INN THE WILD – an awesome place to be in the wild

At the onset I need to explain as to why I was a walk in guest at Inn the Wild .  Once the family functions were over I made it a point to travel into the lap of nature and accordingly planned the entire trip , completed my booking at Deep Jungle Home which is about 20 km enroute to Gudalur from Theppakadu Wildlife reception office. Reached the camp site and found it to be deserted except for couple of room boys who showed me the accommodation I had booked and the moment I saw it …thought flashed that I have been conned by the photographs I saw on their portal… Bamboo hut is a bunk bed style accommodation with common toilet which is a big no for me…I was categorically informed that each hut has toilets by the sales person but then it was my mistake that I did not read the reviews of the place before reaching the place. Anyway just moved around the camp site viewing the facilities offered by them and also taking pictures of the two turkey they had inside..came to a decision that this is not the place for me to stay. Browsed the net on my mobile for some other place of stay within the forest and the first name that popped up was “Inn the Wild “ near Masinagudi …called them and I was talking to Mr Shibu Varghese the manager of the property who informed me that there are rooms available and I immediately said that I am coming there for the stay.

The drive from Mysore to Masinagudi itself is an safari as the national highway traverses through two national park i.e. first the Bandipur Tiger reserve and then the Mudumalai Tiger reserve . You can see scores of wild animals during the drive through the forest and for a safe trip please do not get out of your vehicles as informed by the forest department on the placards along the route…yet few people make it a point to do so without worrying about their safety. On 19^th September a British national was trampled to death by a tusker as he got down from the vehicle and ventured to close to the elephant for taking photographs. 

Inn the Wild   is a 65 acre property within the 2000 acre coffee plantation in the Mudumalai reserve forest between the upper reaches and the lower reaches of the forest. Normal cars cannot traverse to the resort because of the rugged off road conditions after Singara check post and in the event you are travelling in your car then the suggestion is to park your car at the Singara check post which is about 10 km from Masinagudi town and call the resort so that they can send their Gypsy jeeps to pick you up and take you to the resort. Route map can be seen here  Singara Check post .

Reaching the resort I was greeted by the manager Mr Shibu and Mr Sinu Prakash...guest relations executive and was shown the type of accommodations available with them. They have four types of accommodations One Tree house, Two Tree tops with common balcony, Tribal home and Jungle shacks. I liked the tree house the moment I saw it for it has a balcony face the grass plains, forest and the water body and i immediately booked for 3 nights without giving a second thought..and I must say that it has been a amazing 3 days stay in the forest and I am sure that I would keep coming when ever time permits to the same place over and over. The management and staff of the resort are courteous and well mannered and with the resort almost empty I was the pampered guest.

The highlight of my stay was the Jeep safari into the Mudumalai forest arranged by the resort in their Gypsy vehicles. I started for the safari accompanied by tribal spotter cum driver Michael, Subish Sabestain the naturalist at 5.30 pm and entered the forest through the rear end of the property travelling through extremely rugged pathway that had twists and turns, steep rise and drops. With continuous rains the whole day the track was slippery and in spite of driving in 4 wheel drive the vehicle was skidding on either side. After having travelled for about 25 minutes we came on to a straight stretch of track and suddenly we found ourselves looking at a mother elephant and its male off spring crossing the path. The mother elephant just stopped in the center of the path and was look at us and suddenly its ears went rigid …I immediately informed the driver to be careful as the elephant was displaying anger…suddenly the elephant charged at the jeep and Michael reversed the jeep about 50 feet and stopped…the elephant went on to the side of the track not taking its eyes off us. It again started its charge on to us thereby forcing us to reverse the jeep further back to avoid the confrontation with the elephant which would surely have a better advantage over us with no place to maneuver   in reverse the rugged forest pathway. During this excitement I forgot to even switch on the camera to take pictures or capture the video as I was standing behind along with the naturalist clinging on the hold bars in the event we had to beat a hasty retreat. After few moments the mother elephant lost interest in us since its offspring had crossed the path and entered the bushes.

