Parambikulam: Exploring Flora & Fauna

Few days back, I along with my colleague-Mr. Jinil Paul had a delightful opportunity of visiting the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, the eccentricity of which is that, this Tiger reserve is part of Kerala, but entry can be made only through the state of Tamilnadu. I happened to be so near to it for the past one year, in a rural place named Vettaikkaranpudur, but took interest in exploring the same, so late. As said in an old Malayalam movie-“Ellaathinum athintethaaya samayam undu Daasa!”  (Everything in life, comes during its course, like it is better to be late than never!)

We took the advice of many local people, how to go, where to go, whom should we meet, where to have food, and so on. We started from Vettaikkaranpudur in Tamil Nadu and planned to take public transport. In the bus, we happened to meet a forest department driver-Mr. Unni- a keralite by origin, but working for Tamilnadu forest department. He gave us few tips which, we think made the trip memorable.

We got off the bus at around 7.45 AM at a place named Aanappaadi, which was a point between Top-Slip and Parambikulam. We had our breakfast there and boarded the van which was arranged by the forest department for the safari tour. The van which we boarded was named-“Tahr” and we came to know that each van was named after the animals like Tiger, Panther, which were immeasurably found in the forest of the Western Ghats. The rate of the Safari was Rs.170.00 per head.

The cell phones stopped working as the coverage was not there for my network provider. I cursed under my breath. It reminded me of a Malayalam movie dialogue-“Keep it. It can be used to be thrown at, if a tiger attack you!” The safari started at around 8.15 AM when there were ample people to fill the seats of the van. The vehicle moved a few kilometres and we were going deep into the wild. The driver stopped the vehicle and pointed towards the vehicle’s left-“Aana!” he said. We turned to our left. We heard a trumpeting sound. Yes! Elephants! There was an air of excitement and thrill and it was normal for the homosapeans to be noisy. The guide asked us to be silent. The only sounds left were that of the cameras. The adrenalin rush was yet to be experienced. One of the elephants from the herd trumpeted, pointed its trunk towards the van and ran forward. This was a warning sign. The elephant was ready to take us on head to head. The driver thankfully sensed this and sounded the horn and pressed his foot on the accelerator. The elephant stopped. The van moved forward. We saw to our back, the elephants crossing in very slow movements. They still sensed danger around them; we were able to understand that as they kept looking back at the van. The driver joked-“Can’t this elephant recognise the Government Vehicle?”

(Taken by Mr. Jinil Paul)

The adrenalin rush continued for some time. Every penny we spent was worth it. The van continued its journey and we were able to see many hosts of the wild-deer (which were quite common), wild boars, peacocks and peahens, wild squirrel, black langurs, one single bison, crocodile and so on.

We were also taken to see the tree giant-“Kannimara Teak”, one of the largest teaks in the world. As per the records the story behind the teak is as follows: - Kannimara teak is one of the largest living teak tree of the world, found in Parambikulam tiger reserve. According to the local tribal belief, when the tree was tried to cut down, blood was spurted out from the place of cut. Since then this tree was worshipped by the local tribal people in Parambikulam as “Virgin tree”. Thus the name Kannimara is given as the word “Kanni” means “Virgin”. This tree has been awarded “Mahavriksha Puraskar by the Government of India during 1994-95.

However, the story of blood spurting out was hard to believe, but as told in the Holy Bible-“Thy belief save thee!” And I really wish blood spurts out of every tree being cut, so that they are preserved exactly in the same way.

We were dropped at Aanappaadi, from where we had our lunch. We took the Kerala State’s bus back to Top-Slip, where we called Mr. Unni (whom we got acquainted with, in the morning) and talked to him to ask if there was anything to see there. He told-“You were lucky you saw elephants in the morning, as this is off-season. There are low chances to see animals, however let us go for a drive here. Don’t expect much!” We were taken in the Anamalai Tiger reserve’s department van along with others. This drive was more thrilling as the forest here was denser and the road was a bumpy one. In between, Unni stopped the van and pointed towards his right. We saw a beautiful sight of a peacock with its feathers spread open! There were clouds in the sky! The feathers kept dancing! The camera shutters clicked continuously! It was spectacular! That was the only beautiful thing we saw in that free safari ride.

Taken by me

We came back to Top-Slip and waited for the bus along with “Unniyettan”. We kept listening to Unniyettan and his encounters in the wild. We both wished we had a career with the forest department. We were thankful that the cell phones didn’t work. There was no one to disturb in between the trip.

There are few suggestions, I would like to make for the ones who wish to make a trip to the wild:-

1.      Try gathering as many contacts as possible before making the trip. It really helps.

2.      You may ask suggestions to people who had visited the place earlier. There maybe a few people who would say-“There is nothing to see!” Ignore them! There is something to see! There really would be something to see!

3.      Go with low expectations. Just consider it a casual journey. At the same time, expect the unexpected.

4.      Stick to the rules and regulations of the area and forest department to avoid trouble. The rules and regulations are for the good.

5.      If you are planning to take photographs, please keep a good camera with you. Don’t ever rely on Cell phone cameras.

6.      It is preferable to wear dark colour casual dresses and don’t forget to keep a bottle of water with you.

7.      Try to maintain silence, so that you don’t scare the animals or make them feel that, they are under threat.

8.      It is preferable to visit the forests after the rains which make the forest greener and there are high chances of seeing the animals.