well captured in their writings. Their writings  drew a picture of the forest of that era in the mind canvas of the reader. Moreover, both were renowned writers, their writings had an impact on  the forest  conservation activities during that period

Jim Edward Corbett (photo courtesy Wikipedia)

      The dreams that I've been chasing for many years was to walk through the forests of Himalayan valley that Jim Corbett's stories told and to  hunt tigers with my camera. My  dream finally saw light when I landed at Jim Corbett national park.The park is  about 13 km away  from the town of Ramnagar to reach the main entrance of Dhikala zone of Jim Corbett National Park from where you have to travel about 35 km to the guest house of Dhikala. From the main road as we enter Dhikala, Jim Corbett welcomes you with his smiling face in the form of a statue and it will remind you of the flesh eating cannibals of Rudraprayaga and Kumayoon. We may hear  sudden gun shots and animal roars barging the silence of the jungle,after all we are moving through Jim's land.The land once ruled by him...

To be at the Jim Corbett's soil, is a dream come true for a forest adventurer. Earlier booked gypsy picked me up from Ramnagar in the early morning. Within half an hour, we reached the main entrance of the Dhikala and took another half an hour for checking .At seven thirty the trip in Dhikala started .Our next four days will be in Dhikala. The driver Sajid Shah is a good driver and tracker .He has a good idea of the biodiversity in the forest  and also  a good photographer friendly safari driver. Sajid gave us a brief account on the river Ram Ganga and why it is favorite to the Corbett National Park.

        Whether  land or forest ,it’s survival is based on rivers and that is why rivers are known as the cradles of civilization .Even Corbett  depends  on certain rivers .Corbett 's lifeline is river Ganga, and it’s tributary Ram Ganga. In 1936, India's first national park, Haily National Park came into existence .It was named as Ram Ganga National Park in honor of Ram Ganga in the 1954 -55 period, and it clearly shows the dependence of Corbett on Ram Ganga. The park was renamed as Jim Corbett National Park after the death of Jim Corbett. Apart from Ram Ganga, there are other two rivers also irrigate Corbett. Kozi River is another lifeline, which is active only during rainy seasons.

                                 Sona river is another lifeline, it is named as Sona river Wildlife Sanctuary after this river. The Sona river Wildlife Sanctuary is an important part of the Corbett Tiger Reserve which is an integral part of the Corbett National Park. Apart from this, tributaries of Ram Ganga, like Mandal and Palaine, have maintained the biodiversity of Corbett. The rare species of Masheer Fish, the Gharials, the otter, various kinds of tortoises, crocodiles, are also living along  these rivers.

Elephants in Ram Ganga river

    According to the IUCN(International Union For Conservation Of Nature) Gharials are  Critically Endangered species and are considered to have a total number of survivors in the world below 250 and many of them are having their homes in these rivers. The  wildness of corbett opens up hopes and expectations as we move  forward to  explore much more .Elephants are the symbols of Dhikala. Elephants grazing in the vast grass fields of Dhikala, Sal trees in arch form , intertwining twigs c and elephants walking under them was a framed dream. But the dreams were beyond this ,and it was to see the tigers in the land of Corbett, to see the descendants of heroes and heroines of the so called shikar stories . Sajid testified that Corbett had not been having cannibals there for some years.

           He remembered the last man-eating tiger was shot in 2012. A few pictures of Khaleej Fesant ,a bird of the poultry category, was seen while crossing the river .On the way a gypsy driver gave some signal ,and when reached closer the two drivers spoked something The gypsy leaped in first gear, and Saajid told in between that Paru was spotted at the river side. Paru aka Parvathy is the most famous tigress in Corbett. There are eight tigers in the Dhikala Zone.

         Parvathi is the most famous in the Dakala Zone. After some time we saw the parked gypsy and together a few more of them. I couldn’t control my enthusiasm so I asked the first person I saw about Paru. The enthusiastic explanation from them that she passed the river with a bleeding face was a shock to my excitement. The scene must have been of   aftermath of a hunt . Felt disappointment,  a visual treat had been missed in a matter of few minutes.It was a close call

Be at the right time at the right place or wait for the right time to happen is the law of the forest. Sightings  in the ghat are like that, especially  tiger sightings. Previous experiences always testify the same. My past jungle trails have shown me that  tiger either  walks one step ahead or one step behind me.The tiger always showed its presence only through its pugmarks and fresh scats. Between all these our paths crossed  in the wilds of  Karnataka and Tamilnadu .But it took quite a few trips. It is not easy for someone like me to get to Corbett which is far away from Kerala. Will you disappoint me Jim’s tigers?

