[Dr.AD]

"The lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), also known as the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India", as stated by the Wikipedia page about these primates. The page further says, "The lion-tailed macaque ranks among the rarest and most threatened primates." One place where these rare primates are found in South India is Valparai, Tamil Nadu. And late summer/early monsoon is the right season to spot these primates in Valparai, as these come out in groups to eat jackfruit, which is available in plenty in those monsoon forests. They love jackfruit and spend their days eating jackfruit.

To be honest, on my own, I would not have known any of the above. However, the resident expert on wildlife and photography in our group, @robimahanta (aka "Robi") told us the above information (which for him was quite elementary, but for me it was a whole new knowledge!) , and more importantly, planned our driving trip to Valparai to see these rare animals. Thanks to robimahanta for planning this trip and making it happen. I just followed his plan and joined him on the drive.

The third member in our groups was the other wildlife and photography enthusiast in our group, our friend @graaja (aka "Coach). Thanks to both Robi and Coach for this amazing trip and the great memories.

I was driving my red BMW 320d. graaja was driving his "famous" BMW 330i GT, but Robi, once again, kept his BMW M340i in his garage. Instead of the M340i, in true "horses for courses" spirit, he drove his Thar on this trip. The decision was based on the fact that Valparai offers numerous off-road trails and some very scenic locations which can only be reached by taking such off-road trails. And this decision turned out to be very wise in the end. We all went in his Thar and we got to explore some really nice trails and got to see some lovely sights. All thanks to Robi's Thar!

Although spotting the Lion-tailed macaques was the main excuse for this road trip, that was not the only motivation. Valparai is a very scenic place, with lush green forests and tea plantations, and offers some fantastic driving roads. The approach road to Valparai is a classical ghat road, with butter-smooth tarmac and about 40km long stretch of twists and turns, that include 40 marked hairpin bends. Enjoying driving on this road, exploring numerous trails in Thar, and then spending time in a quite secluded hideaway in the deep forests of Valparai were all equally important parts of the agenda.

The driving route that we took from Bangalore to Valparai:



Our cars on the side of the lovely ghat road leading to Valparai:



We enjoyed driving on such lovely corners:



But then soon we had to exit the tarmac and venture deep inside woods like these in search of our forest accommodation:



After searching around for a couple of km on such forest trails (and crawling slowly to make sure the car underbody does not hit anywhere), we reached a place where we parked our cars:



And this was the lovely old bungalow that would be our home for the next 2 nights, located in the woods, totally cut off from the rest of the world:


It was a surreal experience to sit there in that old house and enjoy the forest and the ambiance. We had sounds of birds for company, and clean fresh forest air. There was nothing or nobody else around.

We spotted many of these Malabar Whistling Thrush, and we listened to their whistling sounds:



We spotted these Giant Squirrels running around on the trees right outside the house:



Sitting in the veranda of our house, we could see our parked cars:



A closer look at the cars parked in the most unusual parking place, right in the middle of a forest:



In case you are wondering how this "parking lot" looked from the front, then this is how it looked. It was just the cars parked on the side of a forest road (the BMWs stood parked there for 2 nights. The Thar was our preferred vehicles for exploring the territory there for next 2 days):



The "main bungalow" in the premises was this charming old house, which was 184 years old! That is not a typo. This house is indeed 184 years old:



The interiors were equally antique, and had a mystical old world feel:



Some equally old looking structures in the gardens outside:



Thar parked in that 184 yeas old porch:



Then it was time for exploring the trails in the Thar:



Thar looked totally at home on those broken roads and the wild surroundings:



Thar enjoying the trails through tea plantations:



As we drove around Valparai area (we visited the famous Sholayar dam there), we found several scenic spots, like these:



A view of the Sholayar Reservoir:



A landscape at Sholayar Dam viewpoint:



We even enjoyed some night off-roading in Thar:



And finally, this is how our cottages looked in the night, with absolutely nothing other than darkness around:

[Dr.AD]

Morning Walk through the Tea Plantation

Next morning we got up early (relatively, by our standards) and we took a long nature walk through the tea plantations on the hills. The staff at our place of stay was our guide for this tour, and he lead us through some very picturesque walking trails right through the middle of tea plantations.

