all photos are here
It was challenging to find participants for this program. I finally convinced my friends from my frisbee team and others around to join us for the program. The cost was reduced to very low and finally we were able to conduct the trip with 9 participants apart from me and Murthy, making it a total of 11.
A brief outline for the 2 days program:
The overnight Volvo bus journey from Hyderabad to Vizag was tiring for all. We reached Vizag at 8am and did a quick freshen up. Then we headed for breakfast on our pre-booked 12 seater. Murthy also joined us later with another participant from Vizag, Nagarjuna.
We took a halt at a resort where we released a live specimen of rat snake in the nearby forest that Murthy's uncle rescued a day back from a village near srikakulum. Murthy explained the behavior of the snakes, the myths around these harmless animals and other details related to their ecological importance. Participants also got a chance to handle it. It was an exciting start of the day for all.
We then headed to Borra caves junction to have our lunch. A pit stop at view point and finally we were at village. Everyone had a good feeling of the village atmosphere, the small huts and the curious faces of villagers looking at it. We then had a cup of tea and met our guides who took us for a forest trek. The trek started through the village farms and then across the railway line was this green forest cover all around. Just after half a km we were at a water stream where all relaxed for a while. We then trekked down the stream to enter into the forest. Here Murthy demonstrated the camera trap fixing to all participants. We continued the trail from here and not entered the dense shrubs. Our guides were clearing and creating the path for us. We all had to bend and walk for quite some time to cross this dense patch.
After trekking further for a while we were at top of a small hill. There was another higher hill visible to us, totally into dense forest. The guides told us that it will take an hour of climb if we want to trek that. Some excited trekkers did wanted to trek up but I refrained as it was already past 4pm and I did not wanted to take any chance of night trekking as most were amateur trekkers.
We took an alternate route to return back, most of it along the railway track. It was exciting to cross a railway bridge on the way. Finally we were at village around 6pm. Some marks along the railway track which our guide mentioned were made by bears. I still doubt it though as they seemed very machinic.
Back to the village we had our tea and after that followed a nice home made dinner. We sat around a bonfire for our talks and trying the local drink of Taadi which made all of us little high. I remember trying some unique dish made of ragi and kacha mango (don't remember name). It was liquidy with a unique sour taste. No one else was brave enough to try it though :P Late night we played cards and then slept in these few rooms in two village houses which were very cozy and well built.
Day2
It was a long way to trek but wait for breakfast was long. We explored the village in morning and then finally started the hike which was very easy crossing through farms and small forest patches and then the railway track. After 2-3 hrs we reached the diversion towards the Katiki waterfalls. We halted at a small hut to try local bamboo chicken (not me, am veggie :P) and get some water. Then we were at the base of this quite beautiful fall that left a nice mist around. It was a tourist place where many people were there which did disappoint us, mainly the garbage that had accumulated here over time. Reaching the fall was itself an adventure itself, crossing through the wet rocks, but what was ahead was not expected by anyone.
Beside the waterfall we were supposed to trek till the Araku view point where our bus was waiting. The waterfall itself was at an adventurous spot and beyond it was a steep climb that nobody anticipated. And it all starts from a huge rock that was hard to climb. Me Murthy Raman and Nagarjuna, showed some courage. We all went up the rock to see how far the climb is further. We all then had to convince everyone to climb this as we stood on this rock to support everyone. I was standing on an edge, below me feets deep cliff. My legs were shivering but I showed some fake confidence that this is easy. As I saw some participants like Ravi and Spandana, who were not confident, I still voted to step back and take another route, longer but safer. But Murthy and Raman were adamant and we all took this path. Tricky it was but all were successful to climb this rock. Now it was no looking back, it was a steep climb with slippery mud and rocks where everyone, including me, almost crawled all the way up. After about another 40-45 min of this unexpected adventure on a wildlife program, we all reached the view point and waited for our vehicle. There we met Jayshree and her husband as well (Jayshree has been working with the Araku tribes since more than 10years now). We had a nice chat about the program from last 2 days.
We now headed to the Borra caves as few people wanted to see them (though not a natural site that attracts me). After a quick watch we rode back to Vizag where people had to catch their train to hyderabad. I stayed for an extra day to explore some more places around Vizag. I was amazed by the beautiful forest we visited and the villagers we interacted with. The hidden waterfall here was also a great site. We may take a program here soon.
Turns out tough times for EGWS as we couldn't save any funds from this trip. Hopefully after more streamlining and popularity we should have better sustenance model to carry out our conservation work here.