Just one picture of this elephant after the excitement. We continued further into the jungle spotting only few spotted deer’s (cheetals) here and there till we reach an open space of grass land within the forest. It is said that most tiger sightings have taken place here for most of the spotted deer’s, gaur (Indian bison) come to graze here and a source of meal for the tiger.

We did see a huge herd of Gaurs numbering 20 towards the other end of the grass land and I was fortunate to take few pictures. By this time the darkness was creeping in and it was completely pitch black within the forest. We traveled along the path with spot light shining either side of the path and also on the tree tops hoping to see a leopard and other nocturnal animals… nothing was seen however we did see rabbits along the way to the highway. The highway that runs from Masinagudi to Singara is running through the forest and in all possibilities there is a chance of spotting Leopard or elephants. The safari was so good the first day that I opted for another one the next day and the second trip into the forest was with Albert the spotter cum driver and Pandian, the accounts manager of the property. During this trip what we saw a just a single bison within the forest and a herd of elephant on the highway. During the safari we were able to here the growl of tiger quite close to us and we spent over an hour trying to locate the tiger in the bushes but of no avail. Hope that in my next trip I will be able to spot the big cats. The jungle safari is chargeable and it is Rs 3500 per jeep and in the event you have more than one guest in the vehicle then the amount is shared accordingly.

 

Finally I need to say about the private machan (balcony of tree house) overlooking the water body and the grass plains …it is quite a treat to sit quietly there and observe the happenings around and you might get lucky to see the wild dogs chasing the spotted deers, or the elephants /bisons coming for a drink at the lake or sloth bear searching for termites and wild boars. I was relaxing on the bed at about 10 am and suddenly I heard the continuous distress call of the spotted deers just below the tree house and I rushed to the balcony to see the reason… and I saw the deers running for their lives which I captured a video but am unable to upload the same here. I could not see which animal made them to run but then was told by the resort people it could have been the wild dogs !!! but you never know it could have been leopard also !!!

In all I had a amazing time at Inn the Wild ….literally in the wild.  

Common garden Lizard (Gecko(

With the sun coming after couple of days rain, the garden lizard peeks out of the bushes in our garden

What else is Life but a dance of choices?

Rant of the day …It has nothing to do with anyone but me... !!!!

Been a silent spectator in the blog sphere for quite a long time for it has been ages since I wrote any post. All I used to do was to upload few photographs and that is it! Been trying to introspect myself as to why I hardly get the urge to write these days. May be it is the stress that is prevailing in my life at this point of time ….not being too happy with the kind of job I do, health issues and coupled with the fact that I am alone in a distant land having to fend for myself …cooking, dish washing and so forth. So what do I do in the evenings or the weekends when I have sufficient free time…nothing worthwhile at all except that read books in snatches of few pages at a time. During one such moments while reading a book by Eric Van Lustbader I came across this “What else is life but a dance of choice” and it struck a chord in me for this is how life is for each one of us... choice  does define the way you are leading your life. 

I do keep venting out my frustrations every couple of months like a pressure cooker and resign to the fact that I made the choice of being alone due to the commitments and for few days I feel revitalized but then go back into the shell again. I need to set aside the feelings of remorse of having made the choice that defines my present life and make hard choices that would change my life for better. I am not young that I can just dump the assignment and move back to India and be sure that I can pick up another job in a jiffy… at the age of 55 it does make difference since most employers are not looking for people in this range !!!

