We thoroughly enjoyed our trip ... there were no two thoughts about it . We stayed at the forest lodge inside the jungle at topstation munnar on day one . Situated inside the jungle and separated from wild animals just by a trench it was a great experience . One of the first animals or rather insect we saw there was a large moth which was cream colored and shaped like a fairy . There was no airconditioning /electricity in the room but we didnt complain because there was no need for AC in this natural airconditioned environment many thousand metres above sealevel. There was a bathroom with water coming through pipes but it was coming from a mountain stream . The cost of all this setup was just around 1500 rupees for a cottage . (contrast it with a houseboat charge of 10000 rs ) . In the morning a herd of gaur was seen in the valley below led by the alpha male or female ? Heard it is a female dominated soceity so must be alpha female . :)
The cottage was surrounded by wild flowers which were more beautiful than all the flowers in my garden . And many varieties of birds including the woodpecker . (i hardly see them in my city these days ). Hot tea was served by our guides and since this was forest we didnt expect a buffet breakfast . We saw their mudhouse which was also beautiful jungle style .
By around 11 am (we are always late but who cares ?) we started our trek into the jungle . Good that i am a reasonable visitor to gym , for it was almost a kilometre 45 degree climb through dense forest . We saw different varieties of trees and teak which is used in costly furniture was right beside us in all its glory . Being rainy season there were leeches around ...Though they are designed to drink blood they do so after putting anesthesia and anticoagulant .(nature is too good... sorry bad ) .
After the 45 degree climb we reached the track between two jungles . Our guide showed us the giant squirrel which was more than a foot long and which was really showing off jumping from tree branches close to us . If you ask me the glamour quotient of this beautiful animal i will give it a 10/10. Loud sounds made us froze but it was monkeys huge ones which were not the ones which u see commonly . These monkeys were unique to this ecosystem . On the way we saw elephant and gaur dung which the guide explained to us how to estimate when they passed that area . Our guide suddenly disappeared and then emerged with a bottle of mineral water . It was from a mountain stream and tasted much better than all the bisleri .
to be continued ... click on next blog link on right side ..
The cottage was surrounded by wild flowers which were more beautiful than all the flowers in my garden . And many varieties of birds including the woodpecker . (i hardly see them in my city these days ). Hot tea was served by our guides and since this was forest we didnt expect a buffet breakfast . We saw their mudhouse which was also beautiful jungle style .
By around 11 am (we are always late but who cares ?) we started our trek into the jungle . Good that i am a reasonable visitor to gym , for it was almost a kilometre 45 degree climb through dense forest . We saw different varieties of trees and teak which is used in costly furniture was right beside us in all its glory . Being rainy season there were leeches around ...Though they are designed to drink blood they do so after putting anesthesia and anticoagulant .(nature is too good... sorry bad ) .
After the 45 degree climb we reached the track between two jungles . Our guide showed us the giant squirrel which was more than a foot long and which was really showing off jumping from tree branches close to us . If you ask me the glamour quotient of this beautiful animal i will give it a 10/10. Loud sounds made us froze but it was monkeys huge ones which were not the ones which u see commonly . These monkeys were unique to this ecosystem . On the way we saw elephant and gaur dung which the guide explained to us how to estimate when they passed that area . Our guide suddenly disappeared and then emerged with a bottle of mineral water . It was from a mountain stream and tasted much better than all the bisleri .
to be continued ... click on next blog link on right side ..
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