Sharavati Part 4 - In the backwaters!

No one gets into the water without life jackets, whether they know to swim or not. Period.

-King Julian

He cared about his comrades as much as he cared about his spaceship!

Most of us, save a few lazy bones, were up at 6:00a.m in the morning to see the sun rise from the hillocks that surrounded the backwaters. A few photographs later, we were off to the base camp for our morning rituals and then a nutritious breakfast of ragi dosa, uttapams, chutney and rasam. Then the real fun began! We were back to the ochre yellow landscape decorated with brown tree stumps. However, now, unlike the night, a hot breeze had started to blow and the sun had already begun showing its might. The calm water was beckoning us. We rushed into our tents and got into water friendly clothes, put on our life jackets and lined up at the shore with water kissing our feet. We were divided into 2 categories: swimmers and non-swimmers. Everyone had to reach a tree in the middle of the river about a kilometer from the starting point and then swim back. 

King Julian’s lost spaceship was cozily lodged near the tree and he was overjoyed to find it finally. We just had to reach there now.

King Julian!!

ready to dive in the water..!

The swimmers were sent in first for obvious reasons. The non-swimmers were taught the basics of how to move their hands and feet in the water. They were also taught to trust the life-jackets. But, the fear of the “unknown” or “not knowing” is always a dominating factor. Thus poor Nachiket, a helpful swimmer, had 3 people holding on to him in spite of the life jackets; as he struggled to make them comfortable in the water. Then there was poor Ram, a helpful non-swimmer, who was helping a terrified Prachi to adjust to water. Then there were a few non-helpful swimmers like Aditi who were just floating blissfully face up in the water. Then there were some other acrobatic swimmers like Malur, who was trying to climb a tree to dive into the water. The smooth tree trunk made slippery by his wet body made the task more difficult. He fell down many times but finally managed to get the grip and technique to go up the tree and got himself a well-deserved dive! Finally there was Achlesh who had got himself a canoe and was doing the noble job of capturing our antics on the camera to keep the memories alive!

diving from trees!

fun in the water..

For the next one hour, we were floating around in our life jackets. Even the non-swimmers had come to trust their life jackets and there was no fear now… only fun… lots of it! Then we had rounds of kayaking and canoeing. A special mention here to the great rower - Arun Mysore, who sped in the kayak like a professional while the rest of us were struggling to hold the oar properly!

Then there was the coracle – a round tub like boat which was even more difficult to sail around than the canoe! We made the boat spin round and round as fast as we could and left it that way. It felt good just sitting like that in the rotating boat. We did it over and over again. Unlike a merry-go-round, we were not falling out from the sides when the boat went round, we could just hold on to the edges, close our eyes and let our head spin.

Canoeing in Sharavati!

The coracle

At 2p.m in the afternoon we came out of the water, quite reluctant to do so. That is when we realized the intense heat that the sun was spewing. That is also when we realized that we had got ourself a bronze tan in a matter of hours. The fairer amongst us had got a red tan! The ground was hot and our tents had become ovens. We changed into dry clothes and put on our sun protection gear. The tents were removed and packed. We were back at the base camp where a hot lunch of pulav, rasam, plain rice and papad was awaiting us. Then after a round of photography and good byes, we were off to the same old life at Mangalore and Bangalore respectively!

After a "tanny" day in the water

Date: 23rd and 24th March, 2013.

With: Achalesh Jayaram, Ashwin Karanth, Varun Iyer, Prathamesh Mathre, Ankit, Jayaprakash, Aparna Pal, Sutonuka Mazumdar, Ramaprasad, Vinayaka Akkasali, Arun Mysore, Aditi Vishwasrao, Charan Walke, Nachiket Velankar, Hannan Shaikh, Venu Gopal, Smitha Upadya, Gayathri Holla, Prachi Bhosale, Giri Tanari, Mahantesh Paramraj, Karthik Malur.

Sharavati Part 3- Night, Light and Mafia

King Julian adored Mafia…! After all it was their sheer cunningness and presence of mind that had helped him to convince the people of his planet that ‘humans’ can help them find their spaceship and also guard their King!

We finished the trek to Thumbe falls at around 6:30p.m and were back to our base camp at Sharavati wildlife sanctuary by 7:30p.m. Getting back from the trek we were partially wet due to the our “relaxing” dip in the waterfall and majorly by our own sweat flowing generously all over the body!

