Ancient forest of Nilgiris Mountains - Mudumalai

Mudu in tamil means ancient, this ancient forest of Nilgiris mountain is a biodiversity hotspot and is one of the thriving habitat/ tropical evergreen forest of the Western Ghats with a treasure of endemic flora and fauna. Western Ghats is also known as Sahyadri.

I got to know all this after visiting this place 😊, don’t worry you are not behind.

We started on Friday afternoon and since the trip was a good 15 hrs journey, we decided to have a night halt at a relative’s house. After a good brief sleep and a refreshing breakfast we left for Masanagudi at 8 am from Coimbatore.

We took Kotagiri route for the first time as most of the other trips to Ooty was through Coonoor. The route was scenic, and weather was getting lovely during mid noon. As we approached Ooty, there was heavy traffic and slow moving vehicles mainly when we need to cross tourist spots like Pykara falls, shooting spot. We had originally planned to reach Masanagudi at 1 pm, however reached only at 4 pm. We did not feel tired or boredom because of the weather and the beautiful wild flowers we saw enroute.

We stayed at a homestay Wildways, which is run by the famous birder of that region Mr. Abid. After having our lunch at 4pm, we weren’t sure of any safari and our guide also suggested that we plan it for the next day.

There was a reservoir opening right at front of the property and we thought that we will do some birding in the evening around that place.

Thanks to our friend Tamizh, who was the brain behind this trip. He suggested we drive across the state to enter the Bandipur range of the forest. He beautifully explained how some of the key reserve forest of Masanagudi, Bandhipur, Nagerhole, Kabini and Wayanad all shared borders between Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Its indeed a great coverage of Wildlife Safaris if one has the time and money.

As we drove past Masanagudi, there were thousands of Spotted deer, hundreds of Indian Gaur, Grey Langurs and tens of wild Boar and gems of Elephants. As we crossed the Tamilnadu border, we spotter a family of 3 elephants which had a calf and they were happily grazing on the grass, they were very close to the road and we maintained safe distance not to make them uncomfortable. It was a pleasure to witness the graceful act of the Elephants which had a careful third eye watch on us. From nowhere, a bunch of youngster landed and made ruckus by honking and shouting at the elephants.

The Tuskar got annoyed and charged at their vehicle, luckily it went back after a warning, we moved out too because of the drama.

Don’t know what it takes to discipline the public and make them aware of the vulnerability of this gentle creatures. The large majority thinks, they are doing a Safari to take selfies and have a social media update, very few have the moral responsibility on how humans are key to the conservation.

An evening well spent; we had a plan to do birding the next day morning with the Guide. We left our home stay at 6.30 am and went uphill towards the Kalahatty route. The route was beautiful and was steep, we took the Safari jeep, otherwise we saw many vehicles with open bonnet due to engine heating as they happily resisted on the instruction to Drive in 2nd Gear.

We took an off road route after a hairpin bend and the mist was like a screen in front of the mountain. It was so cold along the breeze and the thick air, it was breath taking and beautiful.

We took a walking path and on the way spotted Painted Quail and Nilgiri Wood Pigeon. After reaching a stream, we got soaked in the beauty of the location. It was a perfect habitat for a performance by all cute birds of western ghats. The weather was not favouring for the sun to be fully out. Suddenly in a spurt, there were Minivets, Flycatchers, White Eyes, Flowerpeckers, Nuthatch all showing their acrobats. It was a wonderful sight to behold. We heard Fulvetta and Schimitar Babblers, where we ended up spending quite some time wanting to get a glimpse, they were extremely sulky. After a good 3- 4 hrs of birding, we decided to head back to the homestay.

We were back on time for home-made delicious lunch which was ready to be served. Post Lunch, we did a quick birding around our stay and were ready to be taken on a Safari for a near by spots. We started our safari around 4 and planned to visit Vibudhi Malai, Moyar Dam and Singara.

Vibudhi Malai was purely an off-road tourist spot and we did not expect anything other than people visiting Murugan temple on top of the hill but to our surprise on the way return, we spotted Red Necked Vulture, White Rumped Vulture and Eurasian Griffon Vulture soaring close to the hill. Thanks to Sudar, we were able to spot 3 species of vultures at a single spot and take few snaps before they moved out for scavenging.

Our next stop was Moyar Dam and enroute was as serene open forest habitat. Our prime focus was to spot Big Cats, however Ruddy Mongoose and Yellow Footed Green Pigeons gave us a good glimpse. The drive was amazing but we decided to move fast to the next stop as the light was going down. Later read that near the dam, there is a old Arjuna Tree which is a nesting spot for Vultures, Owl and eagles. Better luck next time.

Our next and final stop was Singara Coffee Planation. There were too many safari jeeps, the sight was disheartening to see such a mess we create to some of the wildlife habitats. Jeep noises, honking, diesel smoke etc.. To add glory, someone spread out news stating a tiger was spotted, there was racing between the jeeps, thank God the Tiger disappeared. Being a naturalist not seeing a species is also a learning experience for us.

Day spend well and reached back home preparing for our next and final day.

Day 3 we started at 5.30am towards Mudumalai Tiger Reserve for open Jeep Safari. We reached 30 min before the counter open, we were the 4th vehicle in queue. With all odds around, we managed to get a Gypsy booked for the 1st Safari, one need to be prepared by having cash in hand, else there is high changes of not getting a booking.

The 90 min safari took us into Mudumalai Tiger Reserve Core area. The forest in the morning was brimming with positivity and we enjoyed each bit of it. Kids took advantage of the silence and the weather and slept nicely 😊. Being amid the tropical evergreen, I could relate to what a Tree Meditation would be. On a huge fallen log, we spotted a female Streaked Woodpecker happily making its forage eating up small insects. We also had a good time with a lone Tusker, who came from nowhere like a quiet rolling rock and walked gracefully crossing a road and ensuring its hindsight was all on us. It was a memorable quiet safari we have done so far.

After the safari, we did a short reroute to Singara as last evening was too crowded, we caught the attention of too many soaring raptors, OHB, Brahminy kites and Vultures were few of them. One Brahminy kite decided to perch very close happily enjoying its meal, it was quite a site.

Just to tell us big is not all, a bunch of cuties lined up; brown capped pygmy woodpecker, Grey minivets and velvet fronted nuthatches treated us at an eye level perches. They were continuously mobbed by a white bellied drongo.

As time was running out, we decided to head back to the room and leave for Chennai.

Enroute, Crested Serpent Eagle’s call made us stop and we spotted 2 of them with a perfect perch and perfect habitat. It was right on the bamboo that stood alone out of the bunch. Was a satisfying look at the big bird as it didn’t mind our presence and kept calling and communicating.

We were back in our room packing and starting back to Chennai. We took the kalahatty route and reached Coonoor, the route and weather was brilliant. On our way, we treated ourselves with Ooty Carrots, Fresh corns and Ooty Varkey and chocolates.

It was a 15hrs drive back in a stretch and the roads were clear after Mettupalayam.

Overall, the trip was amazing, refreshing and rejuvenating with so many memories. Our wish to explore Western Ghat has just begun and hope to cover more in coming years.