 

          Saajid knew I was disappointed ,so he told me ”We will see Paru today evening itself , and we will see all the eight tigers in the zone within next four days," .Sajid's words seemed to be formal words of comfort, but that still gave me relief and this was the only choice I had. Next Safari is at 2.30 in the noon  till 6.30in the evening.We are now the inmates of  Dhikala. We were ready at 2.00 pm itself  and came near the gypsy. This is also  the time when  dust can be a  serious problem here. Masks and caps were there  t to protect ourselves. Other preventive measure were also adopted to protect the gears .Sajid started the car with a temptating question” want to see Paru”?

This time the guide named Dhyani joined the team. Dhyani’s love for the wild made him leave his  job in a private firm in  Delhi and  presently pursuing his  work as a guide here . Dhyani assured  us about the sighting of  Paru today .We wandered through savannah and river side to get some shots of elephant herds .Sajid told that  we have  go to the swimming pool at about four .When summer comes Ram Ganga becomes thinner. Separated from the flow of the river, some pits will be filled with water. Tigers and some other small animals used to  quench their thirst  from here .The largest of such places is  known as the swimming pool, "If we don’t go now we won’t get a good parking place to get a good view,” Sajid reminded us

We reached there by 4.30pm and there were other vehicles too. Sajid parked Gypsy in a vantage point to get the best possible vantage point to get  photographs that could capture the beauty  of the area. I realised that this was the best  position to capture with my single focal length prime lens that is unable to further zooming in or zooming out . Continuous contact with visiting  photographers, and thanks to  his keen observation skill,sajid knew the requirements of the photographers. It has been 45 minutes, and there were no hopeful movements. The camera was focused to the birds in the nearby trees to get rid of the  boredom. "It will happen in half an hour, Dhyan and Sajid combined with their explanations, Paru had crossed the river in  the morning,and will be returning   to the pool for her drink  and bath".

          My imagination was running wild of excitement and I had already started seeing  the tiger having bath  in the water lit by the golden rays of setting sun and another 15 minutes had passed. Suddenly there was a  commotion from deep inside the forest,the cries of monkeys and deers, it is an alarm call by the animals when they feel  presence of tiger. I could see my dream come closer to me Sajid cautioned me to keep my  camera rolling. Next few minutes, I could see many fingers from nearly vehicles pointed towards a tunnel  that opened in to the pool.I suppose Paru is here, all but us had seen her , we are not in a position too see her vividly  from the angle I was standing ,the atmosphere was suddenly filled with  the sounds camera shutters that continuously working in high speed mode .

 Tigers in  woods are, according to the availability of water and food for a day,may have to wande for  miles.The male tigers are strict in keeping territories , but when the food is abundant at times, a little exception is done. Many experts believe that tigers lead a solitary life ,but India’s Tiger Man Valmik Thapar in his book ‘Secret Life of Tigers’ has made  many observations and testimonies of the family life led by them.

           On the other hand  Paru enters with a style , sat on a rock for about two minutes and started licking water in a meditative mood , then stood up to cool off herself. I captured the dream moments in the camera. My old 60D camera with 400mm 5.6 couldn’t compete with the latest lenses. But it did not reduce my enthusiasm of witnessing the imaginary  frames which had crossed realms of my mind and was happening right  in front of me. After staying in water for a while  with just  head and tail above the surface  for  a minute she then swam gradually to the other side, and she did not care  about the men in the vehicles watching her and  cameras  tracking her. The cameras keep tracking until she walked slowly and hid in the grass.

     It was a good start to me with Paru . Next day in the morning we were glad to witness another female tiger at the at the grassland, busy  in hunting her breakfast. She was crouching behind the bushes targeting the deers in the open field.After a tiring try she gave up and moved to another side. After how many attempts does the tiger succeed in hunting ? Tigers are generally silent creatures, especially while catching the prey, and the tigers do not frighten them with loud noise as they are usually portrayed  in some movies. The tigers are very much a silent animal.Once they locked their prey,the hunting method is to crawl over to their preys silently  and jump on them.

