Doddamakkali - A tryst with the River Cauvery

We were at Kabini yesterday and today, lets soak a bit in the Cauvery at Doddamakkali, which is more than just a fishing camp. This story was published in Jungle tales, a magazine brought out by Jungle Lodges on their 30th anniversary. A shorter version was also published in my column, Inside Story in The Hindu



My car jerks violently for a moment as the mud road brings it to a grinding halt .In a moment, the entire landscape is filled with a flock of birds .And that�s when the river Cauvery presents itself, looking deceptively quiet as it meanders below me. Descending from the Shivasamudra falls, the river flows here, bordered by the rolling green hills. I continue my journey and trudge along for a while when a nervous jackal rushes past me into the forest. Finally, I enter the portals of the Doddamakkali camp as the resident grey hornbills greet me.

Doddamakkali is not just a river bed, but a beach with pristine white sands. Rocks stand out with their reflections sparkling in the blue green waters. A lesser fishing eagle calls , but it remains hidden in the trees. �We just spotted some otters this morning,� says Karthik, the manager as I sip some lime juice. A langur pauses and sizes us up before carrying on. Elsewhere monkeys freely roam around the camp . As my coracle is getting ready, I see the brahminy kite dive into the waters.



If you are at Shimshapura, Dodamakkali is the first among the fishing camps as it is upstream. Bheemeshwari lies just 6 kms from here on the river and Galibore is further downstream. This is the course of the Mahsheer, one of the best sport fish sought after by both anglers and poachers. However, I was in no mood to fish, but we set sail to see some jelly fish which had resurfaced in the pools caused by the rapids .

The sun slips behind the clouds. Cormorants open out their wings and strike a pose, while the river terns fly around us. A crocodile basks on a rock. Surrounded by forests, the Cauvery divides them into two ranges � Malavalli and Kollegalla. The forests come alive with elephants, leopards, wild pigs, mongoose, sambhar, spotted deer , grizzled giant squirrel among others.

We sail alongside the Malavalli range where a hillock stares us in our face.�You would�ve passed it enroute,� adds Karthik following my gaze.�You will also find a similar one and that�s why its called Anna Thamma Gudda .�
We are suddenly beckoned by the forest officials from the Kollegalla bank and we sail towards them. The RFO tells me that they are planning to have a shed with guards here for conservation and protection. The forest is dense as we stroll around . �Have you tasted the pickle made of makkali root?� he asks as we wait for the boatman. I nod, remembering the unique taste.� This place is called Doddamakkali because of these plants that used to grow in plenty here ..now you find then in Chikkamakkali .� he adds.

We discuss poaching and the camp has quite a few former poachers who have now been employed in the camp.� You must meet Soma Naik who had a case against him filed by his own brother as he used to be a poacher once. Now, both of them work here and are into conservation,� he adds. The water gets deeper as the currents become stronger. The boatman deftly strokes the river and finally anchors the coracle near the rocks. He warns me to watch out for snakes , mainly cobras and pythons . We climb the rocks and reach a small pool where tiny jelly fish swim deep below. We almost lie flat on our stomachs and peer right into the waters to catch a glimpse and with great difficulty see tiny rings floating right inside .

As the sun�s rays light up the pool, we catch a sight of them, before they magically disappear deep into the pool.I sit on the rocks and look up at the sky .The blue is fast turning grey. A few drops of rain shower on us. A pied wagtail lands on a rock. A white breasted kingfisher perches on the branch looking for its next meal. A green eater looks away. We circle a bit on the coracle and set sail towards the camp, listening to the shrill cry of the red wattled lapwing, � Did you do it ?�

Fact file
Doddamakkali is one of the most remote fishing camps in the river Cauvery , barely 8 kms from Shimshapura .A beautiful landscape littered by rocks , the camp is located on the banks of the river on the Malavalli reserve. The patron Goddess Kali lends her name to the hamlet and there is a small shrine on the mud road leading to the camp.



The camp has about eight tents with attached toilets. The ambience is natural as there is less electricity here and the camp runs on generator. So, your tents will be lit with an electric lantern with fans at night. A torch is a must have if you are headed here .

Activities include trekking, birding, fishing and coracle rides. You can try beach volley ball as well.


