Home sweet home…

Olichuchattam falls as viewed from my backyard

After a very long hiatus… I’m back on WordPress. A lot has happened since i last logged in here about 4 years ago. Our family has grown. We have a son, he’s almost 2 years old now. He keeps us busy and we don’t travel like we used to before….

Also…. we have finally fulfilled a long cherished dream of ours. A small house in the lap of the mighty western ghats. Anakkampoyil is a small village about 45kms from Calicut. Drive uphill from there for about 4 km and you reach a place called Karimb. Another kilometer uphill and that’s where we have our small house.Its about 600 meters above mean sea level, ensuring fantastic climate (depending on your apetite for heavy rains)

Mobile and internet connectivity are poor and non existant respectievely, and that means more time spent on soaking in the views and climate…

A black eagle hovers in the mist

The mists and rains are constant companions throughout the year. The place is blessed with fresh water streams originating from pristine forests which start from about a kilometer away from our house. Clear days provide us with spectacular views of the Vellarimala range from our yard. Birding is fantastic….and so is the wildlife apparently. Elephants , Sambar , and many other wildlife visit our neighbours who live closer to the forest boundary. I’ve not yet mustered the courage to go for a night walk.

Moonrise over Vellarimala

I will try to keep updating/boring everyone with few sights from our patch of paradise.

 

A Monsoon Drive.

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be

Dire Straits/Brothers in Arms

The monsoon had just arrived. We were itching for a holiday.From rain lashed Calicut we drove towards the hills, only to encounter more rains.Spent an awesome weekend driving around the Anamalais in June 2011.

Route: Calicut-Palakkad-Pollachi-Valparai. Time: approx 6 hours. Distance: around 250 kms.

Somewhere on the Palakkad-Pollachi highway….Fast vanishing sights from rurual Kerala.

The road from Pollachi to Valparai is a drivers paradise. Beautiful country scenes on both sides of the road. Somehow I feel sad that we dont get to drive through such countryside a lot in Kerala. Gods Own Country surely does not hold a candle to Tamilnadu and Karnataka in this aspect.

Very few crazies encountered on these roads…pleasure to drive.
Clicked from moving car, wanted to get the motion blur to add that sense of dynamism.
Exif Details 1/13th sec,ISO 100, f20
Camera: Canon EOS 500D
Lens: Sigma 18-200 @ 35 mm.

Clouds kissing the cliff…Clicked by Reshma Krishnan

Soon after crossing the checkpost at the entrance of Anamalai wildlife sanctuary, we came across this beautiful sight of the Aliyar Dam.

There are 40 Hairpin bends and innumerable waterfalls on the Pollachi-Valparai route.
Excellently well maintained roads and easy to drive unlike the wayanad ghats or the kallatti ghats.

The Swift taking in the view 🙂

Ominous Clouds….

Aliyar Dam

One of the many waterfalls we passed by.
This one is called the Monkey Falls.
I found the place to be relatively clean and plastic free…Thank God that there are still some places like this in South India.

Accomodation was in a bungalow belonging to waterfall estates. You come across this board after the 28th hairpin, about 20kms before Valparai town.
Accomodation in Valparai town is not a very good idea….

This was our pad for 3 days and 2 nights.
Tennis court bungalow. there are only 2 bedrooms, so we had the entire place to ourselves.Nice, neat and clean and well maintained.
We also had the services of 2 butlers/caretakers during our stay.They took very good care of us.
Outstanding home cooked food,simply superb stuff.

Another view from the front door of the bungalow.
Clicked By Sharat Somsunder

A lounge with a view 🙂

Another awesome view form the bungalow premises.
You can see how windy it was….

The road from waterfall estates to Valparai….
This image was taken with the 100-400 lens

Valparai landscape….From tea estates to shola forests to grass and rocks.
Another image with The Canon 100-400.
Who says you need a wide angle lens to shoot landscapes 🙂

The road through dense shola forest…
I was actually scared of crossing paths with leopards or elephants while getting out to take this snap.Valparai has been in the news recently for elephant attacks and man eating leopards.

On the way to Nallamudi Pooncholai and Seen God viewpoint.
A must see spot if you happen to travel to valparai.
Super duper torrential rainfall ensured my camera stayed in the car.
Amazingly beautiful views of the mists rising above the forest canopy.
More photos when i visit next time.

View from Sholayar Dam.
It was late evening when we reached the dam site.
Nothing much to see at the dam.
But, the drive is simply outstanding….FANTASTIC winding roads to really enjoy driving through some amazing scenery.

A Kovil(small temple) on the way.
According to the local priest this area is frequented by elephants and bison (gaur).
we were lucky to spot 2 wild elephants nearby.

Thousands of acres of tea estate border shola forests.
Apparently visits from the denizens of the forest are frequent leading to many man-animal conflicts.

Streak Throated Woodpecker (female)
My one decent bird shot of this trip.

Lion Tailed Macaque with baby.
Camera: canon EOS 500D
Lens: Canon 100-400 F4-5.6 L IS USM
Exif: 1/60 sec F 5, 100-400@180mm ISO400

Handheld shot in bad light and light rains.

This is my favourite image and the last shot of the whole series.I waited 3 days and drove oh so many kms around valparai to get this one.
And by the way these are critically endangered species, found only in some areas of the western ghats.I was totally impressed by the NCF watchers guarding this troop even in the rains.I wonder how many generations will get to see these creatures in the wild….

Perhaps someday I would make a trip in not so rainy conditions to photograph the wildlife of the Anamalais…But you gotta visit the rainforests in the rains for sure !!!