Masinagudi is a lovely little town in the foothills of the imposing blue mountains. It is easily accessible from Bglore, Mysore, Coimbatore and Wayanad by well laid roads. Abutting the famous Mudumalai, BR Hills, Nagarhole, Wayanad and Bandipur Forests it is a very important elephant corridor between the Eastern Ghats and Wester Ghats. On the Thepakadu-masinagudi-Kalhatti-Ooty road immediately after one crosses masinagudi is the famous Bokkapuram Forest temple
Oflate a lot of resorts have sprung up around the temple. It is in one of these resorts we decided to have our School 2010 get together. After last minute cancellations and myself and my 4 friends spent one of the most beautiful and adventurous 3 days of our lives.
Day 1: After arriving at banglore we drove all the way to masinagudi. Once you cross Gundlupet, the topography changes without any warning and in no time we realised we were driving inside Bandipur. The sun which beat down relentless gave way to tall trees, cool breeze and endless forest soungs. The chatting and loud music in the car stopped and everyone was in the lookout for wildlife. As with many a tourist our wishlist for this trip was Elephant, Bison, Deer and if lucky, the elusive Tiger. Bandipur went eventless and the only animals we saw was a group of domesticated elephants playing near a man made pond.
Once inside Tamil Nadu forests, the anticipation builded up as the forests were much greener, streams flowing and troupes of langurs near the road side. After driving for 3km inside the Mudumalai forest we came across our first sighting of a elephant mom and its baby. Stopping inside a forest and taking pictures is unlawful. But for our tired city souls and minds the sight of the elephant its calf was too much to ignore. So we stopped our vehicle for a few mins and took photos till we were full satisfied.
With daylight fading our guide urged us to start quickly and promised to show many more elephants on the way. As like any other tourist we followed him dutifully . After crossing Thepakadu and turning left to Masinagudi we immediately slowed down our car. There were two groups of elephants playing around and feeding on the lsuh grass oh a high river bank. It was snacks time for the gentle giants.
After driving 6 kms more on the Kalhatti road, road signs indicate a right turn towards the Bokkapuram temple. Arriving at the resort we were warmly welcomed by our hosts who had thoughtfully arranged for a late lunch expecting us to come late. Lunch turned out to be pre-dinner and we thoroughly enjoyed the buffet served. After refreshing, we took a stroll around the resort to take in beauty, sights and sounds of the forest at dusk.
Reaching back at the resort we settled down with around a bon fire. Our host shared with us the efforts the Gov and people of mudumalai are taking to preserve the forests. After dinner we decided to take the night safari. Being very tired urs lovingly slept half way through the safari and was worken up to see deer and sambhar glaring back at the headlights. Without much fuss we reached our resort around 1am and settled for a much deserving nights sleep..
Day2: we had planned to explore the ancient route taken by Tippu Sultan when he conquered the Blue Mountains...
DAY 2&3 TO BE CONTINUED
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