Thankfully, the Sharavati wildlife sanctuary has a good arrangement of hygienic washrooms complete with a good water supply. We freshened up in torchlight and were soon settled on the many concrete seats that are built there. A refreshing round of warm kashayam (pepper milk) welcomed us. After an hour, we were served dinner consisting of curd rice, puliogare, chapatis, cabbage vegetable and payasam. We ate to our heart’s content and then sat around chatting with each other. After the dinner, it was time to retire for the day. A caretaker accompanied us with large tents.

Our camp

In pitch darkness lit only by moonlight, he led us through the forest into a clearing on the banks of the Sharavati river backwaters. The dark forest was where a Prachi heard an eerie “Hello” from the trees near her. Stunned she halted in her tracks and cast a fearful glance from the direction of the sound. Achalesh was hiding there, smiling smugly, happy on achieving his objective of scaring Prachi!

Our tents were set up on the banks of the river. This area had been cleared of all the vegetation. Only the stumps of trees were left in the ochre yellow soil. The moonlight cast a magical blue all over the deserted landscape. The calm, still water glistened at a distance. Our tents rustled gently in the steady cool breeze. The camp fire was crackling sending up whiffs of smoke. We settled around it and fed it with more fire wood.

A faraway view of our campfire!

Light photography!

Our very own photographers Karanth and Charan decided to take some light motion photographs. The actors were Varun, Ankit and Ram. Clicking light motion photographs is an art in itself. They needed many takes of the same scene till they got the perfect photograph. Light motion photography also needs a support cast who move the light source in the desired way to get a particular effect. So there we were, Varun posed as if he was hitting Ram with a bolt of lightning and Ram was falling off due to the impact. Ankit got his photo clicked with a halo of light around his head just like “the enlightened one”. We got one for the Gypsies with the letters painted in light! The others were sitting around and enjoying the comedy that arose out of the frequent takes and retakes our amateur actors had to give for that one perfect snap!

Varun and Ram posing in a light take!

This was followed by a few of us retiring into their tents for the day and the rest of us settling down for a few rounds of Mafia. King Julian decided to be the moderator. The highlight of the game was definitely the brilliantly sly way in which Ashwin and Ankit, as Mafia, hoodwinked the rest to win the game hands down! Then, we rested our tired selves in the shelter of our tents. We wanted to be all geared up for the surprises that the next day held.

Sharavati Part 2 - Thumbe falls

King Julian from planet “ who cares” accompanied us to our many expeditions… He had joined hands with the Gypsies to find his spaceship. The search had begun!

It was on a perfectly hot mid-summer day that we trekked to the Thumbe falls in the Sharavati river valley. Our guides lead us on a steep, slippery way through dense vegetation towards the falls. The trek trail was characteristic of a typically difficult path which would become completely inaccessible in the monsoons. The trek trail was a very steep ascend for some part and an equally steep descend for the others. The narrow path was strewn with a thick layer of dry leaves. We had to tread carefully as the dry leaves made it impossible to guess what lay underneath. A single wrong footing and we would go tumbling down like the Jack who went to fetch a pail of water! The trek trail snaked through a thick forest and we walked ahead cautiously holding on to the trees along the path and preferring to slide down occasionally to keep our balance. After about 45 minutes, a stream of water came into sight. We crossed a huge tree trunk which lay across the stream .Thence; we started following the rocks along the water stream to reach our destination.

treading on the steep path strewn with dry leaves

we followed the water...

The tree bridge

I distinctly remember a twist in this rocky trail. We thought we would need to jump into the water and swim to the next walkable rock. However even that seemed impossible as getting into the water meant diving from quite a height and with all our luggage, that would not have been a wise thing to do. Our guides made us climb on to the rocky wall that guarded the edges on one side of the stream, holding onto the tree roots and the small crevices in the rocks. We struggled there as the path was only wide enough to place one foot. Moreover we were holding onto tree roots and the creepers hanging from the branches above to keep ourselves from sliding down and crashing into the water! This exciting ordeal ended in just about 15 minutes and we were back following the rocks again. After about 10 minutes, we reached one of the tiers of the Thumbe falls which made a pool several feet deep. This was going to be our lunch place that day and most of us were too happy to take a dip in the water after the ardeous trek. However we had not yet reached the head of the Thumbe falls.

Climbing on the rocky ledge

On the way to the destination

On the way to the destination2

We had been trekking for nearly 3 hours and by now everyone was exhausted to undertake the journey any further. Moreover, the trek trail had become more of a rock climbing exercise with each passing step. So most of us settled there and were more than happy to laze around the water. Even though the journey is the best part when you set out on a destination, it is reaching the destination that gives you a sense of accomplishment! Five gypsies however decided to go ahead to the actual destination. We got a warning from our leaders to return back in an hour so as to reach the base camp before sundown.

