United as friends of nature, and each other

Experiencing a carefree life

“KARKALA! KARKALA last stop!” a voice passes by and wakes me up. With huge back pack on my shoulders, I climb down the bus just to wait for another bus to Hebri.  Travelling for nearly an hour through a green landscapes we reach Hebri. This is precisely where I looked and smiled at every other person in the team and took the count through my eyes (I realize that it was a team of 7) while we climbed up rickshaws to reach the unknown destination. 

Even on landing at Karkala we were new to each other           

The board from a distance said “SITA NADI HERPETO CAMP” as we approached it. Yes. That was our camp site.  We entered the gate and passed through the thickly wooded forest upon a bumpy pathway made of stone slabs Just a glance would define the ambience of an evergreen forest. The trees stood tall, green and fresh. There were plenty calls of plenty of birds, crickets and squirrels engaged in their daily chores creating a brew of musical notes. Not to forget, they were not just squirrels, but Malabar giant squirrels and the insects were cicadas’.

The beautiful campsite

After unloading our luggage, we were asked to stay in the tents. Tents! I never knew that they could be so sophisticated- with an attached bathroom, beds complimented with a pillow and a blanket each. After settling down peacefully for a few minutes with two friends, we took a walk to tour the campsite. Just as we walked down, finding and clicking pictures of some amazingly colored fungi, we found heaven! Yes it was the bank of Sita nadi.  River Sita was silent, elegant and yet vivacious. She had nourished the life around her profusely. Undoubtedly she attracted all but to me she was not just a mere attraction. It was something beyond comprehension.  The schools of fish in her became my friends (though they rigidly denied initially) in no time. Tickled our legs and gave the best Pedicure we could have ever had.

After a big fat sensible yet prolonged introductory session, we decided to trek within the campsite.  And we start. Eyes keen to find something or the other but the mind was preoccupied with the presence of the trekker enemies, the leaches. My first experience with them horrified me to the fullest.

A clump of these mushrooms grown near the kitchen
 became a everyday curiosity

Ask me why!! It first attacked my mouth!!!!!!!! And then on I got greatly used to them. Just as we began, we found a little but wonderful creature, a snake. What a beginning to our search expedition! As we followed the stream, the river offered a safe place for us to spend some time. We played our hearts out. Got wet and walked back once it started to drizzle. The night sessions were precisely serious ones. Sensitive discussions, Manu Sir’s inspiring talks and we sat back to watch some events in Sir David Attenborough’s life…a talk show recorded when he had just turned ninety last fortnight.

Exploring we got exhausted

Day 2 stared off stupendously on the banks of the River Sita, calm, clear and serene. And the plan for the day was to trek to the beautiful peak of Barkana during the late morning. This trek was a short one but full of surprises. The variety of flora took our breaths away. And the magnanimous peaks flushed with green tall trees looked magnificent. The valleys of Agumbe are evidently a home for umpteen numbers of species. Manu sir, meanwhile, made sure that he educated us through out. He kept on answering all our doubts and queries. He is now my newly found encyclopedia.  And the best part of the trek was to find something really tasty, a Jack fruit. And the most satisfying part was to find a Lion tailed Macaque, endemic to Western Ghats hanging on to the trees far away. Yes we did find one. Back to the camp site, and we rested for a couple of hours. Then there’s a knock on the door declaring the tea time. Tea with bajjis made of chilies, the tastiest I have ever had, brought us back to life after a tiring day. Sitting back and relaxing we watched amazingly educative documentaries. The day enthralled us as we discussed the life cycle of a marine turtle that perambulates the globe criss-crossing the mighty oceans all alone. Power cuts became an issue but we ended up eating the Jackfruit meanwhile.

Where the river meets the sea

I had never ever enjoyed the darkness of the night 

And now the best part of the longest day. The most awaited night trek. Following the stream of one of the tributaries of River sita, we ended up finding one of the weirdest water creatures; a Whip-Scorpion. I literally struggled to move forward wading along the knee deep water of the stream, because of my rubber chappals. Many times the slippers got stuck in the water and refused to come up along with my feet. Manu sir managed to catch a huge Frog. We took a lot of pictures with that jumping jack and finally ended our night trek. It was already past midnight, drenched in sweat, we called it a day.

Day 3. All our plans went in vain because of the nonstop rain through the early hours. Never mind, the day had lots for us in its pockets. Breakfast with long debates in order to decide the place to visit resulted in a unanimous decision to  trek to the beautiful Kudalutirtha falls. We had to travel a rough road for an hour and a half to get the trekking path.  

A tree frog amidst the leaf litter 

We crammed upon each other in the most uncomfortable positions in an OMNI. We liberally stopped the vehicle and got down for some nature lessons. Since the place was was taken over by the Wildlife division, many amenities were being made for the tourists. The major investment was going on for the cement road which was being built yet. The slopes were cut and the gradient reduced and the curves were all being straightened. Probably this period was the worst for the forest soil and the wildlife. There were many families of workers camping in the neighboring fields who came from the northern district of Karnataka. 

We spotted a long slow animal on the road. It was a Cat Snake. And immediately we got out having a glimpse of it; and before we realized what’s going on...Manu Sir had turned a Snake Charmer!  Semi poisonous by nature this tree snake found its comfort zone with us in no time. Allowing it back to get away, we moved on to reach the starting point of our trek.

This trek was fun. While climbing up on small slippery rocks, occasional slipping and falling was indispensible. 

The author with her precious find

As time passed we had to walk slow and take long gasps. And the leaches never left us alone.  The feeble sound of the gushing water got intense as we reached the destination. And look what’s waiting for you!  A Slender, majestic and the most beautiful water was now thick and forceful at the onset of the monsoon. The Kudalutirtha! 

I know to make a frog comfortable in my hand

Getting drenched, splashing water on each other, learning how to float became obvious events. The water was biting cold and as the sun rose up we felt better. By the time we came out of the water the sun was high and warm enough to dry us neat in no time.

Trekking back took no time at all. Lunch was waiting for us at the campsite and we wasted no time.  After a quick nap, we gathered back to watch documentaries. This time it was heart wrenching. We see no animals; we learn nothing about animals but about humans. THE HUMAN, a documentary managed to pull our eyes away to the different dimensions of a society.  Yet another day comes to an end on a serious note.

The memorable journey is not only about where we travel.......

Day 4….the last day. The feeling of it irritated me to the maximum. I knew I was going to miss it all; Sita nadi, my tent, my new friends, my tea with bajjis, my birds and fish. And my obsession, without which my day never came to an end, the world’s best buttermilk the cook constantly churned out along with every single meal. Everything. With a heavy heart all of us got ready to say a good bye to the campsite.  After the last breakfast ,  the time had arrived .  We had to leave. Wait! This is not the end. We left the campsite but reached the town by the sea side, much appreciated for its beech. As we moved north of the township of Kundapura, Fresh water flowing westwards down the Ghats mated with the Sea. It was an unforgettable site. Nature surprised us every second. What a beauty! In some places there were orderly pools of still water in squares. There were several machines slowly giving movement to the water. I heard that it was Prawn culture. This is now a multi billion dollar business now.

A day out in the sea was the most enthralling experience

After a playing till exhaustion in the salty water we had to leave to catch our buses some forty kilometers away. Half of us had to travel back to Mysore and the rest to Bangalore on different night buses. By the following morning we were back at home sipping hot coffee. All of us are now in different places, with different people and in a different atmosphere. Yet, we all are united by the love for Nature- united forever by the divine beauty, united as friends of nature and each other.

- Nikitha Jagadish
  Student in Engineering,
   Mysore