En Route to Gavi, Kerala

Finally I am forced to come back to blog space to freeze my invaluable memories that I gained in Western Ghats, Kerala. I almost forget that I own a personal blog and I renewed it for another two years. To my dismay, this is my second post of this year and I am writing this after eight months hiatus.

It was not a pre-planned trip. Before I headed to Gavi (Kerala), so many people came up with their own stories about this place. Few told me it was blocked due to SABARIMALA season. Few told Kerala forest department permission is must to explore this region. And few cooked up a story that Gavi is blocked as Tiger Sensex is going on. I googled, mailed and tried calling few officials regarding the feasibility of visiting the forest but everything ended in vain. Finally believing my gut feeling headed straight to Gavi beating all odds.

Day 1:

I boarded KSRTC bus (only bus to Kumuli through GAVI) from Pathanamthita bus stand @6.45 AM. Within 2 hours of travel, thick forest with green smell beckoned us which were way ahead of my imagination. Moment i entered jungle, the sense of calmness is palpable. I have been to forest region before but this is huge and dense. Almost four hours we traveled through thick jungle. Awesomematic bumpy ride ended at 12.15PM and went to Green mansion (only lodge to stay) for room stay with bum numbness. Luckily I got the room there to stay and they charged me 2200Rs (includes Jeep jungle safari, boating, trekking, three times food, room to stay and a guide to assist you in jungle). But if you have idea to visit this place, get pre-booking done in this lodge.

First thing I did after reaching Gavi was having lunch. They serve both Kerala and Tamil Nadu style food for all three times. Then after taking a nap in room, I started clicking flowers and humming birds located nearby to the lodge. Clicking humming bird is difficult and challenging task for me. They are too small and constantly switching places. I was having 70-200mm lens and I can’t click them from far. I spent more than 2 hours and painstakingly clicked around 50 pics to get one in motion sucking honey from the flower. After satisfied with my humming bird photo, I got into the boat with my guide in a silent artificial lake situated near to the lodge. Nature has endowed Kerala with great scenic beauty. I had a pleasant two hours of boating where I saw Darter (Snakebird) for the first time and enjoyed bathing few minutes in waterfall at the other end of lake alone. The day 1 ended with dinner (provided chicken gravy) and unusual sleep with too many unique sounds produced by various nocturnal habitats. After 8 years, I spent a whole day without touching cell phone (No network available). This was one of the strange things that I did after quite a while.

Day 2:

I woke up at 5 o’clock with uncontrollable shivering due to chill weather. Still I can hear those mystery sounds from various insects and birds. I was getting ready for the much awaited jungle safari through the thick jungle to site few wild animals. After having black coffee, I boarded one jeep along with a wildlife analyst who was having Nikon 80-400mm lens. The day started with wild bison which was far away from us where my 70-200 couldn’t reach. Then we traveled around 30KM and unluckily we couldn’t see any wild animals nearby us. We spotted Sambar deer too far, few black langur and Malabar giant squirrel. I was disappointed that I couldn’t spot any wild animals like tiger, elephant, leopard and wild dogs. But the fellow tourist was having fun clicking various birds which I couldn’t even spot at my first sight.

Here I realized that in jungle we need to look for birds too rather than waiting only for wild animals. Our guide and wildlife analyst were having debate on various birds that we spotted which I am totally unaware of. I was so naive that in one instance, guide was showing us Bull Bull bird and I was desperately looking for a monkey. This is my knowledge about the birds. In another instance, I was hysterically screaming to stop the jeep as I spotted parrot (only bird I was aware of). Around 20 kinds of birds we covered and none of the bird I couldn’t take a proper pic with my 70-200mm. Entire journey I was using my camera as mini-binocular. Then coming back from safari, we had breakfast and I headed for trekking to try my luck again to catch few wild animals. I almost climbed top of the mountain where I can clearly see SABARIMALA which is just 30KM away from Gavi. I covered around 15KM by walk frantically looking for beast but nothing I noticed other than green wiper and blood sucking leaches.

Return journey:

After having lunch on day 2, I was waiting for the KSRTC bus (only bus) back to Pathanamthita. This was the best part of the entire journey. I saw around 15 wild elephants, so many black langur, bison and deer in close range which I ultimately missed in jungle safari and trekking. Driver was kind enough to stop the bus whenever we spotted animal. But sadly I didn’t take any photo since I dismantled my Canon gear and packed inside the camera bag. Here I badly missed my old companion Lumix FZ-38. After 5 long hour of splendid travel, just before reaching the destination I was appalled to see heavy smoke coming out from the bus engine. It is very difficult to maintain buses on these kinds of routes and luckily it stopped just few kilometers away from the destination. Otherwise we would have stranded in middle of jungle haplessly. Then I caught one auto and reached Pathanamthita. From there I headed to Trivandrum to catch my flight to Madras.

So if you are planning to Gavi, things to take care are

• Pre-book the room in Green Mansion cottage (under Kerala forest department)
• Don’t miss to look around while travelling from Pathanamthita to Gavi (if you start from Kerala) / Kumuli to Gavi (if you start from TN)
• If you want to use mobile then carry BSNL sim.
• For people who has penchant towards the wildlife Photography, carry long range lens (400mm or 500mm) or long zoom bridge cam to click the birds and animals
• Have patience and maintain silent to enjoy wildlife.

This is the first time I traveled alone to a forest and started doing wildlife photography. I have learnt basics and looking forward to have blast in future by rectifying it.