Sunday, December 31, 2006

Trip to Jungle Hut

We drove down to Jungle Hut on Christmas morning. Well, I should say our driver drove us down (not ready to take on the traffic ourselves just yet) and Ingo (very brave) followed us with Kim, Thorsten and Guido as his backseat drivers. The traffic was a nightmare and rather stressful. It took us 6 hours to travel 250km. Go figure! But, I guess that's not unusual for India.
Jungle hut http://www.nivalink.com/junglehut/index.html is located in the Nilgiri foothills (Tamilnadu, India), surrounded by hills and trees, at the edge of a game sanctuary of Bandipur and Madumalai famous for its elephants and tigers.

It was a welcome break from the crazy city life. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery with a walk to the waterfall, late afternoon and early morning game drives and even a walk through the jungle (pretty scary, knowing that there are supposedly tigers in the jungle and our guide didn't even have a rifle). We were hoping to spot a tiger on our trip but unfortunately weren't that lucky or should I say lucky as I wouldn't have liked to come a cross one on foot.

We went for a late afternoon game walk. We saw an elephant through the dens bush and quietly positioned ourselves down wind. Guido and I had another exciting moment when a big hare jumped out of the bushes right next to us....I was just glad it wasn't anything bigger or with big teeth. It was all in all a great experience. A little nerve racking for me and I would only do it again with a more experienced guide or two with a gun. In the evenings we played a great German Card game, which I seemed to suck at. Marc enjoyed reading an interesting on tigers which made him more determined than ever to see them in the wild before we leave India.

Stopped to say goodbye...Nagraj (our driver) leaving his family behind for 3 nights.
Marc in front of the Mysore Palace or the Maharajah's Palace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysore_Palace

This should give you an idea of the road we drove on. The road was full of "potholes" and in some places half the road was missing. Not that it stopped them from driving like a bat out of hell, overtaking on blind rises, cutting corners with one hand on the hooter of course!!
The beautiful tranquil surroundings at The Jungle Hut was a good cure for the stressed caused by the bad roads and crazy traffic.

Kim, Thorsten and Guido braving the cold water.
Marc and I lazing around on the porch, appreciating the view and fresh air.
We went for a 3km walk to a waterfall where we sat on the rocks, soaking up the sun while just enjoying the peace and quiet.
Stepping out of the room after a little afternoon nap.
Marc reading his book on our porch while the sheep roam around making a racket...especially early in the morning when you are trying to sleep. And if it's not the sheep the squirrels on the roof make sure you are awake. I would choose the animals over an alarm clock any day though...
Squashed in, ready for our afternoon game drive. Didn't see much though....spotted deer, Shamba deer, a Bison, peacocks and other bird life.
Stopped for a leg stretch and to admire the scenery.
We couldn't believe our eyes. People walking through the reserve in their bright coloured sarees with their handbags over their shoulders...like it's a walk in the park. Our guide told us that a guy was trampled by an elephant 4 days before. He even had a photograph on his mobile to prove it. Apparently it happens regularly in the area.
If they can do it on the busses, then why not hang from the vehicles driving through the reserve too.
Up at sparrows for our 5H30 "cold" drive...Brrrrrrr, it was freezing. Of course none of us packed warm clothes and we had to wrap ourselves in blankets to try and stay warm.

Guido and I still half asleep.
Marc chilled to the bone.
Stopped at a small temple in the middle of the bush to enjoy the sun's rays burning through the mist.
A Hindu temple on top of the hill where our game walk ended.
The amazing view from the top of the hill.

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