Bangalore to Wayanad - Part 2

Continued from Part 1…

The vehicle opposite to ours was closer to the elephant than us. The driver being a native of the place, shut down the engine, and waited for the elephant to move. After a while, he grew a little impatient, and started making some signals to us. We just couldn’t decrypt this sign language; sat inside the vehicle and enjoyed watching the elephant have its breakfast. Come on, how many times do we get to see something like this in real?

The driver opened the vehicle door, and yelled something at us. We looked hither and thither for any other wild animals or something that seemed dangerous; nothing at all. What was the driver telling us, anyway? Hearing the driver’s voice, for a moment, the elephant stood still. That’s when the driver quickly closed the door, and sat still. Ha ha! We all sat wondering the direction in which the elephant would move.

I tell you that this elephant was such a teaser. When he finished uprooting the grass from one spot, he moved two steps towards us to eat the next bunch of grass. Hubby started the vehicle, and reversed a little; shut down the engine and waited. It’s comical when I imagine the whole situation now. An elephant relishing its breakfast without a care of its audience; its audience holding their breath and heart beat each time the elephant moved.

After a few minutes, the elephant was walking in the middle of the road towards us. We sat still, refusing to reverse the vehicle any further. Period. We were saved by another bunch of grass tempting the elephant. It moved a little off the road, but now faced the opposite vehicle. I told you that the elephant was a teaser. The driver started the vehicle; all set to either zoom in reverse or zoom towards the elephant. In all this drama, another vehicle came behind us. Hubby and I frantically waved our hands, signaling the vehicle to stop. Oh God, we didn’t want him to horn or overtake us, and crash into the elephant! He stopped; too shocked.

Heading towards us

Holding grass in it's trunk

One more bunch of grass!

Slowly, the driver inched the vehicle towards the elephant; we reversed our vehicle so that he gets enough distance to zoom through and not crash into us. After he had reached a confident distance, he zoomed past the elephant. He stopped to talk to us, and said he signaled us to come while he waits. He advised us to follow his stunt. And we did! If only the elephant had turned towards us, and waved its trunk to bid us good bye, we would be literally flying or rolling with our vehicle. Of course, the camera was rolling; but captured only blurred images of the elephant.

Stepped aside; only to come back later!

After we crossed the elephant, we waited for the other vehicle to come, but I guess the driver wanted some time to digest what he had seen. As we continued our journey, we saw herds of deer, with young ones. The young ones were delicate, and stuck to the herd. A deer was licking her young one, and yes I’ve captured it in my camera. Indeed a mother’s love is the most precious. The drive, through the forest, until we reached the resort was a gratifying experience.

Herd

Mother's love

Such a joy!

Handsome and curious!

Where did we stay at Wayanad? Ah, you have to read the next part of this blog!

Happy traveling!

Part 3...

Regards,

Asha 

Bangalore to Wayanad – Part 1

Date – May 2011

Destination – Wayanad, Kerala

Route from Bangalore – Bangalore > Mysore > Hunsur > Nagarhole > Kutta > Mananthavadi (Wayanad) > Kalpetta > Vythri > Lakkidi

Route from Wayanad – Lakkidi > Vythri > Sulthan Battery > Munthanga > Gundulpet > Mysore > Sriranga pattana > Bangalore

Vehicle – Mahindra Scorpio

This was a surprise trip to treat ourselves for the hard work done during the second quarter of 2011. And thanks to our travel agent who sends us updates about travel offers throughout the year! So, hubby had taken a printout of the routes from http://indica.co.in/bangalore-to-wayanad-by-road, and on a lovely Friday morning, we drove from Bangalore to Wayanad. We left Bangalore by 6:00 AM; didn’t take the NICE road because morning traffic is anyway less on the Mysore road. Pitied the state of the incomplete Metro work on the Mysore road; the iron structures are rusting!

Just after the NICE road joining the main road, a chain of vehicles slowed down to cross a speed-breaker. While we slowed down our vehicle, a taxi banged into us from back. Ah, what a start! My hubby jumped down from the vehicle, and gave a piece of his mind to the driver. It’s so sad that the driver hadn’t slept for hours, and was driving at a stretch. Cannot the passengers ask him to take a nap?

We continued our journey, munching the congress bun from V B Bakery and chitchatting. But, hey, what about coffee? Hubby needed his shot of caffeine. I don’t know why but he continued driving; probably, he sensed that there would be a lovely new café somewhere on the road. And I took a nap. When I woke up, I clicked a few photos, and that’s about it.

Paddy fields

On the State Highway (SH) 88, as we reached Hunsur, the highway forked, and that’s where a new café welcomed us. The café is called Café Coorg, and is almost a perfect imitation of Coffee Day; but the Café Coorg also serves South Indian breakfast. Something that caught our attention was the Ferrari that glided into the parking lot. Oh, what a beauty! Can you imagine this car glide on the spotless roads of Kerala?

Cafe Coorg

From this junction, we took a left turn to go through the Nagarhole forest. Would be our first visit to this forest, and we prayed that we could spot a few wild animals. While driving towards the forest check-post, the hub caps of one of the tires ran loose. Funny! Hubby picked it, and fixed it. Meanwhile, I clicked more photos of the clouds. Amazing sky!

Mystic Sky

When we reached the check-post, there were two cars in front of us – filled with kids and family. It’s interesting and amusing to listen to parents answer queries from kids. Kids, these days, smarter than we think! Anyway, we wrote the required details in the ledger, and since the cars refused to enter the forest, we drove past them. Officially, we had entered Nagarhole. The road was narrow but neat. Please remember that this road is open only from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM (IST).

Sign Board

Welcome Arch

Some ground rules when you drive through a forest:
1) Never get down from your vehicle; not even to pee.
2) Never tease animals or feed them.
3) Never play loud music or litter.
4) Never speed.
5) Never hit any animal either with your vehicle or something else.
6) Never use flash while clicking photos of animals.
7) Never panic. Only when you stay calm, can you think better.
8) Be alert.
9) Enjoy Nature.
10) Never stop your vehicle anywhere in the forest, or deviate from the normal route.

Green was the predominant color that masked our eyes. The trees and grass were clean due to recent rains. At some places, the sunlight never touched the ground. We heard melodies of birds, and spotted a few. Unfortunately, our camera isn’t equipped to capture the birds. We continued our journey; drove slowly, stopped at all the speed-breaker, and literally read all the sign boards. One board indicated that animals cross at that point, and that we must drive slowly.

We failed to spot any wild animals. I told the forest that we were its guest, and that they should greet us like good hosts do. That’s when we saw a beautiful deer. We were sure that the herd was behind the bushes; but were happy to spot one deer. Isn't it beautiful!

Deer

As we continued, we were totally surprised to see a tusker blocking the road. We were thrilled, but also wondering how to respond to such a situation. We reversed the car, shut down the engine, and sat watching the magnificent animal. The elephant seemed happy to see the lush grass, uprooted it, stuffed it in its mouth, and repeated all these steps several times. We waited for more than 30 minutes for the animal to clear the way. As we waited, from the opposite direction came a goods jeep (with three people inside). The driver, who didn’t expect the animal, hit the break and halted.

Tusker

What happened next? I'll narrate that in the next sequel.

Happy traveling!

Part 2...

Regards,
Asha