Best season :
The months between September and February will be the best time to visit as its also ideal for birding and to see jelly fish. Angling starts here at the onset of early winter as well. Summers can get very warm and humid there.

Getting there
Doddamakkali is approximately 140 kms from Bangalore. You can either take the Kanakpura route or the Maddur-Malavalli road. If you are taking the Kanakpura road from Bangalore, reach Halgur and from there drive down to Shimshapura village. There is a gate with a watchman there. You make an entry there and then drive down the 8 kms of mud road that reaches the camp. The last km is a bit tricky, so ensure that your vehicle is in good shape.
If you are driving via Maddur, take a deviation towards Malavalli and Kollegal . You would reach Shimsha Hydro electric project. Follow the JLR board there until you reach the Shimshapura .

Kabini and her elephants - 2

When I went to Kabini last month, there were plenty of families around .Well, Im not referring to the human kind , but about elephants. We saw herds everywhere and although we did see a few tuskers around , it was interesting to watch the behaviour of these animals. In one of our jungle safaris, we came upon a family of three who just emerged out of the bushes onto the road. We were the only jeep around and we were rather deep into the jungle.

We switched off the engine and waited. I hesitated to use my camera , but then I took a couple of pictures just as they posed for us . As I closed the lens, the father shielded the mother and the calf from our view and then he led the group as they crossed the road. While keeping an eye on us, he shepherded them into the bushes and that is when I took out the camera again and even while his family was safely into the forests, he gave us one last look before exiting from our view.





In another scene, we were privy to the bathing scene of a mother and baby elephant who were enjoying a mud bath in the tiger's pool. The mother was extremely weak and we could see her bones..probably she had a hard time getting herself and her calf to kabini . We didnt see the leopard or the tiger , but we spent a good 20 mins watching them enjoy the water.I made a slide show on You Tube and you can watch the pair here

The wild Karnataka - Galibore

As a traveller, I often recommend and suggest destinations to people - some very touristy and some off the beaten track. Though Ive stayed in several hotels, resorts, homestays, very few of them stick in my head. I often prefer going to the same destination, but not always to the same property. However, its been a bit different with JLR or Jungle Lodges and Resorts.

In many ways, my association with wild life enthusiasts started from here and this, in many ways has transformed me from a simple adventure seeking tourist to a birder and wild life enthusiast with a focus on conservation. I am not an activist, but my perspective on wild life has changed. I travel now to enjoy the beauty of the forests, understand biodiversities, look for birds and butterflies and am happy to just breathe the fresh, unpolluted air.


My first brush with JLR was in Bheemeswari, more than a decade ago when I did a TV shoot on one of their properties, Bheemeswari a decade ago. I later visited many properties of theirs set in some of the most beautiful locations of wild Karnataka and went on to even doing a Naturalist Training Programme conducted by their Chief Naturalist, Karthikeyan .

Run by IFS officers under the government of Karnataka by IFS officers, JLR started with the famous Kabini lodge way back in the 70s when it was managed by one man - Papa or the late Colonel Wakefield before the givernment took it over. JLR just celebrated its 30th year and on this occasion, the CM released a coffee table book - Wild Vistas which had one of my contributions on Bandipur. A version of the story has been published here.Published by JLR , it was the initiative of Kunal Sharma, the resident editor of Kabini and it features some great pictures taken by some well known wildlife photographers.

Another magazine , Jungle Tales was also released by the Tourism Minister. Written by several travel writers and edited by a noted travel writer, Susheela Nair, yours truly had also contributed two stories for the magazine - one on my favourite property Galibore and another on Doddamakkali. Both are fishing camps set on the banks of the river Cauvery and is sought after by anglers world wide as its home to the famous game fish, Mahsheer. Here is my story on Galibore.


