[laluks]

GAVI


Gavi is a beautiful and pristine forest haven spread accross the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Gavi is an Evergreen Forest with abundant but elusive magnificent wildlife including Tiger. This is a place for birders as well, since it is home to some 320 species of birds.

Our trip to Gavi was in continuation of the Onam trip to Parambikulam, Valparai, Thekkady, Vagamon. That story can be read here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...lparai-20.html. Day08 to Day10 of the trip was Gavi. Gavi as a destination deserves a separate thread of its own.

KFDC's Eco Tourism Project at Gavi has caught the attention these days, especially with the European travellors. You will get all the details of the Project here :: welcome :: Gavi Eco Tourism ::

Our trip this time had continuous rains, mist and ofcourse the leech bites. We would definitely return back to this place again probably when it is not raining. But Kerala in rains is a treat, and that too in an evergreen forest - it was just marvellous.

Our trip was made special by our guide Mr. Varghese. He deserves a special mention since he understood me and my interests about the place instantaneously. It was only because of him our stay became more enjoyable. Even in the heavy rains, daring the leech bites he took us for trekking, and showed us some wild life, and he doubled as our photographer.


On to the story...

[laluks]

Day01, 26.08.2010
GAVI

From Thekkady, Gavi Eco tourism centre is exactly 40Kms. From Thekkady you have to head in the direction of Vandiperiyaar, which is around 18Km from Thekkady.

Just before reaching Vandiperiyar, at the the junction called Kakki Kavala you'll have to turn left to go to Gavi. You continue in this road for another 10Km before you reach Vallakadavu Checkpost.

If you have to proceed further you must have permissions. But as I could gather, some alternate arrangements are possible these days like some how you can drive through. I was told that a mallu singer by name Rimi Tomy had travelled there and after that the route is in many peoples radar. But Gavi is in the cards for getting a Tiger Reserve category. Things can get stricter later.

If you are staying at the KFDC (Kerala Forest Development Corporation) Eco tourism cottages of Gavi or if you are booked on a day visiting package from them, you are allowed after paying the necessary Fees for camera, vehicle, persons etc. This is because KFDC would have already taken care of the formalities for you at the checkpost by way of issuing an order allowing your entry. They normally take your Vehicle registration number on booking to issue the order a day in advance of your arrival at the checkpost.

From the check post Gavi is another 12 Km more.

After Vallakadavu check post you'll encounter two more check posts before you reach Gavi.

At the second checkpost you'll have to enter your details again. Once he opens the barricade you are in the Goodrikal Forest Range.

A little further you get the third checkpost, but this checkpost does not need your entries. At this Checkpost the road forks, the road straight ahead goes to Gavi and the one on the right goes to Pullu medu. This route will take you to the grasslands near Sabarimala, and is a restricted route which is open to the believers in Sabarimala Season alone. Very rough roads. Little further in this route is where the recent stampede tragedy at Sabarimala occured.

From here a few more Kilometers and you are in front of KFDC Eco Tourism cottages at Gavi. Officially this is the limit you are allowed to go. You have to park your vehicle here, and the safaris are given in jeeps. Roads are only good till here.

But we drove from Gavi all the way to Angamoozhy (60km from Gavi) on our return along with our guide Mr. Vargheese through the forests and visited Pampa, more of that as the story unfolds. I can only say my poor civvy would not have imagined in its design period of such an extent of test

[laluks]

Day01, 26.08.2010
GAVI

We started from Thekkady by 10:30AM. Finding Kakki Kavala and reaching the Vallakkadavu checkpost was a breeze. We reached the checkpost by 11:30AM.

On declaring that we were booked at KFDC cottages, the office immediately took out the Entry permits and searched for my name. On finding it, I was asked to pay the necessary fees, and we were allowed to travel further with and advise to drive slow, since the roads are narrow and probability of encountering wildlife crossing.

The narrow winding Green roads to Gavi












Elephant Dung?


A small stream




continued...

[laluks]

Day01, 26.08.2010
GAVI

We reached the second Checkpost. The officer sits inside a building with trenches on sides and controls the gate via a rope tied accross. I went there and wrote the deatils of the vehicle and license number with address. On asking, he replied it is to keep track of the guys on an emergency and also to know the whereabouts of the visitor.

The second Checkpost


We entered the Goodrikal forst range


Some Guidelines


The adventerous and exciting road ahead


Finally we reached the KFDC Eco Tourism Cottage at Gavi by 13:30PM. The mist, rains, the anrrow roads made us take 1.5 hours to cover the 20Km distance. Roads are good.

Civvy parked at Gavi KFDC entrance.




It was misty. Can you believe it is an afternoon? It was around 18 to 20 degrees.


