Parambikulam "Pride of Palakad"

We had read quite a lot of good things about Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary and had been yearning to visit it for quite some time and ultimately the desire became a reality as we were able to plan for a long weekend to this place.

Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary lies amidst the Anamalai ranges of Tamilnadu and the Nelliampathy ranges of Kerala on the world famous western ghats biosphere. It was a long drive of about 420+ Km from Bangalore via Mysore. We had decided to split the travel over a night and had a early start Thursday evening and stopped over at a relatives place in Mysore. We went out for dinner at the Jungle themed restaurant in Pai Vista. The next day we started early as we still had to cover close to 300 Km. The drive takes us through the Sathymangalam forest range and the Sathy ghats which has about 27 hairpin bends. As we entered the forest boundaries, we were excited hoping that we would spot some wild animal but unluckily we did not come across any. However we happened to be in the middle of a migration season for butterflies and we saw thousand and thousands of butterflies as they crossed all along the road a short distance above the road. We were amazed at this sight as we had never seen so many butterflies at the same time. Actually, we had not seen a butterfly for a very long time in Bangalore. That says a lot about how green the "garden city" really is, well, at least most of the city.

The roads started to rise slowly as the Ghats started. The curves then became steep and we had to drive carefully and as I was driving I could not afford to be distracted by the amazing views of the valley beyond Sathy. Its really unfortunate that there was not many vista points along the route where you could stop to admire the view and the road was not wide enough to stop the vehicle if we desired to.

We stopped in Sathy to drink some coconut milk as we were thirsty because of the scorching heat. The weather had turned to worse since we had entered into Tamilnadu. There is a very famous temple here called Bannari Amma Temple about 13 Km from Sathy on the way, but we decided to give it a skip as we were not too keen to stop at that point of time. We reached Coimbatore in the afternoon and stopped for Lunch at some decent hotel. We were soon on our way to Pollachi which is the gateway to the Anamali forest through which we had to travel to reach Parambikulam. Apparently this is the only road access to Parambikulam.

After traveling for another couple of hours, we reached the Anamali ranges and it was already evening. There was a Safari ride scheduled at 5.30 PM in the evening and we were very keen not to miss that. We reached the Topslip forest check post and paid the entry fees to travel through the Anamali forest. This is also called the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. The forest was lush green and the road was not too bad, but we drove ahead slowly in order to enjoy the greenery and also hoping for encountering any wild animals., we were rewarded as we saw a few wild boars and peacocks, although we were hoping for something more... We then reached Topslip which is the park head quarters and contains accommodation for tourists. Its quite beautiful and we were not surprised to find many visitors here. After spending a few minutes, we went on our way. We then reached the Kerala forest check post, we had to pay the entry fee here for entering into the Parambikulam range. The check post is located in a scenic place right on the banks of a stream. We paid the entry fee for the Kerala forest here . We were happy to learn that only 30 vehicles are allowed to go through the Parambikulam Sanctuary in a day. You have to reserve your slot by calling the Range office for a particular day. Otherwise you will have to wait near the check post for a free slot (if at all there is one) before you can proceed. This rule is in force to ensure that there is minimum disturbance to the habitat. Other forest Sanctuaries must follow this example.

The drive from the check post to Annapady is just a few kms. We were surrounded by lush green forest and it was absolutely amazing. We spotted a lot of deers along the way. We had reserved 2 Swiss tents at Annapady. Annapady is the main accommodation center of the Parambikulam sanctuary although there are other accommodation options spread through out the sanctuary. They were comfortable with attached baths like you would find at any of the Jungle Lodges Camps throughout Karnataka. The accommodation area was surrounded by a large moat to restrict the movement of the wild animals inside the center. There were plenty of deer and wild boar all around the center.

We were just in time for the evening Safari and they waited a few minutes for us to check into our tents and put away our belongings. The Safari consisted of a ride in a maxi cab on the tarred road all the way to the Parambikulam reservoir. This was not your typical Safari into the core of the jungle on dirt tracks, but it was exciting nevertheless. As we passed the Thunakadavu Dam, we encountered a Elephant herd crossing the road and had to wait for the same for about 40 minutes. Here wild animals really have the right of the way and we were glad to see other motorists also patiently waiting for the herd to move away before they could carry on. We got down from the cab at a safe distance and observed the gentle giants (well they looked gentle at that time although they can be real ferocious and charge at you if they feel threatened). Later we saw a lot of Gaurs and Sambars, we were pretty thrilled because these are very shy and we seldom catch a glance before they disappear into the thickets in other forests, but here they just stood and stared curiously at us. We reached the reservoir and stopped for about 10 minutes to explore the area and take in the scenic beauty. The reservoir is huge and surrounded by hills covered with forests on all the sides and looked absolutely wonderful in the fading light.

