Wildlife Sighting during a cruise at Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala, India!!

The view of the shola forests, the lovely greens and the vast hills is not the only thing that one gets to see during a cruise at the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

 
In addition, the jungle loving tourist gets to see a lot of wildlife in its best forms.


The Periyar Tiger Reserve is known for its elephants and tigers. But, sighting a tiger from a boat is very difficult unless it comes down to the river to quench its thirst.


And, I was just plain unlucky not to see the pachyderms. However, I was able to sight huge herds of the gaur. Gaurs are the largest bovine animal and are highly muscular in nature. Their white socks are a very pretty sight.

 
I was also lucky enough to sight huge groups of the wild boar who were busy grazing in the far away grasslands.


Overall, my best sightings were of the fish-loving cormorant and darter birds that were sunning themselves on the dead tree trunks. One could see these ultra flexible birds from a very close range.

 
I was able to sight other birds including kingfishers. But, the surprise package came in the form of a fresh water tortoise that had crept up a small rock and was soaking in the sun.

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Ripples in GREEN!!

I was on a boat cruise through the Periyar Tiger Reserve, when I captured this very different sight in my lens.

 
The ripples in the water, the reflections of the sun from the surface and the underwater green plants that lend the water its colour make this a dreamy sight! What do you think?

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Jungle Cruise at Periyar Tiger Reserve, Thekkady, Kerala, India

Most national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India offer their jungle and wildlife experience through jeep safaris or elephant safaris.


But, at Periyar Tiger Reserve, it is slightly different. The tourists get to see the forests and its wildlife from inside/on a boat.

 
This wildlife sanctuary and tiger reserve nestled in the Western Ghats is one of Kerala’s most sought after jungle holiday destinations.


The boat cruise on the Periyar river presents its tourists with some very unique sights.


The naked tree trunks in the middle of the river is a very  different sight indeed. It is very interesting to see the boats go left and right trying to manoeuvre through these tree trunks.


It is said that this river floods during the monsoons and by the time the water recedes, the river had changed its course.


Along the river are these green grasslands followed by dense green shola forests that make for an extremely lovely sight.

 
Even if one doesn’t get to see any wildlife on this boat cruise, which is very rare, one can still admire nature’s abundant beauty here. And, the various shades of GREEN here are so very pleasing to my eye.


The calm waters, the fantastic green cover, the dead tree trunks and the hills of the Western Ghats in the background make this boat cruise a very memorable one.

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Back Recognition Photography

I was sitting on a boat and taking a cruise through the Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala. My eyes were searching the banks for signs of any wildlife, but for a long while I could just see plain green grass.

 
To keep myself occupied, I decided to capture the various people sitting in the boat through my lens.


It was during this shoot that I figured out that maybe there should be a thing called “Back Recognition Photography” on the lines of “Facial Recognition/ Smile Capture Photography” as these shots offer a new and very interesting perception.

What do you think?

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