Real predicament isn’t it!!! Well need to cross this hurdle too ASAP as it is telling on my performance at the current position.I really need to find the right path now and not at the end !!! :)

Random Click 20 - Birds at Kabini

Here are few pictures of bird i snapped during the kabini trip

Plum headed Parakeet

Cormorant drying its wings

Osprey with a fish in its claw

Darter and the dead wood

Random Clicks 19 - Elephants of Nagarhole / Bandipur National park

Largest congregation of Asiatic Elephants occurs on the banks of Kabini reservoir but then the largest herd i saw was just with 9 elephants that too very far away. Here are some of the elephant photographs 

Random Clicks 18 - Kabini river

Here is couple of snaps of sunset at Kabini which is between Nagarhole and Bandipur national parks

Random Click 17 - Dolphin Watch

One touristic attraction at Muscat is the Dolphin Watch. A power boat takes you about 15 kms into the sea and you are among the school of Dolphins gliding along the boat. Occasionally if you are lucky you would be among thousands of dolphins. Couple of pictures taken during the trip today

 

Ode to 2012…………...and the life still goes on!!!

Finally the eve of the New Year 2013 is upon us and in matter of few hours the clock would start ticking in the New Year and most of us look forward to a happy and prosperous year ahead. The year 2012 had its highs and lows and few incidents that will be etched in my memory for years to come. The intense hype about the end of the world – doomsday theory simply fizzled out without causing any ripple and the preparation for the apocalypse turned out to be mere media spectacle throughout the world. Good that this was a misconception for I can still enjoy my life as it unfurls!!!

Bizarre news such as a Brazilian woman Catarina Migliorini auctioned her virginity online for US$780,000 whereas at the same auction a male virgin was only able to get US$3000 made waves in the month of October on the social media network. Savitha Hallappanvar an Indian housewife who suffered miscarriage was refused to be aborted in Ireland died because of their strict abortion laws and the social media outpour has now forced the catholic population of Ireland to relook into these abortion laws and amend the same to avoid future occurrence of such deaths.

Murder, rapes, chaos and mayhem was not lacking during this year and there had been multiple shootings in US that gripped the entire world. Shooting in the place of worship killed over 12 persons, shooting in Connecticut Primary school leaving over 27 dead out of which were 22 children- first graders. A rape case in the Indian capital New Delhi where a 23 year old woman was gang raped by 6 persons and then was brutally beaten with iron rod and thrown out of a moving bus galvanized the younger generation against the government and it saw clashes between the protestors and the police. Heated debates on most of the TV news channels for sweeping changes to the law so that stricter terms are in place against the offenders….some demanding death penalty and some life imprisonment for a rape. The rape victim who galvanized the Indian public breathes her last at a Singapore Multi specialty Hospital after having endured the traumatic conditions for 13 days. Finally a closure to the 26/11 Mumbai attack’s lone surviving LeT terrorist from Pakistan Ajmal Kasab, he was hanged just 5 day prior to the fourth anniversary of that attack on the Indian soil.

Some cheer in the field of science and personal achievements such as the landing of the robotic rover “Curiosity “on the Mars -red planet and the Discovery of the elusive God particle alias Higgs Boson after a span of over 4 decades using a large Hadron Collider (Atom smashing machine). Personal achievements such as Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth and Felix Baumgartner’s incredible jump from the edge of space which is 24 kilometers above the surface hurled down at a speed of 833 mph thus becoming the first man to break the sound barrier without the aid of machine.

The above incidents or achievement has made me ponder about the fantastic life we lead in this universe and I do know there has been lot more incidents /events that has occurred in the world this year that you may be rated much higher than those I have recounted here…but then those mentioned here are my opinion!!!

Random Click 16 - Sea Gulls on Muscat Corniche

Last week i had been to the Corniche at Muscat along with my father and i found quite a lot of sea gulls on water edge. Here are couple of clicks

Random Click -15 - Flowers in Oman

People generally have a misconception that Middle East is a desert without an iota of greenery ...well it is not true, for the government here does make a serious effort to beautify the public areas by maintaining lawns,and planting flowering plants,trees. Roads in Muscat are adorned with flowers and it is quite pleasing to the eye.Here are few photographs of this season.

