Explore Wayanad

Wet Lakkidi, wild Vythiri, high Chembra, ancient Edakkal and powerful Meenmutty…Sanjay Sivadas has a busy holiday

A picturesque drive down the Kozhikode-Bangalore highway took me towards Lakkidi (one of Lakkidi’s lesser-known claims to fame is that it boasts of receiving the highest rainfall in the country after Cherrapunji); the gateway to Wayanad.

Nighttime is the right time for a drive through the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary

Muthanga boasts herds of wild bison, spotted deer, barking deer, sambhar and wild boar, apart from elephants. — Photo by author

Correspondent

Considerable fall in number of visitors to various destinations during Onam

not much to celebrate: Pookode Lake at Vythiri in Wayanad, an acclaimed tourist destination.

Photo: Biju Govind 
 
VALUE ADDITION: Most of the resorts in Wayanad have huts attached to them atop a cliff.

A silent real estate boom is being experienced in one of the least expected regions of the State - Wayanad.

This property boom, however, in this picturesque hilly district is of a different kind unlike seen in other parts of Kerala. One of the reasons cited for businesses showing an upward trend is the flourishing tourism sector and hospitality industry whereas in North Kerala, particularly Kozhikode city, it is mainly attributed to the rapid urbanisation, huge NRI remittances and non-availability of space for housing.

Staff Reporter

Kozhikode: What brings Bill Gates, Mohanlal and Rajeev Chandrashekar to Wayanad? What brings Manoj Majeed, Shyam Prasad and Madhuri to Wayanad? Certainly the likes of the chief executive officer of one of the biggest software companies in the world, an actor par excellence and a young business magnate can be compared to the software professionals of Bangalore. If Kerala is god's own country, this plantation district can be called god's own garden.

GREENWATCH

Missions in the jungle

SRIDEVI PILLAI

Wayanad, a place that highlights the glory of the Western Ghats, is also home to two examples of good ecological practices.

GREEN PARADISE: Everything is in harmony, be it at the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary and Garden or the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. PHOTOS: VIMAL M.
AS we drove up the Thamarasserry pass up to Wayanad, leaving behind the heat, dust and bustle of the plains, all around was blue — the sky above and the rolling mid-lands below looked surreal. I looked up and saw a serpent eagle gliding smoothly in the air. The sultry heat of Kozhikode/Calicut, its peculiar smell of spices, rotten fruit and petrol and city noises were far away. We were entering a different land — green, cool and full of life.

As our vehicle moved up the pass, the remaining evergreen forests on both sides looked fresh after copious summer showers. Common Langurs were trying to get hold of eatables thrown to them from passing vehicles. Bright red flowers of Erythrina and Gulmohar sparkled like flames amidst the mist and light rain.

An eleven-member team from Canada is undergoing training in yoga in Wayanad.

KALPETTA: It was a long cherished dream of Natalie Brewer, a 25-year-old psychology student of New Brunswick University in Canada, to learn yoga from a yogacharya in the land of yoga. The dream got fulfilled recently when yoga expert P. Gopalakrishnan took her under his tutelage.

Natalie is part of an 11-member Canadian team, led by Kerry Lawson, a certified Hata Yoga instructor hailing from Nova Scotia, Canada. The team is undergoing a three-week yoga training session on the premises of a home-stay at Lakkidi in Wayanad.

When the mercury rises in the Neelgiri Biosphere the seasonal migration of wild animals has begun from the adjacent wild life sanctuaries in Karnataka and Tamilnadu to Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary (WWLS) in search of fodder and water.

The sanctuary is a haven for the wild animals such as wild elephants, gaur, different species of antelopes, bears and numerous birds during the summer season. Easy availability of fodder and water through out the year is the attraction of the sanctuary.