Periyer National Park

This is one of the few National Game reserves in India and actually comprises over 770 sq. Km of the surrounding hills. Allegedly there are tiger and leopard's sill roaming freely in the park but these are rarely seen by visitors. So to ensure we got the best visit to the park we were up at 6am to be first in there. The park opened at 8am but we could get tickets before that at the park gates and then be first in line to cross the lake to take the ranger guided tour on a short walk around the park. The first challenge on arriving at the visitor centre s to put on the leech socks. This is because the floor of the wooded areas are teeming with tiny leeches (apparently of the same kind as medical leeches but I was quite happy to put on the canvas over socks which you wear in between your shoes and normal socks and which extend up to just below your knees. Next we had to go down to the lake edge and await the bamboo raft across the lake which only took 5 people at a time. Due to a serious boating accident about 2 months ago on this lake when a large number of people had drowned we had to wear these ridiculous buoyancy aids however they could not be secured to you properly as the straps were not correctly fitted – They were actually more of a hindrance than a 'safe' thing to wear should you have fallen in but the Ranger's were just going through the motions of the new regulations. (About 3 months ago a large number of people were on one of the viewing boats that used to ply the lake when somebody spotted a rare animal an they all rushed to the same side to look, the boat listed then took on water and sank, unfortunately many of the people on the boat could not swim and drowned). The boats are no longer plying the lake but the bamboo raft is still used to transport people across the lake. Once we were all across 3 rangers took us up a path into the woodland, they were very knowledgeable about the flora, fauna and wildlife we came across however what stuck me most was that apart from the heat I could have been at Middlewood – many of the trees and plants in the forest were similar to that at Middlewood, the only difference was the fact that it was monkeys swinging from the tree tops and not Scouts! We actually came across very little wildlife in the short walk we did around the park and though it was interesting and the Park Rangers were very knowledgeable about every thing we asked, I felt it was a little tame. We left the park round 11 am and headed back to a little restaurant near the hotel which did the most amazing espresso coffee and a potato tomato and cheese fry dish – with no spices, the service took ages but it was well worth the wait. The afternoon was free and in the evening was an optional martial arts display which I declined, fighting not been my idea of fun. I took the time instead to do a load of washing and internet updates.
The following morning we again were up early to take auto's to the bus station and then a 4 hour local state bus ride down the mountain to the town of Madurai