Adventure of Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary

was tired and lying down on the bed inside a hotel room very near to Trivandrum railway station. Last few hours were very hectic for me and my friend. We were about to cancel the trek to Agasthyamalai, for which we waited long time and came through the long distance from Chennai to Trivandrum.
I didn’t had enough idea about the place but my friend told me that it is a dense forest in the midst of which we are going to spent a whole night, the idea which I really liked as I didn’t had prior experience of this. Though coming to Agasthyamalai was not the sole purpose we came to Kerela. Actually we had attended the marriage of my PL at Kollam.
From there through bus we directly came to Trivandrum Forest department office. But the only thing we got there was refusal. They refused us to give permit to entry in the forest. At that time I lost hope. But my friend was not that kind of person who will give up so soon.
We chalked out some plan and made some callings. And soon we found one way to fulfill our wish. That moment both of us felt very happy. I could easily spot the difference looking at his eyes how differently he was feeling now from the time when we got the refusal, I prayed to God to show some miracles and he listened.

But now both of us need sleep as we have to catch the first morning bus to Bonacaud, the base camp for the trek. Did I say morning; okay to be more perfect it was simply dark when we left next day for Bonacaud. And fortunately we got the bus to. Thanks to my friend who took lots of precautions asking so many persons to make sure we don’t miss the bus. And after all I was feeling very happy inside could not stop singing when the bus started for Bonacaud.

Now let me tell something about the place we are going. The place Agasthyamalai has a historical background. Bonacaud can be said the gateway to Agasthyamalai.
Agasthyamalai, the name of the place came from the name of the great rishi Agasthya. Agastya is a legendary Vedic sage or rishi. Some say that it was the sage Agastya who first brought and popularized the Vedic religion to south India. Agastya and his clan are also credited to have "authored" many mantras of the Rig Veda, the earliest and most revered Hindu scripture, in the sense of first having the mantras revealed in his mind by the Supreme Brahman. In some reckonings, Agastya is also said to be one of the greatest Seven Sages or Saptarshis. The word is also written as Agasti. A-ga means a mountain, Asti, thrower. Also a name of Lord Shiva. Agastya the Rishi, was born of both Gods, Mitra and Varuna, from Urvashi. Agastya is also the Indian astronomical name of the star of Canopus, is said to be the 'cleanser of waters', since its rising(February) precedes the calming of the waters of Indian Ocean. Other reference is in Mahabharata in Sauptikaparva as the teacher of the teacher of Guru Drona, who gave Drona, the greatest of weapons, Brahmastra (used by both Arjuna and Ashwatthama at the end of the war).

Agastya Malai (also known as Agastyarkoodam) is a 1,868 metres (6,129 ft) peak in the Western Ghats of South India. The mountain lies on the border between the Indian states of Kerala (in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram District) and Tamil Nadu (in Tirunelveli).
Agastya Malai is a pilgrimage centre for devotees of the Hindu sage Agasthya, who is considered to be one of the seven rishis (Saptarishi) of Hindu Puranas. The Tamil language is considered to be a boon from Agasthya. There is a full-sized statue of Agasthya at the top of the peak and the devotees can offer pujas themselves.
Historians believe that Agasthya might be one of the vedic seers who travelled to south and introduced the vedic religion there. According to tamil tradition Agasthya was instrumented in creation of tamil language and literature. He is believed to be still dwelling on the mountain agasthyamalai. Actually the great Rishi Agasthya came there to find peace and reaching there he came to know about the herbs and medicinal effects of the plants of the place. And ultimately he settled there. It is been presumed that he went to mahasamadhi in that place.

We reached Bonacaud very early morning. It was nothing but a village surrounded by green hills which made this place really special. On the way there was lots of waterfalls I have seen. Anyway we went to one house which seemed deserted to me but it was not, one family was living there. There had been once upon a time one industry in that place but that is no longer functioning now. So people used to work there have no way of living left. They simply help tourist as guide and cook to visit the forest.
I forget to tell you that the forest we are talking about is called Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary; it is in the southern border of TamilNadu and Kerela, nearly 70 kms away from Trivandrum. We took morning breakfast there served by one person who I had no idea that going to be our guide soon. It was raining that time and we had to wait till the time rain stops. But I was always very fascinating to nature could not stop visiting the surrounded place even in the midst of that rain; I put on my rain coat and made some gentle roaming nearby places.