      Tigers make calls, probably the very loud calls, in the breeding period inorder to communicate with its mate.The loud courtship call of male tigers attract female tigers. Sajid and Dhyani were both happy,it was already the second tiger in the morning session itself.  After the tiger sighting in the grassland  ,Sajid had an intution to go to the pond area and just if were to find a thirsty tiger, as the pond is a potential drinking spot of tigers in the area, we agreed with him with a big yes when he shared his thought . The result was an unbelievable sight ,there the gentle  male tiger of Corbett ,one of the two males in dhikala area. He was returning  after drinking session . I took as many sudden shots as possible and in between he turned around and gave a pose for a few seconds ,as if  knew he is being photographed, and walked away in his gentle style. It was really unbelievable for me, I had  saw three tigers in two days ,the most magnificent sightings  I could ever have.. 

Sajid fixed our next target in the  morning itself ,it was 'Bachawala Tiger',a mother tiger with two cubs. Both Sajid and Dhyani were making  plans. This  safari made us witness the  tiger tracking expertise of both of them. We spent a one and half hour with the elephants, as the morning sun gradually  warms up, the possibility of mother and  cubs coming  out of its hiding place is really high .We photographed  the elephants crossing the Ramganga river in the morning and started pursued our  tiger  trails.We carefully observed all sounds and signs and moved very slowly. Sajid stopped the car and pointed to  the footprints that were carved in the dusty soil, big and small .

       The foot prints were seen along the edge of the path for a short  distance and then vanished. Roads are sidelined with tall bushes. And so we guessed that the tigers must have gone beyond the bushes to the pond and we felt  there are chances to see the mother and cubs were high. Gypsy speeded up to the pond and it took 15 minutes to reach there. Another safari vehicle was parked  there in front of us and they signaled us to reduce the volume of our vehicle and to keep silence,someone from the vehicle  pointed to the left of the road .As we looked closer we could see golden colour and black stripes moving in the bushes and Sajid whispered ”Bachevaala” They are trying to cross the road.

          I realised that I couldn’t capture anything with my  400mm prime lens as they were very close. I suddenly replaced the lens with Tamaron 150-600 mm zoom lens and put the maximum wide angle .That time was enough for me to prepare for the shot. The mother,  looked at both sides of the road and made sure it’s safe and entered the road alone,keeping  the cubs safe behind the bushes . We were ready tocapture a family photo of  mother and two cubs together and planned for such a shot ,but the mother was playing a safe game,she had different  plans.

She kept moving through the middle of the road  with confident steps, the proud mother of corbett national park ,she walked ahead of us and took a deviation towards the pond at the opposite side of the road from a point very near to us  .The tigers are in the top position of food chain and  thus doesn’t have enemies in the wild , they only have the role of hunters. Their ecological importance is to control the number of herbivores in the forest  to maintain  an ecological  balance of the  ecosystem.

     Tigers have the confidence  in  their strength and have a clear undrstanding that they have no enemies in their kingdom,that they used to stroll in jungle  in open  tracks without any fear. Now it was the turn  for cubs, the first cub crossed the road without giving enough chance to us,  the second cub took a sudden move without  giving  much time to get a good shot,it crossed the road hurrily, “it’s a girl she is a bit shy “said Sajid. Three of them by now  reached the other side and  will be there in the pond at anytime.As the bushes around was very long ,more than a man’s height we couldn’t see the moves of the tigers. All eyes were in the pond and in the next few minutes  the mother tiger emerged from bushes.

          She watched the surroundings very carefully and then moved towards the pond , she gazed  into her reflection on the water for a few minutes like a mirror image.She then started drinking  in her own royal way  and then returned back to the path she had came from.The little one, as if it  was waiting for its turn,arrived then and  started drinking. Sajid and Dhyani are sure that it’s a boy., they both observed that the cub is developing the body language of a male tiger in his behaviour.

