Wayanad Jungle Safari - Day 1

Day 1

Kalpetta- Mananthavady- Kattikullom- Begur - Tholpetti Wild Life Sanctuary - Coorg - Kutta - Irppu Falls - Thirunelli Temple - Papa Nasom

Hi Friends,

I had a wonderful Birthday Bash this time..with a Magnificent trip to Wayanad this Friday 13/06/2008 with my gud Friends. Wayanad - the Green heaven on earth..rather I would call " Nature's Heaven in God's Own Country ". It was my birthday and the entire trip plan just started rolling on 12th evening when my friend Jain called me. All of a sudden, the Trip is On and I, jain, Sam & Nibu joined the Race. For us there was NO second choice to select a place other than Wayanad. If u had been there and explored the Beauty, Believe me...u can't think abt a 2nd place. We started our Journey on Jain's Brand New Fiesta...on 13th Night 9 PM and Reached Kalpetta, wayanad by 2 AM. Oouch...his Fiesta had done just 150 Km and 3 days then...thanks Jain for taking up such a gr8 initiative...

The route is like this :

Kochin- Edapally-Paravoor-Kodumgallur-Vadanapalli-Chavakadu-Ponnani- Edapal- Kuttipuram- Kozhikode- thamaraserry- Vythiri- Kalpetta.

We took a room in Hotel Afaas there and started our journey by 14th Morning. since we came by early morning only, we started out by 11 AM only.. We went to "Begur wild Life Sanctuary" via Mananthavady- Kattikulam. Due to rain , the entry to the Sanctuary was blocked...so, we headed towards "Tholpetti wild Life Sanctuary" and there also same situation...But, on the way we were able to see few Deers and Wild Cats...Sorry...the entire Road from Kattikulam to Begur-Tholpetti wild Life Sanctuary is Dense Forest....simply rocking forest..! If u have luck..there is no need to enter any Wild Life Sanctuary, u can see Wild Buffalo's, Elephant, beer, Deer, Wolfs and sometimes Leopards, tiger etc.. From there we went to Coorg and then to Iruppu Falls.. a Magnificant Falls in the Mid of Dense forest and Breathtaking valley...Awesome View..but, the road is very bad...that too exactly from the Karnatake state border...[see the above picz]don't know why..!

Irruppu is about 20 KM from state border. From Kutta, its 7 Km and u may not find Road...the way u go is the Route...very very rough road and better if u have Jeep 4WD or some Gud Vehicle with Power steering and all.. Our Fiesta had a Mud Race test and we were able to succeed it..! Once u reached the falls after a small walk of abt 1.5 Km across a handinmg iron bridge, u can findthe Marvelous Water Fall abt 150 ft Height in 3 jumps....not in single strech...Its such a Beautiful view and u feel like jumping into the water..Hey, STOP..its very dense and very very Dangerous.. I and Jain tried to go close- Maximum close to the falls and the force is such that u feel like some Magnetic field is blocking u to reach closer...! But, we some how managed to reach abt 15 ft close to it and both of us get a sexy Natural shower bath....Wooo what a feeling...just like our Vehicle get Water Service...Such a Hell lot of force and we slipped down several times...but, god's Grace..no hard injuries.

But, there are lots of Leechs..so, be careful.. i got 3-5 bytes...let some bad Blood bleed out..! Nibu and Sam said its gud for health and they to get the divine bytes...! We wer able to take few snaps only..becoz water is spraying and its very risky to take Shots ter..ur Camera May get Spoiled..with this water..so, if u wish to shoot some snaps...take it from a gud distance..!










On the way, it was raining then and there..not for any particular interval...sometimes just 2-3 minutes.., next continuously for 10-15 mins ..like that...but, this rain makes u feel the natures Cool and Refreshing energy. then from there we went to Goonikuppa.. an agriculture hamlet with lots of scenary like Vegetable gardens and all.. from there we came back to Begur and headed towards Thirunelii via appapara...13 Km. On the way, we find one Ancient Temple built in 16th century...Sri Kaleswari temple at Kottayour. There are few tirbal Villages nearby and seems the temple is maintained by them. We found a Rare Frog species ter...friend told its a poisonous one.

From there we move towards Thirunelli and reached there by 7 PM...then went to PapaNasom and a Small Siva temple in mid of forest....We heard some Noise from the forest and even though it was dark, we decided to look out for whats happening around.. suddenly 2-3 Wild Wolfs came running towards u.. first we thought it was some dogs....but, after a 500-700 mtr run, some dogs..came for our help....and then only we notice it was wild wolfs..Huiii....if by any chance if it had bitten any of us, Rabis is sure.. God's Grace...again...this time in dog's outfit..!










Thirunelli is a beautiful temple on the top of the Hill, its surrounded by KariMala, Udayagiri , NariNirangiMala & Bhramagiri. Awesome Scenery..!! Famous trekking spot and Bird's Cave - Pakshi Pathalom is close from here ..u can reach there only by walk..about 16 Km and need prior permission from Forest Dept. We could n't go there due to lack of time and entry closed during Rainy season and is very dangerous during this season. Around 8 :40 Pm we started our Way back to hotel..which is abt 70 Km from here. So, we started our journey.. Remember its dense forest and we couldn't find any Vehicle to-or-fro till 3-5 KM..then suddenly a Mini Van came and they told Tuskers [Elephants] are on the road. We got shocked. but, anyway decided to take the risk.. we went on very slowly and since there were sharp hair pin like bents in b/w , its breathtaking move...after around 3 Km...we found the wild tuskers prawling inside the forest..about 50 Mts from road...but, since it was Heavy Dark and Risky situation, we didn't try for any snaps as well. Plz remember, Flash can cause the Elephant Wild and there is no chance u escape from a Mad or Angry elephant...so, better don't play around. And, on the way we find Kattu Pothu[ wild buffalos] & deer close to road..! We reached our Hotel by 10: 30 Pm and went to sleep..

To be continued.. ..