Madhumalai - in the lap of the Nilgiris

Had been to Madhumalai(Tamil Nadu) last weekend on a stress buster trip - one is organised by our office every 6 months. Madhumalai is small, little known tourist destination situated at the common boundary of 3 states - Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Flanked by Bandipur National Park on one side and Ooty on another - it boasts of wildlife like the former and of beautiful mountainside like the latter.
We started early Friday morning and reached there at 2 in the afternoon. A rather dramatic poster announcing a reward of 5 Crore rupees for the capture of the famous bandit Veerappan welcomed us at the TN border. Madhumalai is placed in the cradle of the Nilgiris, surrounded by dense forests. We stayed at this place called Blue Valley resorts, a couple of Kms from the sleepy town of Masinagudi. The resort had a direct, unblocked view of the Majestic Nilgiris; which, true to their name, loom over the plains like blue giants.
Madhumalai has been "tamed" rather recently - some 40 years ago. It has served as a Jungle combat training camp for the army under the Raj. The wild side of Madhumalai is quite evident as elephants, wild boars, sloth bears, deer, wild dogs and a whole army of wild animals can be easily spotted just off the highway!
We were in Madhumalai at the right time. The air was heavy with suggestions of rain but it hadn't started raining heavily yet. We were greeted by cheerful drizzles now and then - but that's about it.
Unfortunately, the resort itself was in bad repair. The rooms were musty and the food was pathetic. In fact, we even thought that the cook was serving us dog meat instead of chicken and were counting all the mongrels roaming around after each round of chicken served :-) What's more they didn't have a bar!
Fortunately, we went fully equipped with enough alcohol to keep us happy inspite of all these minor glitches at the resort; and quite a life saver it turned out to be.
In the evening, some people went to see the "Elephant pooja", which is basically a group of trained elephants praying before a diety complete with bells and prostrations. This was at the elephant feeding (and training??) camp nearby. A gigantic killer elephant who was "reformed" is also a tourist attraction. Apparently that one killed 20 people! A look
After a night of merry making, the group split next morning. One gang went to Ooty (most of them newly married couples) and the other went for a trek in the nearby mountains. I decided to stay back at the resort and do my bit of reading (had picked Chariots of the Gods and Dilbert Future for some light reading). The trek, I am told, turned out to be quite a wild one as these fellows bumped in a lone tusker and almost raided a bear cave!
We who stayed back took a trip to Madhumalai proper and took a Jungle Ride arranged by the Forest authorities there. There was this dilapidated bus made up entirely of tin and wood which took us through some wild trails in the deep jungle. Spotted a few elephants, spotted deer, a peacock and a bunch of wild dogs.
In the evening, everyone gathered for the Night Safari arranged by the resort. There were 5 jeeps, all taking different routes through the jungle. Luckily, my colleague Jayaraj - a wildlife enthusiast, had struck a deal with the driver-cum-guide of our jeep who promised us to take us where no man has gone before.
So while the other jeeps just taxied up and down the Bandipur highway for the sake of a Safari, our guide took us to the wild, untouched wilderness that sprawled below the Nilgiris. I have to admire the guts and the driving skills of the chap as he rammed into bushes, crossed streams, jumped over cliffs and gave a taste of a TRUE safari.
Unfortunately, June end is a bad time for sightings, as it turned out to be and we failed to spot leopards, as promised by our guide. However, he managed to chase a wild boar for minutes as the jeep made way for itself in the wild, dense forest cover. We also spotted a HUGE colony(?) of spotted deer. The driver took the jeep in what look like a grassy plain and then turn the high beams on. And Lo! there were hundreds of deer all around us. As he turned the jeep through an almost 360 degree angle, we could see hundreds and hundreds of glowing eyes and sparkling spotted coats. That's enough deer for a lifetime.
After the bumpy ride in the wild forest, we hit the Bandipur "Lap" where we saw a couple of young elephants grazing just off the road! The driver almost slammed the jeep into one the elephants to which the animal mock charged, but immediately went back to its meal. That must have been the closest I have ever been to an elephant. Did try to take snaps but the light was bad and flashlights were prohibited within the sanctuary.
Thus ended the trip - on the whole - an enjoyable one.
See the photos @ http://photos.yahoo.com\kya_bakwaas