Masinagudi in pictures

Saturday Oct 16th

2.30 pm

Here I was, lying on a hammock in the middle of the dense forest on a bright sunny day, enjoying the cool breeze, and fully soaking in the glory of nature as I pen down this post. Yes! ‘Pen down’ – The surroundings were so inspiring that I actually took out a pen and a paper and started to write this down. The calm serene atmosphere was only interrupted by the pleasant chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves in the wind. What a sea change from the daily noise of vehicular traffic in the city.

This was absolute bliss!!
I could just lie like this forever.

Thursday Oct 14th

10.30 pm

It all began when I casually told my friend “Babe, we should make a trip to Masinagudi sometime. I was recommended this place by many people”. And my friend instantly said “Let’s go this weekend”, not having any clue about what/where this place was. Filled with encouragement, I immediately googled for a few minutes and found out the contact number of the first resort name I came across – “Jungle Retreat”. My friend made a quick call and made a booking right away, before we could even finalize our weekend plans. Everything happened so quickly, and we were shortly on our way to Mudumalai on Saturday Morning at 6.30 am.

Saturday Oct 16th

1.30pm

Seven hours later we were at Jungle Hut, welcomed warmly by the cackle of geese and the bleating of sheep.

A quick check-in and a sumptuous lunch later, we decided to relax the rest of the afternoon until 5 pm when we had a “nature trek” planned for us.

5.00pm

The nature trek was a short one, in the forest area. Still, it was such a pleasurable experience to walk amidst the enchanting beauty surrounding us. The lush green trees, the frothy white foam emerging from the fresh water streams that flowed over hard rocks, the diverse flora and fauna, the beauty of everything was truly captivating.

We also got to see a bear den, but didn’t quite manage a glimpse of the bear despite throwing stones/bottles at the den to attract the animal’s attention.

The rest of Saturday went in swimming, foosball, movies, books, campfire dinner, among other thing. We hit the bed early as we had to get going the next day morning for an early morning safari.

Sunday Oct 17th

5.30 am

We were all set for the Wildlife Safari at the Satyamangalam forest. Satyamangalam – This was the abode of the infamous Sandalwood king Veerappan. The area is supposed to be off limits for regular tourists, but our guide Siddhu had special permission to access the area. Incidentally, Siddhu was an official guide for the local police to walk through the forest territory during Veerappan’s regime; and he was so comfortable with the wildlife that he never carried any weapon while going inside. Incredible!

All excited, we took off hoping to see some genuine wildlife such as Leopards, Tigers, Panthers, Sambars, Chitals and of course Elephants, which is what Mudumalai is known for.

We came across lots and lots of Chitals (Spotted Deer) on the way and we started off our wildlife photography. Deer are such lovely creatures. When you look at them, they look back at you with such an innocent childlike curiosity, and an inquisitive sparkle in the eye that instantly turns into a deadly fear the minute they see the camera flash.

The Elephants:

We saw lots and lots of them all around the place. There was this one bunch where there were three adult elephants and one baby, which looked quite adorable. It was picture perfect. But the minute we started clicking photos, they got pretty anxious; as though we were going to harm the little kid. The adults really got enraged, and started charging towards us.

Luckily for us, within 2-3 minutes they realized that we were just a harmless bunch of humans out there to have fun, and they decided to leave us alone!

Alas, we didn't get to see any of the 'most sought after' creatures such as Leopards, or Panthers. But it was really beautiful to see wild animals – in the wild. Truly, there is no place like home; for man or for beast.

And that brought us to the end of our brief tryst with Mother Nature and 24 hours away from the maddening city life.