RANIPURAM-THE OOTY OF KERALA

It was on nov 17 that me and my friends decided to go to Ranipuram the Ooty of
Kerala.It is called so because natural beauty is comparable to Ooty which is the
famous hill station in south India.I was very much exited to go to that place.I
equipped myself by taking digicam,some specimen bottle and water with me.
As per our decisicion I reached the Kanhangad bustand at sharp 9 o clock in the morning.My friends where waiting for me. We get into the bus going to Pannathur.

Ranipuram is 40km from Kanhangad.It is a beautiful hillstation located
on the western ghats covered by evergreen shola woods,monsoonforests and the grasslands.extensive forests of Ranipuram merge with forests of Karnataka.
It is 750 m above the sea level.

Our bus passed through SH57.mountains began to appear and road
became curver and curver.I was very much exited to see the beautiful hills outside.
After a short journey of about one and half hour we reached Panathady from where we
have to go rest of the 9 km by jeep.we occupied the back seat of the jeep.Jeep passed through the rocky road bounded by rubber estates and coconut farms.malayalam music in the jeep gave a special thrill to the journey.Jeep stopped at the jeep stand which is 3 km away from Ranipuram.

Now our treckking begins.I took my camera outside.But I was totally
confused what to take because every thing looked very beautiful for me.Monkeys where crossing the road .Varities of birds that I never seen before where seen
in the canopies.I got the great chance of seeing the uncommon birds like
Ash drongo&little spider hunter.Different varities of butterflies where flying across us.All this gave us a jocund company.This region is the unexplored territiory of
Nature enthusiasts and bird watchers.

Present maratis form a good number of local population probably the remenants of the earlier settelement from the north.After 3km we reached Ranipuram tourist cottages.Cottages are available here for tourists.Charges ranges from200-
400 per one day.Food will be arranged only if we order them in advance.

Our destination is “mani” which is the top most point of the hill covered
by grasses and it is sourrnded by thick evergreen forests.We have to pass through dense forests to reach our destination.There was a small shop near by.We buyed some biscuts&chips.Near though the cottages a small stream, was flowing
with ice cold water.We washed our hands and faces and had some rest and
again begin our journey.Now our trecking is through the forests.It was very horrible
to go through the dense forests covered by the very large trees.I was amazed to see the height of the trees.Here and there I found beautiful mushrooms.most of them where belonging to the class basidiomycetes.I collected some of the
specimens for my small nature museum in my home.

Leeches found abundance in this forests.It live on the surface of leaves of the plants.When our body come in contact with the leaves it get stick to our body and start sucking blood by injecting anticoagulant into our body.I wasted
much time to remove the leaches from my boots and socces.

Slowly “mani” became visible and forest get converted into the grasslands.
Scenary of the sournding mountains covered by the undulating clouds fascinated me..
Scenary became more and more beautiful as we go upward the hill.In some places
we seen elephants dungs which shows the presence of wild elephants.Atlast
we climbed the top of the “mani”.We became happy as we have climbed the top of the Everest.Strong cold wind was blowing.Beautiful scenary fascinated us.we
sat there and began to eat snacks that we have buyed from the shop bellow.Time was very limited fo us.We began to wind up our journey again though the same way.

This place is the most wonderful tourist spot in the kasargod dist or perhaps
may be in Kerala.But unfortunately I found hardly 1 or 2 tourists that day.It is
because of lack of awareness about the beauty of this place and also due to
lack of good roads ,transpot facilities,hotelsand rooms.if this devolopments occurs in this place no doubt Ranipuram will become one of major touist hub in south India.
Then the name “the Ooty of Kerala”becomes true.
That was the end of that adventurous day but my journey continues in search of new places .please wait and see…thank u for visiting my blog…pleaz sent u r valuable comments by clicking comment button.if u like to get beautiful photos through email pleaz provide ur email id in the comment box.


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