Naturalist Training Program by Jungle Lodges and Resorts

Recently based on recommendation from my friends I decided to register for the Naturalist Training Program conducted by the Jungle Lodges and Resort. Since the course was popular I was advised to call them immediately and confirm my participation.

Until I went for the session I would always wonder why my friends during all our treks would keep running behind birds, after all what can you see that you didn’t see the first time or at a distance. It wasn’t that I didn’t look at birds or notice them, but why would I keep looking at them for? I was hoping for NTP would help me understand that better.

The session was for 3 days and hence had to take off from work on a Friday and I was looking forward to a good break from work.

Having reached a little earlier had enough time to relax and talk to the other early birds (Sandip, Ganesh and Shafi). Karthik our trainer and the Chief Naturalist for JLR was already there and spent time with us while we waited for the others. Soon the rest of them arrived and it was time to start.

The ice breaker session was very different; we had to give our selves names of animals starting with the same alphabet as our names. It was fun and tied in beautifully to the remaining session.

The course was designed to have some sessions indoor and some outdoor ones. Though the indoor sessions were informative and interactive I preferred the outdoor ones more. Not that the indoor session was bad, it was interesting with anecdotes and beautiful photographs by Karthik but the outdoor sessions were more practical.

Though the session touched upon various aspects of Nature and what it meant to be a Naturalist, the focus was on birds. During 8 hours of outdoor session (nature walks) collectively we identified about 80 species of birds.

It started off by us making notes of the features we noticed (beak, chest color, rump color, tail shape). Until we had the details on our notebooks we were not allowed to mention names of the bird. While I could easily spot birds, had a tough time recognizing them, I always missed the most critical features. Guys with Bazooka would capture the birds beautifully in their cameras and this was used as reference points when in doubt about a bird.

Karthik is a walking encyclopedia on any topic related to nature. He could look at a silhouette or listen to a call and tell which bird it was. Listening to his encounters with wildlife it seemed like the sanctuary was in the site next to his house. Most of the pictures were of animals, reptiles, insects and birds around his house.

When not in class we would be sitting around talking, considering we had a mix of people like a doctor, lawyer, Techies, Chef, Entrepreneurs and Coffee Planter the conversations were always interesting. I was always found around the group that was discussing food. Along with birds I discovered new places to eat biryani.

I didn’t realize how the 3 days went by. Getting back to civilization and work didn’t seem appealing but that’s the life I lead and had to return.
Now that I am back from the session there some changes in the way I do things. Earlier when I spoke to someone I would look at the person’s face, now if I am outdoor I tend to look out for birds, some movement somewhere and not at the person.
Instead of looking out for autos and bikes I look for feathered bi-pied. While walking I will stop suddenly in the middle of the road and look at the tree (a bird) and the people around wonder what I am upto. But I have no complaints, for I have realized that I don’t need to go to the jungle to look for wildlife, I am surrounded by it.

PS: Names as I recall them – Antelope Aishwarya, Ant Ashwini, Vulture Vikram, Kingfisher Kanchuki, Rabbit Rohit, Civet Chandramouli, Seal Serisha, Snake Sameer, Robin Rajlakshmi, Viper Vinay, Vampir (Bat) Vivek, Gaur Ganesh, Sambar Shaif, Nilgai Naveen, Shikra Saandip

When the Hunter was hunted

In a general conversation it came up that a trip to the wildlife sanctuary was due, especially since it was the season to spot the Big Cats. A quick call to JLR confirmed that they had few vacant rooms and thus the trip to Bandipur National Park materialized.

Since the road to Bandipur was in good condition, the distance of 220 Kms was covered in 5 hours. This included a stop at Kadambam for some yummy South Indian breakfast.

