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Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctury
Location : 66 km from Kollam town on the Kollam-Shencotta Road, in Pathanapuram taluk of Kollam district.
Nearest railway station : Thenmala, connected with Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kashmir
Nearest airport: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, 72 km.
Meet them all - elephants, tigers, leopards, bisons, sambars, wild boars,
lion - tailed macaques, langurs, deer - and most of the other regular inhabitants of a wild, west-coast tropical evergreen forest.
The Shenduruny forest - declared a wildlife sanctury in 1984 - gets uts name from an endemic species of tree called Chenkuruny (Gluta travancoria). In the central region of this moist, mixed deciduous forest, spread over a hilly terrain of over 100 sq. km, is a 26 sq. km artificial lake formed by the Parappar dam built across the Shenduruny and Kulathupuzha rivers.
But beautiful surroundings guaranteed to recharge exhausted human batteries are not all that the forest is famous for. According to some recent archeological studies, Shenduruny was the cradle of one of the oldest river valley civilizations in India - one older than even the Indus Valley - which dates from 4400 - 3700 BC! Paintings similar to those of the Mesolithic period (5210 - 4420 BC) have been excavated from caves in the northwestern part of a river in Central India.
Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
Location : Thekkady, 4 km from Kumily in Idukki ditrict
Nearest railway station : Kottayam, 114 km.
Nearest airport : Madurai (Tamilnadu), 140 km; Kochi International
Airport, 190 km.
The pride of Kerala as well as a testimony to nature's splendour and human innovation, the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is situated on the banks of the Periyar Lake at Thekkady. Here, the high ranges of the Western Ghats are clothed in dense evergreen, moist deciduous forests and savannah grasslands. Below this thick green canopy freely roam herds of elephants, sambars, tigers, gaurs, lion-tailed macaques and Nilgiri langurs.
In addition to elephant rides, cruises on the artificial lake and treks to the ruined Mangaladevi temple - a beautiful old stone temple situated in the heart of the Thekkady forest, this sanctuary offers the unique opportunity to watch and photograph wild elephants at close quarters.
Lake Palace and Aranya Nivas are two idyllic accommodation options set in the lakeside background. The romantic Lake Palace, formerly a summer retreat of the Maharaja of Travancore, is built on a small island accessible only by boat. Aranya Nivas (Jungle Retreat), a stone lodge with rubble masonry and colnial style of architecture at the head of the lake, is a premium property of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation.
Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary
Location : Thodupuzha, 40 km; Kochi, 60 km.
Nearest railway station : Kottayam, 114 km; Changanassery, 114 km
Nearest airport : Madurai, in the neighbouring Tamilnadu, 140 km;
Kochi International Airport, 190 km.
A land-locked district, Idukki is one of the most nature-rich areas of Kerala. The Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary here spread over an area of 77 sq km in the Thodupuzha and Udumpanchola taluks of the district. Situated at an altitude of 450-748 m above sea level, this sanctury occupies the forest land between the Cheruthoni and Periyar rivers. There is a scenic lake around the sanctury, covered by an enchanting shamiana of tropical evergreen and deciduous trees. Boating faclities are available.
Elephants, bisons, sambars, deer, wild dogs, jungle cats, tigers, wild boars, etc are seen here apart from various species of snakes including cobras, vipers, kraits and numerous non-poisonous ones. Birds include jungle fowls, mynas, laughing thrushes, black bullbuls, peafowls, woodpeckers, kingfishers etc. The wildlife is similar to that of Thekkady. This sanctuary lies adjacent to the world - enowned Idukki Arch Dam.
Eravikulam National Park
Location : Rajamalai, 15 km from Munnar
Visiting Hours : 7 am to 6 pm. No visits allowed during monsoon.
Nearest railway station : Kottayam, 142 km from Munnar;
Ernakulam. 130 km from Munnar.
Nearest airport : Madurai (Tamilnadu), 142 km:
Kochi International Airport, 30 km.
A sanctuary for the endangered mountain goat of South India, the Nilgiri Tahr (Hemitragus hylocrious), the Eravikulam National Park stands out for the stark beauty of its rolling grasslands and sholas, spread over 97 sq km on the Rajamalai hills.
Anamudi, the highetst peak (2695m) south of the Himalayas, towers over the sanctury in majesytic pride. The slopes of the hills abound in all kinds of rare flora and fauna. The atlas moth, the largest of its kind in the world, is a unique inhabitant of the park. Other rare species of fauna found here are the Nilgiri langur, lion-tailed macaque, leopard and tiger.
An ideal place for trekking, facilities are provided here and tourists are allowed to go on foot up to Anamudi.
A protected area, the sanctuary is divided into three regions - the core area, the buffer area and the tourism area. Visitors are allowed only into the tourism area - Rajamalai - the region lying beyond the road entry into Eravikulam. From here, you can observe the Nilgiri Tahr at close quarters.