         Now its the turn of next cub(Most probably the girl) she came into the pond as fast as possible and rushed back. It was all on a sudden ,as if drinking for the sake drinking. It seemed like she was scared of us. My wish was to capture the picture of the whole tiger family drinking water together, but we are not the ones who frames the laws of forest.It was just our third day in Corbett and we already saw six of the tigers,both Sajid and Dhyani looked at us with pride .In the Dhikhala zone,according to statistics, there are  a  total of 8 tigers including two kids. Everybody was happy as we completed the third day of our trip successfully. On the final day last safari we were to have was only in the morning session as we will be saying goodbye to Jim Corbett National Park and leaving to Ramnagar in the afternoon. 

      

                As we are strictly directed  to arriveat the main gate before five ,things may not go as planned ,safari will be like a farewell .But I don’t have any regrets ,Corbett had given me much more than I expected.The ambience of the  last day was just usual, sightings of elephants and  some birds transformed mood to another level.

                        Afternoon is the return journey from dhikkala, we were all in a mood to say farewell. I realised gone are the days,the days of lifetime memories,magical sightings and minblowing experiences .The tiger trails in the land of Jim corbett, the elephant scapes in the savannas of dhikala some rare birds that gave me a glimpse to my camera. Even so , I have to go, I must to go just to come back again. When we crossed about half the distance ,the alarm calls again, chitals, monkeys and birds made their chorus ,the entire forest is echoed with the wild orchestra,and the is moving inside the forest area parallel to our road,giving us a clear indication that tiger is moving inside parallel to our way . During the journey Sajid told us that this was the territory area of another male tiger.

         Chances are there to pursue our tiger trails again. On the way  saw a hornbill, as it was not expected in Corbett I tried to take some pictures but was in vain. I couldn’t get a clear image as it was hiding behind the branches of the trees.Left the place and moved on,  within another kilometer we saw a vehicle parked on the way, the men in the vehicle  told  us that a big huge male tiger appeared on the road and and moved to bushes just a second ago and they have been waiting him to reappear.A just miss sighting, the hornbill made it to miss.We have no time to wait. Rest of the views in Corbett has to be kept for the next trip, there forest is a never ending shore of views. As we go deeper and deeper in this  magical world,we will discover much more and all the  discoveries  will tempt us more towards the jungle….A traveller will keep all his travels for the forest…. 

In search of Big Cats..

                    " At home you see cats, at jungle you see big cats "

 

                  The spotted and striped big cats are always  my fascination, and it is always my temptation  to leave home for jungle, and of course meeting  these noble animals in jungle will always be  a matter of luck .My first meet with a leopard was two year back,that was from Parambikkulam in the 2012 summer, It was jut a glance, We just made an eye contact with each other and he/she ran away without giving me even a chance for a camera click.My first photographic meet was one year back, in 2013 summer from kabani, that was a late evening sighting, I was jut managed to take some decent record shots,even though the light was very low. she was in the laziness of her pregnancy .That was a special day to our team just because we sighted both two big cats, the striped one and the spotted one, on the same day.  Every jungle trip started with a silent prayer to the almighty to  bless me to meet big cats.

My first shot of a leopard, from kabani...

The Migration starts...                                                    

      During the mid days of February, the summer  reaching its peek in the Nilgiri biosphere area and the hot is everywhere, the water becoming a rare in bandipur, mudumalai national parks, and this time the migration of animals started. The herbivorous, such as elephants gaurs,deers etc started their travel in search of oasis, heading towards the Kabani reservoir area, where the abundance of  water and greenery still remaining.Starting from Masinagudi-Mudumalai, a well connected  western ghat complex passes  through theBandipur,Wayanad,Nagerhole and reached at Kabani.
         The predators also joins this migration, to ensure the food and water.This is a chance for the   supreme predators, the big cats, to get the prey animals, all in a relatively smaller area.The nature just want to keep the ecological balance and the carnivorous will be in action in this area.The nature continue its magic in jungles. That will be a great chance for jungle lovers, who want to witness and photograph, the amazing world of wilderness.

