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| A boat ride into the Mangrove forest |
Day – 1 16.5.15
The
first day comes to an end...and quite interestingly. Our day began at 6, when
we landed in Karkala and took two other buses to reach our base camp, Sitanadi
at 7:20. After about an hour of looking around, we had a quick breakfast and
another half hour of getting to know the place better. Soon after, we had an
ice – breaking session where we introduced ourselves, our natives and the
reason we decided to participate in the camp, followed by one – to – one
interactions with our new found camp mates. We were asked to freshen up after
lunch as there was a nature walk scheduled but unfortunately, it was delayed by
almost an hour due to a heavy downpour.
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| Malabar giant squirrel |
We
soon started on our nature walk and a pretty unpleasant surprise awaited us in
the form of leeches...hundreds of them, crawling up on the legs of every person
passing by their path. We soon reached one edge of the river where we clicked a
few group pictures and moved on forward. We came across a river crossing after
which we spotted a Grey - Headed Fish Eagle. On our return, we spent about a
half hour getting rid of all the remaining leeches from our bodies. Later, we
saw an RSPB video clip on birds and a short movie on the Kudremukh habitat and
the dangers the area faces. After this, we had dinner and had another film
session – ‘Fabulous Frogs’ pictured by BBC along with Sir David Attenborough.
It was a beautiful and inspirational way to end our very first day in the camp.
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| A tree frog on the rock |
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| Indian bull frog |
Day – 2 17.5.15
The second day in camp dawned early for us,
with us getting up at 5:30 a.m. for a bird watching session. We sat for an hour
on the river bank, observing different birds, fish behaviour and the changing
calls of the Wild with passing time. A short breakfast later, we set out on a
trek to the Kundadri hill. Half the way, we covered by a bus after which we
walked for a few miles, observing the different vegetation in the terrain. We
came across 3 species of snakes and various fruits one of which was edible, Artocarpus lakoocha commonly called ‘vaatehuli’ in Kannada. About another 5 min
of bus ride, we climbed up a few steps to reach the top of the mountain where
the whole of Western Ghats was visible. It was an overwhelming experience. Back
at the camp, after lunch and a few minutes rest later, we had a group
discussion with Dr.Sethu Ramalingam who was one of our resource persons,
starting with our views on the previous day’s film show. It lead to a pretty
deep discussion on frogs, the hazards their population faces and the steps we
can take to protect them. We also learnt about combofrogs, culturing frogs and
the sources that harm them.
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| A nawab butterfly |
Later, we played games that involved a lot of concentration and creativity. This was followed by another documentary, ‘Frogs – A Thin Green Line’ by PBS which focused mainly on the reasons for the depletion of the frog population, particularly being the Kitrit fungal disease. A short discussion on the movie, and on benthic animals with Sethu sir, a small team of us set out on the lookout for frogs and we were fortunate to find a tree frog among them. Sadly, we had to return early due to rains and time constraint but every minute was worth it. It was an eventful day.
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| A wood mushroom |
Day – 3 18.5.15
Our day started with a very interesting
activity. We were assigned the task of collecting different types of leaves to
understand the vegetation and diversity of plant life in the terrain. We were
split into 3 groups and each team moved into a different part of the forest. We
collected numerous leaves for over an hour, all along the way looking out for
leeches and very probable birds or animals. On our return, we were asked to
arrange all the leaves and through short interactions, learnt a few basic
concepts about them from Mrs. Geetha. Further, we also had the task of
arranging the collected leaves into the form of different animals which we
completed in about an hour.
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| A land crab |
Later,
our team was taken down to the river for the purpose of studying fish. After
hours of trying to catch the fish and collect them, we made a sketch of all the
specimens collected and on our way back, found a frog on the off-track which
was shot and filmed. Then, we had a session for snake handling where we handled
a Brown Vine Snake and then had an interactive session with 2 internship
students who were in the campus for the census of Lion Tailed Macaques. We
clarified related doubts with them and had a very long session. At night, for
the third time, we went out frog hunting and had a surprisingly lucky night. We
were fortunate to encounter a Crab, a Checkered Keelback and Catfish. We
collected the specimens and returned to our tents. The day ended quite quickly.
