"Excuse me Mam, please hurry" one of the guides said with only a small hint on anxiety in his voice. "BLOODY RUN" would have done the job as all of a sudden one of the elephants we had been spying on from the near by bushes spotted us and was charging in our direction.
Hamish and I were a few hours into a three day, two night, Tiger Trek in the Periyar Tiger Reserve near Kumily in Kerala and although we had been warned when booking and paying the expensive, for India, fee of R6000 per person that there was no guarantee we would see any of the 'trophy' wildlife already we were mere meters away from a group of elephants with their babies.
The jungle treks are lead by a park ranger (with a big gun) who is joined by a handful of ex-poachers who have had there convictions dropped on the agreement that they will work in the reserve to use their skills for good rather than evil. The poachers turned out to be a seriously legendary bunch of chaps. Their intimate knowledge and understanding of the jungle and every sound and smell is incredible. Even their snoring, we discovered, has taken on a primal sound. Hamish and I would be bumbling along spotting the odd bird when suddenly one of the guys would stop in his tracks spotting a tiger footprint ten yards from the path, or hearing the faint clap of an elephant flapping its ears and then we would be off through the bushes in hot pursuit.
The trek can take six 'tourists' at a time but we were the only two booked on so with two poachers in camp kitchen, two on the trail with us, plus the park ranger we were well looked after. The evening campfire stories were hilarious, even those that spoke little English were able to entertain us with their animated performance. Tales included a time a small group sneaking around the jungle in the pitch dark very sleep deprived when suddenly they walked smack into an elephant and all ended up in a pile, much to the angry of the herd. Before going on the trek when I thought of poachers I thought of nasty, blood thirsty, killers but these guys have changed my perception completely. They were poor and desperate and were doing what ever it took to feed their families. Before the group got caught things were so bad that they couldn't go home as everyone in the area knew they were poachers but just lacked the proof to arrest them. Their families were badly bullied and their children couldn't go to school - the outcome, having them work for the park is brilliant, they really made the trip amazing.
We were spoilt for elephant sightings and both nights had the privileged, or on the other hand the terror, of them visiting our camp sight which we were told is a rarity. Thankfully the tent pitch was surrounded by a six foot wide and eight foot deep trench that the elephants couldn't cross however that didn't stop them putting the fear of God in us when one bellowed right outside our tent on the first night. I don't think there could be a more effective alarm clock in the world. Too frightened to get out we stayed safely within our canvas listening to the roars as they called their mates across the valley. By the second night we had pulled our socks up and put on the brave face and sat around the dying camp fire until the little hours of the morning watching them destroy one of our bamboo rafts, bath themselves in dust and try and get the coal from our fire (apparently they like the salt)
Sadly, but not surprisingly, we didn't get to see any tigers but we were treated to several herds of Elephants, Bison, Hogs (one took a particular dislike to Hamish and charged at us through the bushes narrowly missing us), a variety of deer, giant squirrels, bats, Mongoose, poisonous caterpillars (!), snake skins - thankfully not the interior, and we were lucky enough to avoid the famously aggressive sloth bear.
I could go on forever, it was such an incredible experience.I haven't even mentioned the food, which was delicious, but that could be a whole other post. No one else is allowed in the park after dark so we really felt like we were in the wild. It has made me think I might even try my hand at becoming a poacher, without the poaching. Don't think that would be a big money earner though.
Hamish took loads of pictures so we will try and post some soon but if you want to see some more on the reserve this is their website: http://periyartigerreserve.org/Periyar/index.htm
We are off to Alleppey next to sample some luxury, house boating through the backwaters...we will let you know how we get on.
Jess and Hamish
Hamish and I were a few hours into a three day, two night, Tiger Trek in the Periyar Tiger Reserve near Kumily in Kerala and although we had been warned when booking and paying the expensive, for India, fee of R6000 per person that there was no guarantee we would see any of the 'trophy' wildlife already we were mere meters away from a group of elephants with their babies.
The jungle treks are lead by a park ranger (with a big gun) who is joined by a handful of ex-poachers who have had there convictions dropped on the agreement that they will work in the reserve to use their skills for good rather than evil. The poachers turned out to be a seriously legendary bunch of chaps. Their intimate knowledge and understanding of the jungle and every sound and smell is incredible. Even their snoring, we discovered, has taken on a primal sound. Hamish and I would be bumbling along spotting the odd bird when suddenly one of the guys would stop in his tracks spotting a tiger footprint ten yards from the path, or hearing the faint clap of an elephant flapping its ears and then we would be off through the bushes in hot pursuit.
The trek can take six 'tourists' at a time but we were the only two booked on so with two poachers in camp kitchen, two on the trail with us, plus the park ranger we were well looked after. The evening campfire stories were hilarious, even those that spoke little English were able to entertain us with their animated performance. Tales included a time a small group sneaking around the jungle in the pitch dark very sleep deprived when suddenly they walked smack into an elephant and all ended up in a pile, much to the angry of the herd. Before going on the trek when I thought of poachers I thought of nasty, blood thirsty, killers but these guys have changed my perception completely. They were poor and desperate and were doing what ever it took to feed their families. Before the group got caught things were so bad that they couldn't go home as everyone in the area knew they were poachers but just lacked the proof to arrest them. Their families were badly bullied and their children couldn't go to school - the outcome, having them work for the park is brilliant, they really made the trip amazing.
We were spoilt for elephant sightings and both nights had the privileged, or on the other hand the terror, of them visiting our camp sight which we were told is a rarity. Thankfully the tent pitch was surrounded by a six foot wide and eight foot deep trench that the elephants couldn't cross however that didn't stop them putting the fear of God in us when one bellowed right outside our tent on the first night. I don't think there could be a more effective alarm clock in the world. Too frightened to get out we stayed safely within our canvas listening to the roars as they called their mates across the valley. By the second night we had pulled our socks up and put on the brave face and sat around the dying camp fire until the little hours of the morning watching them destroy one of our bamboo rafts, bath themselves in dust and try and get the coal from our fire (apparently they like the salt)
Sadly, but not surprisingly, we didn't get to see any tigers but we were treated to several herds of Elephants, Bison, Hogs (one took a particular dislike to Hamish and charged at us through the bushes narrowly missing us), a variety of deer, giant squirrels, bats, Mongoose, poisonous caterpillars (!), snake skins - thankfully not the interior, and we were lucky enough to avoid the famously aggressive sloth bear.
I could go on forever, it was such an incredible experience.I haven't even mentioned the food, which was delicious, but that could be a whole other post. No one else is allowed in the park after dark so we really felt like we were in the wild. It has made me think I might even try my hand at becoming a poacher, without the poaching. Don't think that would be a big money earner though.
Hamish took loads of pictures so we will try and post some soon but if you want to see some more on the reserve this is their website: http://periyartigerreserve.org/Periyar/index.htm
We are off to Alleppey next to sample some luxury, house boating through the backwaters...we will let you know how we get on.
Jess and Hamish
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