Power Puff Girls at the Green Mansion Forest Lodge.




We went in and presented ourselves to the reception, kept the luggage there and went directly for lunch. The place where we went for lunch was infested with leeches brought back by the trekkers and PPG's had their encounters with leeches for the first time in their life. It took only two bites for them to be accustomed and to stop panicking. The leeches became a non issue from then.

The flowery path to the dining area








Lunch was a simple affair and we fisinhed it faster. We were assigned the cottages by then and we shifted our luggage.

The place was chilling due to the rains and I found some Spanish guys enjoying a bonfire. Joined them and relaxed singing a lot of songs till 16:00PM, evening tea time.

Bonfire and songs with fellow travellors from Spain







We went to the dining area by 16:00PM for the evening Tea. The Spanish guys went ahead for their next trek.

continued...

[laluks]

Day01, 26.08.2010
GAVI

We enjoyed a beautiful hot cup of tea, and the chilly rains and mist added to the fun.

Enjoying the hot tea


Jr. PPG all happy


A red whiskered bulbul


I was finding it difficult to keep the camera without the mist coming on the lens.


Our guide asked as whether we wanted to stay at the bonfire or to do some walking around. PPGs immediately said let us do some walking. Mr. Varghese then made plans to take us to a cardamom processing facility near by.

Raw Cardamom


The heating setup. It is just a place where you keep firewood and burn it.



Jr. PPG investigating the heating setup






These pipes take the hot air from the heating setup inside the room.


Cardamom is kept on top of this and hot air is blown from below.


The complete setup. You can see the air vent below.


Temperature setting charts


The chart for the batch


Another Setup - temperature controlled


See the cardamom inside




This was a very short visit and we were back at the reception by 17:00PM. The PPGs immediately befriended the guy at the reception and switched on the common TV and settled with their favourite channels.

continued....

[laluks]

Day01, 26.08.2010
GAVI

I sat with the kids for a while looking at the TV, and since we are older kids got bored with the cartoons.

Found this photo at the reception


I ventured out to find Mr. Vargehse to ask if there is a possibility for us to see such a magnificent sight.

I see Mr. Varghese carrying all the life jackets from the boating area to the office.


Mr. Varghese promises to get us a nice view of the wild elephants on the next days safari.

I wanted to walk along the place, and Mr. Varghese immediately got us rain jackets and took us for a small stroll near by. He carried a packet of salt to take care of the leech attacks.

The misty view near the boat house


Wifey strolling on the greens


She definitely is happy. No leech fear either


The misty surroundings


We finished our short trekk and walked back to the reception


We reached the reception by 18:30PM

The misty views of the reception






continued...

[laluks]

Day01, 26.08.2010
GAVI

We were free till 20:30PM, since dinner would be served then. Nothing to do, it is raining all around.

Decided to join the Spanish guys at the bonfire and continue with more songs.








Time flew by very fast. It was an enjoyable evening. By 20:30PM we all went ahead for dinner and said bye for the day.

On return I found a plaque mentioning the inaguration of the place.



I went to the civvy to see if everything is in order. Before returning to the room checked the temperature.

It was 18 degrees by 21:00PM.


Reached the room, cleared the last traces of leeches from the body, took a hot shower and jumped on to the bed.

Next day we had to be ready before 06:00AM for the safari.

[samarth.bhatia]

Oh this pace seems beautiful .

I loved the pictures of the hanging flowers.
It's interesting that it was so dark in the afternoon. I would love to visit this place.
Looking forward to reading and viewing more on this.

A special mention of your Civvy. Looks in pristine condition.

Cheers and drive safe.
Sam

[laluks]

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

Oh this pace seems beautiful .

I loved the pictures of the hanging flowers.
It's interesting that it was so dark in the afternoon. I would love to visit this place.
Looking forward to reading and viewing more on this.

A special mention of your Civvy. Looks in pristine condition.

Cheers and drive safe.
Sam

Thanks Sam
In Monsoons Kerala is like that. Unpredictable. The rains continued all the way till November last year.

Civvy has done 66K. She's a wonderful companion for the trips.

[Anandg]

HI Laluks,
Great travelogue as usual. You must have visited most of the beautiful places in india especially Kerela. We thank you for making us realize that India too has amazing exotic locations within everyones reach. I would like to know following:
1) What is the procedure for getting the permits to these locations / forest reserves?
2) How easy is the communication in case you do not know local language? As it might be an issue with forest officials there?
3) How good is safety if you are going with family there?
4) How far is Gavi from Bangalore?
5) Any other points / precautions one should keep in mind when planning to visit these places?