               Considering these conditions , we have been,usually, setting up our trips to Kabani area during these times.Moreover these facts, the other attraction of this route was the jungle and wildlife, we are travelling an area which is a haven for wildlife,swivelling around the thamarassery churam, passing mananthavady and kaattikkulam you are entering to tholpetty area, where the head quarters of the wayanad wildlife sanctuary is situated, then we had our stay at thirunelly in a beautiful farm house of one of our friend Anil.That is really a wonderful place, where, if you are enough lucky, there is a chance for sighting animals, may be the big cats too...
                                                It was 10 in the morning when we reach at tholpetty and the time for safari was over, we decided to take break at thirunelly, at anil's farm house, the travel to thirunelly from tholpetty will be very interesting, because we can expect animals from any time this area, this is an area, where an active elephant corridor is operating, so elephants are a common sighting in this area, but we desperately want to see the big cats..

                                           Our already booked safari at kabani only on next day, that too in the evening, so we had full day ahead, a full afternoon today, and a fore noon tomorrow, that we want to explore more....our plan was to move to Nagerhole National Park and have an evening safari there..the way to the nagerhole was another temptation,the possibility of cat sighting is high in that area. The 2 hour long evening safari ended without any special sightings, only the usual scenes of deers and sambars, but the signs of active cat movements are there, one tiger kill, and of course droppings and pug marks.On or return, a family in a vehicle came opposite and stopped to told us that , a tiger has just been crossed the road with a close range in front of their vehicle. The cats always travelled just ahead of us.

                         We want to utilise the day maximum, and dont want to waste even a second in the day light hour. So,next day, we got up at an early morning and started at an early time of 5.30 am , we just want the early bird advantage, anil told us usually  Tiger has been  making its appearance in
thirunelli tholpetty route at an early morning time, and if we were lucky enough we would meet him, always the passion for  big cats lead us.Nothing happens till we reach us tholpetty,only the chitals and langurs make their appearance, but still it was nice to see the cute chitals in the early morning fog, no scenes in jungle will be monotonous , jungle is  always fascinating.Our plan was to have a morning safari at tholpetty, the wayanad wildlife sanctuary.
                         We got the first safari, the expectations were high, just because we were the first group in that day and it is only 7 am,the light is perfect, and the climate is good.Just about 300 meters passed, we were welcomed by a fresh pug mark of a giant Tiger, the pug mark  was as fresh as a daisy, and very clear in the dust, the tiger passed just a minute before us, the air is filled with mixed responses of disappointment and expectations throughout the whole 2 hour safari.To sighting  a fresh pug mark has very much importance when you are in search of  the big cats, we can get so many vital information from the pug marks of the predators, just like the time after the pug mark left, the size, the gender,age and of course some experts will predict even the health condition of the animal. I remembered the words of Billy Arjun Singh, the tiger man of India, how  his pug mark trails lead him to wonderful moments.
                                   The safari ended with nothing except the usual gaurs and chitals, the disappointment is on every face, " Get trained in the art of disappointment " the words of a famous wildlife photographer, in his advice to the novice, remembered to get rid of the situation.The time is only 9.30 and had enough time, We only need to reach kabani on 3 pm and need only one hour drive from here.After having our breakfast , we decided to just have a drive in to nagerhole.It was 10.30 am, when we reach at entrance of Nagerhole National park, after a consultation with forester in charge, we permitted to go forward. They just want to check whether we are genuine or not.

                  We were on a keen watch, in spite of all disappointments, we were still confident, we are all know Passion, Patience,and Perseverance, the 3 P s in wildlife photography has of very much importance. A cute malabar giant squirrel gave us a good pose, he is not at all disturbed by our presence and we were in hurry to capture his mood.A jeep came in and stopped, and a gentle face an officer emerged, with a mild but in a firm tone, He told us to leave the scene. You are not all allowed to park your vehicle anywhere in the national park area.Of course we know, it is for the safety of animals and humans to avoid all possibilities of human animal conflict. You can watch them, when they gave you a chance, but in a safer way. It is the intolerable activities of some fraudulent people, that compelled the officers to maintain the law strictly, that is another side of the matter.
                                       We kept moving, curiously looking and praying for a miracle to happen, nothing happens for an hour watchful move and we decided to give up and return back. On our return the jeep with that same gentle officer again appeared and signalled us to stop our vehicle.We stopped with a little worry, asking ourself the question in mind "what went wrong with us ?, the officer, in a hurry, asked us  "whether you saw a  leopard ?". The  " No Sir " reply was in  a sudden and in a chorus,then  he told us to follow his vehicle and that done in a hurry. We followed the officer's jeep about a kilo meter and stopped when we signalled us to do so, the officer lead us to the forest towards a big tree and pointed out to a branch of a big tree, there laid our dream, a big gentle spotted big cat, the beautiful leopard in his deep slumber, before getting rid of the bewilderment, the officer pointed out to another branch of another  huge tree, and there is another gentle man in his slumber. The confusion,ecstasy,joy and we were confused, we are between two leopards , the officer told us to shoot them just because they want their photographs and 5 cameras bursted out, the only sound was shutter sounds. That was half an hour shoot,they are not at all aware about our presence, after a while the one got up relaxed his jaw(sadly, I missed that shot ) and just had a stare at my camera, got up just to change his position and resumed his sleep, the other one, not at all even ready move a bit, with his paw under his head, gave me a dream pose.

