Parambikulam- A day in the wild

To see tigers and deers in the zoo and enclosure has become so common that it has almost lost its sheen. After all, a wild animal in captivity is hardly a wild animal. In order to get a first hand experience of what it would be to be in the wild, I had been wondering of being at place least tampered by man. That's when it dawned to me that we have hardly left such a place and the places still left are so because it's difficult to be there. Anyhow, I finally narrowed down to Parambikulam for a one trip. Famous as a tiger reserve, Parambikulam was almost a complete fit into my wishlist.
The nearest known town to Parambikulam is Pollachi and hence the first pull over. Being a reserve forest, Parambikulam is not so well connected with the town and hence booking a vehicle would be the best idea. Given the fact that it's largely untouched, local contacts help in getting permit and arranging forest rides.
The change in climate is evident even before the reserve forest starts. Hot Pollachi made way for cool breeze and wet lands.

The main attraction of the one day trip was forest trip through the thick forest flanked by its fauna. The best part of being in this part of the world is that you get to be the only tourist far away from the hustle and bustle of other tourist spots. The tour is operated with all possible assistance from the forest department with a guide accompanying all the while.

Though famous for tigers, the chance to see one of those beast demands a huge chunk of luck. With lot of expectations and open eyes, I kept waiting for one of those carnivores to appear from the forest. But to my disappointment, all I could see were few deers, peacocks and board. But the feeling of seeing them that close to you doing their natural chores out of bounds is definitely a feeling beyond expressions. 

As the forest gets dark and dangerous by evening, its advisable to be back by lunch time. Hence, the second part of the trip was some local sightseeing along with elephant ride. As penned earlier, lean presence of tourists was certainly a boon. A forest trip encompassing a dam visit and elephant ride was icing on the cake.

But perhaps the best was yet to reveal, the most attractive thing about Parambikulam is a chance to be arboreal for a day in a tree house. The only catch is to book it in advance lest you run a chance of not getting it. 

But a tree top Stay is definitely not for faint hearted with all these primates showing their presence every now and then. On a whole the trip was an awesome and more than anything a soothing experience, one which can really make you fall in love with nature.