Wildlife Trekking Tours

As this is the beginning of the season in Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary i thought i'll compile the eco-tourism options available and also do a review of them so that it can be of some help to people planning to visit shortly. Basic information 1) Best Season For Birding - December to January (may be till early Feb) 2) Best season for Sighting - Mid- October to December 3) Accomodation booking is controlled centrally from Munnar. Booking Contact 4) Trekking in chinnar is purely depended on the availability of guides. If you have an accomodation it will be taken care of, but if you plan for a day trip reach early. (also avoid month beginnigs- apparantly the guides don't return till they have spent all their money drinking :) ) Chinnar Eco-tourism Centers There are two eco-tourism centers in Chinnar,  Alampatty and Chinnar Check Post. Chinnar Check Post Chinnar Check post offers the widest options of the two. Chinnar Trekking Options 1) Hard Trekk

Dhuvanam waterfalls(Amaravathy range, Anamalai Tiger Reserve) The first time I came across this name was through  SUBHA J. RAO 's article in The Hindu " Go trekking on Nature's trail - The Hindu ". Inspired by her article (her articles on travel have been a source of constant inspiration to me and my wife and set us on many an expedition. I take this opportunity to thank her for the same) i went to amaravathy in feb-2009  and met the Ranger. Unfortunately my trip coincided with that of the Conservator of Forest, Anamalai Tiger Reserve . Everyone in the range was busy attending to him and his needs and they couldn't spare a guide for me. I stayed overnight in Udumalpet, came back in the morning and tried my luck. The ranger flatly refused to give me a guide and i had to return home disappointed. Later I came to know that Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary  was offering accomodation and  trekking to thoovanam falls as part of its ecotourism intiative. Intially I ass

Trekking in Chinnar part I :  Churlipatti Log House Riverine Trekking To reach Pambar Log house there were couple of routes. As it was hot we chose to walk along chinnar river. One has to walk 2 kms along chinnar and come to the confluence of Pambar and Chinnar  (called the Kootar),   then walk a km along P ambar to reach the log house. Hardly few meters into the path we realised we had made the right choice. Chinnar Riverine Trekking This riverine ecosystem with its thick vegetation and excellent bird life is in total contrast with the scrub forests and adds to the diversity of Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary.  Riverine path to Pambar Lodge My knowledge of birds is extremely limited and it was almost non existent then. Above that I made the blunder of not noting down whatever species my guide (who was pretty good) was identifying for me. I can only recollect Paradise Flycatcher, the big brown fish owl, serpent eagle apart from drongos, ioras and orioles. Sp

The Original Plan Shiyas (my friend and managing director Esteem Holidays) and I wanted to do a followup on our BR hills(hope to write on it shortly) trip. After establishing  Esteem Holidays  he had done a full tour of Munnar and surrounding areas and recommended Kolukkumalai Estate and Thoovanam falls . So we finalised on a trekking trip to  Chinnar-Thoovanam-Munnar-Kolukkumalai . On Feb 5th we decided to meet in Chinnar . I landed there by 11 a.m and shiyas was there on his KTM duke by 1. We were informed that there was no water in Vasyapara hut. We had to opt for an alternate accomodation or pay  for porters to carry water to the hut that was 7kms inside the jungle. We decided on taking another acco and were allocated Churlipatti Log House . Churlipatti Log House Churlipatti log house is 3 kms from the chinnar checkpost on the banks of Chinnar. We started walking on the forest track at around 3 p.m. towards the log house with high spirits. The spirits were immediately