Pambadum Shola National Park, Munnar

Pampadum Shola is a prominent hill station in Kerala, which is 35 km away from the Munnar town in Idukki district. The place is is located at the eastern part of Southern Western Ghats of Kerala on the way to Vattavada. The green meadows, clear blue sky, clean air and the thick foliage are some specialties we can feel here. The forest here is a continuous patch, which is home to diverse habitat types, including rare flora and fauna. Around 22 species of trees, 74 species of herbs and shrubs and 16 species of climbers have been spotted here. The fauna wealth includes 14 species of birds, 9 species of mammals, 100 species of butterflies and 93 species of moths.

We went their as part of our Employee Engagement Programe.The main purpose behind arranging the camp was to create an environmental awareness among all and to create a rapport between staff at different departments. The camp was organized in co operation with Department of Wild Life and Forest, Munnar.

The entire team was divided into four groups and we started the journey from Ernakulam on February 21^st by 2 p.m. We were expecting to reach Munnar by 6 p.m. but ride was delayed due to traffic on the way and we reached the destination by 9 p.m. Most of us were tired due to the tedius journey.

On reaching the camp location everyone was overwhelmed by the sight there. A group of gaur were resting on the courtyard. Everyone jumped out of car and started clicking photos. We have been told that we were lucky to see these gaurs because they were coming there after a long time.

We went to sleep after having dinner. Sleeping at dormitory was quite interesting that nobody was sleeping…instead making some different noices and comments each other…

Most of the team members woke up by 6 a.m. for the morning walk. The early morning view was beautiful that the surroundings were full of mist and sun rays coming through it… 

No Electricity…No mobile coverage.. that was the specialty there… Now a days we cannot even imagine a life without these..We enjoyed the real freedom there.

   

For breakfast we had chappathi and egg curry. After breakfast, we headed towards the Forest Office for trekking. There were two guides with us and they were explaining about the forest, different animals etc… At certain places they showed us the footprints of different animals.

Other animals commonly found in the park are elephant, gaur, wild boar, sambar and common langur. Few of us were lucky to have a glimpse of sambar and Nilgiri Marten Just before the trekking. 

The Nilgiri Marten is the only species of marten found in southern India. It occurs in the hills of the Nilgiris and parts of the Western Ghats.

   

Few of the members were enjoying the trekking for the first time and they enjoyed it to the maximum. We reached back camp by 12.30 p.m.Even though everyone was bit tired after the trekking, all joined together to make the lunch. After the lunch every one visited the nearby places in small groups..

Myself and three of my collegeus went to Munnar Town to purchase some items for the dinner. Nobody had taken the camera since the purchase was the only purpose..but suddenly we come across a group of elephants...

Me and Jithin ran to that area...we had to manage the scene with our mobile cam.

We were back to Camp by 5 p.m. and after tea everyone started preparing for the bigger one…

few were busy to prepare food for dinner (dinner was splendid with chicken curry and chicken fry) rest  joined to prepare for the camp fire…

 

Camp fire started with a small inaugural ceremony and the Forest Officer Mr. Binny took class on wild life and shared his experience inside forest. Everyone enjoyed the songs sung and danced around the around the fire. Most of participants were telling that it was cherishing the college days memories. After campfire everyone went to sleep by 12 p.m. 

Third day morning few of the camp members went for a short trekking near the camp.

This tree is said to be one of the oldest and rarest tree species on earth which once co-existed with Dinosaurs.

After having breakfast everyone gather for the closing ceremony. Everyone was sharing their happy moments and later on paused for Group Photo. Camp has come to an end officially and team started their return journey. 

It was with the great support of Mr Binny, Forest Officer and his staff, we could make this camp a memorable event in our life...

On the way...view from Kundala Lake..

In returns we just visited Mannavan Chola, another view point which is about 8 km from Kundala Lake.

a view from the Watch Tower

ACCESS
Road: Pampadum Shola is nearly 35 Km from Munnar town and can be reached from Kochi ( 135 Km), and Kottayam (148 Mk) by Road. The Kochi - Kodaikanal highway passes through this National Park.
Air: The Park is accessible from Cochin (Kerala) and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) airports, which are located at about 170 Km and 160 Km respectively.
Rail: The nearest railway station in Kerala is Aluva (180 Km) and Udumalpet (110 Km) in Tamil Nadu.

Nature Camp can be arranged here for which permission need to be taken from Forest & Wildlife Department.