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| A little crab |
Day – 4 19.5.15
On
this day, we started with bird watching by the river side and spotted a Grey –
Headed Fish Eagle. We also heard the calls of a Woodpecker and a Lesser Grey –
Headed Fish Eagle. Gobbling down our breakfast, we headed further down the road
to Koodalutheertha Waterfalls. On the way, we found a Garcinia indica tree that bore fruits locally known as ‘Punarpuli’
and is used in preparing certain food items. We also learnt that the juice and
the fruit itself have highly cooling and healing properties for common ailments
such as cold and sore throats. We resumed our journey and reached the starting
point of our trek. It was a comparatively easy climb and we reached our destination
in oddly an hour’s time. The trek to the falls was quite interesting as there
were so many things to see and so many leeches to escape from. The view on
reaching the top was highly overwhelming. We enjoyed the falls for more than an
hour and returned back t our base camp. We freshened up and played a game to
keep our minds alert, which was followed by a slideshow by Manu Sir on the
features of Western Ghats. We learnt about the different geographical,
demographical and the diversity aspects of the Ghats. After dinner, we watched
a film show, ‘Meet the Monkeys’ and it was absolutely an out – of – the – world
experience for us. After a short discussion on the movie and its pros and cons,
our day came to an end.
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| A Bonnet Macaque disturbed in its nap |
Day – 5 20.5.15
Our
morning began with an early breakfast and we set out on a trek to Vonakobbe
falls. First, we stopped near a small clearing and got down from our bus to
begin our walk. A short distance later, the leeches started coming out of their
cover and all of us had to take precautionary measures and apply Dettol to the
exposed areas of our legs to protect them from the hundreds of leeches crawling
our way. Just a few metres ahead, the young tots found the climb to be too
tedious and the fear of leeches hindering their progress. Consequently, they
moved back to the bus but a select few of us continued our journey upwards. It
was a highly steep terrain but somehow after lots of panting and puffing,
sweating and slipping, we finally made it to the top of the majestic falls. The
first feeling was immense and it left us speechless. We spent a few but
memorable minutes on the top and started our climb downwards. It was
comparatively difficult as the forest floor was slippery and we had very few
grips and holds. We finally made it to the bottom, covered in sweat and a
wonderful surprise awaited us. Manu Sir had sent for us Chapatis and raw Mango
chutney!! It was eaten and done with, in less than 5 minutes and we were left
craving for more.
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| A bracket fungus on a tree |
On our return, we had lunch and about an
hour later we gathered again to submit our diaries. Later, we celebrated a camp
– mate’s birthday grandiosely and ate quite well. For the younger ones, the
cake and ice – cream were a welcome break from a week long diet of simple
vegetarian food. Shortly afterwards, we had the opportunity to see all the
pictures taken in the past few days. Our day ended for us on a tired note.
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| White breasted Kingfisher |
Day 6 21.5.15
The last day of camp! The morning had a
strong feeling in it...the feeling of finality; the feeling that we wouldn’t be
visiting this beautiful place anytime very soon now. We packed our bags and
stacked into the mini bus and set off to Kundapur to see the Mangroves. We were
fortunate enough to spot a rare species of Crab after which we went out boating
and learnt about the Mangrove vegetation first hand. On our return, we set out
again...this time to a forest guest house where a good meal was arranged for
us.
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| Handling a snake |
Next we moved to the balcony of one of the guest houses reserved for IFS officers where we had a bird’s eye view of the Byndoor beach and we just couldn’t get enough of it. After learning about Tidal Zones and various other technicalities of the sea from Sethu Sir, we set foot on the beach itself and collected various sea – shells, crabs, sting ray, barnacle, sea anemone, sea urchin and other specimens. After about an hour of fun, we went out for dinner and then, it was time to say goodbye to our new found friends and leave towards our respective nests. There is still a small hope for another adventure, another trip to the Wild, another set of humans that want to bring about a change and the hope for more and more Knowledge to grab hold of.
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| A delicate gill pattern of a mushroom |
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| A pond heron by Seethanadi |
Until then, we shall sign off hoping to have instilled in
you, reader, the same interest and passion for Wildlife that we have. Until
then...
- Praneetha M
- Praneetha M
