Wildlife & Trekking Diaries

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...

Planning the Dhoni trek Start at Dhoni Ecotourism Center (10°51′44.3″N, 76°37′21.6″E) . Kerala Tourism gives the guided route as 4 km. Check the trail conditions before setting out. Budget around ₹120 for entry. The Forest Department’s Dhoni booking page lists ₹120 under both “entry fee” and “Foreign Adult”. Trek times — Kerala Tourism: 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Visiting hours — DTPC Palakkad: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with Monday closure. Official details: Kerala Tourism · DTPC Palakkad My trek below was on 25 June 2017. The bus, ticket and entry details in the story are from that day. Dhoni Waterfalls, Dhoni Hills palakkad Dhoni Waterfalls nestled in the Dhoni Hills Palakkad has been on my radar for quite a while and finally I got the opportunity to visit the place. The checkpost at the foothills is around 8 KM's from  Palakkad Junction and can be reached in 20 mins. There are direct buses to the Dhoni every hour.  Reached there by 9.30 and got to know t...

Planning a Chinnar trip Official information checked: 6 November 2026 For bookings, use the Kerala Forest Department's Chinnar booking page . The review, rankings and photographs below are from my 2014 visits. Getting there: Chinnar is on the Munnar–Udumalpet road near Marayoor. Kerala Tourism describes the Thoovanam waterfall walk as a guided 4 km trail from Alampetty Check Post, taking about three hours. Ask the forest office where to report when you book. Treks and fees The Forest Department lists four treks. The programme window is 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; ask for the starting time of your trek when booking. Thoovanam Waterfalls : ₹300 under “entry fee”; ₹700 under “Foreign Adult”. Alampetty cultural rock-painting hike : ₹300 under “entry fee”; ₹700 under “Foreign Adult”. Chinnar riverside trek : ₹300 under “entry fee”; ₹700 under “Foreign Adult”. Vasyappara trek : ₹700 under “entry fee”; ₹1,500 under “Foreign Adult”. Online bookings close 23–24 hours before the 8 a.m. ...

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, io...

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 spirit...