A guided nature walk in the morning hour:



With such picturesque tea gardens all around:



For some time we walked on narrow foot trails through the tea plants. And at other times, we walked on such mud tracks (and later we got to drive Thar on similar tracks):



More views of lovely tea plantations all around:



We spotted plenty of birds there, like these woodpeckers:






While we were walking on those hilly trails, we got 360 degree views of the surrounding hills, like these (you could see clouds in the distance; the weather was just perfect. Nice morning chill, with some breeze and some clouds):






A bit ahead, we saw an interesting thing. They had tea plants on the left of this road, and coffee plantation on the right:



A view of the coffee plants on one side of the road, on the backdrops of the tea plants on the other side:



More views of the tea plants on these rolling hills:



A closer look at the tea plants and the lovely mud roads that go through them:



Tea plants under morning sun:



More views of the lush green hills in the surroundings:



Multiple shades of green on the tea plants:



A parting shot of the hills and the tea plantations on the hills, as we completed this hour-long nature walk through these picturesque trails and in that lovely morning hour:

[Dr.AD]

Monkey Business

The Lion-Tailed Monkeys (LTM) move around in groups. The group spends hours at a location, and then slowly moves around to another nearby location. As soon we entered the premises of that property on Day 1, we ran into a small group of LTMs. But that time we had no time to stop and watch them. Instead, we had kept the entire second day for this activity.

On the second day, we discussed with the local staff there and they told us a lot of about typical times and locations where the LTM groups hang around in the day. We drove around in Thar to those locations, but the first time, we had no luck. We got a nice drive of the scenic area, but did not see any LTMs.

However, we got lucky the second time. When we ventured out (again in Thar) the second time, we ran into a large group of about 110 of these primates jumping around the tress and eating jackfruit. We were told that there were around 170 LTMs residing in Valparai area, and this group around us had about 110 LTMs. So quite a large group considering their population!

We got a perfect opportunity to stand there and observe their behavior for quite some time. It was an amazing experience for sure.

Lion-Tailed Macaque! Characterized by the mane around his face, and a short tail that resembles the tail of a lion (hence the name):






They eat jackfruit, and it is was amazing to watch them open the jackfruit with their hands and teeth, and pull our the fruit and eat with their hands:



LTM enjoying jackfruit:






LTM family enjoying jackfruit lunch :



Another LTM eating jackfruit:



A mother LTM with her baby:



The baby tries to open the jackfruit with teeth:



This large male LTM (each gang has 1 or 2 of these alpha males heading the gang) got a bit aggressive with us at times:



The reason of his aggressiveness was that he jumped on (and later into) the Thar and we tried to urge him to go away from the Thar :


Eventually many LTMs climbed on the Thar, following the footstep of the alpha LTM.

This guy sat nicely on the ORVM:



He was very curious to check out the interiors:



LTMs appreciating the Thar:



They loved playing around with such large tyres (maybe the tyres were places there just for these monkeys):



And finally, we saw a lone "common macaque" sitting there, watching the large group of LTMs playing around:

[Dr.AD]

Return Drive and Epilogue

After experiencing the lovely nature trails there (both on foot and by Thar), spending a good time watching LTMs, and in general having a magical time at that forest, it was time to drive back home on the morning of Day 3.