Marayoor
Location : Marayoor, 40 km from Munnar
Nearest railway station : Ernakulam, 130 km.
Nearest airport : Kochi International Airport, 110 km.
This is the only place inKerala that has a natural growth of sandwood trees. The sandalwood factory of the Forest Department, the caves (Muniyara) with murals and relics from the New Stone Age civilization and the children's park spread across a hectare of land under the shade of a single banyan tree, are of great interest to tourists. Thoovanam Waterfall and Rajiv Gandhi National Park also in the neighbourhood.
Marayoor occupies a vast area on the slopes of the Western Ghats in Idukki district and is an important pre-historic site in Kerala. Apart from the Dolmenoid cists in the caves (Dolmennoids were burial chambers made of four stones placed on edges and covered by afifth one called the 'cap stone'). Marayoor is famous for its natural sandalwood forests and pre-historic rock paintings.
Chinnar Wildlife Sanctury
Location : Chinnar, 60 km from Munnar
Nearest railway station : Ernakulam, 130 km from Munnar.
Nearest airport : Kochi International Airport, 150 km from Munnar.
A unique thorny scrub forest with xerophyte species, chinnar is the habitat for the endangered Giant Grizzled Squirrel of India. The last world count of these squirrels was less than 200. Located in the rain-shadow area of the Western Ghats, unlike other sanctuaries in Kerala, chinnar gets only 48 days of rain every year. Rich in wildlife, the mixed deciduous forests here are ideal for trekking.
An extensive sandalwood forest nearby is an added attraction. This is also ideal place to watch herds of bisons march past. Dry deciduous forests, high sholas and wet grasslands add to the diversity of the sanctuary. As one travels from Karimuthi to Chinnar, elephants, spotted deer, sambars, Hanuman monkeys and even peacocks can be found on either side of the road.
Thattekkad Birds Sanctuary
Location : Thattekkad, 58 km from Kochi ;
13 km northeast of Kothamangalam in Ernakulam
district..
Nearest railway station : Aluva, 48 km.
Nearest airport : Kochi International Airport, 44 km.
Thattekkad is made up of dense tropical evergreen and deciduous forests and grassland patches, housing a population of over 500 species of native and migrant birds. This globally acclaimed bird sanctuary owes much of its fame to Dr. Salim Ali to this place. His efforts were instrumental in the formation of this sanctuary to a large extend.
Spread across 25 sq km, the sanctuary lies between the tributaries of the river Periyar like a peninsula. Rare birds like the crimson-throated barbet, bee-eater, sunbird, shrike, black-winged kite, night heron, falcon, grey jungle fowl, white-breasted water hen, hornbill, ceylon frogmoth, rose-billed roller and blue-winged parakeet live here.
Thattekkad also has extensive plantations of teak, rosewood, mahagony, etc. The dense forest is home to 28 species of animals and 9 varieties of reptiles.
Vazhani Wildlife Sanctuary
Location : Peechi, 20 km from Thrisur town. There are direct
buses from Thrissur to Peechi
Nearest Railway station : Thrissur, 20 km
Nearest airport : Kochi International Airport, 98 km.
Established in 1958, this sq km sanctuary is about 20 km east of Thrissur, in the catchment area of the Peechi and Vazahani dams. The sanctuary is part of the Palapilli-Nelliampathy forests and forms the northern boundary of the Chimmini sanctuary.
Having an abundance of enchanting flora and fauna and a lake wherer you can go boating, this place is a treat for the nature lover. There are more than 50 different kinds of orchids, innumerable rare medicinal plants, teak, rosewood, and so on. The wildlife population includes over 25 types of mammals including carnivores like the leopard, tiger and fox, and herbivores like the elk, deer, barking deer, spotted deer, bison and elephant. More than 60 types of birds and 10 type of snakes are also inhabitants here.
Silent Valley National Park
Location : 40 km from Mannarkkad, Palakkad district.
Nearest Railway station : Palakkad, 80 km
Nearest airport : Coimbatore (Tamilnadu), 55 km
The Silent Valley National Park, spread across 90 sq km, is located in the north-eastern corner of Palakkad district. It rises abruptly to the Nilgiri Plateau in the north and overlooks the plains of Mannarkkad in the south.
The core of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is the Silent Valley National Park. Despite its name, the Silent Valley (the clamour of Cicadas is conspicuously absent here0 echos with the sounds of teeming wildlife. The denizens of this sprawling habitat of endangered virgin tropical forets include rare birds, deer and tiger. Extremely fragile, Silent Valley is a unique preserve of tropical evergreen rainforest, lying above the equator and the forestr strip, which causes the summer rains in Kerala.
