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Lucky at last, it's a langur

For a walk beneath Nature's canopy, says SUDHISH KAMATH

SPOT ME IF YOU CAN It's a Nilgiri langur!

Lured by the prospect of finding the rare and endangered Nilgiri langur, we decide to take the road to the Korakundah rainforest, 69 km from Coonoor.

Halfway into the trip, we reach Kundha. The stream at the gorge at Kundha has dried up. But we hear there's a dam around the corner. We take some more pictures before we set out to see Kundha Dam. Nothing can be more pleasing than the sight of water on a hot summery day. The car speeds through winding roads but as we enter the forests, the driver slows down, hoping that we get a glimpse of the Nilgiri langurs he has promised we could see.

"We also need to be lucky to spot them," he says after a few minutes of finding nothing but thick forests and battered roads. "But don't worry, having come all this way, you will get a beautiful view of the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border overlooking the Silent Valley."

Suddenly, the car screeches to a halt. "Look," says the driver softly as he switches the engine off. We hear the shrill; there are two of them. One of them looks at us curiously from the treetop while the other escapes. He is a Nilgiri langur, all right. Shiny black fur, golden brown coat, about two feet tall. As I slowly reach for the camera, he climbs up the tree. I click; he disappears. I check the photograph. No trace of him. The driver tries to sound upbeat. "At least you saw him."

A few km later, we are at the top of the hill. It's a jungle trail, there's loose gravel and leaves on the middle of the road, all through. But it is a pleasant drive through the canopy and soon, we get a glimpse of the hills on the other side. The driver stops the car, gets off and walks to the right of the road, leads me past a curtain of trees and we get a scenic view of the hills.

"That," he says pointing to the right side of the frame, "is Silent Valley in Kerala."

"This," he draws a line between the hills in the middle of the frame and continues, "is the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border." It has to be among the most beautiful sights I had seen in the Nilgiris.

"Where does the road lead to," I ask. "Kinnakorai, there are a lot of organic tea estates in that region," he explains. We head back to the thick of the rainforests to give the langurs another shot. As planned, we stop by at one of the densest parts of the forests and do lunch. We had picked up a loaf of bread and butter from the bakery.

Fifteen minutes, no action. It is very quiet and we don't talk, and soon, we hear the rustle of branches again. It's a pack of langurs, four in all, swinging from one tree-top and jumping to another on the other side of the road, right above our heads.

And within a half a minute, they are gone. I had kept the camera ready but it all happened so soon that I only got a few blurry images. We drive down a little more and catch up with another pack playing atop the trees. Must be babies.

A couple of them co-operate for pictures, but they are hidden behind the branches. Quite satisfied with the day's adventure, we head back to base, Coonoor.

How to get there

On the route to Kinnakorai from Ooty or Coonoor, drive through Kaisolai - Chamraj Estates - Kundha - Korakundah. Time it takes to get there: Two and a half hours.

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