After the rain stopped we started, we means four of us. My friend, me, one guide and one cook. The cook was carrying food for us. And to my surprise the guide didn’t had any riffle, instead he had one knife like catary. I was thinking if we had been attacked by any wild animal can he save us with the help of that weapon.

But now is not the time to regret and I begging your pardon, that I don’t have enough writing skill, to explain the natural beauty of the place. It was really God’s own country as they say. The forest was indeed a dense one and in fact it was the densest forest I had ever visited. Moreover as it rained it was very green too, as my friend said it was looking like Amazon forest. Indeed it was, I was searching for any kind of wild animal we can see in our journey. I was damned sure anything can be inside this dense forest. I was taking snap here and there.
I was also disturbing my friend to take my snaps that were actually busy knowing more about the forest from the guide. In course of our journey we crossed some small rivers. And ultimately we came to one bamboo hut. The guide told us to take some rest as the coming forest is going to be not only dense but also a bit stiff. They gave us a powerful medicine, cigarette ash with red tea mixed with sugar. This is very powerful medicine against the leech.
Those leeches are really dangerous. Three of them stuck to my feet and sucked a lot blood to make that place senseless. When applied the medicine on that spot, I had immediate relief.

After having some food, we again started towards our destination. It was something like a computer video game the more distance you cover the more reward is waiting for you! The more distance we are going the path is becoming the harder to follow but the natural beauty of the place becoming more prominent. I had the real experience of wild which can’t be told only be felt. As we are passing through tall elephant grasses, suddenly our guide spotted elephant dung.

It was not one elephant; it was a herd of elephant passed the place. We missed them hardly ½ an hour. And to my surprise we were following the same path the elephant went. As I told it had rained so in the mud we can see the footprints of elephant. I was scared and tried to figure out what my friend has in his mind. Is he too scared like me? Anytime those elephants can come and can kill us. We can not do anything. But this was the adventure. Being very adventurous from my childhood I felt very happy to enjoy the moment in midst of the fear.

After some time we came to a place where we have to cross a big river to reach our point. But at that time it was something impossible to do. We were not at the season time. The river was flooded. It has just heavily rained. The guide and the cook went to search nearby places to find any place from where we can cross the river, but they were in vain. So we had no way. We decided to return back.

While coming back our guide revealed that they were surprised seeing the stamina both of us had. We covered the distance in very less than the time they expected. I was surprised seeing the stamina of my friend and mine too. My friend was capturing vedios in our return trip.

We came to the same bamboo hut. We had to spend the night there. Though initially I was very much afraid thinking of it, there may be snake, or any venomous insects which it the night can bite us, I shown my concern to my friend. He too seemed worried a bit. But finally we decided to spent the night there as anyway it is going to be a new experience spending a night in midst of a dense forest. The hut was a two storied one. And they made good arrangements for our sleep in up. After reaching there we could see the night lights of Trivandrum from there looking like yellow star beneath us. The night was dark.
I had a good sleep. In morning I heard some hauling of fox but coming out the fence could not spot any.

I wake up very early in the morning next day. And I went for a morning walk. As I do every new place I visit. But I choose a narrow lane which goes to a nearby river hoping I can spot some wild animal came there to drink water what they usually do in the morning. As was really very afraid as I was moving the forest was becoming denser. I felt some movements of animal I looked here and there spotted none. I blamed my courage and ultimately proceeded towards the river. But again didn’t see any animal. I came back to the bamboo house with frustration. I found my friend was waiting for me.
After having the food cooked by the guides, we decided to move towards Bonacaud. My friend got some tips on herbal medicine from the guide who seemed adept in that subject.

Next day morning we will be leaving Trivandrum. I and my friend, already made up our minds that we will be visiting here soon again at the season time. I felt a little sadness leaving the place. Anyway it was a nice experience after all. But we have to leave. We have to attend office. There are lots more things in life to do. We have to move.