Random Click 14 - Mushrooms

Mushrooms just after the rains

Random Clicks 13 - Reservoir

My father who is on visit to Muscat ....his second trip to Oman likes to see various places and today being the weekly off we traveled about 100 Km from Muscat towards Quriyat where there is a dam known as Wadi Dayqah Dam. The reservoir created by the dam is quite beautiful and here is couple of pictures of the same.

Today the haze in the atmosphere did hamper the quality of the pictures yet looks great

Freedom of Speech in India – a Myth or a Reality

Article 19(1)A of the Indian constitution guarantee freedom speech to Indian citizen but then Three arrests in the last one month in India for voicing one’s thoughts in media against persons in power make one ponder if the freedom of speech is limited to privileged few in the Indian society…moneyed or in power people only. A common man’s freedom of speech or expression is subjective and is rarely a reality in India. I know I would have many critics against this post but then the examples that have been widely publicized in the media and the press does indicate what I say.

Image Courtsey : Google

The latest incident that happened yesterday in Mumbai is creating a furor across all sections of the population. Two girls had been arrested in Mumbai one for putting up a comment about shutdown of entire city on account of Balasaheb Thackeray’s funeral on the Social media network Facebook and the other for liking the comment based on a complaint file by a local Sena leader. Further a clinic of an uncle of the girl was attacked and ransacked by over 40 angry Sena activists because of the comment on FB. The girls were released on bail within hours after furnishing personal bonds but then the hasty action by the police in this matter to arrest the two girls under section 505(2) (statement creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes) clearly indicates the kind of clout men in power have.

The chief of Press Council of India has objected to the actions taken by the police and urged the Chief Minister to immediate action against the police official who arrested the two girls on urging of a local Sena leader. As usual this incident will die it natural death in couple of days but the two person who had been affected by this will carry the scare for a very long time. Steps need to taken by the authorities to ensure that all Indians have their freedom of speech as per the Indian constitution .

One of my friend casually stated that Gandhiji's three monkey theory needs to be changed to suit the present day India

Hear no bad ----Hear nothing told by men of power

See no bad -----See nothing done by men of power

Speak no bad----Speak nothing about men of power

Come to think of it,this is what now is happening in India these days.

 Sad !!!!!

Fear is the key !!!

My Colleague's bike

Whenever I see my colleagues riding motorbikes in a group going out on holidays I know that I am missing all the fun and adventure of biking. I used to be an avid biker few decades back and to be exact 33 years back ….when we guys used to zoom about in the city racing one another and having fun with the rush of wind on your face while riding. Those days few makes of the bikes were cannibalized and the end product would be owner’s pride and while it is ridden through the locality one would know as to who is driving by. Also another thing of the past was throaty roar of bikes whose silencers have been removed and the racket it creates while throttling used to scare other vehicles to veer away from the bike. There were times when we used to make trips from Chennai to Tirupati just for the heck of driving and used to have lodes of fun. But after one fateful day way back in 1981 when two of my friends were crushed to death under the city bus I stopped riding bikes and till this day still have the fear of riding one. 

It is said that once a person learns to cycle he/she can never forget to balance the two wheelers throughout lifetime similar to swimming so few years down the line my friends have tried pushing me to ride a bike and when I tried my whole body went rigid and I rode the bike similar to a beginner quite unsteadily…a psychological fear that has never left me!! Recently I was browsing the net and I came across portal sharing similar experience by persons and the remedy to such fear. They describe that immediately after such incidents or accidents one must not stop riding for a long period of time otherwise they would experience the feeling I have now. I am comfortable driving four wheelers and have been doing that from 1982 but then have stopped riding two wheelers.

I wish that I had not shirked away from riding a bike way back in 1981…. I would have had greater fun here in Oman.

Random Click -12...Hawk

Last year while going towards Wadi Shad we had to drive across a patch of back waters and i suddenly saw a hawk sitting on a rock in the waters

Hawk was waiting for the fish to come up to the surface . I waited for some time to see if the hawk is able to catch a fish but then was not so lucky to capture that scene.