Elephant Sands

This is one of those places where you get to see as many elephants as you want, in all shapes and sizes.

If you are staying overnight in one of the tents then it is all the more exciting as the flow of traffic (of elephants) is more in the night.

We drove down from Francistown to Elephant sands. One of the observations I made during our overnight stay is that they move very silently. They may be standing right next to you and you will not be aware of them.

From the videos you may get the impression that they are docile and tame. The fact is that once they know that you are not a threat to them (or their family), they won't harm you. I like the way they come bounding down to the waterhole when they sight the water.

Even after reaching the waterhole they don’t start drinking right away. They first splash themselves with water, cool themselves down a bit and then slowly take small sips of water. I saw two of them drinking alternatively in a synchronized fashion.

At times there are skirmishes among themselves and the Tuskers like to exercise their might and leadership. On the way to the Elephant Sands, our vehicle got bogged down. We knew that pushing it won't help but still we gave it a try. Finally got it towed by another vehicle which was passing by.

Birds too hover around the waterhole and they take turns in quenching their thirst.

saw somee Pied crows:

I saw an odd looking bird along with the Myna. It looked like a juvenile vulture but later when I got it identified I learned that it was a molting Myna.

It is a different experience to spend the night in one of those tents hearing the occasional trumpeting sound at regular intervals. The next morning I saw some ostriches grazing not far from our tent.

Going through the short video will give you a better idea of the place and our experience over there.

Cycle Rickshaw

One of the mode of transport used in Jaipur is the Cycle Rickshaw. It is used mostly to transport goods. 

At times they do take passengers too but many are uncomfortable sitting in it at the thought of being pulled by another human being. Before starting the rickshaw driver pulls it by hand for a short distance to gain momentum.  

Another form of transport is the "tuk tuk"  

Here our tuk tuk driver was so confident of his driving skills that he was looking back and pitching his sales talk of the places that he could take us for a small fee. 

In case you are wondering about the horse on the road, he is probably waiting for the next customer in front of the shop where you get Horses and Elephants on hire.

Talking of elephants, from the top of Amer fort I saw the elephants plodding down the slope to get the next batch of tourists. It was tough for the elephants especially when going down hill. (see video) After reading about the elephants being tortured to "train them" I wonder why jeeps (with four wheel drive) are not used to transport the tourists. 

There is a large cooking vessel on top of Amer fort. Wonder what is the point of discussion here between the tourists and the guides. A good picture for a caption contest. What is your caption? 

Chamraj Golden Tips

Drove down from Bengaluru to Chamraj Tea Estate in the Nilgiris, a distance of 350 kms.  

Once you cross Mysuru (Mysore) it becomes more scenic, especially when you go past the Bandipur National Park and the Madumalai National Park. 

Chamraj is famous for their “Chamraj Golden Tip”, an extra special quality of Nilgiris tea leaf always fetching a record price. Specially hand plucked Chamraj Golden Tips come from the Chamraj Estate, just west of Conoor, a property belonging to The United Nilgiri Tea Estate Ltd. 

If Chamraj was at the southwest end of Nilgiris  “Kotercherry” or Kotagherry was at the north eastern end, now known as Kotagiri. The place is simply beautiful. 

It was the first table land to be reached by the Europeans when Wish and Kindersly ‘discovered’ the cool of the jungle heights in 1819 while pursuing a band of smugglers. It was their ‘discovery’ that led John Sullivan to establish a home in Kotagiri. Of those Europeans who followed Sullivan and opened the Nilgiris, it was said, “If you live in Conoor, you live till 80, if you live in Ooty you will live till 90, but in Kotagiri you will have to be shot!” He wasn’t shot but, John Erskine lived till he was 100 after he arrived in Kotagiri. 

The tea gardens are lush with tea leaves. On a clear sky you get to see the lovely sunrise and sun set 

Spotted some coffee plants too here. 

If you have the patience you are likely to spot different species of birds 

I saw one land crab who was in two minds about staying put and carry on with his feeding (see video) 

We had those “Chamraj Golden Tip” in one of the tea stalls where it was freshly prepared for us 

and some tasty “parippu wada” after a long time. 

To reach there, we had to pass through Ooty and some of those old structures still look grand. 

The military establishments in this area are well maintained. 

On the way back, while passing through the Madumalai National Park, there was this tusker who gave us a threatening charge as we slowed down (can be seen in the video) He was probably trying to protect this little one in the herd.

The Indian Elephant

I am always in awe of the elephants and for the giant that they are, their movements are very slow and  gentle.

It is said that an elephant consumes about 150 kg of plant matter per day. This is no mean feat and to keep up with this input they have to constantly munch.

Assam, a state in North India is rich in lush tea gardens and paddy fields. Assam is also home to wild life specially elephants. It is rare that the elephants encroach into the areas that are inhabited by humans.  But of late this has been the cause of worry for many especially the local cultivators. They find that the elephants wander into the tea gardens and paddy fields,  damaging the crops and robing the livelihood of the farmers.

The forest officials and the wild life fund (wwf) are worried about the conflict between the humans and the elephants.

When they investigated, they found out  some startling facts like  the forests in the north has lost about 65 % of its greenery.   

The shrinkage in the habitat has made the elephants more visible and as there is not enough food in the forest they tend to raid the crops in the vicinity there by creating a conflict with the local inhabitants.

The  farmers tried using fire crackers to scare away the elephants. This worked only for some time as they got used to the sound of the crackers

Villagers tried new strategies like using domesticated elephants to drive away the wild ones but this was proving costly.

To minimise the human elephant conflict, the Indian government along with the help of WWF has built Elephant corridors. This helps the elephants to move from one territory to the next through a system of fencing and overpasses, keeping wild life away from the crop fields.

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