Life at Jungle Hut

We’ve definitely slipped into tropical lethargy. We’ve been very lucky that the temperatures have stayed reasonable – and now that we’ve officially turned the bend into monsoon season, it isn’t likely we’ll see the extreme heat that’s possible down here.

O.K....life here at Jungle Hut: During the week we stay in one of the guest rooms, and then when the rooms fill up on the weekends, we migrate into the main house, where there’s a few spare beds. The food here is fantastic. Granny should be very happy about my meat intake (I made the mistake of telling her while we were still up north that we were only getting meat every other day but eating enough lentils to compensate - I think she was worried). Here at the lunch and dinner buffets, there are always at least 2 meat options per meal – yummy chicken, fish, and beef (!), as well as mutton, which we mostly avoid. Veggies, salads, different breads, and very nice desserts round out the extensive offerings. Breakfast is toast, cornflakes, bananas, Indian breakfast of dosas, masala stuff, chutney, eggs made to order, and bacon or sausage if desired.

Our work schedule hasn’t settled into much of a routine yet… we mostly hang around trying to be helpful. We man the office, taking bookings and answering questions. We do a lot of “general hospitality” stuff, making sure the rooms get cleaned and are ready for the guests, showing guests to their rooms, and making sure they have everything they need. We play scrabble and cards (in the office or out on the deck), watch the birds and deer, and play with the dogs. In case we were to forget we’re in the jungle, there are big frogs (or maybe toads?) on the deck at night, geckos in our room, garden lizards on the trees, 7-ft. tall termite mounds along the paths, and bright-colored and/or enormous beetles bumbling around. Occasionally we go for a walk on the road, or catch a ride into town to grab something. Weekends are a bit more eventful, with more of the Bangalore crowd and often some of Vikram’s (whose parents started Jungle Hut, and who now owns the place) friends around. Pool parties, bonfires, and cocktails mark the weekends.

Some of our pictures are here, and more will be coming.

Gerry and the Snakes

Last week we met Gerry Martin (the local expert herpetologist, who's done work for Natinoal Geographic) when he came down from Jungle Retreat (where he leads kids’ and corporate groups) to give us a brief lecture and show off some of the snakes that he and Greg have recently caught to study. I was lucky enough to get to handle a beautiful ~3-1/2 ft Ceylon cat snake before Gerry brought out a spectacled cobra, which he kept hold of by the tail!

Then a few nights ago he asked if we wanted to go chameleon hunting. (Of course!) Trevor and I piled into the jeep with Greg and Robin, and we drove around for about 45 minutes. We saw a garden lizard, and they showed us how reptiles’ bodies catch the light differently than the foliage (I have to admit, it must be an acquired skill, as I couldn’t see the difference). After a while they decided we should try the area around Jungle Retreat on foot (Trevor headed home for some overdue shuteye – the fierce windstorms the 2 nights previous had kept us from getting much sleep at all). Right away we spotted a nightjar (bird) and while it was stunned by the light I got a nice look a the brown whiskered bird. We hadn’t walked long when the guys found our quarry: a lovely green chameleon, sound asleep gripping a branch. Robin coaxed the slow-moving lizard off the branch, and transferred it to his shoulder, where it stayed for about 5 seconds before making it’s way to the top of his head, gripping his hair one slow step at a time. They also managed to snag a mouse, which they brought back to Greg’s room where 2 aquariums house their current collection of snakes – 2 kraits, a wolf snake, the Ceylon cat snake, a bamboo pit viper, and Malabar pit viper. The Malabar viper had been shunning the frogs and geckos the others ate, and the mouse was offered in the hope that she’d be more exited about livelier prey. After only 5 minutes, she made her preference clear with a spectacularly fast strike. (I went home and told Trevor he missed all the good stuff… but then a few days later I stayed home while he went for a drive with Vinnie and they saw 2 sloth bears.)

Keith & Co

We saw Keith’s work before we met the man himself - his cartoon leopard graces the front of Jungle Hut’s t-shirts. He and his wife Valerie, and two sons (Hayden and Graham) were here for almost a week, and we had a great time hanging out with them. The Francis family was kind enough to take us along on their morning safari to Anikutti, where we saw spotted deer, sambar, gaur, wild boar, peafowl, and even a mongoose! The drive through the preserve at dawn was fantastic – the back of the jeeps are open, and we did most of the ride standing up holding onto the bars on top for a better view. We also got a great view of a crested eagle. I think Keith was really disappointed he didn’t get to show us elephants, but we were more than happy with the experience.

All in all we had a nice visit with Keith and Co., and though we don’t know if we’ll be able to take them up on their invitation to come to Mumbai/Bombay this time around, we have a feeling we’ll be seeing them again sometime.

Hiking with Greg and Vinnie

We arranged for Vinnie to pick us up at 6am, and told Greg to expect us up at Jungle Retreat at 6:15. Several people put the odds on Vinnie showing up at somewhere in the neighborhood of 233-1. Trevor had faith…. But we gave up waiting and starting walking up to Retreat at 6:15. Vinnie surprised us, though, and drove up behind us before we were halfway there. Some bananas and a cup of coffee later, we hit the trail.

The first 15 minutes was a flat hike between houses and around fences, but then we met up with the main trail and started up. Rains the night before made the trail into the perfect canvas for animal tracks, and we saw “pugmarks” (Indian term for tracks) of panther, sambar, and gaur. We saw the drama of a mouse deer being pursued by a jungle cat (the deer is about the size of a medium dog, the cat a bit larger than a domestic cat), perfectly preserved in the mud. The trail meandered uphill through broadleaf forest, most of the trees not more than 30 or 40 feet tall. A swaying of branches off to the side alerted us of the presence of a pair of giant squirrels, orange and brown animals ~2-1/2 ft long. We rounded a bend in the trail and Greg brought us to an abrupt halt – grazing obliviously on the trail ~100ft ahead was a gaur (Indian bison). It didn’t notice us for a few minutes, during which Greg informed us that when he did, he’d either charge or run away. Gaur don’t bluff if they charge, so we were all scoping out the nearby tree-climbing options. He eventually noticed us, and after staring for a minute or two, decided to retreat into the brush. A little further on, Greg managed to pick out (with binoculars) some sambar grazing on the hillside opposite us.

We encountered the usual impressive array of bugs and birds, and Vinnie impressed us with his local bird knowledge. Who knew he was a bird guy? The weather stayed pleasant for hiking – overcast, with only a slight misting, but luckily not sunny (the sun here is a force to be reckoned with). After reaching the camp (~ 1850 m) we had a nice tromp back down the hill to retreat (~ 950 m) and a lime juice and soda.

Coming up…

Tomorrow we’re going out for an early morning trek with Bella, a local wildlife guru with a fantastic mustache. Should be interesting.

Further out, we’ve been corresponding feverishly with Pat (Trev’s Mom), who’s coming to visit in July. We’re starting to lay down some more definite plans for her visit, and all getting very excited about it.

Even further out, I’ve started registration for my teaching course in Thailand. It’s in a quiet little fishing town on the coast, so we’re looking forward to that as well.

Labels: India