"STOP MAKING noise. There are elephants nearby," gestures Thomas, our guide. As I look around to find the elephants, a guttural roar splits the eerie silence in the forest. The elephants are definitely not amused.

"I have never heard an elephant so angry before," Thomas confesses. And we don't want to hang around longer to find out why. We flee quickly by climbing a steep hillock amidst a cacophony of roars, trumpets and the sound of falling trees. It was definitely a close call.

This is Wayanad at its wild best — nestled along the southern belt of the Western Ghats. With over 26 per cent of the total area covered by dense forests, it is probably one of the finest trekking trails in this part of the country, particularly from Meenmutty falls to Nilambur.

The trek begins at the foot of the spectacular Meenmutty waterfalls. The trail then proceeds uphill and follows the course of the water from the falls. The forest here is moist deciduous and is mostly tall bamboos with really sharp thorns. The foliage cover over your head is almost complete with only a few rays of the sun poking through.

The Meenmutty waterfall is a series of three cascades and a glimpse of one can be had from the trail as the water cascades over black granite. All along the way little mountain springs pour out from the hillside to quench the thirst of a weary hiker. The water is cool and refreshing with a slight mineral taste.

Most of the springs and mountain streams here are perennial and don't dry up even during the height of the Indian summer. The trail is quite steep and slippery because of the ground being covered by a thick layer of fallen leaves. You need to be extra careful because one slip could mean a fall and a serious injury in the middle of nowhere. There are quite a few rocks and tree roots to use as handholds but in some stretches one has to cling on by the fingertips to get across crevasses.

Only wild animals and a few indigenous tribes inhabit the entire forest. Normally wildlife and tribal people keep well out of your way unless provoked in some way. One such tribe called Thenkurumar belonging to the Kattunayakan community subsists purely by collecting and selling wild honey from the forest and they are known to take the trees at the mere sight of either man or elephants. Its members live on hillocks in shacks made of wood. They use bamboo ladders to climb large trees and collect wild honey. Their language is a mixture of all Dravidian languages. They worship animals, birds, trees, rocks hillocks and snakes. They are firm believers in black magic and sorcery. They also worship their ancestors, along with worshipping Hindu deities.

Living in such close proximity to the wild has made the local people experts at tracking animals in the forest. In fact our guide Thomas was able to sense the elephants even before they saw us. He uses methods such as identifying elephant footprints, drag marks, tracing broken trees and analysing the dung with his sickle for dampness, to track the elephants. The local knowledge has come handy for Thomas and his fellow villagers as they can now add the money earned from guiding trekkers to their meagre income from farming.

The trail becomes less steep as the trek progresses and becomes almost flat when you cross the river (which originated at the waterfall). It then follows the fire line through the forest to reach Nilambur.

The whole trek takes around six hours for an amateur while a seasoned trekker can do it in around four hours. You cover a linear distance of around 10 kilometres, but it is actually more because of the elevation and detours. The trek requires special permission from the district forest officer as it is a criminal offence to enter the forest without permission, and a local guide is a must. You can easily get lost in the multiple trails that branch off the main trail without a guide. Also an encounter with a herd of elephants can be quite a hairy experience.

How to get there

TO GET to Meenmutty you can take any bus going to Kalpetta or Calicut. There are hotels to suit anyone's budget at Kalpetta. Rates start at Rs. 400. Home stays at plantations are also available but can cost a bomb.

The Blue Yonder organises customised treks in Wayanad. Part of the earnings goes towards development of the local community as they employ only local people, and serve only local food. They believe in developing eco-tourism as an alternative source of income for the local people. For more information call 25213902 or 25213902. You can also email gopi@theblueyonder.com.

ANAND SANKAR
Photos by author

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