Anakulam – The Pond of Elephants

March 2020 – The year which changed the world for many. The world itself changed a lot due to the pandemic. The year which saw new possibilities which one had never thought of. Just before this change, was the trip to Anakulam – The pond of Elephants.

We went on a bike trip to Anakulam starting from Ernakulam. I was also excited because, it was my first trip on a bike. We started around 10.30 AM and reached around 5.00 PM at Anakulam. On the way, we had couple of stops including for lunch. The initial excitement wore off as soon as I started to experience the harsh reality of weather because Sun was directly hitting on my back and occasionally it rained as well. There was a relief from the sun once we crossed Neriamangalam, because that is when the ghat road starts and you can stop when you are tired of riding. My shoulders carried the backpack which had things required for a one-night stay. Even though the weights of the backpack were on the seat behind me, I felt my shoulders heavy. Slowly we climbed the ghat road. The ride was good since the roads were pretty good than the normal. But to reach Anakulam, you must deviate from the main road which is when actual roller coaster ride starts. A narrow snake like road with full of gutter or rather an unpaved road with little remains of tar here & there. Even though it was just close to 25 kms, it took more than an hour to reach the destination. We waited for almost an hour, but there were no signs of wild elephants. I was surprised and doubtful when we reached our destination when I gazed around. The local people were playing volleyball and they were howling & cheering. A shallow stream was flowing on the border of that playground. There was a forest on the other side of the river. The elephants are supposed to come from those forests in small groups, to drink that water. According to the locals, there is some minerals in the water. That is the reason why elephants come & drink regularly from there irrespective of the crowd gathered around.

 

It was getting dark and rain was getting heavier. So, with a heavy heart we decided to go to the resort promising to comeback once again to see the wild elephants. On our way back, we took a wrong turn. It took us a while to realise that. We were riding through tea estates. It was very pleasant until it got dark. It felt like we were never going to reach our resort. We could see lights from lanes of houses which belonged to tea factory workers which were very either far or in the valley. I was getting scared. There was no one around to stop & ask our way out. We neither could reach out to anyone if in case we were attacked by any wild elephants or animals or if our vehicle broke down. On top of that, there was no network in either of our phones. The only light that led us was our bike’s. We could also see at times, the moon which was trying to reach us occasionally through the tall & thick trees. I could feel my heart thumps and felt like my heart would jump out anytime. I was shivering out of cold as well as fear. We had drenched a little bit due to rain. Dillu had asked me several times whether to stop so that I can take out my jacket & wear it. I declined as I did not want to stop the vehicle even for a second in such a murky situation. Finally, after riding through the shrubs for about 2 hours (PS: It took only an hour for onward journey) we reached on a highway and its then we realised that we have reached very much ahead from the point where we took the deviation to Anakulam. It took another hour to reach our resort. 

Exactly after a year, we again reached Anakulam. We arrived at the destination around 4.00 PM and we decided to wait inside our vehicle itself since it was hot outside and secondly due to covid. After sitting for half an hour, we stepped out and clicked some photos and strolled around. After some time, I heard an elephant trumpet and so we started to look intensely into the forest. That is when I felt a movement from behind the woods. I informed Dillu and directed him & he too confirmed that there is something. He informed few people around us and so people who were playing volleyball stopped their games and climbed to a safer place. Initially there were 2 elephants along with a baby elephant because of which they were hesitant to descend to the river from behind the woods. It took another 15-20 minutes to hear a trumpet from another direction. We saw another small herd moving. On seeing the new herd, the first two elephants started coming down who were followed by rest of the elephants which included a week-old calf too. The youngest one was very much scared to move far from its mother. We felt it would trip down as its steps as well as legs seemed to be feeble. The calf looked pinkish and was very hairy. All of them started to drink first and then started to play. Few of them simply dipped into the water and they were having really good time. After enjoying the sight and clicking a handful of photographs, we decided to leave as it was getting dark and we did not want repeat whatever had happened with us last time. It is a place where we love to go back. Every elephant lover must visit this place at least once. We still cherish those moments and everything is clearly visible when we close our eyes as though it happened few seconds back.