Our guides left their cooking gear near the first tier and we set off. We jumped and climbed rocks for another 30 minutes. Soon we were at the head of the great Thumbe falls. We were standing on top of a vertical drop of nearly 100 feet. From the place where we stood, we could only hear the roar of the water crashing at its feet. We couldn’t see the falls. All along the water stream, the trees had caved in and from our point of view it looked like a long tunnel through which the waterfall escaped from the rocky ledge on which we were presently stationed. We cautiously moved along the edges on the slippery rocks just to catch a glimpse of the waterfall. It would have been the perfect place for rappelling if we had the gear. However without any ropes, we were in a treacherous position where a single wrong step would prove fatal. Unfortunately, since we were warned about the difficulty of the path, we didn’t carry a camera and thus missed capturing memories of this breathtaking scene!

We jumped and climbed rocks again to reach the place where our fellow trekkers were waiting for us.

Our guides prepared a sumptuous meal of rice and sambhar accompanied by papad and pickle. It seemed to be one of the tastiest meals after the tiring trek. We relaxed in the cool water for some time and then around 3:30p.m began the tough trek back to the start where our TT was waiting for us. Varun was still to arrive. So we did a round of introductions amongst ourselves as is the ritual among the Gypsies till he arrived. He did come soon limping with cramps and carrying the many encouraging words from Ashwin!

Our resting place. Unfortunately, 

none of us carried a camera to capture the main falls.

Sharavati Part 1 - Off to Sharavati... In search of a lost spaceship!

King Julian’s spaceship had crashed on Earth. We, the Gypsies, who had formed an alliance with him long time ago, to prevent invasions from the outer space on Earth. We had sworn to help him find his spaceship…

It was after a month long hiatus(thanks to the annual sports event-Synergy at Infosys, Mangalore) that we had set out to be the real "Gypsies" again. Walk away from the air-conditioned workplace and live free - with the hard ground beneath and the open sky above! So on the day, the Synergy results came out, and the winners walked away with awards, we set out on an expedition to Sharavati river valley and have our share of summer fun. All of us from Mangalore gathered at Mangala at 11p.m. sharp to begin our trip to Sharavati.

As soon as the journey by TT started, most of us hit the sacks tired by the tension and exhilaration that Synergy brings in its wake! We came out of our slumber at 1a.m. when we halted at the Marvanthe beach. At night, Marvanthe beach is a sight to behold! Especially on a full moon night, a poet would be inspired to spin out a few verses to praise its beauty. Fortunately for us the full moon day was only a couple of days away, and the moon was "almost" full that night!

The Marvanthe beach, 2 days before the full moon day

The moonlight cast a perfect radiance in the sea, making the seemingly dark sea glitter . The silence of the night and the sound of the waves crushing against the shore add to its charm. We sat there for some time sipping piping hot tea , from a small shack which is open all night long for travelers, enjoying the cool breeze and basking in the beauty of the moment!

Once we were in the TT, the hot tea failed to keep us awake, and all of us were again dead asleep, except Ram, who sat chatting with the driver! At around 4 a.m. the TT ride started turning bumpy and neck breaking for the sleeping beauties/hunks in it. After losing our way once, and then setting out on the bumpy ride again, we arrived at our destination at 4:40 a.m. It was pitch dark outside. We spent the next couple of hours before sunrise sleeping peacefully in our van.

The Sharavati wildlife sanctuary is located near the town of Kargal about 150 kms from Mangalore and in the Shimoga district of Karnataka near Mupanne. The sanctuary houses the backwaters made due to the Linganamakki dam reservoir. We were set to spend a couple of days in this beautiful place.

The Gypsies at Sharavati

Though it was mentioned in the mail being sent before every trek to bring a plate, glass and spoon, most of us had forgotten these vital equipments. Thus we had to share 4 glasses and 3 plates among 14 people. Our fellow trekkers from Bangalore Karanth, Achalesh, Ankit and Varun joined us. Just before the trek, Nitin had mentioned in a mail that “It’s always guys from Bangalore!" There was no reply to this mail! However, the Bangalore boys were , this time , accompanied by a couple of girls - Sutonuka and Aparna - both avid trekkers. They were also accompanied by a certain King Julian who was in search for his lost spaceship. He strongly suspected that it must have crashed from the outer space somewhere near Sharavati…

After a simple but nourishing breakfast of idlis and rasam, we were off to a trek to the Thumbe falls. 

breakfast at the base camp

..... to be continued