Since we had arrived early, I decided to catch up on sleep before lunch. The lunch was simple buffet that served South Indian food (We had similar food through out our stay). After lunch we had sometime before the evening safari started. Spent this time sitting in a hammock under a fig tree. The spot was ideal to watch birds as the figs attracted a wide variety of them. We spotted Koel, Lesser Coucal, Copper Smith Barbet, Purple Sunbird, Grey Hornbill, Ashy Drongo, Brahminy Starling, Pale Billed and the Jungle Crows.

Soon it was time for the safari and the expectation was to spot atleast one of the big cats. The conversation in the jeep was around stories of earlier spotting of cats; people didn’t pay much attention to the spotted deers that grazed along the road. Once we entered the jungles the conversations died, everybody was on the look out. Luckily the jeep we were in had some bird watchers. We would stop now and then to look at birds; for me the highlights were the Red Muniya, Crested Serpent Eagle, Honey Buzzard and White Bellied Wood Pecker.

30 minutes into the drive the jeep came to a halt, the sight that greeted us was 2 Male Sambar fighting and at a distance there was a female. With the jeep engine switched off, one could hear the antlers clash loud and clear. After watching them for sometime we carried on with our hunt for the Cats and as time went by we started hoping we would atleast see some gaur or elephants. As the safari was coming to a end our wish was granted we saw some elephants, but that was the end of it.

Back in JLR we exchanged notes and realized no one else had seen much that day. One could see disappointed faces everywhere. Early dinner and we retired to bed. We had to get up early for another Safari

6.15 a.m the next day everybody was ready to go. This time we had requested our naturalist to stop even when he spotted birds and not just for animals. 20 mins into the safari we came across a pack of wild dogs resting by a water hole. There were 29 of them including puppies. While we watched and followed them around they tried hunting a deer. Some of the she-dogs suckled their young. These were sights that I hadn’t seen before and thrilled to have witnessed this. But I was still hoping for a Cat.

Just as we gave up hope, the driver received a call; a sleeping tiger was spotted on the other side. He quickly reversed and headed there. All this while I think we were driving at a speed of 40/kms suddenly it was upto 80/Kms. Our fingers were crossed; in our excitement we ignored the bumpy road and kept praying that the Tiger would continue to sleep. The first exit gate was closed, we had to drive another 2 kms before the next gate, our prayers continued, and finally we were there but didn’t see the tiger. “Did he walk away, did we miss him?” These were the first thought and then a closer look into the bushes and there he was. We were hardly about 20 feet away, watched his every move without batting an eyelid. Suddenly he decided to move and what a sight it was to see him walk. He took 3 steps and settled closer. These 3 steps he took towards us made us realize that this might be as close as we could get near a Tiger in the wild. After watching him for some more time we decided to leave him in peace.

The conversation on the way back was about how each felt, what we liked about him. At the breakfast tables we could hear tiger mentioned after every 2 words. The excitement was evident. Since the check out time was at 11 we quickly finished breakfast and started back to Bangalore. I don’t have to specify what the conversation all the way was about.

More Pics in the link below
http://picasaweb.google.com/aishwarya.belliappa/Bandipur#

Beautiful Thailand: Krabi Day 3 - Kayaking and more swimming

Noticed posters advertising Kayaking while exploring the streets of Krabi during one of the window shopping sessions. The posters looked really interesting and the places looked exotic. Considering there was one more day to spend in Krabi, half a day kayaking trip was booked.

The plan was to leave early and be back by 12:30 pm. As always the start was late, 2 of my friends who had gone for a walk in the morning had lost their way and by the time they came back and got ready, the pick up van was already waiting for 45 mins.

The start point for Kayaking was about 30 Kms from the hotel. On arrival coffee was served and the group was asked to select a kayak and start off. It was surprising since there was no instruction given, no guidelines and no life jackets. The water in the beginning was shallow and the kayak got stuck in between. My friends later told me that it was a hilarious sight to watch me pull the kayak will the other 2 just sat on it. It took a while to master the art of rowing and in the meanwhile, the rest of the group had gone ahead. Finally caught up with the group just as they entered the Mangrove Forest, the silence there was calming but it was broken often with the Guide singing ‘No Monkey No Cry’.

