Mudumalai - The Jungle Beckons. Review on Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary

Mudumalai means Ancient or Old hills. This place was identified as a reserve way back in 1927

Mudumalai is the name that my father always used to refer to, whenever there is a talk of forest or wildlife. I developed an urge from the discussions and dreamt about sighting wildlife in this jungle. This urge has been one of my inspirations to visit and to stay in wildlife sanctuaries. This sanctuary is one of the few in India, where a main road (in this case the Ooty to Mysore road) passes right thru the jungle.

Where is it?

Theppakadu, the forest office in Mudumalai is approx. 100 kms from Mysore and 65 kms from Ooty thru Gudalur. It is less than 40 kms from Ooty if you take the more adventurous and difficult Sigur route. If you have a good vehicle, I would recommend trying the Sigur route at least once.

In spite of a lot of poaching, against odds - this forest belt continues to be the home for a lot of wild animals. We have gone to Mudumalai umpteen times and I am sharing the best way to explore this place.

When to go?

For game sighting, the hot months of feb to may is the best time. Do remember that the sanctuary is usually closed during the months of march and april. This is mostly due to non-availability of water.

Climate?

It is pleasant around the year. Even the peak temperatures in the month of may are only around 30 deg C. It is pleasant at night even in may. Winters are usually cool and pleasant.

Where to Stay ?

Two villages - Masinagudi and Bokkapuram, on the outskirts of the sanctuary offer multiple choices to stay. You could choose from rustic cottages on one end to full fledged resorts on the other end, depending on your preference.

The best place for sighting wildlife is a small rustic jungle lodge - Jungle Trails, run by the well known wildlifer Mr. E.R.C. Davidar and his son Mark Davidar. Unfortunately, we have not been lucky enough to get a chance till now stay at this property though this is the first place we call when we think of Mudumalai. (It is not run the lodge during specific periods). This lodge is located near a water stream that the animals visit frequently and the owners have salt licks that invite the wild animals. Rooms cost around 500 - 700 Rs per night. Could be a very rustic experience for some of us, as the cottages are pretty basic and there is no hot water connection (buckets are optional).

We had also heard about Bamboo Banks as being one of the foremost and well maintained resorts. Unfortunately, we could not get accommodation at this place too. But the owners recommended us a cottage near Bokkapuram that is owned by a British couple - Mrs. and Mr. Tymen,- Misty Mountains. It cost us around 800 Rs / night. This cottage is in a beautiful location with the towering Nilgiris as the backdrop on one side.

A herd of chital actually has their home in a corner of their property. My daughter was also excited on seeing a wild rabbit family and their burrow in this premise. Geysers are available for hot water in this otherwise simple, basic and clean cottages. Food is simple and slightly costly for the spread. (When you are in the forest, you should be happy to get food in first place, right?) Breakfast costs 100 Rs per person, lunch 150 Rs and dinner 200 Rs. The only thing to complain was that they charged us 50% of these food rates for our 5 year old daughter too.

They are also quite a few top end options. Casa Deep Woods is a relatively new resort charging >1500 Rs per night. Jungle Retreat is another good resort with option of staying in log huts too. Monarch safari park owned by actor Mithun Chakravarthy is another option. All these places have fine amenities and luxuries that can be expected out of full fledged reputed resorts.

What to expect?

The jungle is the main attraction. Typical sightings are elephants, small herds of bison or gaur, big herds of chital, a lonely sambar and wild boar. The wild life department arranges for morning and evening safaris into the forest. Canters are relatively safe bets compared to the rickety truck that is also on offer. You may not have the choice to choose though. Charges are around Rs 30 per person and Video camera charges are around Rs 100. Taking this safari continues to be only option to have a decent chance to sight game in Mudumalai as no private vehicles are allowed inside the park officially.

But remember that the Ooty - Mysore main road just bisects the park in its way. If you just take your vehicle up and down this road for 5 kms each way, you may end up having one of the best sightings possible in this region.

We did this everyday and we had better sightings this way and were really satisfied. We had an experience of waiting for a family of elephants including a small calf cross the road in front of us, from one side to the other side and into the Moyar river (which is a main source of water). We were sitting in our car, which happened to be the closest car from one end.

Elephant safaris are also available. If you go direct to the forest department, you may have to book a couple of days in advance. Charges are around 50 Rs per person. The other option is to check with your resort and they could possibly get you the same safari without prior booking, but charges vary with resort and may cost around 250 Rs per person. You may not sight many animals in elephant safari, as they do not take you very far into the dense forest (unlike other sanctuaries in North India), but it is still worth the experience.

The wildlife department has a big camp for elephants. Sick elephants and those captured from poachers / illegal tamers are brought here for taking care of them. The other unique thing about this camp is the weekly pooja performed by these trained elephants. Conducted every Friday evening (or is it Sunday?), this continues to be a good attraction, especially for the kids.

Bandipur

You could also drive down to the near-by Bandipur National Park (now a Tiger reserve) which is about 15 kms from Theppakadu on the road towards Mysore. I personally think that the safaris in Bandipur are more organised and they also offer better vehicles. We once had a very nice experience when it started to rain as we were half way thru the safari. We did not see any thing significant during the safari, but were pleasantly surprised to see hundreds of chital and more than a dozen peacocks on the way back thru the main road.

There is a hill top called as Gopalswamy Betta. This hill top is located around 20 Kms from Bandipur. It is a scenic spot with good chances of seeing Elephant families, if you are lucky. It is also a popular option for hiking.

There are a few good resorts in Bandipur as well. The popular resorts in this area are Tusker Trails and Bush Betta. I hear that Jungle Lodges have recently opened a forest lodge in Bandipur. Having known their standards personally (in other sanctuaries), it would certainly be a good option. All these resorts cost more than 2500 Rs per night for a couple.

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