Trip to Neyyar

I have not written a travelogue on this blog so far. So let me start with a short trip to Neyyar.

My daughter had been feeling bored during the Christmas vacation and I had promised my family that we would do something over the three day Christmas weekend.

On Christmas day we decided to make a short trip to Neyyar dam. We started

from Trivandrum at around 10 AM. The road was in surprisingly good condition and relatively free of traffic. We made it to Neyyar (through Pangode and Kattakada) in good time.

Neyyar is relatively well maintained and has more attractions for visitors (as compared to Arruvikara).

First we passed the dam and went straight ahead to the Crocodile Park. The park was not very well kept. Some of the enclosures were empty and those that did have crocodiles had stagnant water in the tank. The crocs though seemed to well fed and in healthy condition.

Since it was mid morning by the time we reached there, the crocs were in a restful mood

and did not seem to care much for the human company.

Next we went to the wildlife information centre to book our tickets for the Lion safari. The staff there informed us that we missed the bus by just a couple of minutes and that the next bus would be after nearly one hour.

We used the time to walk parallel to the lake and to the top of the dam. It was getting quite hot by the time we walked back to the information centre and we had karriku (tender coconut).

We were just in time to book our tickets for the safari. We were the first to board the bus and hence got the best seats on the bus (in the front). The lions are in a large enclosed area and the barricaded bus drives through the enclosure. The likelihood of getting a good view of the lions depends on luck. The occupants of the bus we had missed earlier did not seem to be too pleased with their trip and hence our expectations were low.

We were in for a surprise though – we got a good view of an adult lion couple, a lone lioness and also of two youngsters (3 year olds). They seemed to be quite comfortable going about their daily routine in front of the caged humans. One of the youngsters in the bus though tried to tease the lion. The lion did not seem to be too pleased and it showed on his face. The driver was not as kind though and he admonished the youngster! The chap slunk away to the back of the bus.

The driver informed us that there are 7 lions in the park now and all of them were born in the Neyyar Park. The lions are fed every day except on Mondays – because Monday is a holiday for the park! Poor lions – they have to follow a time table and go hungry on Mondays on account of the weekly day off for the staff!

After the safari we were hungry and we sauntered off to the KTDC hotel for lunch. We expected that the spread and quality would be the same as that of a regular KTDC hotel. However sadly that was not to be - they had only one item on the menu and that was Biriyani. The biriyani reminded one of hostel days – it had blocks (katta) of rice and tasted just ok. Anyway a thank you to Neyyar KTDC for making me feel nostalgic !

Post lunch was the time to walk down to the base of the dam. The main dam outlet looked decent and we took some snaps here. The secondary outlets were powerful and the spray of the water near the outlets was refreshing and cool in the sweltering heat.

We had a leisurely walk back to the car and spent some more time near the lake – Nandu (daughter) was exhausted by then and we decided to head back to Trivandrum.

The highlight of the day undoubtedly was seeing the king of the jungle up close at a distance of four feet!