It is well past twilight when I enter the portals of Galibore Fishing Camp. The darkness has just set in and there is a nip in the air. Sitting outside my tent and sipping a hot cup of tea, I can hear the Cauvery gushing down the rocks, lashing at them as she flows down the hill. The moon shines through the silhouettes of the trees. A row of lanterns light up the camp, as I see the outlines of the other tents. An owl hoots in the distance. And all this while, I happen to be the only one in the camp savouring the wild experience for the other guests are away at their favourite sport � angling

Galibore on the banks of the river Cauvery is completely off the tourist track. A detour from Bheemeshwari, it is located further downstream on the river, closer to Sangama. The camp is quiet, but the action is happening elsewhere on the river, for the angling season has just begun. Starting December, domestic and international anglers make a beeline here to match their wits against the most powerful game fish, Mahseer . And it is not just in Galibore. The entire stretch of Cauvery for about 40 kms is home to Billimeen as its locally called and come October, the camps here are flocked by anglers who practice responsible angling or the concept of catch and release .

The rain descends as a light thunderstorm drench the camp. I chat up with the manager and the anglers soon join in . There is a group from Hyderabad and another from Bangalore and stories fill the air as they exchange their adventures of the day. � I caught a 20 pounder ,� says one as congratulations are in order. Another says he caught three fish, but of a smaller size. While others lament that all that they got was a nibble or two at their lines. I join in the conversation and am filled in with more fishing tales.

The Mahseer , weighing more than 100 lbs is nicknamed as the tiger among fresh water fish as it gives a fight before it surrenders. Sometimes the anglers are at the receiving end. � Mind you, it is very strong , it tugged at my line today and there, my line was broken, � says Mr Reddy who has been coming here regularly with his friends and family for more than a decade. �This camp is remote and wild and I would like it to stay this way and the gillis here are very knowledgeable,� he adds .
The rain continues to pour as Kumar, a former manager at Galibore tells me that an international angler had almost come close to beating the Guiness Records by landing a 118 pounder at the camp more than seven years ago. The World record he says then was 120 lbs. Another Indian angler had landed 104 lbs.

The trick he says is to make the fish tired by playing with it.� Sometimes you think you have caught it, but the fish drags the line downstream and then you start chasing it in a coracle and then the tug of war starts between you and the fish� he narrates, adding that this is the thrill behind angling , although several times, it may just be a wait and watch game.

The owl hoots again . The bon fire is lit as animated conversations light up the air. �We have seen elephants crossing the river while fishing here , � says Mr. Reddy. Gillies narrate stories of being attacked by tuskers, sometimes even for ragi, which is used as bait for the Mahseer. As the voices get louder Kumar interrupts saying, � Ever seen a pack of wild pigs attack a leopard ? � He narrates an experience where the leopard with a piglet climbed a tree pursued by a pack of wild pigs . �It lost its balance, dropped the piglet and disappeared into the forest , � he adds. Besides wild pigs, jackals, sambhars are known to have wandered around the campus as well.

The breeze soon lulls me to sleep. I bid goodnight to the anglers, and attempt to sleep, but the denizens of the forest have other plans. Woken up by a medley of sounds, I venture out in the wee hours of the morning and see a herd of spotted deer catch the light of my torch barely a few feet away from my tent. They leap into the dark forest as I decide to stroll for a while .

Morning dawns, and with it the day breaks into a riot of colours. I look up to see tall trees stretch themselves and create such a canopy that I can hardly see the sky. The grizzled giant squirrel leaps from the branches, the birds call out to each other and the camp comes to life. The coracles are straddled onto the vehicles, the rods are ready and the baits are packed . Besides the ragi, the fish are lured with live bait as well in the form of crab or chiruva or small fish. The anglers meanwhile are planning their locations for the day. The Hyra or the pool upstream, the camp pool and the crocodile pool are the chosen destinations for their tryst with the Mahseer.
I wish them luck and try my hand at fishing at the camp pool.

The Cauvery is at her best, blue and beautiful. Using ragi as the bait, I lower the rod in the water, learn a few techniques and wait. A couple of tugs, but my luck fails me. However, my attention is soon diverted by an otter on the other bank. The monkeys jump around the trees as I see something in turquoise blue hiding behind the leaves . I leave the rod to the gillie and pick up my binoculars and the amateur birder in me comes to the fore. There flitting in the leaves was a verditer flycatcher. Another pair of birds fly close to my tent. Blue and orange, they are my favourite tickell�s blue flycatcher . I catch a bit of a long white tail hanging from a branch there is the paradise fly catcher. My luck seems to have turned around, having spotted the three species of the flycatcher.