[laluks]

Originally Posted by Anandg

HI Laluks,
Great travelogue as usual. You must have visited most of the beautiful places in india especially Kerela. We thank you for making us realize that India too has amazing exotic locations within everyones reach. I would like to know following:
1) What is the procedure for getting the permits to these locations / forest reserves?
2) How easy is the communication in case you do not know local language? As it might be an issue with forest officials there?
3) How good is safety if you are going with family there?
4) How far is Gavi from Bangalore?
5) Any other points / precautions one should keep in mind when planning to visit these places?

Thanks Anand.

1)
a) If you are staying at KFDC cottage, just call them and book your accomodation. They'll take care of the formalities. Charges are like Rs1850 per person for a nights stay with all simple meals.
b) Local travel agents from Thekkady seems to promote this place as a days outing. Book a trip with them. They'll take care of the formalities and you can stay back in Thekkady. This costs Rs 900 per person including breakfast, lunch and tea for the KFDC package. The cost of the jeep safari from Thekkady extra.

2)
Thankfully most of them speak English. So you can manage most times.

3)
a) Gavi is a proper Eco Tourism place, and is safe. The road from Vandiperiyaar to Gavi is most often used, and hence the road is also safe.

b) From Gavi further on is not allowed normally. Those roads are bad and only Government bus and local jeeps ply there. I had gone another 60Km further there, but I had Mr. Varghese our guide with me. Not that it is not safe, but a guy with the knowledge of the forest is an advantage. It also helps at the check posts since our cars are outstation cars. If you love your vehicle do not take that road. It is do able for any serious enthusiast, but best avoided. I do not know whether they allow these days. I was told Gavi is going to get Tiger Reserve Status, and the route could be restricted. I also heard the DFO from Parambikulam might get posted at Periyaar.

4)
Gavi is around 560Km from Bangalore. Kumily/Thekkady is 520Kms and Gavi is another 40Km from there.

In this trip I have done Kumily Bangalore in the wee hours, and it took 6 hours. Kumily Gavi took 2 hours due to the mist, narrow roads and new places. But on a clear day it'll take an hour at the most.

5) Nothing as such. If you are visiting after the rains, leeches could be an issue. If you are ok with that, then no issues as such. We decided to go just after the monsoon to catch it green, but unfortunately rains continued all the way till November last year in Kerala. Summer could be good for spotting animals and doing some camps/tents in the forest.

Food is basic and simple. Water is not an issue - you can take bottled mineral water as much as you want.


Hope I have answered all your queries

[laluks]

Day02, 27.08.2010
GAVI

Everybody was awake by 05:00AM. I was especially beacuse this gentleman was having a fight with me through out the night.



Today Mr. Varghese had promised us to show wild elephants.

We got ready with the leech socks.


We got out of the room by 05:30AM.


A moth seems to be interested in the socks




We strolled down to the boating location which is near the dining area.

















Had a cup of hot tea. The weather was chilly and thankfully it was not raining. By the time we finished our hot tea, the Jeep had come for our safari. It was 06:00AM.


I was getting increasedly confused with the camera, as I was never used to using it in such conditions of mist, wetness and cloudy scenarios. One thing is protecting the gear, next is setting the selections. I have tried some clicks nevertheless.


continued...

[laluks]

Day02, 27.08.2010
GAVI

The Safari Jeep driver turned out to be Mr. Varghese's father in law. After the introductions we slowly rolled through the narrow roads, with Mr. Varghese keeping a close watch for any wildlife.

Suddenly he asked us to stop and get on to the bonnet of the Jeep.

This is what we saw.

Wild elephants deep inside the woods



We watched them for a while from the road and continued on. The pictures have not come out good as I had a lot of parameters to watch out for, and I was totally clueless.

A little further we saw barking deers near a water hole












By 07:00AM we reached another checkpost at Pachakkanam. Beyond this the forest jeeps can ply, and we continued on that route for another few kilometers.


Amazing views


continued...

[ampere]

Very nice place, Gavi seems to be. Folks in Kerala would know about it. But I am sure many folks out side the state may not know. Even if they know, they would not be aware of the real beauty surrounding the place.

Looking at Google maps, it does not seem that far from Kumily.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by ampere

Very nice place, Gavi seems to be. Folks in Kerala would know about it. But I am sure many folks out side the state may not know. Even if they know, they would not be aware of the real beauty surrounding the place.

Looking at Google maps, it does not seem that far from Kumily.

It is 40Km from Kumily, and 22Km from Vandiperiyar. It is near. But the Checkposts permissions makes the deterrence and the costs of the package. It is better that way,I guess.

But you can take a government bus from Vandiperiyaar or somewhere from the other side like Angamoozhi and do a simple trip also. You'll have to carry your food then.