It was quite dark on our way back and the moon shone through the dusky clouds creating eerie shadows among the trees. We were all staring into the shadows with anticipation hoping to spot a Tiger or a Leopard. Suddenly there was a small commotion in the first row as some lady screamed pointing outside into the Bamboo thickets saying that she felt that she saw some animal passing through between them. We immediately stopped the cab and pointed our torches at the thicket, immediately we did observe a pair of red eyes in between the thickets but were not able to make out the form of the body as it was simply too well camouflaged. We could see the eyes appear and then disappearing again as it passed through the shadows. The guide said that it seemed to be a Leopard from the color of the eyes as it shone. We waited for some more time but did not observe anything and decided to move on. Although we did not really see the animal, yet it was quite thrilling and we felt that it was a perfect start to our stay there.

We came back to Annapady and got fresh and went straight for dinner. Dinner consisted of Chappatis , Curry, Rice and Rasam. There was no Curds as is the case in many such places I have visited. It was average fare but was by no means unwelcome considering that we were famished by the long drive to Parambikulam and then the exhilarating Safari. We then retired for the day as we planned to go for a drive on our own early next morning.

We got up early as planned and retraced the same Safari route as the previous night. We stopped a little while near the much smaller Thunakadavu Dam and were surprised to find a few visitors already there so early in the morning. We took some photos and proceeded towards the Parambikulam reservoir. This time we did not see any animals apart from the deer. But we enjoyed the drive anyway. We came back to steaming mugs of tea and hot breakfast consisting of Idly and Puri. The plan for the day was to go Bamboo rafting in the Parambikulam reservoir and back to the camp for lunch and after some rest visit the village to see a tribal dance.

A light drizzle had started by the time we reached the reservoir. A short trek later, we were at the banks climbing into the large Bamboo rafts, which surprisingly had a small hut like structure built onto it. We were a large group consisting of many families from the camp and hence the raft was kind of crowded and we were jostling for good position on the rafts to enjoy the surrounding scenery. Then the drizzle turned into a downpour and all the people rushed to the cover of the hut. We stayed back outside, drenched and cold but absolutely enjoyed the experience. We even tried our hand at rowing the raft but found it quite strenous. Soon we were back on the bank and made our way to the tea shack for some hot tea. After that we just hung around waiting for the tribal dance to start. The dance was .... well.. tribal like... :-).

Back at the camp we had hot dinner consisting of chappatis and curry and looked forward to a relaxing night. However we were in store for a long, noisy, disturbing night because of a large family consisting of ignorant Bastards. Members of this family - Men, Women, Children alike were screaming at each other instead of conversion and in the silent night in the middle of a forest you can imagine how loud these Bastards might have sounded. On top of that the Men all got together in a tent and started boozing and talking loudly late into the night. We complained to the Rangers but although they went and tried to deal with them, they were unsuccessful. But later somehow they managed to close their party around midnight and there was peace after wards. I wonder why such people even travel to forests if they don't respect and enjoy the beauty and serenity of the nature.

Next morning we accompanied one of the guides on a morning walk to one of the small dams about 2 Km from the camp. It was a jeep trail and he mentioned that he often trekked this trail as there was a lot of chance of spotting Elephants and on the rare occasion a Tiger. We were pretty excited but we spotted neither but for a few deers. But the forest was amazing and after last nights horrid experience, we felt as if we were in heaven. We were accompanied by another naturalists who was also a keen botanist and he identified and showed us a lot of herbs/plants that are used as natural medicines by the tribals. We also spotted quite a few colorful birds none of whose name's I remember now. Then we went back to the camp and stopped for sometime at the teashop/canteen located near the camp. Did I mention that this guy serve's amazing tea and we were not satisfied until we had at least 3 cups each. Later we got to know that the meals provided at the camp were prepared in the same canteen. The owner told us an exciting story of a leopard encounter just a week before we were there. There are a lot of wild boars around the canteen because of the food scraps easily available and hence a leopard was stalking the boars during the night. But when the leopard tried to catch a wild boar, it was unsuccessful and then a couple of wild boars chased the leopard, cornered it and bludgeoned it to death right outside the canteen. It was a pity the leopard died but we were thrilled at the fact that such animals ventured so close to the camp.