Perhaps, nowhere else can one also find such a representative collection f peninsular mammals, over a 1000 species of butterflies and 400 species of moths and other fauna like the Ceylon frog moth, Great Indian hornbill, Nilgiri laughjing thrush and lion-tailed macaque.
The river Kunthi descends from the Nilgiri hills, at an altitude of 2,000 m above sea level, traverses the entire legth of the valley and rushes down to the plains through the deep forest. The river never turns brown and is always crystal clear, perennial and wild.
Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary
Location : 110 km form Palakkad; accessible by road from
Pollachi in Tamilnadu
Nearest Railway station : Pollachi, 65 km.
Nearest airport : Coimbatire (Tamilnadu) 55 km from Palakkad..
Parambikulam is an oasis of tranquil greenery nestled in a valley between the Anamalai ranges of Tamilnadu and the Nelluyampathy rabges of Kerala. The Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctury spreads over an area of 285 sq km on the Western Ghats.
The sanctuary offers an exotic experience of the rare fauna of Kerala. Quite a few hill tribes, like the Malayars, the Kadas and the Muthuvans also live in the jungles of Parambikkulam. The fauna here included bonnet macaques, Nilgiri langurs, lion-tailed macaques, tigers, spectacled cobras, kraits, vipers, turtles,darters, little cormorants and black eagles.
The sanctuary also has a variety of trees mainly teak neem, sandalwood and rosewood.
Facilities are provided for boat cruises in the Parambikulam reservoir. Trekking in the sanctuary is possible with the permission of forest officials. There is a tree-house in the Reserve Forest area in Thoonakkadavu, the headquarters of Parambikkulam, which has to be booked in advance. The rest house of the State Forest Department at Thoonakkadavu, Thellikkal and Elathode offer comfortable lodging.
Kadalundi Bird Sanctury
Location : 19 km from Kozhikode; 7 km from Beypore fort
Nearest Railway station : Kozhikode, 19 km.
Nearest airport : Kozhikode International Airport, 23 km from
Kozhikode town.
The Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary is spread over a cluster of islands in a scenic area surrounded by hillocks where the Kadalundi river flows into the Arabian Sea. The place is locally known as Kadalundi Nagaram.
This virgin land is the abode of a hundred species of native and over 60 varities of migratory birds that flock here in large numbers during February-March.
A hillock nearby, which is 200m above sea level, offers a splendid view of the river mouth and the sea. Kadalundi is also known for a wide variety of fish. mussels and crabs.
Muthanga Wildlife sanctuary
Location : 16 km east of Sulthan Bathery, Wayanad district.
Nearest Railway station : Kozhikode, 97 km by road from Sulthan Bathery.
Nearest airport : Kozhikode International Airport, nearly 120 km from
Sulthan bathery.
An ideal destination to watch herds of wild elephants, the Muthanga Wildlife sanctuary is contiguous with the protected area network of the Nagarhole National Park and the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in the neighbouring state of Karnataka and Mudumalai in Tamilnadu, respectively. This sanctuary, spread over 345 sq km, is rich in fauna and flora, and comes under Project Elephant.
Elephants roam freely here and tigers are sighted frequently. Various species of deer, monkeys, birds, etc also live in this habitat. The trees and plants in the sanctuary are typical of the South Indian moist, deciduous forests and west-coast semi-evergreen forests. A drive along the road to Muthanga and further offers a chance to watch these roaming beasts. Elephant rides are arranged by the Forest Department
Thenmala Eco Tourism Project
Location : 66 km from Kollam town on the Kollam-Shencotta Road
Nearest Railway station : Well-connected with Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kannur.
Nearest airport : Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, 72 km
Thenmala is Indias first planned eco-tourism destination, which is gaining popularity due to its unique vistas and bio-diversity. Located in the district of Kollam, the Thenmala project shares its resources with the famous Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary at the foothills of the Western Ghats. This sanctary is about 100 sq km and harbours a large variety of flora and fauna. Thenmala literally means Honey Hills. The honey collected from the Thenmala forest region is of high quality and medicinal value because of the unique floristic composition of the forests.
Thenmala resort has been divided into different zones. At the Culture Zone one can indulge in a variety of activities like trying out a few traditional Kerala dishes at the restaurant there, a bit of shopping for keepsakes, or taking a peep into Kerala’s art and culture. An amphitheatre and an open-air musical dancing fountain are the other attractions in this zone.
Step into the Leisure Zone for a feel of different elevations and vantage viewpoints. For those with an overdose of adrenalin and those willing to test their adventurous spirit would find the Adventure Zone quite a thrilling experience. Take the elevated walkway for a journey that winds through the densely hill slopes wooded trees and going over rocky terrains bringing one close to some of nature’s handiworks at varying heights.
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