Finally reached back today after a long and interesting trip down to Kemmangundi. Hope I can do something like this soon…
Posts Tagged ‘Kemmangundi’
Day 8 -9 – Back To Mumbai
Sunday, November 11th, 2007Day 7 – Bats and Snakes
Friday, November 9th, 2007
Today we decided to spend time in Puttur visiting the local area. In the morning we decided to climb up a local hill, one that I have climbed up many times during my childhood, and then see what else we could do. After climbing up, one can see a nice view of Puttur. Up there we spotted several green bee-eaters as well as a kingfisher. After clambering down the hill we decided to visit some old trees where fruit bats rest during the day. The place is located near the market and fruit bats have been resting there for more than a decade at least. While we observing the bats, one of the people staying in the houses nearby struck up a conversation with us. During the course of the conversation, the man told us of a doctor who kept snakes in his house. intrigued we headed off in search of this man. The doctor turned out to be Dr. Ravidranath Aithal, who rescues snakes when they wander into peoples houses. After treating the snakes for any injuries, he lets them out into the wild. There were several snakes that he showed us including a king cobra, pythons, russel’s viper, krait, cobra, bamboo pit viper, rat snake, Ceylon cat snake and even a flying snake !
The evening was spent on packing for the journey back home the next day.
Technorati Tags: Puttur, Karnataka, Travel, Snakes, Bats, Fruit Bats
Day 6 – Back to base
Thursday, November 8th, 2007The day began with a spot of bird watching in the rock garden. We saw numerous small birds among which was a verditer flycatcher, pirinas and a pair of scarlet minivets. After breakfast, it was time to bid this place goodbye, and after one last look at the green environs of Kemmangundi we boarded the bus back to the base of the hill. The journey back was largely uneventful and we followed pretty much the same route to get back to Puttur.
Technorati Tags: Kemmangundi, Karnataka, Hill Station, Puttur, Travel
Day 5- Waterfalls, barefoot trekking and more leeches…
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
We decided to wake up early and do a spot bird watching in the morning. But due to the rains the previous day, we found the entire hill station to be shrouded in mist…or at least that was what we thought it was until we realized that it was actually a whole lot clouds passing though the hill station!
With weather like this there was little chance for a spot of early bird watching and so we decided to take a trip and see one of the famous waterfalls in the vicinity. We decided to go to Hebbe falls which is about 10 Km from the hill station. The only way to get there was either via foot or by jeep. We decided to take the easy way out and take a jeep ride to the place. And it was a good thing we did, because for one the road was a tad long and winding, and many places there was no road ! We kind of drove off-road along the direction of the supposed “road” in many places. The scenery along the way was extremely beautiful with scenic green hills and picturesque little coffee plantations. We finally stopped at one of the plantations. Our driver / guide told us that we needed to travel by foot from there on. So we began following him through the plantations and finally though some jungle. After a little while he stopped at this wide stream of running water. The water was icy cold and about knee deep. Apparently we had to cross this stream, something our guide kind of forgot to mention. Unfortunately we couldn’t afford to get our shoes wet, as they wouldn’t dry out in this kind of climate. So we did the only thing we could do, crossed over barefoot. We casually asked him if there were more such crossings, to which he replied that there were another two more places where we had to cross the stream. With no other option, we continued on trekking barefoot, stopping after every few minutes to check for leeches. Some managed to crawl on, but we removed them before they could start sucking any blood. After a few minutes we finally reached the magnificent Hebbe falls. Here water falls down 168m to form two stages Dodda Hebbe (Big Falls) and Chikka Hebbe (Small Falls).
We returned soon after. The evening was spent on bird watching and walking. Since the sun came out in the evening, we were amply rewarded spotting pirinas, a group of oriental white eyes, wagtails, bulbuls, hopoes, and even a pair of woodpeckers.
Since tomorrow would be our last morning here, we decided to wake up a bit early and do a bit of bird watching.