Kayaking back was more challenging as it was upstream and by the end of the trip my shoulders were hurting really bad. Once on the shore coffee and fresh fruits were served. And after some photo sessions it was time to leave.

Once back in the resort, it was time to vacate and move to a different one. This one was in the outskirts and hence away from the hustle and bustle. While some of my friends slept, the rest of us took a dip in the pool and explore the neighbourhood. One of the discoveries was a tiny shack on the beach that played retro music and had rustic ambience. In this background I watched the sunset. It felt like a perfect ending to my stay in Krabi.

Beautiful Thailand: Krabi Day 2 - Scuba Diving

The Plan for day 2 in Krabi was Scuba Diving and chilling out.

Though the reporting time was 8:45 am , being girls we were late. The people from Diving camp “Scuba addicts” came looking and found us hogging a huge breakfast. After some more delay we were ready to discover the underwater world by 9:30. On the way to the Local Island our dive destination, the instructions and some basic hand signals were demonstrated by the instructors. And thus I was ready for my first dive. The scariest part of the experience was jumping of the boat into the sea. The instructions were to look right ahead and walk from the boat into the sea. For someone who has just started swim it took sometime to do. With that jump I was in the middle of the sea ready to discover a whole new world. As we approached the coral reefs there were schools of different fishes swimming so close I could almost touch them. Slowly the descent started and underwater world became more beautiful. After some meters my ears started to hurt due to pressure and nothing seemed to reduce the pain. Since this could be dangerous it was decided that I would go back to the surface.

Back on the boat they served homemade Thai food. It was simple but very tasty. The other irresistible dish on the boat was the fruit bowl. It was regular watermelon and pineapple but they were sweet and juicy, you could not stop at one.

The second dive was scheduled after lunch. After some convincing I decided to try again, 4 meters into the sea and my ears started to hurt again and unlike last time I was alone on the surface this time. The boat we travelled in was no where in sight and there I was in the open sea alone, no where to go if something happened. This was one of those times I wished I knew to swim well and had learnt some survival techniques. After what seemed like forever the divers and boat were back and finally I was out of the sea. The coverstaion on the way back to the mainland was centered around the sighting by the divers and I could not help bad about what I had missed.

Since 3 different hotels were booked for each day of our stay, when were back on the mainland we took our luggage and dragged it all the way to Ao nang Villa, the most expensive resort for the trip. One look at the rooms it was evident that money was well spent. It had a beautiful pool and the afternoon was spent in and around it. The evening was spent walking on the artist's street admiring paintings (some original, some replicas) and some more hogging in a resturant called Bernie's Place. The day ended with a customary Thai Massage

Beautiful Thailand- Krabi Day1

After a week of working hard and partying harder with my colleagues in the Bangkok Office I was ready for a break. I had taken a week off to explore some bits of Thailand.

I was meeting my friends in Krabi, a coast in the southern tip of Thailand. After a night long journey I arrived at Krabi to be greeted by a sleepy, mist covered small town. There were taxi drivers offering rides to the beach destinations near by at exuberant rates (500 Bath). Based on suggestions from a colleague I looked around for a van/tuk tuk that would take me to Aonang Beach at a nominal cost (50 Bath). The ride in the tuk tuk was short and in 30 mins I was in Aonang beach.

Luckily I could check-in to the hotel (Warner's Place/ Andaman Sunset) earlier and after a quick breakfast I was out exploring Aonang. As I walked on the beach I came across a path that seemed to disappear into the hill. As I was meeting my friends much later in the day I decided to walk on. The walk turned out to be rewarding as I was treated to beautiful sights of the beach from the top and I also walked into a private beach that was not as crowded as the main beach. Though I would have loved to spend more time there rain played spoil-sport and after about 15 mins it started to drizzle hard.

