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-   -   A night at the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/167136-night-parambikulam-tiger-reserve-3.html)

I have done this trip during Nov 7th and 8th. From Kochi you can take NH till Wadakkanchery then deviate to Nemmara-Kollengode and take a right turn at Muthalamada to Chemmanampathy. This road will connect you to Pollachi-Parambikkulam road. The sanctuary is around 30 kms away from the first checkpost at Sethumadai. The road after this check-post ranges from bad to worse. A guide will join you from the Kerala check-post onwards.

Please note that you need to take your own car for safari if you are booking Honeycomb complex. For tent or treetop packages you will be taken in their vehicle.

Thanks DieselLover :

I think we are getting 2 cottages and a tree house. Yet to get the confirmation though ! We are trying for this through a State Govt Employee.

How about the food there ? We will anyway have small kids including infants.
Can we carry things for cooking from there ?

How are the roads. ?

Food was strictly average. If you are travelling with kids please carry some eatables with you. We cannot carry any cooking devices inside the sanctuary.

As I mentioned earlier road is generally bad inside the forest. Since you are planning to stay in Cottages/tree top you don't have to worry too much as you will be taken in their bus for safari.

Sorry for the late reply, I am not sure if you already done with your Trip.

If you are Planning for Trekking, Suggest to take some Tobacco and Salt so that you can periodically apply water soaked with Salt and Tobacco to your foot/Boot to avoid Leaches. If you know any other way to avoid it, Please use that. I don't think you need any additional stuffs especially for this trip.

Regarding the route, yes, the route you point from Wadakkancherry is correct when coming from Cochin. Suggest to take route via Valparai while returning so that its a scenic drive with 41 Hair Pins and after Kerala Border at Malakkapara, there is an 80Km drive through Jungle and the road is Amazing and there are chances for animal Sighting - Elephants Bison etc.

One thing to be taken care if you take this route is Malakkappara - Kerala border check post will get closed by 6.Pm and this Drive take more time to cover due to hair pins and curvy roads, So Prepare to reach Valpara atleast by 4 to cross the checkpost at Malakkapara)

The 6D is a good full frame option over the 5Ds. A friend of mine who is into birding has got the 150-600mm Tamron and is quite happy with it. You could also find some nice camera equipment over here

http://www.jjmehta.com/forum/index.php?board=8.0
http://www.jjmehta.com/forum/index.p...c,43850.0.html

I remember Sakthi hotel in Pollachi used to have great food, though i dont know how it is now.

https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/...4b022dc65ad84b

Finally after considering various aspects below and research over 3 months, I decided to stick back with APS-C. Ordered Canon 7d Mark 2 and Canon 100-400 L IS USM 2 and Now eagerly waiting for the shipment which may happen in a day or two :)

- 6d full frame with Canon 100-400 L IS USM 2 is insufficient to reach long for birding/Wild life where APS-C of 7d get some extra hold

- 7d Mk 2 can do autofocus even at f/8 where 6d Can't - Planning to buy 1.4 Teleconverter at later point (I read somewhere only 1D can do this other than 7d in Canon)

- Shutter Speed of 7d is a plus point over 6d (Suggested by some of my friends in the field)

- I am not much interested in portraits where 6d excels over 7d

Hi Arun,

I am planning of a trip to Parambikulam with my spouse and 5 year old son in a week and have the following questions for you
1) Is the tree house accommodation and the entire package safe for a family?
2) Now in 2017 they are accepting online payment but i see 3-4 sites in name of Parambikulam - one is .org, .net; .in and keralatourism.org/wildlife/parambikulam. Not sure which is authentic one run by kerala govt.
3) What is the best route from chennai.
4) Will be able to get another tree house for my parents if they wish to join me.

Please let me know,Thanks.Anandh.

