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ROAD LESS TRAVELLED
A panorama from the top
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For a breathtaking view from the hills, says W. Sreelalitha
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Photo: S. Siva Saravanan
A RIVER RUNS THROUGH The breathtaking Bhavani
It’s a sun-drenched morning, we are headed to Kunjapanai. No river, no waterfalls. But, we are promised a ‘wonderful something’. We pick up forest watcher Vasu at the Odanthurai checkpost. He says a herd of elephants staged a road b
lockade right there early that morning, and signed off in style: damaged electric fences. Vasu recounts narrow escapes from elephants, and how a leopard and her two little cubs recently went on a jolly saunter on the main road at 2 a.m.!
As our vehicle careens on hair-pin bends and hair-raising curves, I narrow my eyes desperately looking for a leopard or a bear that could have missed Vasu’s skilled eyes. Hard luck! However, ranting lion-tailed macaques and ruddy-faced bonnet macaques keep us distracted. The sleepy hills that have been stalking us all along finally wake up, and we are at Kunjapanai.
The inhabitants of the forest
We get off at the Forest Department’s quaint guest house. And, turn around. Right in front is the ‘wonderful something’ we were promised: a breathtaking view of Mettupalayam. Nestled amidst Chennaamalai, Nellimalai, Pakkasuranmalai, Kurundhamalai and tiny hillocks are scores of tiled-roof houses, and you trace the long-winding course of the silvery Bhavani — together looking like sprinkled oats and trickling mercury on a green-red quilt.
The sky is a lovely blend of blue, white and grey, and the hills come in unthinkable shades of green and blue. The mist comes down hurriedly, as if late for an appointment. In fact, so swiftly, you wonder if it’s smoke!
A tiny patch opposite the guest house is enchanting. Tiny rows of flowers in yellow, white, purple, red and orange (dahlias and marigolds) peep out from the opulent green of the duranda. Butterflies in yellow, blue, black and white dance beautifully around the flowers, choosing, perhaps, a bloom to go with their coat. Near the patch is a small bamboo shelter, just the place for bringing out the lunch.
After gaping at the mist, the hills, the flowers and noisy grasshoppers, long and hard, we begin the drive down.
Soon, our driver halts the vehicle abruptly.
A wafer-thin chameleon crosses the road with calculated nonchalance, changing its jacket from a glowing fertile green to black-green stripes, in a trice. Having seen its almost conical eyes roving wildly, we continue the drive. Vasu leads us to a precarious watchtower from where we spot nothing except lovelorn public’s declarations in creative spelling. Sample this: ‘I love Prbha’.
Thankfully, there was plenty of activity near the water tanks he takes us to. A covey of birds — red-vented bulbuls, spotted doves, mynas and parrots — shoots the breeze by the side of a water hole.
A solitary cuckoo stops for a two-minute cameo.
The proud peacocks, however, won’t show up, but will let off cries regularly.
We spot a fruit bat caught in a thorny shrub nearby. In just a few minutes, it frees itself niftily, and disappears.
A little further, a leash of spotted deer refuses to be caught by the swift shutters of the Nikon.
Nevertheless, at the end of the one-and-half-hour chase, our photographer wins. Photo finish to the trip! How to go
Kunjapanai is 16 km from Mettupalayam on Mettupalayam-Kotagiri Road.
For details and permission, call the District Forest Office at 0422-2302925 or P. Velusamy, the Forest Range Officer, at 94434-45646.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
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Visakhapatnam
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