Agumbe: Tread Carefully in the land of Kaalinga

 It had been a year since we trekked through Periyar and the year-end vacation was coming close. On a whim, we decided to visit Agumbe, the kingdom of King Cobra, also called the Cherapunji of southern India.

The king chose not to give us Darshan, but instead sent a few minions to greet us.

The proverbial journey of the thousand miles begins with a ....... In our case, it was a small thud! Our first coffee break was eventful. As we stopped parallel to the road, the front wheel went in a well-camouflaged uncovered portion of a 3-meter-deep drain. Slightly shaken we all stepped out of the car. Soon there was a crowd, a very friendly one. Eight to ten people pushed the car upright and in less than 2 minutes it was out of the rut. We thanked profusely, had a coffee, and in no time were on the way. This was the second such incident in the last twenty years of driving in the southern states. The kindness of strangers is always overwhelming.

We had an amazing time tracking the creepy crawlies. The first day was slightly scary, and we did not venture anywhere without our guide, however, by the next day we had gathered enough courage to go around on our own.

What is common between the Malabar Pit Viper and the Vine snake?

Yes, both are ambush predators. They are well-camouflaged and blend with the surrounding habitat. They stay steadfast in one place and wait for the prey to venture within striking distance.   The expert guides with us could help spot 3 vine snakes, two of them even during the night trek!

The pit viper (shown in the picture) was recuperating from the removal of the RFID tracker and was about to be released back into the wild in a day or two. We got a chance to go along with the research intern and disturb him as he went about making the daily field notes. 8 pit vipers were being tracked. The daily recordings included wind speed, humidity, location, and temperature, to name a few. 

We came to know that scorpion has bioluminescence and glow under UV light. Look at the one on the forest floor. Very difficult to spot in leaf litter on the floor. There were 2 scorpions that we could spot on our trek, including the one on which we went on our own without a guide. 

Till then, I had seen only dead scorpions as road-kills in our neighborhood of Kengeri. 

There is something eerie when you spot one of these. They are not as intimidating as spotting a snake and yet evoke thrill and fear.

 

The rainforest has encouraged various adaptations. The lizard on the right is called a "flying lizard". It glides from one tree to the other. The Malabar pit viper has adapted to carry the eggs within its body. The research intern also explained how everything in the forest is interconnected. Lesser rains resulted in fewer frogs, the staple diet for Malabar pit vipers. This in turn resulted in the vipers unable to accumulate enough fat to survive the winter. Normally, by now, they would have identified a nice cozy nook or corner to rest through the winter, but this year, they were still moving around looking for food.

It wasn't only insects and reptiles. We saw a few birds as well. The trek up a small hill gave us a glimpse of a changeable hawk-eagle. We had disturbed its post-lunch siesta, and it flew away from its perch with a few powerful beats of its majestic wings.

The morning birding was lucky. We spotted many birds: yellow-browed bulbul, plum-headed parakeet, vernal hanging parrot, white-throated kingfisher, Malabar wood shrike, Ashy drongo, orange minivet, Chestnut-headed bee-eater is what I can recollect.

Every morning around 6:30 am, we woke up with a nice orchestra: The musical whistle of none other than the Malabar whistling thrush accompanied by the barbets, sunbirds, and rooster. Two nights are not enough for a rainforest, but then something is better than nothing! 

Leaving you with a few other pictures. Do plan a visit to the rainforests of Western Ghats - tread carefully, in the land of Kaalinga.

Second Cross

Hi - do you known where is Kalpatru? I asked the shopkeeper on second cross, who was sitting at his counter not doing anything in particular.
I had already made a few rounds up and down the street searching for Kalpatru. There were just too many distributaries off the second cross, which seems to be a fertile delta for humanity, for me to investigate each stream. Hence this question to the shopkeeper.
However, instead of giving me the location of Kalpatru - he decided to teach me how to fish. His response was an algorithm:

• Are you sure it is on second cross?
• If yes, then yes - you are on the right street.
• Now look, there are multiple roads branching off the second cross
• Start from this end - and keep on looking into each side street as you move down the second cross.
• At the end of second cross, if you haven't still found Kalpatru, call the person who gave you the address!

How did I end up on second cross in the first place? I was supposed to meet a friend there who also gone to Kalpatru for first time and together we had to get a chore done. And yes, I had already called the friend earlier and his advice was - it is off the main street - just ask any shopkeeper and they will direct you to the apartment.

Now, I was in a fix. This seemed to be a recursive loop. Call the friend, he tells ask shopkeeper, while shopkeeper has given the algorithm which seems to be too much work and might end up in me calling my friend again.