To avoid getting drenced I decided to get a Thai massage in one of the many places set up along the beach. It was 1 hour of absolute bliss. By then the rain had stopped and as I walked along I found company called Scuba Addicts, they offered the cheapest session so I booked myself for a scuba diving session next day.

Just as I was done with this I found my friends and joined them for the rest of the trip. Spent rest of the day window bargaining and shopping. Dinner was at a small place called Blue Orchids. And soon after that headed by to the hotel to catch some sleep.

More Pictures can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/aishwarya.belliappa/BangkokTheVacation#

Days of Nostalgia

The month of October bought with it the festival of lights. Though I don’t celebrate Deepavali, I always make it a point to sit on my terrace and watch the firecrackers.

For me fire crackers remind me of Huthari, a harvest festival celebrated back home. As a kid since I didn’t get to burst crackers during Deepavali I would wait for Huthari. Dad would take me and my siblings to the shop give us a budget and let us buy what we wanted. Then it was a wait till 8 pm, that was when we were allowed to burst them. Friends from houses near by would join us and along with crackers one could hear laughter and shrieks of children.

Huthari was also a time to show off ones courage. The one who lit the biggest and the nosiest cracker without flinching was considered the most courageous. I am proud to say that there were few times I got the title

And as we finished our stock of crackers elders would carry oil lamps and head to the fields to bring home the first harvest for the year. This done everybody would wait for payasam made along with the first harvest to be served and then head back to their respective homes.

This year as I sat in a quite corner of the water tank and watched the skies light up it brought back memories of the good old days of fun.

Another weekend another destination - Pavagada Fort

When Krishna mentioned Pavagada all I could think of was the famous Shaneshwara temple. As usual the plan was to meet at Aravind's house and leave from there. Before we started we gobbled hot idlies that Aravind’s mom served and left at 8 am.

As we hit the NICE road our drive turned eventful, we noticed some test cars, we chased the cars for some distance till we got close enough to take some pictures.

As we passed them we kept guessing their make and company. Based on recent news we all decided that this could be the new hatch-back from Ford.

After the initial excitement the drive got boring with bad roads and not many birds spotted.

Just as we neared Madhugiri the sight of the sunflowers against the backdrop of the second largest monolithical rock prompted us to stopped and take pictures.

After this our next stop was Pavagada. Since it was Saturday the town was crowded with devotees. However very few people knew about the fort. Finally with some directions we managed to reach the base of the fort.

The start was through open drainage and filth. As we moved up the path was covered with animal dung. The place though of great significance in history is deteriorating and badly kept.

(Pavagada Fort is located in the northeastern part of Tumkur District in Karnataka. It was built in 1405 by a Vijayanagar chieftain. This hill fort witnessed a historic battle between the English and Tipu Sultan.)

The fort has entrance at each level.

Halfway up there is a Hanuman Temple and a little further there is a water tank. Our assumption was that this might have been used to stored water for the entire fort. Krishna commented that the pattern of the fort was similar to the one at Madhugiri. The fort is also guarded by huge boulders. Finally after 50 mins we were on top of one of the watch towers. This is supposed to be the tower where the king sat (not sure if that is true). The view from here was very pretty. We also noticed that there were buildings on the other side. We decided to explore them. As we walked around we realised that there was nothing much one could infer about their use by walking around. We also chanced upon a flight of stairs and this lead to what looked like rooms. For a change it didn't have the musty smell. Since there was nothing much to do after that we started our descent. It was faster than my expectation and we reached back in about 15 mins.

By now our breakfast was digested and we were ready for lunch. As we hunted for a place to eat we decided to try the one that looked better than the rest. But when the food was served we realized that we had made a mistake. We barely ate anything and quickly left. Our only consolation was that we could stop at Kamat Restaurant on the way back and eat good food.

Finally after losing our way couple of times more and making a stop at Kamat we reached Bangalore at 7 pm. Though not one of my most memorable trips it was definitely worth it.