Monday: elephant in the nature reserve

We left Mysore/Mysuru after breakfast and headed towards the border with Tamil Nadu. Stopped at an upmarket coffee chain shop (it’s all about the toilet stops on this tour, as it was last year), and soon afterwards our coach was permitted to enter Bandipur National Park, after our driver had paid the guards a bribe of around £30 / 3000 rupees.

In the park, which was green and tree-lined, we saw fallow deer grazing in herds; macaques; and langurs (monkeys), but no big game. I was not expecting to see tigers, as it was the middle of the day, and there were heavy lorries driving through the park, as well as motorbikes, cars and coaches. Wrong time of day, and too busy!

From Bandipur we crossed over the state border into Tamil Nadu, straight into another smaller nature reserve, and from there on in we began to spot elephants. Mostly they were on the other side of the coach, but eventually we saw a bull on my side, sifting through bundles of grass by pawing it, shaking it with its trunk to remove grains of sand, before eating it. I got some good video footage. A little later we saw a mother and baby elephant together, also on my side. I was very happy. I’ve seen elephants in Sri Lanka, and last year on the road in Rajasthan, but it was wonderful to see them in the wild again.

Not long after that we stopped at a restaurant for lunch, where we had a fantastic view of the Western Ghats, a mountainous region known for its biodiversity. I will post the view in extras. An hour later, we continued our journey towards Udagamandalam (founded by ‘Britisher’ John Sullivan and known also as Ooty to the British, who called it Ootacamund in days of yore), which is a pleasant hill station accessed by steeply winding roads. We passed stands of tall eucalyptus, and even stopped at a viewpoint to admire the forest, as one might do in Madeira, whilst acknowledging that the trees are thirsty and only good for firewood and essential oil production. They are not a native species, but were introduced by the British, from Australia.. See Forest in extras. Towards late afternoon we finally reached Ooty, and stopped to admire St Stephen’s church, which has a ramshackle Gothic cemetery. Many Indians as well as Britishers are buried there, either very strongly worded sentiments on their head stones. It’s a peaceful place to rest, if somewhat neglected.

The hotel in Ooty, which is named after Sullivan, is a more traditional Indian haveli style (rooms built around a central courtyard) and has wonderful
cosy rooms, attentive staff, comfortable beds, a garden, and a delightful range of food in the restaurant. There was even a piano player in the lounge, and a tea tasting session (I didn’t go because sometimes I just need to be a lion / alone.

Elspeth befriended some people over a discussion about corkscrews, and after dinner we sat in the bar and played a very silly game I’d brought, called Bumfuzzle. Great was our merriment, aided by alcohol, and we retired in gales of laughter.