Ian Lockwood

Bob and Tanya negotiating a flooded road in the grasslands of Mukurthi National Park in the Nilgiri Hills

This year India experienced an abnormally erratic monsoon season. While a deficit of rain was reported from many parts of the subcontinent, northern Kerala was drenched in a deluge in early July. I had a chance to enjoy experiencing the full rigor, and power of the South West monsoon during a short visit to the Nilgiris and Wayanad with my friends Bob & Tanya from the Vattakanal Conservation Trust. On our fleeting visit to the Nilgiri Hills we visited the remote area of Bangitappal in Mukurthi National Park. Given the difficulty in securing permission we felt fortunate to be granted the single night at the rest house. However, the relentless monsoon showers, which came in at 360°, severely limited what we could do. Later we drove up through Mudumalai, Bandipur and then Nagarhole to visit our friends at the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary in Wayanad. The journey proved to be quite an adventure with knocked-out roads, raging streams, muddy landslips, a circuitous deviation and finally a submerged road to navigate in a rescue boat. The rewards of communion with friends and the tranquility of Gurukula, albeit in pounding rain, were well worth it.

Impatines clavicornia at Bangitapal, Nilgiri Hills

Shola canopy amidst pouring rain on the way to Bangitapal.

Baby python (Python molurus) that had been run over at the foot of the Masinigudi ghat road, Nilgiri Hills.

Camera curiosity amongst Paniya tribals at the flooded road near Gurukula.

Rescue boat ferrying commuters across flooded road on the way out from Gurukula.