Anyway, I called my friend again - and ask for the nearest landmark - upon which both of us realized that the apartment I was searching for was on the third cross and not second!

Duck-Roast

Appa - are you going to get Duck Roast? asked Pranit on our first day in Langkawi. His eyes were twinkling with mischief.

Let me transport you to Cochin to better appreciate this question.  I love reading about local delicacies and where to eat - and Cochin was rated highly for - guess what - Duck Roast. One fine evening we left the car at home-stay and started in search of duck roast. First I tried at the top recommended restaurants but surprisingly they did not have any - next at lesser starred ones - and finally at anything goes.

We must have walked two kilometers crisscrossing the streets of Fort Cochi - until-
our light backpacks became heavy,
feet started aching,
and in general all of us were tired and irritated.

I would get into restaurant, rest would try to follow in - I say try to get in because even before sitting down, the only question I asked that day was - Do you have duck roast?

Finally we got served Duck-Roast. It was not so much fun - and hence the term "Duck Roast" has a special meaning. By now you understand - each one of us have our own duck roast. I hope you have one too - do share and let's have some fun.

Beaks, Claws and Pugmarks

Kiddos - look to your left - looks like there is an  eagle, I shouted and pulled over to the side. Yes, there was an eagle, must have been disturbed from a tree top close by. Looked as if it had made its mind to inspect the countryside now that it had been disturbed. With few lazy flaps of its wings it gained height , and soon disappeared behind treeline in ever widening circles. We kept our cameras ready, just in case the circular flying pattern brought it back to where we were but you cannot get too lucky - or maybe that was our lucky day.

Appa, there is another one up there on the telephone tower, shouted out my elder one. We zoomed in and were rewarded by the sight of two Egyptians Vultures preening themselves atop the tower. Oblivious of two budding photographers ooohing and aahing and clicking away to glory, the vultures kept cleaning and preening. My mom as well as my kids' mom also came out, stretched their legs and participated in the excitement. After few minutes we packed up and continued on our journey to Bhadra WLS where we had a booking at River Tern JLR.

The remaining trip from Bangalore to Bhadra was incident  free. We saw the usual culprits - many cranes, egrets and parrots and finally reached River Tern lodge - situated next to Bhadra reservoir with no other resort close by and hence spared from deluge of tourists. It is a beautiful property spread across mainland and a small island connected with a suspension bridge.  The rooms in the cottage were well appointed, clean and airy as you would expect from any JLR property. The view of the backwaters was simply amazing. The gentle breeze, ample sunlight, balmy weather - intoxicated us into feeling like kings and queens surveying all that is ours. My mom was also not left untouched with this regal splendor :-) Here - she is enjoying the beauty of green and blue expanse of tree tops and water as far as one could see.

Is everything alright? I asked the younger one - sitting next to me in boat safari. Normally he asks questions at a rate of 1 per second - and I was missing 120 questions over last 2 minutes. Where are the mammals? I like raptors and other birds - but where are the mammals? Pat came the reply. We had seen a shy monitor lizard, few spot billed ducks, a plover, few lapwings, many greater cormorants, Indian cormorants and even an osprey - but no mammals were to be seen. The register kept at the resort had mentioned a leopard seen with its kill the previous day. I was sure both kids had read it and their expectations like brahminy kites, were soaring sky high. We did not see a big cat - but were soon rewarded with a small herd of elephants by the side of the reservoir. They were disturbed by our boat and were retreating into the jungle. A young one though, either was ignorant of the threat we posed - or was just confident of its strength, stayed put for a while and was last to leave.

We felt like intruders disturbing the herd in its late evening rituals and left the scene. After 2 hours of a gorgeous boat ride we were back on land and spent time in resort gorging on pakodas and having some tea.

Tea was followed with a movie on dhols with Kamaani leading the back. It was a nicely made documentary. Back in the cottage we compared the photographs we took - and looks like my elder one has a knack of taking good pictures with the Sony 12x optical zoom camera that was passed on to him when we upgraded to a Canon 65x optical zoom one.

Grey horn-bill

Next day we had opted for a jeep safari. We were fortunate to have with us an avid wildlife photographer and enthusiast. He could help us in identifying many birds, nests and pug marks.
We were greeted by some grey hornbills at the checkpost to the wild life sanctuary. We hardly moved few meters when their cousins pied hornbills also came to give us a glimpse. It is a beautiful bird and the first time for us to have spotted it outside the Salim Ali book!