We had decided to trek to the Vengoli peak later in the day and camp during the night at a camp located on top of the peak. We started in the afternoon and went by car to parambikulam and picked up the two forest guard and a guide, bought provisions for the night and started our trek. The trek consisted of walking along a stream and crossing it a couple of times which was quite thrilling and dangerous as the rocks were slippery and then a gradual climb through thick forests. As we were walking the guide suddenly asked us to stop and we just stood and held our breaths as he pointed to a cobra a step ahead of us. If he hadn't warned us, me and Smitz would have directly stepped on the snake and surely one of us would have been bitten. The snake which had been stationery until now suddenly moved away from the path before and disappeared into the outgrowth before we could bring up our camera. It was a close shave and very unnerving. We moved on and we were as silent as possible hoping to spot the wild animals. We then spotted a herd of Gaurs (Wild Buffalo) which is wrongly called the Bison. They disappeared into the thicket
as soon as they sensed us approaching along the trail. This trail was said to be used by one of the 27 Tigers abounding in Parambikulam and we were hoping against hope that we would be lucky enough to sight one. The rest of the trek was uneventful and it rained a bit towards the end and we reached the camp just before sunset. One of the guides went to collect fresh water from a waterhole about 250 meters from the camp and we rested a bit. The camp consists of a barebone shed with a couple of rusty iron cots thrown into the room with no bedding whatsoever. There was also a smaller kitchen with a big fireplace for cooking. While the guides started preparing for dinner, we meandered around absorbing the beauty of the place. Then they took us to the peak which was about 250 meters ahead and we were lost for words. We could see the entire Parambikulam forest range from here and in the twilight the scenery looked out of the world. We could see the parambikulam reservoir where we had done bamboo rafting the previous day and it looked glorious. It was also very breezy and supposedly many times its dangerous to venture to the peak because the winds reach very high speed but luckily that day, it was manageable. We spent about an hour there watching the sun set and taking photos and then retraced our steps back the camp in the gloom. It was one truly amazing experience.

We started a campfire and sat around that warming ourselves as the temperature dropped quite a bit and also we had been drenched during our trek. The guide then prepared some simple rice and rasam and we gorged ourselves from plates which resembled more like a begging bowl. These were utensils which are left in the camp for trekkers to utilize for cooking and eating. We observed a lone Gaur standing in the bushes near to the camp not 30 feet from us and observing us keenly. For some time we were concerned but then it just kept standing and chewing on the leaves and occasionally glancing at us.

Sleeping time - as soon as Smitz got onto a bed, it just broke in half :-). Seemed like it was broken long before and someone just managed to make it stand with some flimsy wooden stick for support. We managed to snuggle onto the remaining 2 cots but really struggled as we were wet and it was cold - around 7-8 Centigrades and we were literally shivering through the night. To top it all some enlightened souls had pissed in the room and it smelt so bad that you just could not bear it but then where could we go. Its unbearably cold outside even with the camp fire running and so we just stuck it out in the room although it was miserable. Thankfully it was morning again... It was around 5.30 AM when we got up and the guides were already up by that time and were making coffee (no milk). We got fresh had coffee and we were on our way back soon. We wanted to make sure that we trekked when it was likeliest that we would spot a wild animal and also we wanted to leave for Bangalore as early as possible as it was a long trip back.

We again saw the same heard of Gaur on our way back and they again ran away into the thicket as soon as they sensed us approaching. As we were trekking back the strap of Smitz's Sandal tore and we had to tie a piece of cloth around the sandal and her foot to hold the sandal in place. Though this helped, it made our progress slow and gradually me, Smitz and the guide were about 50 paces behind Harsha and the other 2 gaurds. As we were walking suddenly our guide pointed to a leech on his feet and was talking something about it. I suddenly glanced ahead to see Harsha waving and turning back and as I watched, a Tiger leaped into the surrounding outgrowth in a blur of moment. It was as if it was a dream. I hadn't even seen it for a second. There was silence everywhere and then Harsha started jumping and waving out of pure, unconcealed joy. The group ahead had seen the Tiger just some 50 feet away while at same inopportune moment our guide distracted us to look at the leech stuck on his foot. Harsha had turned back and had been wildly waving at us as we had turned to see the leech. The Tiger was walking on the same trail coming from the opposite direction and was unaware of our presence until about 50 feet and then it just froze in its tracks as soon as it saw the group and at the same time these people saw it. After about 20 -30 seconds it just leapt to the side and disappeared in the thicket. Smitz was terribly disappointed as she had not even caught a glance of it and we have been desperate to sight a Tiger for many years now. We continued our way back with broken hearts and going over the scene again and again and cursing our luck and privately the guide for distracting us showing us a leech when there was a Tiger right ahead, while Harsha had a wide smile as he had finally spotted a Tiger in the wild so close. I must say we were terribly Jealous of him. We still are.... envious now...

We reached Parambikulam and paid the guide and the guards handsomely and had breakfast and then started our way to Bangalore. Throughout the journey back we kept discussing about how lucky Harsha had been and how unlucky we were. I so badly want to revisit that moment and replay it to my favor...

We reached Bangalore in the night in time for dinner and already felt the pangs of coming back to the monotonous city life. Parambikulam is truly a heavenly place for nature enthusiasts and we will surely go back again and again.