Technorati Tags: Kemmangundi, Karnataka, Hill Station, Travel, Hebbe Falls
Day 4 – Trekking, leeches and more
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
We decided to trek to Z-point in the morning. Z-point is on the top of a hill, from where you can get an magnificent view of the valley below. The trail is an easy one and a short 10-20 minute trek. We started along this trail at about 9:00 in the morning. The trail initially passes through some forest and then weaves it’s way up through the hills. Along the way you pass a small waterfall called “Shanti Falls”. Many people head up here to have a dip in the icy cold waters of the fall. After traversing the narrow meandering path up the hill, you finally reach Z-point. The view from here is absolutely amazing, you can see for miles and miles around. After spending some time here we came back to the guest house. An added bonus of this little excursion was the Paradise Flycatcher that we briefly spotted flying into the treetops.
On coming back to the guesthouse, we started checking for leeches, which are quite common in these areas. And sure enough, I found one having it’s lunch at my expense. Luckily, I had come prepared with antiseptic and some lime to ward off the leeches. After this though we were doubly careful to check for leeches while walking.
After lunch we decided to take a walk around the gardens. During the walk we spotted a Common Hoopoe in the gardens along with wagtails, crows, pigeons, bulbuls, mynahs and other common birds. The sky was getting pretty dark at this point and it looked like it would rain. So we quickly headed indoors. Sometime later in the evening it rained very heavily there, forcing us to spend a majority of the evening indoors.
Technorati Tags: Kemmangundi, Karnataka, Hill Station, Travel, Trek
Day 3- Off to Kemmangundi
Monday, November 5th, 2007After inquiring with some relatives from Puttur, we decided the best way to reach Chickmanglur, the closest town to Kemmangundi would be via a circuitous bus routes. We started by catching a bus from Puttur to Ujire, a stop on the way. From there we caught another bus going to Chickmanglur. The bus crossed the Charmari ghats on the way. Some of the views that you can see along this route are simply breathtaking. Especially, now with all the hills clad in a lush green clothing courtesy of the unseasonable rains in November. Unfortunately, I couldn’t click any pictures along the way since my camera was packed away in my bag. Next time I’ll make sure I carry a smaller second camera to click pictures along the way.
We reached Chickmanglur by about 1:00 in the afternoon. After lunch, we called up the guest house to inquire about how we could reach Kemmangundi. To our horror, the chap at the guest house told us that we would have to reach a spot about 40 odd Km from Chickmanglur from where we could get a connecting bus. The catch was that the connecting bus only ran twice a day and the last one for the day was at about 3:00. We quickly got into the next bus headed there and managed to just about make it in time to get into the connecting bus.
The bus wound it’s way up a hill passing several coffee plantations and thick forests along the way to finally reach the spot. We walked up to the “reception” and got the keys to our little guest house. After settling in,we went for an walk around the place. The view from there was simply breathtaking and showed promise of exciting days to come.
Dinner was some simple fare served in the common canteen after which we retired for the night.
Technorati Tags: Kemmangundi, Karnataka, Travel, Hill Station
Day 2 – Rest
Sunday, November 4th, 2007Day 1 – On the road
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007Caught a bus to Mangalore today at about 3:00 from Andheri. My travel plan is to first head to Mangalore, then to Puttur and from there on to Kemmangundi. Should be an interesting trip on the whole, considering that I will be traveling mostly by public transport. The bus ride was uneventful largely, with some bad hindi movies being played during the ride. The good point though was some pretty scenic roads that I got to see ( the expressway in particular ). In fact even saw a pair of langurs by the road on the way to Pune.
Technorati Tags: Travel, Expressway, Pune
I'm Elroy Serrao, a technologist, photographer, and part time blogger from India.
I love to design web sites, program in php and rails in my free time and of course go trekking and clicking pictures in the great outdoors.
I'm from Mumbai, and am an alumnus of Mumbai University and NMIMS.