 The jungle was unusually quiet - and we were meandering through the slippery trail in JLR's 4WD - when Sree called out - stop, which is that bird there. There sitting in the fork of the branch was a Serpent Eagle. The wildlife enthusiast accompanying us informed that it was a rare sight and this information made us click twice the number of too many photographs that we would anyway have clicked. Serpent eagle had no interest in us - and though we were just 10 feet away from it - it did not fly off for the 10 minutes we spent there observing it.

It was while observing the eagle, we came across another jeep coming the opposite way. In Bandipur or Kabini, one would frequently come across other jeeps - but in Bhadra this was the only other jeep we met. They mentioned that they had seen a solitary Dhol, wild dog, on the way. This information sent the whole jeep in flurry of excitement. It brought to our attention the pug marks and hoof prints all around us. We have been to multiple safaris - but it was our first time post monsoon. It had rained the previous night and the wet mud had captured the activity nicely.
We were like a bunch of seasoned trackers discussing and debating. The two kids specially were in their elements - and recreated a complete hunt scenario - of which Nat Geo could also be proud of - not to say makers of Bahubali rushing to sign them up for script writing. My wife has developed a keen sight for birds - and soon spotted another one far off on a tree top. Fading light cannot take away the intensity with which the changeable hawk eagle is surveying its fiefdom from atop a tree.
The rest of the trip was filled with questions and uninterrupted chirping and chatting from the kids. They have now developed an avid interest in observing not just the mammals but birds as well. I was also pleasantly surprised that no longer just the desire to see a tiger or leopard - but also the chance to observe pugmarks gets us excited. 
You should tell me if it has gone too far when back in Bangalore, on our walk to get some chores done - the younger one asked - guess which was that animal? I asked where? He elaborated - the animal that could have done that poop over there. He wanted to observe the colour and texture - but I encouraged him to take that up some other day - when is Anna is around to explain - and deftly maneuvered him round to easier topics.

Beaks, Claws and Pugmarks

Kiddos - look to your left - looks like there is an  eagle, I shouted and pulled over to the side. Yes, there was an eagle, must have been disturbed from a tree top close by. Looked as if it had made its mind to inspect the countryside now that it had been disturbed. With few lazy flaps of its wings it gained height , and soon disappeared behind treeline in ever widening circles. We kept our cameras ready, just in case the circular flying pattern brought it back to where we were but you cannot get too lucky - or maybe that was our lucky day.

Appa, there is another one up there on the telephone tower, shouted out my elder one. We zoomed in and were rewarded by the sight of two Egyptians Vultures preening themselves atop the tower. Oblivious of two budding photographers ooohing and aahing and clicking away to glory, the vultures kept cleaning and preening. My mom as well as my kids' mom also came out, stretched their legs and participated in the excitement. After few minutes we packed up and continued on our journey to Bhadra WLS where we had a booking at River Tern JLR.

The remaining trip from Bangalore to Bhadra was incident  free. We saw the usual culprits - many cranes, egrets and parrots and finally reached River Tern lodge - situated next to Bhadra reservoir with no other resort close by and hence spared from deluge of tourists. It is a beautiful property spread across mainland and a small island connected with a suspension bridge.  The rooms in the cottage were well appointed, clean and airy as you would expect from any JLR property. The view of the backwaters was simply amazing. The gentle breeze, ample sunlight, balmy weather - intoxicated us into feeling like kings and queens surveying all that is ours. My mom was also not left untouched with this regal splendor :-) Here - she is enjoying the beauty of green and blue expanse of tree tops and water as far as one could see.

Is everything alright? I asked the younger one - sitting next to me in boat safari. Normally he asks questions at a rate of 1 per second - and I was missing 120 questions over last 2 minutes. Where are the mammals? I like raptors and other birds - but where are the mammals? Pat came the reply. We had seen a shy monitor lizard, few spot billed ducks, a plover, few lapwings, many greater cormorants, Indian cormorants and even an osprey - but no mammals were to be seen. The register kept at the resort had mentioned a leopard seen with its kill the previous day. I was sure both kids had read it and their expectations like brahminy kites, were soaring sky high. We did not see a big cat - but were soon rewarded with a small herd of elephants by the side of the reservoir. They were disturbed by our boat and were retreating into the jungle. A young one though, either was ignorant of the threat we posed - or was just confident of its strength, stayed put for a while and was last to leave.

We felt like intruders disturbing the herd in its late evening rituals and left the scene. After 2 hours of a gorgeous boat ride we were back on land and spent time in resort gorging on pakodas and having some tea.

