Ever heard of Rivertern??

This is a guest post by Mr. S. Varadarajan (Raja as he is fondly called) and he is based in Dubai

I was quite fortunate to visit this place which is located in the interiors of Karnataka.  I felt that i should share this experience as my first blog.

It was called the Jungle lodges which were centrally situated in a small town called Chickmagalur(Chick in Kannada is Small and Magal is Daughter).  This is located 250kms from Bangalore.  The journey was not very comfortable as the approach roads were rugged for almost half of the way and added to it was the continuous rain which was not very heavy but did not seem to stop. The whole of the world suddenly looked greener as the paddy fields swaying with happiness seeing us pass through them, the sunflowers which looked golden green showing us its abundance of natural wealth and the coconut and the beetle nut trees standing in a straight line saluting as if saying welcome to our land.

We reached the village called Lakkavalli, where the lodge was located and were welcomed by an ancient temple which was closed as they open it only for a couple of days in a week, then passed through a small dam which was no more in use but still had loads of water beneath it. The road further lead to the River tern (a small slender gull having narrow wings and a forked tail) Lodge.  First thing on reaching there we saw some strong wooden steps made of Teak wood which lead us to the reception.

We were told that the rooms were further up on the hill and we need to walk.  The walk was for another 5 minutes which was on the cement steps but the whole path was covered with some plants and trees which had name plates which mentioned their name. The room boy who was accompanying us was telling us about the different trees and its age now. On these trees the magpies had built nests with in the arm’s length.  The shrubs seemed adorned as if for a Carnival.  The rooms were Log huts which had a cement walls and the hard roofs.  The outer roof was stacked with hay to give a look of a shanty. The rooms were lit with zero watts bulb but care has been taken that plenty of sunlight rushes in. No telephones, Television, Tube lights which were purposely ignored to make that particular area as much nature friendly as possible. The names of the log huts were of the migrating birds which come to that place viz., Bee Eater, Wag Tail etc..

The Balcony had the railing made of wood and looking towards the Tungabhadra river.  Though it was a river, it did not look any smaller than a sea.  It was rumbling with waves which we can hear almost 800 meters away from it. Now temptation to go to the river bank was very strong and it was impossible not to go out and wander to see the whole place immediately. The passage to the river was through the thick woods which had the unkempt vines curled on the tree trunks and dangled in the breeze which hit us @ 80kmphs.

We wanted to have hot coffee before we could walk any further as we were a bit tired. Just thinking of the coffee, we were called to the restaurant which was serving us strong aromatic Indian coffee with some pakodas. Nothing better can you get to eat on a cold rainy day.

Though the air blowing was cold and it was still drizzling it could not dampen our spirits to walk towards the water. Water sports instructor from the lodge accompanied us to the river where we set out to do some water sports like Boating, Kayaking, swimming. Each one of us were given life jackets and ventured into the deep waters of the rivers.  The most satisfying ride for me was the in the single Kayak, oaring into the heart of river.  Thoughts of the kayak toppling sent shivers in my body though was sure to be floating with the life jacket on.

Almost after a couple of hours we came back again to the hut where we were given a sumptuous hot meal.

The next day morning I was awake to the chirping of the birds and the rumble of the waves which doesn’t seem to get tired at all. The next program on the menu was a trek in the nearby mountain. Climbing the vertical height of the mountain did give us an idea of how physically fit we were but the sight of the nearby places from the top of the mountain was something which has to be experienced than put in mere words. It was like the thin green sheet spread below the dark clouds.

The evening was for the Safari into the jungle.  The 4 wheel drive took us into the deep jungle which actually boasted of many wild animals.  Since it was raining we could at one place see the peacock dancing with its feathers that seemed to touch the tall trees.  The black wild bison which looked like wearing brown socks gave a very hostile look.  The shy flock of deer which stood the height of the car we were in.  I did try to call some more wild animals with the Tarzanious hoot which went unanswered inside the deep forest.

To sum up, it was an experience which i will always treasure, staying so close to the serene surroundings for a couple of days rejuvenating each and every cell in your body.