Elusive wildlife

On the way to Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary

Our last stop in Kerala was to be a visit to Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, but alas dealing with beauracracy in India is slower and more treacherous than driving on the roads. Permits are required for a vehicle travelling outside its home state and as we had changed plans our permit for Kerala was due to expire during our visit to the wildlife sanctuary. Our driver attempted to get an extension on the previous day on the stroke of 5pm but apparently punctuality counts at knock-off time at least. He was told there was a permit office 22km from Kalpetta, our destination and base for visits to the wildlife sanctuary. The next morning in Kalpetta we discovered that the permit office was in fact three hours drive away on a road that was considered bad even by Indian standards. To avoid the risk of paying a fine upwards of 5000 rupees we decided to abandon our plan and head to Mysore in the state of Karnataka.

The Baha'i couple we met in Kalpetta

Before leaving Kalpetta we followed the sign to the Baha'i centre whuch we had noticed when arriving the day before. With some help from a few locals we found the centre, which was unfortunately closed. Rajendren, our driver, managed to translate for us that we were hoping to meet some of the local Baha'is and, after a brief discussion, one of the neighbours' sons piled into the car with us and directed us to a small office in town. Here we were very warmly welcomed by Sudhakarau, one of the Baha'is from Kalpetta, and shortly after we were greeted by his wife Mary as well. Their genuine warmth and hospitality was an example to us all and epitomised a phrase from the Baha'i Writings - "Let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path". We discussed the various activities in our respective communities, in which we had a common language as Baha'i activities are similar across the globe whether on small islands in the pacific or in large sprawling cities. They, as we do, held childrens classes, study circles to deepen knowledge of the faith, and devotional meetings where writings are read and shared from the Baha'i faith and other religions, often on a specific theme. Our meeting was short but left us feeling blessed and joyously aware that we are one family on this beautiful planet.

Scene from Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary

After crossing the state border we realised that the road leading to Mysore didn't follow the route we expected but, as fortune would have it, passed within 18km of Bandipur Wildlife sanctuary. A quick decision saw us having one last attempt at an Indian wildlife adventure. The 18km km's was speedily traversed in just under one hour - there must be a point in the ratio of bitumen to potholes where a road should realisticly be classed as a gravel road! At 6am the next morning, we all rugged up and headed off for a 90 minute jeep tour of the wildife sanctuary. Our hopes were high, as a tiger had been spotted a few days earlier, but unfortunately it was not to be for us. We did, however, see plenty of wildlife, some of which were chital (a small spotted deer which was very common), elephants, Gaur ( a wild Indian bison), peacocks (and peahens) monkeys, langeurs, sambar deer, wild boar and numerous birds.

Some of the wildlife at the sanctuary...

Gaur

Elephants

Chittal

Peacock

Langur