It was challenging to find participants for this program. I finally convinced my friends from my frisbee team and others around to join us for the program. The cost was reduced to very low and finally we were able to conduct the trip with 9 participants apart from me and Murthy, making it a total of 11.
A brief outline for the 2 days program:
The overnight Volvo bus journey from Hyderabad to Vizag was tiring for all. We reached Vizag at 8am and did a quick freshen up. Then we headed for breakfast on our pre-booked 12 seater. Murthy also joined us later with another participant from Vizag, Nagarjuna.
We took a halt at a resort where we released a live specimen of rat snake in the nearby forest that Murthy's uncle rescued a day back from a village near srikakulum. Murthy explained the behavior of the snakes, the myths around these harmless animals and other details related to their ecological importance. Participants also got a chance to handle it. It was an exciting start of the day for all.
We then headed to Borra caves junction to have our lunch. A pit stop at view point and finally we were at village. Everyone had a good feeling of the village atmosphere, the small huts and the curious faces of villagers looking at it. We then had a cup of tea and met our guides who took us for a forest trek. The trek started through the village farms and then across the railway line was this green forest cover all around. Just after half a km we were at a water stream where all relaxed for a while. We then trekked down the stream to enter into the forest. Here Murthy demonstrated the camera trap fixing to all participants. We continued the trail from here and not entered the dense shrubs. Our guides were clearing and creating the path for us. We all had to bend and walk for quite some time to cross this dense patch.
After trekking further for a while we were at top of a small hill. There was another higher hill visible to us, totally into dense forest. The guides told us that it will take an hour of climb if we want to trek that. Some excited trekkers did wanted to trek up but I refrained as it was already past 4pm and I did not wanted to take any chance of night trekking as most were amateur trekkers.
We took an alternate route to return back, most of it along the railway track. It was exciting to cross a railway bridge on the way. Finally we were at village around 6pm. Some marks along the railway track which our guide mentioned were made by bears. I still doubt it though as they seemed very machinic.
Back to the village we had our tea and after that followed a nice home made dinner. We sat around a bonfire for our talks and trying the local drink of Taadi which made all of us little high. I remember trying some unique dish made of ragi and kacha mango (don't remember name). It was liquidy with a unique sour taste. No one else was brave enough to try it though :P Late night we played cards and then slept in these few rooms in two village houses which were very cozy and well built.
Day2
It was a long way to trek but wait for breakfast was long. We explored the village in morning and then finally started the hike which was very easy crossing through farms and small forest patches and then the railway track. After 2-3 hrs we reached the diversion towards the Katiki waterfalls. We halted at a small hut to try local bamboo chicken (not me, am veggie :P) and get some water. Then we were at the base of this quite beautiful fall that left a nice mist around. It was a tourist place where many people were there which did disappoint us, mainly the garbage that had accumulated here over time. Reaching the fall was itself an adventure itself, crossing through the wet rocks, but what was ahead was not expected by anyone.
Beside the waterfall we were supposed to trek till the Araku view point where our bus was waiting. The waterfall itself was at an adventurous spot and beyond it was a steep climb that nobody anticipated. And it all starts from a huge rock that was hard to climb. Me Murthy Raman and Nagarjuna, showed some courage. We all went up the rock to see how far the climb is further. We all then had to convince everyone to climb this as we stood on this rock to support everyone. I was standing on an edge, below me feets deep cliff. My legs were shivering but I showed some fake confidence that this is easy. As I saw some participants like Ravi and Spandana, who were not confident, I still voted to step back and take another route, longer but safer. But Murthy and Raman were adamant and we all took this path. Tricky it was but all were successful to climb this rock. Now it was no looking back, it was a steep climb with slippery mud and rocks where everyone, including me, almost crawled all the way up. After about another 40-45 min of this unexpected adventure on a wildlife program, we all reached the view point and waited for our vehicle. There we met Jayshree and her husband as well (Jayshree has been working with the Araku tribes since more than 10years now). We had a nice chat about the program from last 2 days.
We now headed to the Borra caves as few people wanted to see them (though not a natural site that attracts me). After a quick watch we rode back to Vizag where people had to catch their train to hyderabad. I stayed for an extra day to explore some more places around Vizag. I was amazed by the beautiful forest we visited and the villagers we interacted with. The hidden waterfall here was also a great site. We may take a program here soon.
Turns out tough times for EGWS as we couldn't save any funds from this trip. Hopefully after more streamlining and popularity we should have better sustenance model to carry out our conservation work here.