      The heart and memory card become almost filled but still we don’t want to resist the curiosity, we are happy because they are not at all disturbed, no sign or behaviour of dislike or discomfort from their side, the forest guard, whom the officer instructed to guide us, reminded us about the time and they want to go, our time is over and just want to return. Thanking to all the officer, the guard, Anilettan, our mentor and host, who wished us good luck for a special sighting we returned form the sight to our new destination, the magical Kabani, with a filled heart and camera with that gentle spotted cat...

Some Leopard facts.

                         Leopards are actually a tree animal.He got a very flexible body to make it easy to climb up and down on huge trees.The leopard is very comfortable in trees, he can hauls his kills, even if it is larger than his weight,to the branches if the tree,where he can complete it without any disturbances. Tigers too capable of  climbing up a tree, but it is uncommon. The major difference is that leopard can get down from even a huge tree with either his head or tail forward, but tiger can only do it with his tail forward. Leopards are usually a solitary animal, the male and female joins together during the mating period.Leopard is a clever hunter, with his sleek body and powerful legs, he can have sprint with a speed up to 57 km/hour.A leopard's tail is as long as its entire body, this makes him to take unexpected turn while hunting.
            



  
 

                                      

Aralam: The Green Cover of North Malabar

     

      To an average malayali, Aralam is a land of controversies. The political controversies related to the tribal land issues made this beautiful place a controversial one, and now this issue takes the form of an epic protest as 'Nilpu Samaram' by some tribal organizations But aralam has another face of beauty and fragility, to a crazy jungle traveller, this is a land of promise. A biodiversity hot spot in western ghat . With an area 55 km2 this is the northernmost wildlife sanctuary of Kerala.

The forest distribution of aralam consists of Evergreen and Dry deciduous forests and the highest peak here is Katti betta.

 

    Aralam is famous for its birds and butterfly diversity, it is a butterfly and birdwatcher's delight, the birds like Malabar pied hornbill,Grey hornbill,Paradise flycatcher,Malabar trogon variety species of thrushes, flycatchers are a common sighting here.

                          The rare butterfly species like Papilio helenus, Papilio budha, Idea malabarica, Melanitis phedima, Mycalesis anaxias, Cyrestis thyodamas, Kallima were sighted here during the annual butterfly surveys.
 
        Aralam has a very good habitat of slender loris,  which IUCN Categorised as endangered

Every forests has its own river, they wet them ,fertilise them and hosting a variety of its species, the entire forest has a a deep bond with the river flowing through them. Aralam too has its own river, Cheenkannippuzha is the fertilizer and the guardian of aralam forest, a hanging bridge over the cheenkannippuzha connecting aralam with valayamchal area and thus to the more urbanised area of iritty and kannur.

A trek valayachal to ambalappara and bath in cheenkannippuzha will be a rejuvenating expereience to the traveller

Best Season: October - May

Emergency Details:
Wildlife Warden Valayanchal
Phone: 0490 2413160

For more information about KANNUR: [*00012960click here*]

Transport Terminals: Nearest City: Peravoor

Location: 35 km from Thalasserry and 60 km from Kannur town
One can reach the Aralam sanctuary by road from Thalasseri (45 kms) and Kannur (45kms).

How to Reach: Nearest Railway Station: Thalasserry, about 35 km
Nearest Airport: Karipur International Airport, Kozhikode about 71 km from Thalasserry town