A walk in the early morning in this Wayanad forest will make you realize the magnificence of the creation of God.
I generally love to wonder into the wilderness of nature as it takes me to the whole new world of mystical beauty, which entirely contrasts with the modern world that the mankind has created. I woke up one morning wondering where the sun has gone and I found it hidden behind several layers of clouds. But when I stared for a while towards the sky, I realized that a thick layer of fog was the main reason behind the absence of sun. The mist added a mystical aura to the lush green landscape. After a while the mist disappeared and the sun came out, bright and sunny. This added colors to the earlier gloomy surroundings. Right before my was a beautiful scene of glorious mountains, dotted with dense woods and here was the landscape which would evolve a melodious song into the hearts of every nature lover.
Just as the dawn broke, I passed into the state of Kerala border from Croog in Karnataka. The road was filled with heavy traffic with some large vehicles heading into the town. I have always felt a bit stimulated whenever I cross a border and enter into another state. As I went further into the state, I sensed the change in culture. The posters of the movies and the tea stalls lined along the road side were the first indicators.
We drove through the little villages which were waking up with the commencement of the day. As we entered the forest, I noticed that the sun’s rays were melting the sparkling dunes on the trees which were standing still in the windless morning. As we further entered the forest, the view outside my window changed with the tall silver oaks replacing the plantations. The smell of the wet earth went into our nostrils which overcame the strong compulsive smell of the coffee plantation.
Now, I was standing before the entrance of the Tholpetty Wildlife Sanctuary in Wayanad. Few groups of wildlife enthusiasts like me were patiently waiting outside the entranced for a jeep to be allotted, as a naturalist joined the visitors. The naturalist offered two choices before us, one was to chase a tiger which was spotted a couple of jeeps before us or to watch the herds of elephant, which was crossing a road at a few distance ahead of us.
The driver wanted to head towards the tiger, but the naturalist requested him to do first let us have a glimpse of the elephants and then chase the tiger. As reached to the spot where the elephants were spotted, we were just in time to spot the last of the flock entering the dense woods of the forest. Then we headed to trail the tiger. On the way, the naturalist revealed to us that most of the travelers opt for Muthanga than the Tholpetty because it is not that easy to spot the wild animals at this place. So, the drivers so not want to miss the opportunity spot a wild cat if its presence is announced in the woods.
Throughout the rest of the day, the weather remained at its best. Though we were a bit unlucky in spotting the wild cat, we spotted other wild animals like Malabar squirrel and a bison. The forest was filled with the melodious chirping of the birds and the cool streams were filled with kingfishers, probably searching for a fish. We also spotted a white-bellied woodpecker, which was busy pecking a hole on a tree and was quite ignorant of our presence. A lone Crested Serpent Eagle was hovering far up in the sky over our head, which was patiently searching for a prey to pounce upon.
As we neared towards the evening, the forest was getting darker and more baffling. Finally we headed towards Coorg.
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