My car parked there for 2 nights (it never moved from this spot for all 2 nights):



@graaja started his return journey first, leaving the Thar and the 320d there in the parking:



The return journey was again through those 40 hair-pin bends and a butter-smooth tarmac:



While descending the ghats, I pulled over at some viewpoint to see such views (this is the Aliyar dam at the foothills of Valparai):



Another view of the water body:



Finally, a parting shot of my car on that lovely road, to wrap up this memorable weekend:


In the end, the weekend was total fun. We drove close to 1000km (round-trip distance), mostly on very good roads, we drove on some lovely ghats with 40 hair-pin bends each way, we spent 2 nights in a totally isolated forest property, we dined in a house that is 184 years old and situated in the middle of a thick jungle, we did some off-roading in Thar, we saw lush green tea gardens, and most importantly, we got to closely observe and photograph one of the rarest of primates, the Lion-Tailed Macaques. Thanks to @robimahanta for planning this trip so well and and having us along with him. And of course, it is always a pleasure to spend time with our "Coach" and close friend @graaja. Thank you very much guys for a really wonderful weekend!

With this let me end my report. I am sure @robimahanta and @graaja have much better photographs to share than what I shared, and I am looking forward to their posts below.

Thank you for reading!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[JoshMachine]

A quintessential Dr. AD travelogue

Wonder how you (and the others in the group, Robi, graaja) end up choosing such pristine locations.
Given that you drive out almost every other weekend, am assuming you must be having an itinerary planned for the entire month!

Am assuming the pics of the LTMs near the Thar might have made Robi anxious .

[robimahanta]

What an amazing trip report and pictures AD. There is hardly anything much to add. I had an amazing time with you all as always. I think you have covered every element of the trip in detail and I will just some wildlife images.

Malabar Grey Hornbill



Malabar Whistling Trush



Devouring the jackfruit





Baby LTM



Mom and child



The grimace



A b/w pose



On a tree





Chilling



This is my jackfruit



The walk



Portrait



The alpha





Head on



Gaur scape



Giant Squirrel



Not a great picture but we did see a Nilgiri Tahr from the Thar



Lovely tea gardens



Some scenery

[graaja]

As always a fantastic travelogue AD. I had a great time with you and Robi. Loved the drive through the buttersmooth tarmac with the 40 hairpin bends and the almost off-roading experience to reach the cottage. The LTM and the nature walk pictures capture the essence of this trip very well.

Originally Posted by robimahanta

I will just some wildlife images.

Incredible captures of the wildlife Robi. As always, you have captured superb details and emotions of the wildlife.

This time, I was able to capture only a few pictures of the wildlife, of the nature walk and a few pictures of the 3GT on the drive back home.

LTMs and the wood peckers.



















A few pictures of the beautiful scenery of the tea estate from the nature walk.

















And finally, a few pictures of the GT I took on the drive back.

[varunanb]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

And this was the lovely old bungalow that would be our home for the next 2 nights, located in the woods, totally cut off from the rest of the world:
Attachment 2321514

The pudhuthottam brings a lot of memories in one of our most interesting trips to valparai. One of them is when Wife and myself had stayed there for a few days and after the first night's stay, once the fear of the surroundings worn off, electric fence felt like a normal fence and numerous safaris in the reserves, I insisted the caretaker, we will have dinner at the old bunglow instead of the annexe building and walk back.

Finished dinner and those guys insisted to walk us to the annexe, politely refused, came out and the 100 odd mts to the annexe building was the most terrifying walk ever.

Btw, the macaques there must also be petrol heads like us, have few pics of them playing with our cars as well.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

A quintessential Dr. AD travelogue

Thank you very much!

Given that you drive out almost every other weekend, am assuming you must be having an itinerary planned for the entire month!

Haha. True to some extent. Some weekend trips are planned in advance and those weekends are "booked" for next 2-3 months. In addition, we also do many impromptu drives on some weekends if there is nothing else to do. Most of my solo drives are impromptu drives. If I have nothing else planned for a weekend, and by Friday it looks like there is no urgent work that is pending for the weekend, then I generally plan an impromptu drive on Friday night and start Saturday morning. But the group drives are planned in advance and yes those itineraries are planned for next couple of months.

Am assuming the pics of the LTMs near the Thar might have made Robi anxious .

