Off to the Blue Hills... and around

This year has been quite good, touch wood!

Rather, this month has been good i should say. I have managed to revisit Delhi, spend time with uncle and cousin, explore a few new places and it was an opportunity to do something for the 1st time, travel with mom. 

And now, another trip is in the offing, am off tonight and back saturday. Yes, it is a short trip, but one that i am definitely looking forward. Yet another 1st, a holiday with friend & her family. During my visit to Kochi, she made me promise them i would join them on a holiday this year, irrespective of where it was. We did make a few plans, zero in on a few destinations, but as always, destiny is taking us elsewhere. No Complaints!

[If you've been on this blog before, you will know this picture and where it was taken... :-)]

Even though i am headed to a destination i've visited a handful of times, am sure it will be different..My last visit to this Hill station was about 5yrs ago, or was it more? I was there for a good 5days, and enjoyed my visit immensely. This time around, i am spending about 6-7hrs before my friends land and we head off to the Club Mahindra resort [ my 1st time at a Resort]. I hope to do some birding, lazy strolls, fun with kids and soak in the nature, apart from the good time i am bound to have with friend and her family... :-) 

See you around...

A Day in Daroji

An overnight train journey from Bangalore brought us to Hospet, and within minutes of getting off the train, we were on the road to the Sloth Bear Resort. This was my first visit to Hampi and as cliché as it sounds, in many ways it was indeed “a dream coming true”. The 17kms to the resort was along a road filled with trees, and fields on one side, while there were rugged mountains on the other. Upon seeing the board “Karadi Cafe” I knew we had reached the resort.


Our cottage was tucked away behind the dining area, and the winding up had quite a rustic feel to it. The room was fitted with all amenities we could want, and had a balcony to sit and feast on the sunrise or sunset. We ordered a cup of hot tea, and that was all it took to have us refreshed and ready to explore the property.

We also met the naturalist Virupaksha, who promised to take us birding within an hour along the river Tungabhadra. This time eyes tuned to the vast open space around us, and ears sharp waiting for a bird call. In that one hour, we spotted quite a few birds- kingfishers, Sand piper, quails, grey heron, parakeets, Purple heron, and Hoopoes wandering near the canal.

With just two days, we wanted to see as much of Hampi as possible. Next on the agenda I was told was the visit to the Sloth Bear Sanctuary in Daroji which is where the resort draws its name from.

I had seen pictures of the bears lounging on the rocks, and to think I was going to be seeing them in real had me excited. We drove into the sanctuary, watching a wild boar cross ahead us, before driving ahead and parking the jeep near the rocks where the bears would come. We didnt have to wait more than a few minutes, and we saw a bear stroll along towards us with two cubs in tow.


Soon, there were quite a few and all they were focussed on were the sweet licks on the rocks. Did not pay any attention to us, but went about lapping up their treats. The bears soon made their way along the path towards the exit of the enclosure and we drove along, capturing them. It was wonderful to watch a mother bear protect her cub from a male that came hovering about, two bears fight for the patch of rock and how at ease they were around humans.


The sun set as we drove out back to the resort, while the bears lingered on my mind. I was already looking forward to many more treats in store at Hampi.

This post was featured on Jungle Lodges Blog

[Skywatch Friday]- Where Mangroves rule the water

The journey through the green fields and empty roads took me to the place that is home to the 2nd Largest  Mangrove forest in the world.. I was at Pichavaram, about 15-16 kms ahead of Chidambaram.  It should take about 4hrs from Chennai [Chennai--Pondicherry- Pichavaram- Chidambaram]

The backwaters interconnected by the Vellar and Coleroon rivers is home to these rich green Mangroves that stretch for miles together. The water canals that run like little roads between the forests offer a hideout for birds and other creatures. To explore further, one can enjoy a boat ride that is quite popular among the tourists. if you are lucky, you might witness the fish flying out from the water, sometimes into the boat in the process.

There is a tower from where one gets a full 270degree view of the Mangrove forests and the ocean beyond as well.

Pichavaram has also been featured in quite a few movies, the most recent being the opening scene from Dasavatharam starring Kamal Hassan.

From Wikipedia-

The Pichavaram mangroves are considered among the healthiest mangrove occurrence in the world. Pichavaram consists of a number of islands interspersing a vast expanse of water covered with green trees. The area is about 2,800 acres (11 km²) and is separated from the sea by a sand bar which is a patch of extraordinary loveliness.

The Pichavaram mangrove biotope, consisting of rare species like Avicennia and Rhizophara; presents a special attraction, with its peculiar topography and environmental condition. It supports the existence of many rare varieties of economically important shell and finfishes.

