Wildlife & Trekking Diaries

Planning the Sairandhri trip Checked 27 October 2026. The story below is from my 2017 visit. Start: Mukkali Ecotourism Reception / Forest Office ( Google Maps ). The trip: A guided Forest Development Agency jeep or bus trip to Sairandhri, taking about five hours in all. It was roughly 22 km from Mukkali on my visit; Kerala Tourism gives about 23 km. Timings and fees: Kerala Tourism lists 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Forest Ecotourism portal showed ₹650 per Indian adult or ₹955 per foreign adult for the Jeep Safari . Check the fare and vehicle arrangements when booking. The river: Bathing in the river inside Silent Valley is prohibited. The dip described in my 2017 Keerippara account was at the Bhavani River near the Mukkali office, a separate stop. Ask locally about access to that stretch. Sairandhri(Named after Draupathi) is a place inside the Core Zone of Silent Valley National Park and the jeep or Bus trekking to sairandhri is the most popular activity in silent valle...

Planning the Keerippara trek Checked 27 October 2026. My trip was in 2017. Start: Mukkali Ecotourism Reception / Forest Office. The trail starts on the Mukkali–Anaikatty Highway near the bus stop ( Google Maps ). The trek: We walked about 4 km to the camp shed in roughly an hour and a half, stayed overnight and returned the next morning. This was the two-day package; there is also a separate day trek. Timings and fees: Kerala Tourism lists a two-day stay, with check-in at 3 p.m. and check-out at 8:30 a.m. The listed price is ₹8,500 for up to five people, plus ₹1,500 for each additional person. The Forest Ecotourism page gives ₹2,150 . The official pages give different figures. The river: The dip in my account was in the Bhavani River near the Mukkali Forest Office, a separate stop after the trek. Bathing in the river inside Silent Valley is prohibited. Silent Valley National Park recently launched a monsoon package to Keerippara . A day trekking to Keeripp...