Actually there is a funny story here. Thar windows were generally rolled down while driving (it is a lovely feeling to drive around at slow speeds with windows rolled down, at such scenic locations and enjoy the crisp and clean air). When we parked the Thar to see the monkeys, we forgot to roll up the windows. The monkey group was a bit ahead of the Thar and we were watching them. Behind our back, one LTM sneaked in and went inside the Thar. We only noticed it when he went inside. That LTM even sneaked into the back seat and sat there. That was really annoying and worrisome too because the LTM could have easily damaged the interiors there. The bigger fear was now many more LTMs could go inside and they could cause havoc. We tried to call that inside LTM out before others go in, and after a lot of "negotiations" by @graaja, the inside LTM came out angrily, charging at him. It was a crazy situation.

Luckily, that LTM who went inside the Thar did not cause any damage at all. Everything was fine. We quickly rolled up the windows and locked the car. After that, we watched them jump on the Thar and play around on the car, but we could not do much (and the car was locked now so it was fine). We watched them slowly move away and in an hour or so the whole group moved away to another location.

Originally Posted by robimahanta

What an amazing trip report and pictures AD. There is hardly anything much to add. I had an amazing time with you all as always. I think you have covered every element of the trip in detail and I will just some wildlife images.

Thank Robi. And amazing pictures you have posted! The sharpness and the level of detail in your images is simply superb. These are real pro-level pictures!

Originally Posted by graaja

As always a fantastic travelogue AD. I had a great time with you and Robi. Loved the drive through the buttersmooth tarmac with the 40 hairpin bends and the almost off-roading experience to reach the cottage. The LTM and the nature walk pictures capture the essence of this trip very well.

Thanks coach! It was awesome meeting you and spending time with you there. The 3GT looked fantastic in that scenery. It is a perfect car that could manage both the hair-pin bends and the off-roads with equal confidence!

This time, I was able to capture only a few pictures of the wildlife, of the nature walk and a few pictures of the 3GT on the drive back home.

Nice pictures! Especially the pictures of the 3GT are superb!

Originally Posted by varunanb

Finished dinner and those guys insisted to walk us to the annexe, politely refused, came out and the 100 odd mts to the annexe building was the most terrifying walk ever.

Yes that walk in the night can be scary. If it is raining, it can be even more adventurous walk. Also, if it rains heavily and the mud tracks become slushy, then it will be very difficult to drive sedan there. So even driving your car around there could be a challenge if it dark and raining/muddy.

We also opted in to have dinner in that main building, but we drove our Thar there from the Annexe, anticipating the challenges in walking back in late night. That was a good decision and we enjoyed the Thar ride back :-)

[ampere]

One place which never lost its rustic charm. Simply because there were not enough avenues for this place to come up on scale like Munnar. And I am thankful for that!

Also if you really need to experience those awesome 2-Lanes of TN, then nothing better than trying Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi SH.

And nothing comes close to this place in winter. I have a very distinct memory of this place etched! I saw live on TV Dhoni hit that world-cup final six while I was here!

[jkrishnakj]

As always thoroughly enjoyed the read and the great pictures from Robi. I can already imagine the fun you and graaja might have had on those twists.

I won't be surprised if the Thar continued to keep company with your BMW on the highways.

Great trip and thanks for sharing.

[ribsofman]

Amazing experience to read! Loved the photos! Your post makes me to crave for my next travel.

[Slowjet]

Valaparai is a beautiful place and your travelogue revived my memory of visiting Valparai in 1994 and it still remains the among the best places I have visited. If I remember correctly there used to be NEPC guest house there where we had stayed.

[NPV]

Awesome pictures to go well with your cool narration, as always another gem from Dr. AD (actually the three musketeers AD, robi and graaja!), thanks for sharing

I guess you have enough reasons to go back to Valparai and maybe extend over to the Kerala side to see other places like the Nirar Dam, Athirapally & Vazhachal falls, the Balaji temple, etc

Brought back nostalgic memories from a visit almost exactly a decade ago, we'd stayed at Sinnadorai then, a lovely place.
Here's my travelogue of that experience - Link (Dizzy Drive® : Wonderful Valparai (enchanted by Sinnadorai's Bungalow) and more!)