The Pichavaram mangroves attract an appreciable bird population of residents, local migrants and true migrants. Amongst others, one can view birds like Watersnips, Cormorants, Egrets, Storks, Herons, Spoonbills and Pelicans. At the mangroves, so far, 177 species of birds belonging to 15 orders and 41 families have been recorded. The season for birds is from September to April every year.

Pulicat, Land of Flamingos

It was a warm Saturday morning when i was on the road to Pulicat... This destination had been evading us for a while and finally, we were heading there... :) 

Along the way, there were multiple stops where we did some bird watching and ofcourse breakfast...We spotted quite a few birds- 

1.Indian Roller

2.Common Kingfisher

3.White breasted kingfisher

4.Pied kingfisher

5.Blue Tailed Beeeater

6. Green Beeeater

7.Pied cuckoo

8.Asian koel – male and female

9.Rose ringed parakeet

10.blue rocked pigeon and so much more.....

Painted storks in the fields along the way

After being on the road for what seemed like hours, we finally saw the lake in sight.. The lake was serene and calm, with colorful boats dancing to the wind.. There were pits where the locals stored Jelly fish, Prawn and others alike, which were then exported..

A bit of haggling with the boatmen and we were on a boat ready to set sail into the lake... I thought i saw some flamingos in a distance and we decided to explore the area further. 

Two men sailing in the lake, totally relaxed..

The boatmen insisted it was not possible to get closer to them as the water was very shallow and the boat could get caught in the slush. Few minutes later one of the boat men was in the water pushing the boat along, taking us closer to the Flamingos. What a sight those pink birds were..

Excited and kicked to the core, i could not remain quiet... Kept clicking pictures and gasping at how gorgeous they were.. It was like watching a bunch of school kids at prayer, standing still, being silent.. And every now and then, one of the birds would flap its bright pink wings, or walk around to another side.. Moments later, we saw one bird take flight and the rest of them followed suit.. Wow, what a sight it was! Awesome.. breath taking.. magnificient.. beautiful... I can go on and on, but words fail to describe the sight..

. 

Sitting still, we watched them fly above our heads, to the far side and settle down in another part of the lake. Flamingos incidentally park themselves in shallow marsh lands only, and they seem to stick with the group...  We returned to the shore and made our way back to the car, totally lost in those birds and what we had seen...

What a day it had been!! The blazing heat was forgotten and our fatigue had vanished into thin air.... 

Note:: Pulicat is a small town in the Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu state. The town is about 60 kilometres from Chennai and the lake sits in both Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh. Pulicat lake is basically the backwaters of Bay of Bengal, and is known for the wide variety of birds that visit here. 

Project 365 Day 7 - Bird brain

We walked along the path towards Namdroling Monastery in Bylakuppe when we saw these strange birds pecking on footwear... Wonder what they were, thought maybe Turkey, but a passerby mentioned a name in Kannada and walked away... Dint catch the words, just some random gibberish floating in the air... 


Wonder why these birds were focussed on the footwear they had.. Did they think it was food? or where they fighting to kill it?? [assuming it was a large sized hard worm?] :D 

Birds of a feather....

During my recent trip to Hampi and Anegundi, i spotted quite a few birds.. Now i know i dont have the camera to take good pictures of these feathered friends of mine, but i did manage to get some shots.... hazy but what the heck!! :D 

Hampi is filled with water bodies, thick forests and mountains, which are perfect for birds to hide out in... We dint even have to go looking for them, the birds were there all around us.. Some looked like they were basking in the sun, while others were grazing in the paddy fields, and waiting for the odd fish to wash up in the currents in  the raging Tunga badra river.... 

 2 pied kingfishers on the wall

 1 more we saw near the water...[photoshoped by friend]

A cormoran sun bathing...

Weaver bird nests and a bird hovering about..

A shrike in the bush...

Another shrike on bush nearby, managed to get a better shot..

Another bird we spotted is a personal favorite.... and this time, we saw not one, but 7 of them that both Laakshmi and i were were wondering "whats happening"... :D 

Hoopoe....

We also managed to cross the river [in a coracle/parisal/round shaped boat] to explore Anegundi, a village known to be older than Hampi  and believed to be the mythical Kishkinda [monkey kingdom of Ramayana].. This i know cos Lakshmi was talking about it as we rode along.... 

bee eaters on a wire...How many do you spot??

