A trek near Ettina Bhuja

Like most of the trips planned during this time, this had multiple plans and postpones. The unseasonal rains, spurts of COVID and general uncertainty aside, some of us were quite out of shape due to 2 years of work from home. With a very light trek on the plan and the usual fun bus journey completed late at night, we arrived at the home-stay closer to the morning. The home-stay had a small pond and huge grassland ahead of it for a short walk in the morning to see some birds.

We had originally planned for an Ettina Bhuja trek, but that was ruled out due to the trek being closed after the recent heavy rains, so we settled for a different hike nearby. To get to the hill, we were packeed into the back of a pickup jeep and driven through a hilly terrain for over half an hour. Although the trek was less than 4 km and not too steep, the lack of a proper trail on the hill and fitness in our WFH bodies made it more challenging than it should have been. After soaking in some good hilltop views and another bone shaking drive back, we were able to also take a quick dip in a nearby pond.

A short drive to another more accessible hilltop called Devaramane (God's House) the next day before starting back to Bangalore closed the weekend trip. True to its name, there was a temple next to the hill and there was a small lake in front of it. There was more of a crowd here but the hike up and down was more accessible being a common tourist spot.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NeQzQX2QoWfsSL3S9

Trekking near Sakleshpur

This was another weekend trek from Sakleshpur. After being postponed a few times, we made it to the trip with a smaller group. We got there late at night instead of early morning unlike most of our other treks. The hike was also started on time and the trek was quite moderate with us reaching the top and back with quite some time and energy to spare. The views were great of course and birding near the homestay and on the trek kept me busy.

We left for Bangalore after a quick stop at Manjarabad fort. Being a Sunday the place had many more tourists than the last I went there but not much has changed there since and the views are still nice to take in.

Another trek in the rains - Kudremukh

Rains in the hills never stop they just pause for a breather. Kudremukh was one such trek in the rains. Our travel from Bangalore brought us to the home stay some time very early in the morning. The last few 100 meters had to be walked due to the bad roads before we could get to the rooms.

We started a little late for the trek but with the rains going on continuously, the weather was quite cool. The trek itself is quite long, scenic and through think forest, but given our current state of fitness, we may have crossed a little over three quarters of it, when we decided to turn back. Multiple small streams had to be crossed and one of them even had a well eaten carcass lying about - gaur kill by wild dogs, a guide commented. On the way back, someone showed a sloth bear at some distance away. I had been waiting alone there for others to catch up for almost half an hour there.

The next day was spent in the nearby streams, waterfall and mud volleyball within the estate itself. One of the more strenuous but also satisfying weekend trips.

Coorg Trek - Nishani Motte

 

It has been a while since I have trekked so when the office folks planned this trip it felt like a welcome break. We reached the home-stay close to 3am and turned in for the night. A delayed breakfast meant I had some time for a session of birding in the morning. Spotted grey horbills, greater racquet tailed drongos, a few bulbuls, starlings and even a fairy bluebird.The trek itself was a bit more strenuous than anticipated especially with the camera and lenses to carry. Managed to spot a few chestnut headed bee-eaters and a kestral but most of the focus was on getting to the top and back.

 

The latter half of the trek was done much faster as we tried to get back before the sunset. Saw a few malabar parakeets and flycatchers on the way back but the landscape views from the top were the main highlights of the day. We started late again the next day and stopped at Tala-Cauvery and Balmuri falls on the way back as the quick weekend getaway completed.

Sri Lanka - Hills and Plains

Vardha had just moved away from Tamil Nadu and transport had just normalized on the previous day, so we were lucky to make it to the Negombo airport with just a 2 hour delay. The drive to Kandy from the airport takes a few hours mainly due to the speed limits despite the fantastic roads. We stopped en route at a spice garden where despite the sales efforts, I spent most of my time photographing birds. A 15 minute break in a small area had black naped monarchs, pygmy woodpeckers, a lesser yellow nape, white browed fantails, yellow fronted barbets and minivets. Got to Kandy late in the evening but we had time to watch a cultural program and spend some time at the temple of the tooth. We entered the temple unfortunately at the time of a daily prayer and had to wait until they opened the main shrine as the crowd built up. The artifacts, architecture and statues inside though were worth the effort.

We headed out to the nearby Royal botanical gardens quite early in the morning and proceeded with a second round of birding. The garden area itself is massive with different areas housing a variety of flora. The main attractions are the orchids and the giant Javan fig tree. Toque macaques also frequent the gardens stealing food whenever they can. Additional birds in this area included the black hooded oriole, white bellied drongo and a smaller raptor that I am trying to identify. As we headed out to Nuwara Eliya, the first stop was at a Hanuman temple on the way. We were a bit late but managed to get in a few minutes before it closed. As we had lunch at a nearby restaurant, our driver pointed out a huge squirrel. While I tried to make out what it was, it jumped and glided over the trees and out of sight.

After a couple of stops at waterfalls on the way, we reached Nuwara Eliya late in the afternoon. After a quick stop at Lake Gregory, we headed out to Seeta Eliya, which is a temple to Seeta where legend says she was kept after Ravan abducted her. A couple of marks on the ground mark where Hanuman had landed. Spent some time at the Victoria park until it got dark, where we ran into a primatologist who helped us spot a couple of Indian pittas and an asian brown flycatcher. Also glimpsed a Kashmir flycatcher which kept to the bushes.

The next morning had an extremely early start to get to Horton plains. The plains has a couple of trekking trails, the most popular of which is a 10 km circular route which goes through mini world's end, world's end and Baker's falls. The world's end viewpoints provide some amazing sights on a clear morning but as the fog rolls in, the cliff looks like it is on top of the world. The trek gets steeper closer to the Baker's falls but is always manageable. The overall path at a brisk pace takes just under 4 hours. The route in and out of Horton plains is quite scenic and has birds and mammals crossing frequently. We were able to see kestrels, sambar, purple faced leaf monkeys, yellow eared bulbuls, Sri Lankan wood pigeons, bee eaters, bushchats, white eyes and grey tits. Heard a whistling thrush but couldn't spot it. We drove down to Yala immediately after the trek stopping for coconuts, few grizzled giant squirrels and hornbills. The day ended at the Katargama temple near Yala which is a major draw for pilgrims, but surprisingly, the deity there is always hidden behind a curtain.