The boredom was killing the blogger in me and I had to do something. Monsoon is not exactly the ideal time to be out woodcrawling but heck, it's better than sitting in my house and going through old pictures.
On the 26th of June, 2011 I told my car to go in any direction it chose, and go off where it thought best. Trust my car to find a place to potter around, and it did! I guess it's woodcrawling instinct seems unaffected by the wet weather. Meenvallam was drowning in the rains so it went further. On the outskirts of Mannarkad the road turns right to Silent Valley National Park and my car, it seemed, had it's plan worked out. It swung right and pointed it's nose to Silent Valley. Odd time, 11.30 AM, because you need to get into the National Park before afternoon but I did not realize that my car had other ideas.
Silent Valley has the most pristine rain forests in this part of the world and I knew then I did not have to be on time! It struck me that I was alone and had the whole day to myself. I did not have to worry if my co-passenger was hungry and squeamish about leeches! Here I was, all alone with my gear in the most beautiful forest at the right time of the year. One creature that I wanted to see and photograph was the Giant wood spider. I was hoping I'd see it this time around. If it had not been for my car, I'd have been staring at my laptop screen all day.
Further up the canopy closed over the road making me feel like I was driving through a green tunnel. Every turn had something interesting and I was out of my car as much as I was in it. Thank God for the weather sealing that only Olympus has!
A lovely little cascade on my left, recessed into the forest that I almost missed it. My car, apparently knew it was there! It stopped. It almost seemed like a scene out of Jurassic Park.
As I walked about I started noticing little things. Small flowers, ferns, creepers, and tiny creatures that I'd never have noticed sitting in a car.
It was like re-learning how beautiful God's creations can be from close up.
About 28 kms from Mukkali (the entrance to Silent Valley National Park is this beautiful waterfall. It is on the right of a hairpin bend and falls almost 50 meters in series of steps. It is impossible to capture its beauty on a single frame unless you are in a helicopter!
The lower half is more violent and falls in more sharper drops than the upper part.
On the way down I had the other side of the road to survey so the routine of stop-drive, stop-drive started again. There was this little cascade again with the water running over the road but this time it ran for a considerable distance along the side of the road before spilling onto it. I started walking along the little busy water way. It was only when I sat on my haunches and stared into water I realized how really 'busy' the water was!
Crab; so well camouflaged that I would have missed them if not for their scurrying under the rotting leaf litter.
Others popped up on the rocks waiting for prey but scooted off to their crevices as soon as I stepped in their direction.
As I watched fascinated I detected a little wiggly movement in the water. Tiny red worms (?Blood worms). Popping up from the mud and disappearing the minute I touched the water or picked out a floating leaf to get a good view. There were thousands of them and I was wondering how I resisted the temptation to sip a little of that cold water. Providence intervened, perhaps!
Under a rock, protected from the rain and the dripping water was a nest of a paper wasp. They were busy as only wasps and bees could be. I didn't spend too much time in conversation with them. It was not the right time to upset them so I clicked a few pics and walked on.
A strange polka dotted grasshopper was climbing a rotting log. I couldn't get closer and my long lens was in the car but the perspective through the macro lens was more like what the grasshopper would see. An endlessly long climb...
As I had been walking I heard the croaking of frogs but I couldn't find one despite my good eye sight! I could find damsel flies and worms but no bloody frogs. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a 'water droplet' going UP! How could a water droplet defy gravity? There had to be an explanation and I peered closer to inspect this curious phenomenon. The rock face was full of these little creatures, tadpoles with legs and froglets!
I had seen some amazing sights in Silent Valley but nothing to beat what I had seen in the last few hours. I got into my car and started downhill again. When I reached the hairpin bend at the 28th kilometer from Mukkali my car stopped. I had stopped on my way up but my car stopped again. This time I ignored the falls and walked into the wet forest on the opposite side. More ferns and beautiful ground fungi.
As I walked back to the car I looked up into a low hanging branch of a tree hoping to see some bird or some tree fungi. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets. There was an alien on the tree, looking at me with eyes at the tip of two stalks. A snail; that I'd never seen before. Half an hour and many photographs later I got into my car, elated. This was a trip like no other.
I had spent a productive day, completely different from my usual jungle trip. No large mammals or birds, just
God's little creations. The three bananas I had for lunch at Mukkali had by then been fully utilized and my stomach was grumbling again! I told my car to head home.
As I rolled downhill again rewinding the sights in my mind I was thinking of getting home to a warm meal. My car stopped again! There; outside my left window was a web and in it's center the object of my desire. A Giant Wood Spider. Rumbling tummy was forgotten, rain was forgotten, the itchy leech bites were forgotten.
I only had eyes for this beauty, Never mind the fact it was missing a leg!
Faith, they say, moves mountains. The entire Silent Valley moved for me.
Thank you God & thank you Car!!