Hebbal - The lake beckons

As the day wore on, my cousin, Lakshmi suggested we go to Hebbal lake post the meeting.. Always game for a bit of exploring and photography, i umped at the suggestion, we packed our gear and as we were to leave home, the client called saying his daughter was unwell and he had to take her to the doctor... What this meant was more time to spend at the lake and we could leave earlier... :)

Knapsack- check

Cameras-my cybershot and her DSLR-check
Binoculars-check
Some cash-check
Our mobiles and housekey and we were off by 4.30... -checkcheck

Paid entrance fee and walked into the park, spotted a few birds on the ground -- the love birds..couples hidden behind bushes and a coracle left alone...

Our feet took us towards the water and there we spotted a few guys fishing.. one guy would reel the fish in dropping it onto the ground where another guy sat cleaning it up... A few yards away, we spotted 2-3 Brahminy kites, and in a few seconds they were in air, circling right above these guys and in a flash swooped down grabbed a fish and off it went into the sky.. Wow moment...!! 

Pulling out the binocs, we spotted a few Grey heron, Pond heron and a pretty looking Purple Swamphen. 

Why not go to the other side we thought and began exploring the park some more.. It was my 1st visit, and i found it calm n quiet .... Took shots of a few intersting flowers, the setting sun, the buildings beyond the lake and as we were beginning to settle in, a deep shrill whistle came floating in the air..It was time to leave..... 

As we rode back home in the auto, the sun was beginning to set, and we could see the lovely colours against the city scapes... Short yet sweet was what the visit was....!! :)

Could stare at them for hours as they went home... together!!! in sync.. what a sight...

Trivia from wiki: Hebbal Lake is located in the north of Bangalore at the mouth of National Highway 7, along the junction of Bellary Road and the Outer Ring Road (ORR). It was one of the three lakes created in 1537 by Kempe Gowda.

Exploring 2009

Every year brings with it new adventures, and this year 2009 i think brought me so much more... Absolutely loved it just for the fact that i spread my wings a bit more than earlier, and took off to explore new terrain- literally and otherwise!!!!


2009 began with me getting enthusiastic about photography... and took the step to go for a Photowalk around Egmore area in February... [Was using my uncle's Canon Film camera..]

Wesley Church

A chariot awaits...

From there, the year saw me fly across the country to Bombay, March end, for nearly a month....  
Spending time with my friend, helping them as they moved from Colaba to Karanja .... 

Sunrise from the boat as we sailed towards Karanja 

The castle near the jetty in Karanja

and then ofcourse the highlight being the trip to Pune in April for "Vipassana"!!

It was time for yet another Photowalk with the Chennai Photowalkers.... This time we hit Casino theater and walked it down a bit... 

Next stop was Bangalore for the Hoysala Trail on 29th & 30th May ...[Inaugurated my Sony w220 digi camera :)]

Hulikere, temple tank....

Belavadi

June 1st i was back in Chennai, and  on 2nd we were off to Sringeri, for a family occasion- me,mom & dad... 

Vidhyashankar Temple

June was also when my Uncle and co came down from Delhi, and off we went to take a tour with Story Trails - Peacock Trails around Mylapore... 

The Santhome Church                                       Kapaleeshwar Temple

July had me back in Bangalore, this time for a reunion of sorts with the gang that travelled on the 1st Hoysala trail organised by TravelWise!!

The gang @lunch

Also managed to do a bit of birding at T G Halli prior to the lunch...

And a visit to LalBagh garden before we heading out for a fun Play followed by dinner

August was when  Lakshmi & I headed off to explore a few Heritage sights around Chennai. - Chengelpet, Uthiramerur, Kancheepuram, And Mahabs...

Colorful silk threads @ the weaver, Kancheepuram

Kailashnath temple, Kancheepuram

Singaperumal temple,Chengelpet

Was already on the road to Ambur once again before Aug came to an end... Aug 31st was Uncle's 60th bday celebrations... 

Uncle - Aunt with gramma n aunt!!

Couldnt wait for September 30th to come.... We were off to Coorg... what a fun memorable trip it was... 

Bylakuppe...

Omkareshwara temple, Madikeri

Work kept me busy through the month, and once again excitement was in the air as October 30th came around the corner.. Was packing my bags to set sail to Goa...

Bom Jesus Church

Moon glistening in the night sky, during the River Mandovi cruise

Finally, December came upon us... Mahabalipuram, the 1st weekend was the impromptu plan... ;o)

Beautiful sunrise in mahabs... 

To finish it off, a short quick trip to Pondy happened over the Christmas weekend... :)

Pillars around Gandhi Statue in the beach

The Matri mandir in Auroville.... 


This year has been a definite high in my life... Loved every minute of it, and now, 
Am looking fwd to 2010... 


Hoping to cross the ocean, and set sail further into new unexplored terrains...
To Fly away...far... far.... far into the horizon!!!