Night Treks in Tiger Territory: Periyar Sanctuary

Our departure from the tea fields of Munnar did not rob us of gorgeous scenery. Quite the opposite in fact. After rounding a bend, the tea fields all but disappeared and we were treated to the rolling Western Ghats fading off into the distance, covered in dense forest that looked more like the Appalachian Mountains than anything else. Kerala's landscapes again did not disappoint.

We descended out of the Ghats to the small town of Kumily, in the region of Thekkady, right at the border of the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. As a consequence, the place was known interchangeably as Kumily, Thekkady, and Periyar... even to the locals. We were put up by The Blue Yonder at some "eco-lodges" run by the KTDC. These bamboo huts were supposed to be "eco-friendly." But the only thing eco-friendly about them was that they were biodegradeable (they're made of bamboo!). Other than that, they were powered by city electricity, they disposed waste into the city sewer system, and trash was disposed of the way it is everywhere else in India - behind the kitchen. In their defense, there was one hut that had its water heated using solar power, but the panels were broken and so the hut didn't have hot water. Not exactly my idea of environmentally friendly. Now I understand that some environmentally conscious people are willing to pay a premium for being green-savvy, but these places were a joke. And their going rate was Rs. 2000/- a night. Not exactly my idea of wallet friendly.

The night we arrived there, we went on a night-trek through the tiger sanctuary. Accompanied by an armed escort and a guide, we ventured through the different landscapes of the sanctuary in total darkness. The flashlights provided by the park were, well, on the dimmer side of mediocre. Which made Mary's collection of LED flashlights a total godsend. We walked for a half hour before getting far enough away from roads to not have the auditory experience ruined by India's unregulated diesel and petrol engines. But once the silence settled around us, and all lights faded but our flashlights lighting our footpaths, I was amazed by how different the sensory experience was. Robbed of vision, my ears began to look for signs of life in the bushes. I could hear field mice scurrying, birds rustling their nests, frogs croaking and then plopping into nearby puddles. The occassional deer crashed through the undergrowth in the distance. And as we emerged into a clearing, our eyes received a real treat. The blackness in front of us was penetrated by hundreds of flowing, slowly-blinking lights. Walking through the unchoreographed elegance of their soft and rhythmic bioluminescence, backdropped by total darkness made me think, this is what God sees walking through the universe. Thousands of stars, miniscule in comparison to Him, blink in and out of existence as He watches over the course of eternity.