Wild Life spots near Chennai - Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary

Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary

This sanctuary is located 50 Km from Chittoor and 120 Km from Bangalore by road. It covers an area of 358-sq-kms. The area is covered by southern
tropical thorn type of forests, consisting of flora Albiziaamara, Ficusreligiosa, Ficustomentosa, Ficus Bengalensis and Bamboo.

The flora also consists of a species, which is a regeneration of 'santalum' album. The habitat of Kaundinya sanctuary is rugged with high hills and
deep valleys. The Kaigal and Kaundinya are two streams, which flow through the sanctuary.

Tourists can find a wide variety of animals like Cheetal, Four horned Antelope, Sambhar, Mouse Deer, Hare, Porcupine, Wild boar, Jungle Cat, Jackal,
Sloth Bear, Panther, Jungle Fowl, Peafowl's and Elephants.

Best Time To Visit: October To May

Route: 170km from chennai..

Wild Life spots near Chennai - Pulicat Lake (TN side of Pulicat)

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Pulicat Lake (TN side of Pulicat)

An ecologically fragile salt-water lagoon, about 60 kms north of Chennai, is the second largest lagoon in India. It is situated on the route taken by migrating birds, tempting them to stop for a break. The lake is separated from the Bay of Bengal by a strip of land, in which the town of Pulicat is located.

The reserve forest area is home to animals like Jackals, Slender Loris and Spotted Deer as well as reptiles such as snakes, tortoieses and monitor lizards.

The lagoon is protected as a Wildlife Sanctuary because of its rich biodiversity. It boasts 65 different species of fish, 30 varieties of terrestrial and aquatic birds and a host of small mammals and reptiles. Flamingos are the most frequent visitors to the lake, about 15,000 of them visit every year. Pelicans, Kingfishers, Herons, Painted Storks, Spoonbills and Ducks are some of the other birds that show up at Pulicat Lake every year.

The town of Pulicat is also an interesting spot, with its Dutch cemetery dating back to the 17th century.Pulicat Lake is a quiet picnic spot for nature lovers and bird watchers. This unpolluted lake is a far cry from the clutter of city life, but at a reasonable distance.

Best time to visit - October to March

Route: 60 kms north of Chenna

Vedanthangal it is !!!

Vedanthangal it is !!!

And finally we settled for vedanthangal , sadly i could'nt  join the tour myself
the tour was a big hit ,i was told my co-cordinator
700 people truned up for the tour (i was pleasantly surprised  ! )


Vedanthangal  is one of the major water bird sanctuaries in India. The birds migrate here every year from November to February, from all over the world. Vedanthangal is the oldest bird sanctuary in the country. This has been in existence presumably for more than 200 years. The villagers had documented their right, to protect the winged visitors to this sanctuary. In all 115 species of birds have beeen recorded in this sanctuary.
Best time to visit : November to February.
Route: 58kms  from chennai

Wild Life spots near Chennai -Yelagiri hills

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Yelagiri hills

An isolated, attractive picnic spot in the Eastern Ghats is the Elagiri Hills, at an elevation of about 1000 metres. A salubrious climate, scenic
surroundings and a quaint Murugan temple are some of the attractions of this place.Green hills and picture post-card scenery greets you here


Serves as an ideal location for organizing one day or two days Trekking. Week-end Trekking can be organized. The view in and around the hills is
captivating enough to last a lifetime. Jalagamparai water falls is a 5 km trek from Yelagiri downhill.Yelagiri is unlike Ooty and Kodaikanal, which
have lost their beauty to commercialisation. It retains its pristine form


More details ,my recent road trip to yelagiri

Route: 4 hours from Chennai

Wild Life spots near Chennai - Nelapattu Bird Sancturay (AP side of Pulicat)

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Nelapattu Bird Sancturay (AP side of Pulicat)

A must-visit for all bird lovers, this world-renowned sanctuary on the banks of Pulicat lake, is spread over 486 sq.km. Here you can sopt the
famous Siberian Cranes and nearly 160 species of birds from as far away as the USA, China, Antarctica among others.


An annual Flamingo festival is held every year in February. Seminar on ecology, exhibitions, cultural programmes & conducted tours for bird
watching are organised during the festival


The reserve forest area is home to animals like Jackals, Slender Loris and Spotted Deer as well as reptiles such as snakes, tortoieses and
monitor lizards

Route: 12 kms away from Sullurpeta (2.5 hrs from chennai)

Wild Life spots near Chennai - croc bank at nemmeli

My search for one day trip for TCS-Maithree members took me to one more place ,croc bank at nemmeli

The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust - Nemmeli

This Crocodile Bank has been established with an aim to protectand conserve the endangered reptiles such as crocodiles, Alligators etc. this trust now houses more than 6 species of crocodiles.
Route: 14 kms from Mamallapuram,

Wild Life spots near Chennai - Pitchavaram

Pitchavaram

Pitchavaram is a mangrove forest in the middle of rural south India. 16 kms from Chidambaram, this is a popular tourist destination. The lush greenery and the calm backwaters drew me, from far off Chennai, to make a visit. The main attraction of the forest is the boating trips on the estuary through the mangrove forests. The Forestry Department and the Tamilnadu Tourism Department jointly manage this 2800-acre mangrove forest.