Soon, the winged species grab my attention. I spot the flame backed woodpecker, the blue faced malkova , the white bellied drongo, the common kingfisher among others. A shikra turns its face away from me while the jungle fowl calls out. The raptors, the water birds come out into the open as the sun warms them. A lone coracle lies on the white sands. I lean against it and lose myself in its flow gazing into the open, lost in a different world of fins and feathers..

FACT FILE
Address : Galibore Fishing and Nature Camp, Uyamvalli Post, Sangam, Kanakpura Taluk, Bangalore district Rural
Tel: 08231694305
Getting there: Galibore is 100 kms from Bangalore. Travel down the Kanalpura road towards Kanakpura town and take a deviation to Sangama- the confluence of the rivers, Arkavathy and Cauvery. Galibore is further 10 kms from the Sangama .Even though it�s a mud road, its one of the best stretches for birding.

Best season: The months between November to February will be the bst time to visit as it is also ideal for birding and angling. Angling starts here at the end of December and eends by February .
What to do and see: Trekking, birding, fishing, angling, water rafting and coracle rides

Nature calls..

There are some moments in life when you realize that the most simple things in life are the ones that we ignore the most, take them for granted and assume that they are always there..



They also happen to be the finer things in life which we cannot do without - the birds, the bees, the trees, the flowers, the deer, the ants, the spiders,the grass, the thicket and before I say like Keats "and the fruit tree wild..", let me tell you that my vain attempt at poetic prose is inspired by the 3 days spent in a Naturalist Training Programme organised by Jungle Lodges.



I went bird watching for the first time and it was amazing to wake up to an orchestra every morning. We spotted close to 20 species and some of them stay quite fresh in my mind. The special moments were the sighting of the Tickell's Blue flycatcher and the paradise fly catcher, the purple sunbird,the small minivet,the golden oriole,the Eurasian eagle owl, the red wattled lapwing and the blue bearded bee eater. However, it wasnt just them.


It was about realizing that all nests may not belong to birds, but could be that of a social spider .It was also about looking at the differences between the red vented bulbul and the red whiskered bulbul,the magpie robin and the Indian robin,the spotted dove and the laughing dove, listening to the call of the puff throated babbler, the sighting of the coppersmith , the sillhouttes of the wing patterns of the swift and the swallow in flight,the eye of the oriental white eye,the brown cap of the pygmy woodpecker and the white browed fantail. The colours are still so vivid in my mind and I realized that just watching these birds and their behaviour can be so addictive . I wondered what really took me so long to get to the world of birds.


But its not just the thrill of seeing and discovering birds..its also about discovering the world around you that makes you alive and gives you an identity.Its also about telling you that there could be a world soon when all these will slowly die or disappear as their habitat gets taken over by man.Its also about discovering that for every species of plant lost, we lose 30 species of organisms. There is drama,tension, mystery, colour and wonder in this world which we often miss. Unfortunately there is also death and decay here which we are indifferent to.

On a different note. Some quick updates here...
This blog has been selected as the featured blog in Best Indian Blogs and Im quite kicked about this..Thanks guys for reading my blog and making this happen. Im off to a new destination day after, a hill station ,a fort and a forest rolled into one..Any guesses ? You can look for answers in Cerebrate . Ive been missing out on all your posts and will catch up when I am back next week.

To view different parts of the world please click here

Back from Bheemeshwari and its a fishy tale again..

The 40 kms stretch of the Cauvery in Karnataka is home to Mahseer, one of the most famous sport fish loved by anglers all over the world."Angling is all about a game of wits between the fish and the angler and the mahseer, 100 pounds and more gives a real fight ..."

I made an unplanned day trip to Bheemeshwari, on the banks of the river where Jungle Lodges runs its Cauvery Fishing Camp. I was listening to a presentation on angling and eco tourism and was fascinated by the mahseer. It is indeed a big fish and a prized catch .I had been there a decade ago to do a TV show on the location and it was wonderful getting there again ..

My Bheemeshwari trip was courtesy JLR who had a IFS training camp for all IFS officers across the country..And it was wonderful listening to some wonderful presentations on eco and wildlife tourism in an eco-wild setting..Needless to say, I did see some jackals , a small snake , the Indian giant squirrel , plenty of avifauna including the wagtails and stood fascinated as a gillie showed us how to catch a Mahseer .