Tea was followed with a movie on dhols with Kamaani leading the back. It was a nicely made documentary. Back in the cottage we compared the photographs we took - and looks like my elder one has a knack of taking good pictures with the Sony 12x optical zoom camera that was passed on to him when we upgraded to a Canon 65x optical zoom one.

Grey horn-bill

Next day we had opted for a jeep safari. We were fortunate to have with us an avid wildlife photographer and enthusiast. He could help us in identifying many birds, nests and pug marks.
We were greeted by some grey hornbills at the checkpost to the wild life sanctuary. We hardly moved few meters when their cousins pied hornbills also came to give us a glimpse. It is a beautiful bird and the first time for us to have spotted it outside the Salim Ali book!

 The jungle was unusually quiet - and we were meandering through the slippery trail in JLR's 4WD - when Sree called out - stop, which is that bird there. There sitting in the fork of the branch was a Serpent Eagle. The wildlife enthusiast accompanying us informed that it was a rare sight and this information made us click twice the number of too many photographs that we would anyway have clicked. Serpent eagle had no interest in us - and though we were just 10 feet away from it - it did not fly off for the 10 minutes we spent there observing it.

It was while observing the eagle, we came across another jeep coming the opposite way. In Bandipur or Kabini, one would frequently come across other jeeps - but in Bhadra this was the only other jeep we met. They mentioned that they had seen a solitary Dhol, wild dog, on the way. This information sent the whole jeep in flurry of excitement. It brought to our attention the pug marks and hoof prints all around us. We have been to multiple safaris - but it was our first time post monsoon. It had rained the previous night and the wet mud had captured the activity nicely.
We were like a bunch of seasoned trackers discussing and debating. The two kids specially were in their elements - and recreated a complete hunt scenario - of which Nat Geo could also be proud of - not to say makers of Bahubali rushing to sign them up for script writing. My wife has developed a keen sight for birds - and soon spotted another one far off on a tree top. Fading light cannot take away the intensity with which the changeable hawk eagle is surveying its fiefdom from atop a tree.
The rest of the trip was filled with questions and uninterrupted chirping and chatting from the kids. They have now developed an avid interest in observing not just the mammals but birds as well. I was also pleasantly surprised that no longer just the desire to see a tiger or leopard - but also the chance to observe pugmarks gets us excited. 
You should tell me if it has gone too far when back in Bangalore, on our walk to get some chores done - the younger one asked - guess which was that animal? I asked where? He elaborated - the animal that could have done that poop over there. He wanted to observe the colour and texture - but I encouraged him to take that up some other day - when is Anna is around to explain - and deftly maneuvered him round to easier topics.

Beaks, Claws and Pugmarks

Kiddos - look to your left - looks like there is an  eagle, I shouted and pulled over to the side. Yes, there was an eagle, must have been disturbed from a tree top close by. Looked as if it had made its mind to inspect the countryside now that it had been disturbed. With few lazy flaps of its wings it gained height , and soon disappeared behind treeline in an ever widening circles. We kept our cameras ready, just in case the circular flying pattern brought it back to where we were but you cannot get too lucky - or maybe that was our lucky day.

Appa, there is another one up there on the telephone tower, shouted out my elder one. We zoomed in and were rewarded by the sight of two Egyptians Vultures preening themselves atop the tower. Oblivious of two budding photographers ooohing and aahing and clicking away to glory, the vultures kept cleaning and preening. My mom as well as my kids' mom also came out, stretched their legs and participated in the excitement. After few minutes we packed up and continued on our journey to Bhadra WLS where we had a booking at River Tern JLR.

The remaining trip from Bangalore to Bhadra was incident  free. We saw the usual culprits - many cranes, egrets and parrots and finally reached River Tern lodge - situated next to Bhadra reservoir with no other resort close by and hence spared from deluge of tourists. It is a beautiful property spread across mainland and a small island connected with a suspension bridge.  The rooms in the cottage were well appointed, clean and airy as you would expect from any JLR property. The view of the backwaters was simply amazing. The gentle breeze, ample sunlight, balmy weather - intoxicated us into feeling like kings and queens surveying all that is ours. My mom was also not left untouched with this regal splendor :-) Here - she is enjoying the beauty of green and blue expanse of tree tops and water as far as one could see.

