Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary – A Walk into Eden

When I went to Munnar with my mother, I decided there was no harm in trying out visiting places in South India. So while on a project in Ooty, I thought I could leave my mother in my aunt’s house at Udhagamandalam and then meet my colleagues and go on a short trip somewhere. So soon we were at my aunt’s place. After a good round of delicious “Busibele Hulianna” the popular Bangalore delicacy, I called my colleagues and we planned to go to Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. I am a wild life lover and Vignesh my friend an avid photographer. Then of course there was Rajamani my other friend who loved making short documentaries and Raghupati who just informative. We had to reach Udhagamandalam station and take a car or any other vehicle from there. We left at night as we loved to zip past in a vehicle and stop by for an occasional hot tea at the roadside. It was long since I had such experiences. Once you are out of college, all hostel life goes for a toss. So this was a pleasant and welcome break. We were having fun right from the start. We entered Tamil Nadu by car. WE had to pay a fee to enter.

This wildlife reserve is an extension of the Bandipur National Park. Moyar River flows though this place in the border of the two states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It actually separates both the states. We were on the Ooty Mysore highway and it was exciting. The highway goes through the park. Can you beat that?

“So how big is the park?” asked Vignesh. I said it was around 321 sq km. I liked to read up about places I visit so I am abreast of what I get to see. Incidentally I also read that this was the first wildlife sanctuary in the state of Tamil Nadu.

With the lush green surroundings beckoning us, our night trip seemed a lost dream and we no longer felt fatigued or exhausted.

“These are deciduous forests” said Rajamani. These forests grow in a tropical climate.

“Pretty hot here it is”. said Raghupati. We agreed. It was indeed slightly sultrier inside the forest. We had booked ourselves at a forest rest house and left our baggage there. We were on a jeep which we got near the rest house.

“That’s the Western Ghats” I said looking at the hilly landscape that dotted the region. Mudumalai meant ancient hills, I had read and the area was indeed very very attractive.

“Okay we now need to know what are the names of the trees that are found here.” I told the driver. He halted at a spot where there was a small hut. He came back with a short statured dark fellow wearing a check lungi. With a white towel on his head, he looked every bit a caricature of what we draw when we draw a villager in a scenery drawing!

“Arashan” the driver introduced. “He is a good follower of trees”. Good, we had a tree guide! Arashan in contrast to his looks was a very well informed person and he showed us bamboos and the natural teak. He also knew their scientific names. Wow! We were so impressed. Yes he said that the bamboos were known as the Bambusa ARundinacea. I wrote it down so that I could write it on my blog. Then the natural teak was the tectona Grandis. Then he showed us the Indian Labumusum and some tree called the Solanancea.

It was quite an enriching experience as we normally see trees in a place but never bother to understand them. This was a different experience where we not only saw but also knew what we were seeing.

Arashan was a good animal guide too. He spotted the hyena and the jackal and asked us to keep silent to be able to see the elephants come near a place to drink water. We waited with bated breath. There was a small puddle of water which was like a tiny little lake. Sure enough after a long wait, the sound of trumpets filled joy in our hearts. This is the advantage of taking someone who knows the place along. Perhaps if we had come alone, our noise and our foot treads would have alerted the animals around and we would have seen none. The elephants really looked majestic and wonderfully powerful. Then we saw the Grey hornbill a bird and also the sambar. We were lucky enough to see the spotted deer but from a distance.

Then suddenly we heard some noise. We were just a few feet away from a herd of elephants. There was a road and there were three elephants.

“Females!” exclaimed Arashan in a whisper. They had three calves with them. The elephants somewhat sensed our presence and as the driver reversed the car, as Vigneshclicked on his camera. Suddenly the elephant came towards us.  I still remember we had got so scared and as the elephant was a little ired and was coming fast towards us, we just backed out and sped down the road! Wow! What an exciting experience.

After sighs of relief we went ahead and then saw many more animals like the spotted deer, bison and many peacocks. Yes, Mudumalai is a land of peacocks. Then we went towards the Moyar Gorge. The River Moyar runs deep into this gorge and the place looked straight out of a fairytale. Also known as the Moyar ditch, the view we got from here was simply out of the world. Then we came back and Arashan took us to the elephant camp.

This elephant camp is very famous in a Mudumalai tour. Called the “Theppakkadu” this is a beautiful place. There is a rest house here where we can stop over, take rest and move on. Obviously we weren’t going to let a chance like that go away and we stayed over. As we went back to Theppakkadu we had seen a lovely expanse of greenery. With the light drizzle that had started the entire scene was looking really beautiful and mesmerizing.

Then we drove past the place and past a place called Masinagudi. Here again we saw some wild elephants and they were coming swishing their tails and trumpeting. It looked as if they were charging at us, but they didn’t even realize we were behind the trees. Their trumpet sound actually was pretty unnerving. But as they walked past, I perhaps had the best video of my life.

Then the driver drove on and then we went towards a place called Thorapalli. Here we saw more elephants. So this elephant ride was really fruitful. Here the elephant calf was suckling and it was such a wonderful sight that I felt a trifle guilty that we were intruding into its privacy. Of course we didn’t disturb them yet it was very a delicate scene.

But yes, the sight surely reminded me of the National Geographic Channel. In fact Raghupati started giving a commentary imitating the commentator of the channel.

We had had a very busy day and we retired in the rest house nearby and spent a lovely night’s sleep with dreams of sitting on the elephant and moving on.

The next morning we went for another safari. This time in the jeep. We spotted the macaque this time and also the common langur. It was fun searching and spotting them. And right ahead of us on our way there was the Sloth Bear.A sloth bear? Yes, we were one of the lucky few who could see it. ARashan showed us the python and the very commonly found four horned antelope.

Mudumalai sanctuary with its dense forests was a canopy of green giving the perfect shelter to the visitors. One would get lost in a dream of green cover here and the wild dog and wild boar that we saw just somehow endorsed our excitement.

“Look a mongoose!  “Raghupati animatedly whispered. Vignesh was clicking away to glory and I also was happy I could identify a jackal and a hare. It was fun to see these animals as we normally see them only in comics.

Notwithstanding the birds out of which the Racket tailed Drongue was the prized catch on the camera. The Malabar Grey Hornbill and the falcons completed the visit. Rajamani wanted to see a Magpie Robin. I see them everyday behind my balcony. In a second a magpie robin whizzed past. Eagles and hawks were common and the Vulture was the king. There were some migratory birds on water too.

With the best of experiences, I came back to Udhagamandalam and escorted my mother back regaling her with the loveliest time we had at this sanctuary.

Parting say: Just go green with pleasure at Mudhumalai