Part 15. Southern India

Southern India is a land of long beaches, narrow coastal plains, granite hills and a few low, but steep, mountain ranges. The most scenic are Nilgiri Hills, the highest part of Western Ghats mountains along the border of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.

Granite hills near Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu.

Forest in the foothills of Western Ghats, TBS.

Hibiscus sp., TBS.

If you are traveling through the Subcontinent in winter and get tired of cold nights and grey fields, you can always find some sun, flowers and butterflies in the wonderful South.

Coprinus plicatus, Mathikettan Shola National Park, Tamil Nadu.

Cetoniid beetle,Eravikulam National Park, Kerala.

Araneid spider, TBS. There's an endless variety of beautiful insects and spiders in local forests. Araneid spider, TBS.

Nefila spider, TBS.

Wild Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), TBS.

Southern India is not as desperately overpopulated as many areas up North, and its nature reserves generally see fewer tourists. The easiest places to see wild elephants, giant squirrels, and many small predators are all in the South.

Lesser yellownape (Picus chlorolophus), MSNP.

Asian false vampire (Megaderma spasma), TBS.

Wild elephant, TBS.

Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica), TBS.

Orange-breasted green pigeon (Trenon bicincta), MSNP.

Yellow-legged green pigeon (T. phoenicoptera), TBS.

Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala has a lot of wildlife, and very few tourists.

Orange-headed thrush (Zoothera citrina), MSNP.

Black-crested baza (Aviceda leuphotes), TBS.

Intermediate egrets (Egretta Intermedia), Madras Crocodile Bank, Tamil Nadu.

Intermediate egrets, MCB, Tamil Nadu.

Coastlines are mostly developed, but there are still some nice wetlands with remnant mangroves, marshes, and huge waterbird colonies.

Intermediate egrets, MCB, Tamil Nadu.

Travancore tortoise (Indotestudo forsteni), TBS

Indian black turtle (Melanochelys trijuga), MCB.

Indian softshell turtle (Aspideretes gangeticus), MCB.

Tortoises and turtles are now endangered throughout Asia. In many places all have been caught and eaten or exported to China, but Thattekkad still has a few species.

Roofed turtle (Kachuga) sp., TBS.

Grotto gecko (Hemidactylus gracilis), TBS.

Lygosoma skink, TBS.

Indian house gecko (H. frenatus), MCB.

Russel's viper (Vipera russelii), Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu.

If you spend a few days in Thattekkad forests, you might even see a few poisonous snakes - a rare sight in most of India nowadays.

Russel's viper, Kumta, Karnataka.

Indian toad (Bufo melanostictus), MCB.

White-bellied blue robin (Myiomela albiventris), ENP.

Nilgiri pied bushchat (Saxicola carpata nilgiriensis), ENP.

Southern India has 24 endemic bird species (plus 17 shared only with Sri Lanka).

Malabar trogon (Harpactes fasciatus), TBS.

Grey junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii), TBS.

Lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), Eravikulam National Park, Kerala.

Bonnett macaques (M. radiata), Mamallapuram.

Anamudi (2,695 m/8,842'), South India's highest peak, ENP.

There are also many endemic and almost- endemic mammals. Nilgiri thar is the most famous, but there are even more interesting smaller ones: three monkeys (shown here), unique brushtail dormouse, tiny rusty- spotted cat, slow loris...

Nilgiri langur (Semnopithecus johni), ENP.

Tea plantations near Munnar, Kerala.

Mountain shrub, ENP.

Nilgiri thars (Hemitragus hylocrius), ENP.

Eravikulam Nat'l Park is the best place to see the thar (at the main trail) and other mountain species (in the remote forested part).

Nilgiri thars, ENP.

Nilgiri thar, ENP.

Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kinthiana), ENP.

Neelakurinji is a beautiful plant that only blooms once in 12 years. It last bloomed in November 2006; I still found a few flowers in January.

Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus), ENP.

Baby cricket, Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu.

Part 16: Tamil Nadu

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