Is everything alright? I asked the younger one - sitting next to me in boat safari. Normally he asks questions at a rate of 1 per second - and I was missing 120 questions over last 2 minutes. Where are the mammals? I like raptors and other birds - but where are the mammals? Pat came the reply. We had seen a shy monitor lizard, few spot billed ducks, a plover, few lapwings, many greater cormorants, Indian cormorants and even an osprey - but no mammals were to be seen. The register kept at the resort had mentioned a leopard seen with its kill the previous day. I was sure both kids had read it and their expectations like brahminy kites, were soaring sky high. We did not see a big cat - but were soon rewarded with a small herd of elephants by the side of the reservoir. They were disturbed by our boat and were retreating into the jungle. A young one though, either was ignorant of the threat we posed - or was just confident of its strength, stayed put for a while and was last to leave.

We felt like intruders disturbing the herd in its late evening rituals and left the scene. After 2 hours of a gorgeous boat ride we were back on land and spent time in resort gorging on pakodas and having some tea.

Tea was followed with a movie on dhols with Kamaani leading the back. It was a nicely made documentary. Back in the cottage we compared the photographs we took - and looks like my elder one has a knack of taking good pictures with the Sony 12x optical zoom camera that was passed on to him when we upgraded to a Canon 65x optical zoom one.

Grey horn-bill

Next day we had opted for a jeep safari. We were fortunate to have with us an avid wildlife photographer and enthusiast. He could help us in identifying many birds, nests and pug marks.
We were greeted by some grey hornbills at the checkpost to the wild life sanctuary. We hardly moved few meters when their cousins pied hornbills also came to give us a glimpse. It is a beautiful bird and the first time for us to have spotted it outside the Salim Ali book!

 The jungle was unusually quiet - and we were meandering through the slippery trail in JLR's 4WD - when Sree called out - stop, which is that bird there. There sitting in the fork of the branch was a Serpent Eagle. The wildlife enthusiast accompanying us informed that it was a rare sight and this information made us click twice the number of too many photographs that we would anyway have clicked. Serpent eagle had no interest in us - and though we were just 10 feet away from it - it did not fly off for the 10 minutes we spent there observing it.

It was while observing the eagle, we came across another jeep coming the opposite way. In Bandipur or Kabini, one would frequently come across other jeeps - but in Bhadra this was the only other jeep we met. They mentioned that they had seen a solitary Dhol, wild dog, on the way. This information sent the whole jeep in flurry of excitement. It brought to our attention the pug marks and hoof prints all around us. We have been to multiple safaris - but it was our first time post monsoon. It had rained the previous night and the wet mud had captured the activity nicely.
We were like a bunch of seasoned trackers discussing and debating. The two kids specially were in their elements - and recreated a complete hunt scenario - of which Nat Geo could also be proud of - not to say makers of Bahubali rushing to sign them up for script writing. My wife has developed a keen sight for birds - and soon spotted another one far off on a tree top. Fading light cannot take away the intensity with which the changeable hawk eagle is surveying its fiefdom from atop a tree.
The rest of the trip was filled with questions and uninterrupted chirping and chatting from the kids. They have now developed an avid interest in observing not just the mammals but birds as well. I was also pleasantly surprised that also it is no longer just the desire to see a tiger or leopard - but also the chance to observe pugmarks that got them excited. You should tell me if it has gone too far when back in Bangalore, on our walk to get some chores done - the younger one asked - Guess what was that animal? I asked where? He elaborated - the animal that could have done that poop over there. He wanted to observe the colour and texture - but I encouraged him to take that up some other day - when is Anna is around - and deftly maneuvered him round to easier topics.

Roman Days - Spent with Caesar - He takes me for a walk

It was a balmy November evening and as always Caesar our 3 year old golden Labrador took me for a walk. Yes, unlike my previous pet Pomeranian, Caesar was the one who would lead the way. He would hold one end of the leash in his mouth – while the other end would be in my grip – and then he would decide the route for the day.
Caesar’s addition to the household coincided with my leaving for the college. The first 3 years were the years of great change for both of us. I was becoming a very thin, bearded engineer while he was transforming from a fluffy ball of wool to a slightly overweight, very adorable and cuddly golden lab. It had become hard for anyone apart from close family and friends to recognize me – while Caesar by accompanying Mummy and Papa on a 2.5 km morning walk circuit had become a well-known personality.

Anyway, coming back to that November evening when I was home during a semester break and Caesar was taking me for a walk. We were enjoying the peace and quiet when suddenly I heard someone shout:

“Aiyee – where are you taking the Vakil Sahib’s dog?”

It was none other than a neighborhood dairy owner, who as expected did not recognize me.My mouth went dry, as I frantically tried to recall the dairy owner’s name. Finally I could squeak it out and convince him that I wasn’t taking the Vakil Sahib’s dog anywhere and instead it was Caesar who was taking me for a walk.