Travel Moments Turn Memoirs Part 3: Excitement To Disappointment Balance Maintenance

This is probably a very lazy post. I did not know how to go about it honestly. 

Our next destination was also an interesting one, one that people always long to stay in- a tree house! Thanks to Deep Guest House, a carefully chosen abode in the deep insides of Madhumalai.  Always having watched these exotic looking bamboo houses in pictures or the travel programming on TV, I for myself was overexcited to reside in one finally. 

Reside

To describe it a little more- a small canopy, at a small height, with an attached bathroom, also with a spacious gallery kind area, with a table and two chairs. To add to it, a stream flowed right behind the house. The area was surrounded in greenery, allowing just a small beam of sun-ray to pass. Quiet obvious the only element of noise or rather the sound was of the birds and in the evenings the insects.  And of course the trouble givers of every jungle- the monkeys hopped by. It got a little scary initially when we heard thudding on our roof but eventually got used to it.

Admire

The plus point was we were here on a Monday. Naturally the entire place was empty and we being the only guests, a guaranteed good service was offered. One of the activities was kayaking in the calm water flowing behind. I have always been kicked about trying a new sport so no doubts this was a fun ride. To keep it short, tried it first time, got stuck in the branches canopy residing all spiders, struggled a while to get out and came back with a huge smile.

Of all the good and happy things we got here, we did face some major disappointment. The wildlife safari, such a weighty concept; but safari! So we got all ready to see some of the wildlife in the habitat of where we were staying. The Madhumalai Wildlife safari is actually a very cheap affair. Just about Rs. 50 per person (Rs. 43 to be exact) you’ll be accommodated in a bus that takes you through the forest, the insides and you can spot the wildlife. Unfortunately the only overly-qualified ‘wildlife’ we saw were the deer fighting with their antlers! Not that I had high hopes of spotting a tiger or a boar but then not even just deer! In fact, we saw more of the animals on our way to reach the safari point. By animals I mean elephants, bison and some more deer. Disappointed.

Inhabit

To pacify the soul then we were taken to an elephant feeding centre. So here we saw some tuskers who were being fed by the authorities. The feeding times coincide with the safari timings, obviously because disappointed people then come here and see the huge elephants all together and get a feel of having done something. I sound too much of a cynic here right?

But anyway the wildlife safari was a major letdown, and thankfully it did not cost us a lot so we were fine. The internet shows rate upto Rs. 300-500 and we were done with the same in Rs. 50. Budget trip going on track!

Coming back to the tree-house was pleasant. By now the insects were buzzing, everything was pitch dark and there was nothing better than just sitting out and enjoying it. We were served a very yummy dinner and no doubts tonight’s sleep was going to be so peaceful. Before that we had a night walk in the road that led into much denser forests around. Torches lit, walking in the mucky road with the guide we walked stealthily to see if we spot the wild. We pointed our torches in a direction and saw shiny eyeballs staring back at us. Too much in number, that was a herd of deer again. But at that point, we were happy with them being just deer.

Such was another day spent, experiencing the different emotions, doing the balance; a very happy satisfied soul living on a tree-house disappointed by seeing nothing in the Madhumalai forest. On every tour there will be a gamut of them, decide how you look at it. We could have totally avoided the safari if we wanted to, but what’s the point of coming to an area where you don’t even explore. Now I don’t sound like a cynic, do I?