The next day we took a country bus to Chennar,winding through tea estates bordering the Evakulum National Park. Winding is the word as the hills here have steep slopes and there are lots of hills and valleys so that the road is twisting and turning, shaking the passengers from side to side as the bus negotiates hairpin bends and avoid oncoming trucks on a road that seems barely one carriageway wide. The pickers have to climb the slopes to pick the tea so each tea plant is separated from the next by a narrow gap, creating a characteristic pattern on the rounded hills. The tea plants are kept trimmed flat and a convenient height for the pickers.
We stopped at Murramar on the way to look at the Sandlewood forest and then took a side trip by auto rickshaw to see some stone age burial sites. This was a good chance to see more of the countryside - this area is much lower than Munnur but wet so that sugar cane and jaggery (unrefined sugar) is produced. The area features huge flat plats of rock on which the burial structures are situated - they looked very like structures of a similar type in Brittany.
When we reached Chennar on another 'bus we we taken on a three hour trek along the river to a tree house. This was situated next to a confluence of two rivers and a large pool. We saw many birds, including a serpent eagle and kingfishers, and then waited by the pool until it was dark, seeing more birds and monkeys, but missing the Indian buffalo that our guide could see in the gloom. We were given dinner by the river (by candlelight as it was by then dark).
We slept in the tree house, managing the rope ladder in the dark, which was slightly challenging - the house was about 30 ft above the ground. In the night we were woken by elephants trumetting, but we could not see them as we were surrounded by the leaves of the supporting tree, and I suspect they were some way off.
It was absolutely fabulous to be in the wild like this - we could hear nothing but birds, monkeys and the occasional splash of fish in the river.
In the morning we were given tea by our guides who spent the night on the ground. I suspect this was partly to prevent night expeditions as elephants can be dangerous - a tourist was trampled last month - and because there are other rarer animals that present a risk. There is a tiger sanctuary right next to Chennar reserve (but this is in Tamil Nadu and this a completely separate operation).
One might ask why the guides are put at risk like this. However they took precautions - sleeping on the rocks in the river (probably to avoid insects) and they lit a fire to keep the elephants and tigers away.
In the morning, after some tea, we trekked back to the starting point via a different route and saw more birds, including a peacock (a wild one) and (fleetingly) some Sambar, a type of native deer. The reserve is very dry, except in the vicinity of the river, and this means that the large animals are relatively rare. We saw futher evidence of elephants - large dung heaps and also broken trees - elephants have a habit of damaging trees which may help to keep their territories open enough for them to roam easily.
We then made our way back by 'bus to Munnar.
Cathy has been feeling unwell since our return, and this has delayed our departure to the bird sanctuary. Samuel went for a walk today up a valley and came across a group of schoolchildren who said there were elephant further on. So he went on up the valley to a point overlooking a wood on the other other side of the river (and up a steep slope). Sure enough after a few minutes we had a fleeting glimpse of an elephant, and for a few minutes could see the trees swaying were they were passing.
This valley was really nice scenery - with a mixture of tea and woodland on hilly terrain.
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