The boat ride through the still waters is very relaxing. The trees make arches around the waterway and few rays of sunlight that filter through these tangling branches reflect on the placid waters, to make for an unforgettable experience.Boats can be hired from the tourist counter at Rs 50/- per head, for 1 hour.Video and still cameras not allowed

Route: 16 kms from Chidambaram, can hire taxis, vans, or take local buses. Pichavaram is near chidambaram...abt 220km from chennai....route: chennai-pondy- chidambaram

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How can you help Tsunami victims - List of Aid - Relief agencies

List of Aid / Relief agencies
Indian Red Cross Society,Red Cross Building,50 Montieth Road,Egmore,Chennai-600008.Ph : 044-8554548, 8554117 (R) 4980971, 8511711 BB-8554425Fax : 8586997Telegram : "SAMARITAN"email: ircstnb@vsnl.net, web: www.indianredcrosstnb.comCheques or DDs should be in favour of "SECRETARY GENERAL, INDIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY, NEW DELHI - 1", payable at New Delhi. (The contributions are exempted under section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. )
Non-institutional short term contributions in kind. For instance, plan to collect clothes, food etc and want to send it across directly to the relief teams, here are two organisations that are actively involved and need relief support.M. SubbuTamil Maanila Kattida Thozilalar Sangham (TMKTS)1, Cross ST (F.F.) Kilpauk Garden,Chennai-600010Ph: 044-26478386Email: msubbu_cwbc@vsnl.net
T. PeterNational Fishworkers ForumVelankanny Junction, ValiathuraVallakadavu P.O.Trivandrum - 695008Ph: 0471-2501376/2505216Email: nff@vsnl.com
Jesurathinam, SNEHA, Nagapattinam Tel: 04365-222907, 240622These organisations are credible and are using local volunteer base

Indian Express Citizen's Relief Fund If you are from Mumbai you can send Cheques.If you are outside mumbai you can send demand drafts in favour of "Indian Express Citizen's Relief Fund" to following address,The Indian Express,3/50, Lalbag Industrial Estate,Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Road,Lalbag, Mumbai - 400 012

The Hindu Relief Fund" from Hindu group of publications A relief fund has specially been set up to receive contributions, which may be sent as cheques or
drafts payable to "The Hindu Relief Fund."Send to:Kasturi Buildings859 Anna SalaiChennai 600 002INDIAMake the contribution online at http://pay.hindu.com/thrfpay/thrfpay.jsp

T.N. Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund.
The Contribution may be sent either by cash or cheque or Demand Draft drawn in favour of 'CHIEF MINISTER'S PUBLIC RELIEF FUND' addressed to :The Joint Secretary to Government and Treasurer, Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund, Finance Department, Secretariat,Chennai-600 009.
HOPE - the NDTV Tsunami Relief FundSend donations to help those affected by yesterday's disaster through NDTV's trust fund, The Hope Trust.Donations can be made to: "HOPE - Tsunami Relief Fund" and sent to:The Company SecretaryW17, Greater Kailash - 1New DelhiINDIA
AIDINDIAAddress: Old no. 132, New 242, Avvai Shanmugam Salai, Gopalapuram, Chennai - 600 086 Contacts:
T.Ramakrishnan, Chapter co-ordinator (A) E-mail: ramkey_t@yahoo.com Telephone: +91-44-2483 2256
Vibha Ravindran, Projects Co-ordinator (B) E-mail: vibha_ravindran@rediffmail.com Telephone: +91-98402 63275

Medical Aid on behalf of Ranbaxy. Whoever is willing to be a part of this effort, Apurva can be contacted at:Apurva ChamariManager- Marketing,Ranbaxy Australasia Pty. Ltd,13th Floor, Devika Towers , Nehru Place , New Delhi-19.Tel:+ 91 11 26286624 (D) ,9811332259 (M) Fax: 26222780apurva.chamaria@ranbaxy.com
PM's Relief Fund The Prime Minister's Office, South block, New Delhi,India - 110001"

Contributions directly to the banks through their branches1) State Bank of India2) Central Bank of India3) Union bank of India4) Dena Bank5) Syndicate Bank6) Corporation Bank7) Bank of India8) Indian Overseas Bank9) Punjab National Bank10) Indian Bank11) Allahabad Bank12) Citi Bank13) Contributions can also be sent through Money Orders with no commission chargeable.

List of aid agencies that you can contribute , Here are the URLs for those for easy reference:
American Red Crosshttp://www.redcross.org
Care USAhttp://www.careusa.org
Direct Relief Internationalhttp://www.directrelief.org
International Medical Corpshttp://www.imcworldwide.org
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societieshttp://www.ifrc.org/
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Raising Fundshttp://www.jdc.org
Lutheran World Reliefhttp://www.lwr.org
MAP Internationalhttp://www.map.org
Mercy Corpshttp://www.mercycorps.org
Operation USAhttp://www.opusa.org
Oxfam America Asia Earthquake Fundhttp://www.oxfamamerica.org
Save the Childrenhttp://www.savethechildren.org
US Fund for UNICEFhttp://www.unicefusa.org
World Concernhttp://www.worldconcern.org
World Visionhttp://www.worldvision.org

Control Room Helpline Numbers
India's External Affairs Ministry has set up control rooms in Delhi besides Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Maldives, Singapore and Malaysia to provide assistance to Indians in the tidal wave-hit areas.
The Delhi control room will be headed by Additional Secretary Talmiz Ahmed. The telephone numbers are: 00-91-23011849/23382248. E-mail: asad@mea.gov.in & psasad@mea.gov.in

Best Travel Pics - Next Set

Here are the next set of my best pics from my african travels, i thought i better do this now or i may never get time again for the next few months.

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Ghana - Slave cells

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Mara Magic

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Giraffs fighting ( using their necks , no kicking !)

Lone elephants ( most dangerous and moody ones )

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Victoria falls Rainbow ( permanent rainbow )

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Best Sunrise ever.

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Finally I get that trailing light effect

International Bridge - zambia -zimbabwe ( can jump if u have ropes to legs )