Parambikulam Tiger Reserve
Our journey in search for peace started at 4 am on a fine Saturday morning. Srikanth, Shankar and Arvind were Picked up by Shuaib in his car and we were off to Parambikulam. With having a good car and a great company the 450 Km drive seemed unstrainingly comfortable. The talks, chats and the jokes we cracked with friends whom we don't meet often fueled us throughout the travel. What else energised us during the travel was the constantly changing landscape along with the weather. Vacant land on either sides that gave us vast views of the sky and the art of the clouds were remarkable. There was enough research over the route and the route that we chose had great roads and heavy tolls. Drove past hills, Ghats and a sea of Windmills. This was the first time we had witnessed so many windmills, maybe over a 1000 of them.
At 2 PM we reached the checkpost and got done with the formalities and were hurrying as lunch was waiting for us. (advantages of booking the tents early). This is where we saw the First wild animal, a
Malabar langoor. We had booked 2 tents and we were late for the safari, so we dropped our baggage in our tents and had our buffet which was wonderfully organised.
Wild Life Safari
At 3 PM we entered the restricted forest area in a Swaraj mazda along with 10 other people who had booked tents. The forest official took us on a long drive in to the forest and we saw the tallest living teak tree in the world. We were blown away by its height and girth. This massive living thing showed us how small we are. The Safari included a small hike to the lake, bamboo rafting and tribal harmony. We were all wet after the rain, and the sun was setting. This is when we saw herds of
Sambars, Deers, Black Langoors, Indian Gaur (bison look alike),
Flying Squirrels, Peacock, Jungle fowls and Wild boars. When the darkness crept in there was no light but the light of the vehicle and all of a sudden we encountered a huge herd of Bisons that were on our way and after they gave way to us, we found ourselves in between the bisons, about 50 of them and at that time when we cannot see and they can see well.
Bamboo Rafting
After a small hike of 10 minutes we reached a huge lake. One of the places where the animals come to quench their thirst. We saw few Peahens on the other side of the lake. This Lake is placed between the hills and seems like to have been formed due to the collection of rain that falls on the hills. The lake did not have a definite shape as its borders were the foothills of many hills. The climate was great and the clouds were covering and the quite evening was great with some fresh wind blowing. We got on to our bamboo rafts. Just when we thought things could not get better, there was a heavy shower after a brief drizzle. The rain was enjoyable, but the fact that we are on a raft which was getting filled with water and the lake is 172 ft deep is a little worry. Just when I was thinking that I can swim to the shore if needed as it was not far, I noticed
crocodile getting into water and when the guide told us that some of the adult crocs are as big as the raft was fun and thrill to hear until nothing goes wrong.
Tribal Harmony
After getting completely drenched in rain it was time for some tribal dance and tribal drums! Though the tribal dance and the music was not that impressive, it was good to go back in time. Now it was time for some hot tea and biscuits.
All wet, we were back from a long day of traveling and our tents were waiting for us. We did not have much time as we had to go for our dinner. Dinner was great and we were talking a walk inside the fenced area and wondering if there was electricity in that.
Parambikulam Tiger Documentary
After dinner, it was time for a Documentary movie about the Parambikulam tigers. By the time we were there it was 10 PM. Considering that we were not the front benchers in College we sat in the penultimate bench and watched the movie. The grueling day had drained our batteries and a couple of us fell asleep, it was like attending one of those post lunch classes of Prakash.
We wanted to take some stuff from the car, and the protected area was big. Shuaib had no clue where he had parked the car and there was no way we spot the car in the dark. The ill lit area and the uninterpretable sounds that we were hearing all around us was creepy. We used our flash light and scanned the landscape and saw one of the most breathtaking sights of our lives, 30 - 40 eyes reflecting the light from our torch. We had no clue what they were for some time and one reflecting eye became a pair, they were turning towards us (light). After some time we assumed it was the deers. There could have been predators around as well as most of them are nocturnal. We got back to our tents. Four of us had a chat and went to sleep. Shauib and Shankar were in one tent and Arvind and Shriki in the other. After some time the lights went off and the only thing that came to everyone's mind is : Will the electric fence work?
Soon everyone were fast asleep and little did Shuaib know that he is going to loose his sleep for the night. He heard some thing running next to his tent. What ever the animal was, was rubbing the tent and was moving next to his tent. Frantically he tried to wake Shankar up but Shankar was already asleep and Shankar asked Shuaib to sleep and there was no way that Shuaib was going to do that.
Next day morning after investigating the issue and the foot prints, we found out that the animal was nothing but a group of wild boars!
Bird watching
Early morning at 5 AM we were woken up by chirping and whistling birds. There were so much variety in the sound that we were hearing that we could not identify a single sound. It was like a music troop that was playing all its instruments at the same time. Though we couldn't lift our heads, we were listening to the sounds, it was quite soothing. We were all ready by 6:30 after our tea. We went in to forest by walk to spot some exquisite birds. The guide was a very knowledgeable person and showed us many birds and some of them were the
Peacock, Jungle fowl, Racket tail, Parakeet, Woodpecker, Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Whistling school boy, Grey headed Eagle to name a few other than the ones that we usually see. This 4KM hike included walking through the forest and the walking on the river bank where the animals come for a drink. We also visited the Parambikulam dam. It was great to hear and see these wonderful birds and what was great is that we were bird watching in the same region where Salim Ali stayed for a long time in 1932 for his studies.
Trekking
After our Breakfast and It was time for trekking inside the very same forest that we spotted so many wild animals. Our trek started off and we all were talking and our guide asked us to keep quiet, and thats when everything around us seemed moving and the silent environment around us gave us the jitters when we heard the sounds of leaves rustling, even the sounds of the langoors jumping branches at a distance gave us goosebumps. We couldnt see far as the forest was very dense. The guide took us four to a dangerous spot, a dried watering hole, where some animal is always present, we were a bit lucky and unlucky to spot nothing there. Just when we all were getting in to the cautious mode, we saw something black running at about 50 meters. The guide told us not to worry if it was a tiger as they dont hunt humans, but we must be careful if its a Bear as they will attack humans. This is when Shuaib pressed the panic button and wanted to find a way out and the guide was our only way out as there were no path to trace back nor did we know where we were. We walked and hiked through the forest hills and climbed upon a watch tower.
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