SAI Sanctuary – Conservation In Coorg

SAI Sanctuary (Save Animals Initiative) is located in the Western Ghats of southern India—the heart of the watershed area for the entire south Indian peninsula, and one of the hottest ‘Hot Spots’ of biodiversity in the world, as designated by the United Nations. From the initial purchase of just 55 acres of private forested lands in 1991, the Sanctuary has grown to more than 300, with its positive influence being seen and felt in the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries it borders—Brahmagiri, Nagarhole and Bandipur.

The full story and more information is on their website.

Most people access Coorg from Bangalore’s International Airport.  You can get here on a Central Asian award ticket.  The directions are much the same as Jungle Side as it is just down the road.  The Malhotras and Muthannas will help you arrange transport between the two properties or you could walk once you learn the route.

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SAI Sanctuary is run by a wonderful couple – Anil & Pamela Malhotra.  Their biographies are here.  You should always contact them in advance if you wish to pay a visit.

SAI Sanctuary Anil and PamelaThe cottages they offer for eco-tourism are gorgeous!  They have magnificent views of the rianforest and are fully self contained so would suit long term visitors as well.  All power is “off the grid” solar power.  Although they weren’t open when we were there, I was given a tour.  Hopefully they will be open again soon so please contact Anil & Pamela if you are interested.

IMG_2559 IMG_2553 IMG_2556 IMG_2557 IMG_2560 IMG_2561 IMG_2563 IMG_2564 IMG_2565 IMG_2566 IMG_2567 IMG_2568 IMG_2570 IMG_2571SAI Sanctuary offers a safe haven for birds who have been surrendered to the authorities or rescued from poachers.  Here you can see the spacious aviary dedicated to these rescued birds.  The Alexandrine Parakeets you see below were part of a large group recovered from illicit bird traders.  Most of them have since been set free in the wild but these poor little guys were injured to the point they can’t survive in the wild.  Thankfully they will have a safe and comfortable life here!

IMG_2518 IMG_2521 IMG_2530 IMG_2531 IMG_2533 IMG_2538 IMG_2540 IMG_2542 IMG_2544 IMG_2546 IMG_2547In tomorrow’s post, I will show you some of the wildlife you can see at SAI Sanctuary!

Choosing The Best Lodges For India & Sri Lanka

Yesterday, I showed you how I put together an itinerary for a birding adventure in southern India & Sri Lanka.  Today, I will show you how I chose the accommodation in each place.  In all cases (except Bangalore) I was prioritizing lodges that were located in birdy locations as I love being able to sit on a deck and watch birds any time of day!   Oh yeah, and we were on a tight budget being a somewhat impromptu trip!

I will be doing detailed reviews with photos on each individual lodge in subsequent posts.

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BANGALORE

The first night, we would be arriving around midnight and getting a bus to Coorg early the next morning.  Bangalore has horrible traffic jams so I wanted to stay as close as possible to the Mysore Satellite Bus Stand.  I used a Google map to zoom in on the bus stand and found the Transit Hotel Mysore Road right across the street.  I Googled the name, saw it bookable on Agoda (unfortunately not on Pointshound) and booked an AC room for a whopping $12!

COORG

On a previous visit, I had accompanied some friends to the wonderful SAI Sanctuary and really wanted to stay there.  Unfortunately, their staff had left and they couldn’t accommodate us but they booked us at a guest house just down the road called Jungleside Homestay.  We made a day visit to SAI to visit our friends and watch birds.

WAYANAD

I had no idea where to stay so I checked on Expedia since I had a $50 credit in my account.  I found a nice-looking place called Grassroots Wayanad, checked the photos & reviews on Trip Advisor and decided it sounded like my kind of place.  I booked it on Expedia to use the $50 credit.

MUDUMALAI

I was researching the sanctuary online and wanted to stay in their accommodation.  However it seems you can only book it with their office in Ooty or at the facility and they had no email.  I resorted to Google mapping the area and found the nearest town was called Gudalur.  I searched Gudalur on Trip Advisor and found a place called Gouri Farm which sounded good.  They weren’t on any booking sites so I emailed them and booked and they agreed to let me pay on arrival since we were there on a weekday.

BANGALORE

We would be arriving in the evening by bus and I have plenty of Club Carlson points so I booked the Park Plaza.

KITHULGALA

I read a few birding trip reports that highly recommended the Kithulgala Resthouse.  I wanted to book and pay on arrival so I used Booking.com which was the only booking agency that allowed for this.

SINHARAJA

Unfortunately this visit fell on a weekend and my first & second choices (Martin’s Simple Lodge & Blue Magpie Lodge) were booked up (according to Sri Lankan travel agency Red Dot) and they tried to get me to book a place for $200 a night that looked lovely but was out of our budget.  I did some researching online and stumbled across a place called Rock View Motel Kalawana which had room so I grabbed it.

Flights and accommodation booked…………………..the journey yet to begin!