Arippa trip

This​ post has been lying in my drafts for so long unfinished and I've decided to complete it today.My last trip in December 2016 was one of the most exhilarating and one of the highlights was our forest interlude at Arippa wild life sanctuary. It was full fun and frolic. Little had I heard about Arippa before being there,  and am glad that I got to explore one of the little explored forests with my favorite people.

The best part about travelling with  your cousins is that you can just be yourself ,do whatever you want without worrying about offending anybody; dance your heart out, behave crazily ,and anything. With a 1 year old, traveling to the woods can get you skeptical, but little Rey enjoyed every minute of it with so many care takers around. 

Enjoying the river bath

Arippa is a low land evergreen forest about 60 kms from Kollam enroute thiruvananthapuram . We had options to stay in the hilltop bungalow jyotishmati or in the tents. We decided to camp in the tents to be closer to the breathtakingly beautiful forest. There were 5 tents all booked for us, a beautiful park with benches and a swing, a dinning Hall with attached kitchen  . A cook cum caretaker was there to assist. We got to barbeque outside at night, played,danced and relished every moment there.

We reached Arippa by around 2 pm , brought packed lunch from a hotel which we collected on our way, lounged for sometime post lunch,checked our cottages and changed ourselves to swim clothes to visit the kalladayar. The river gushes over several rock layers in a series of cascasdes. The villagers warned us not to go to specific spots , where there may be swirls or whirlpools . Some of the rocks were slippery too, so proper caution was to be taken while moving. Little Rey was so afraid with the spurting water stream and started wailing so my sis in law took care of him staying on shore while I ,my hubby and others enjoyed thoroughly.We spent close to an hour there,swimming and playing and went back to our cottages in the woods. 

Our Cottages

Evening view from the tent

My nephew all soaked 

At night we had live barbeque sessions, the cook made roti ,tapioca dishes and all to assuage our appetites. Our care taker Pillai cheta told us stories of elephant herds roaming around at night only till areas few metres far from our stay as the area around the tents are well guarded with electric fence. 

Arippa is a heavenly treasure to bird-watchers and ornithologists. They say there are about 270 species of birds in the forest.  Next day morning we went to spot some elephant or special birds, trekking a few metres in the woods. We didnt find any yet the allure of the green mysterious forest captivates you. Later in the morning we again went to kalladayar, got us drenched, and enjoyed ourselves.

 Altogether our entire trip to Arippa with the one-night stopver was all amazing combined with good-spirits and contentment.