1. It is safe but rats tend to enter at night and try to rummage for food. So keep all food in your car. It's also a little dim and cramped. Food is brought from their kitchen in containers and the dim sit out area of the room has typical nature sounds with insects, etc (I liked it, but not everybody would). It might be a little difficult with a child around. But the view from the room is outstanding in the morning.
2. Best way is to send a money order after calling and blocking the booking. You're right, the websites seem to all be of travel agents. There used to be a direct website, but strangely I don't see it now.
..
4. There are 2 tree houses but they are quite far from each other. So it may not be practical if you want to be together. The cottages seem like a better option in that case.

1. Very safe but for insect bites
2. Try the landline no. given here.

Parambikulam Wildlife Division
Anappad, Via Pollachi, Palakkad
Phone: 04253 277233 Mobile:9447979102
E-mail:*ww-parambikulam@forest.kerala.gov.in

If i remember correctly, i did a NEFT transfer once to their bank account with SBI, Sethumadai branch.
3. Best route is chennai-salem-avinashi-pollachi-topslip-parambikulam. Chennai-salem, either via Krishnagiri or Ulundurpet depending on your location in Chennai.
4. Possible to get two tree tops but, one will be far from the other. Advantage of staying in a tree top is that you can use your own vehicle inside the forest for safari, particularly, for your trip to Kannimara teak tree. Since, you can start your safari exactly by 6 am, you will be the first person to hit the road and hence, a higher probability of sighting animals.

There seems to be 3 tree top huts at Peruvarai Island, Parambikkulam and Thunakkadavu. Which one you would recommend?

I don't know whether Tree top hut is available at Peruvari Island but a regular tent which can accommodate 5 occupants. Among tree top huts at Parambikkulam and Thunakkadavu, my choice would be Parambikulam, for the simple reason that you will be allowed to use your vehicle for Kannimara Teak Safari in the morning. As you would be first person to hit the road in the morning at 6 am, possibility of animal sighting is high. Thunakkadavu package is actually linked to Tented Niche and hence, you will be accommodated in the Forest Department's Van which will cover both Parambikulam Reservoir visit and Kannimara Teak Tree visit in a single trip. Moreover, compared to the tree top hut at Parambikulam which is surrounded by Tribes accommodation, you may feel a bit lonely at Thunakkadavu hut.

Hi,

What was the cost of stay at Parambikulam? Is stay mandatory or if you can reach early morning, say by 04:30 hrs, would that suffice?

I'm looking for some suggestions on doing a Tiger Safari on a Jeep in the state of Tamilnadu. The plan is to visit sometime during August or early September. I will be accompanied with a friend of mine who is a German. After doing some research, I narrowed down on the following two places:

1. Parambikulam Tiger Reserve
2. Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve

A google search on some packaged tours to the above two places were not bringing me any satisfactory results. So here are my requirements for narrowing down on one of those two destinations (in the order or priority):

1. Need a decent and a safe place to stay during the visit- This is of utmost importance - We plant to stay for a maximum of 3 days

2. Are there any special permits that we need to obtain (Considering that we both are EU citizens) - I would prefer to skip these two places if we require any special permissions to do the safari - Open to any other suggestions (preferably within Tamilnadu)

3. We would prefer to do a Jeep safari - So this option is a must

I tried searching for some older posts, but could not find one. Hence I decided to start a new thread!

Please help!

Have you looked at safari at Mudumalai (TN side) and Bandipur (Karnataka side) for Tiger safari? They do Jeep Safari?
If you want to increase your chances of sighting the big cat (ofcourse luck matters a lot), i would say Kabini/Nagarhole is the best bet that will satisfy your 2 criteria - Safe stay and Jeep Safari. It doesn't mean the other places are unsafe however, being EU citizen, i think Kabini will work best for you both.

-Ravi

Mudumalai also seems interesting. Could you point me to some tour or travel agency that I can contact and get some additional information?

I did google a bit and came across this one for example at Mudumalai:

http://deepjunglehome.in

Is there any other home stay like places that you could recommend?