Has anyone visited Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala?

istonge

I live in Minnesota in the U.S., where it's bright and sunny but blanketed by snow and cold today, so India is sounding pretty good right now.

My partner and I are thinking of visiting the sanctuary the last week of January, taking the train from Goa and stopping at Kannur. I understand there are two areas of the sanctuary, Tholpetty and Muthanga.

Is it relatively easy to get into the sanctuary or is there some red tape involved? The Lonely Planet Guide mentions jeep tours. Has anyone taken one of these? Did you go for a couple of hours or a couple of days? Did you see wild elephants?

Did you stay in Kannur or closer to the sanctuary?

Any advice or insights you can provide are much appreciated!

iso

pmvelu

For both these Sactuaries, there is no "Fixed Forest Jeep Safari" as such(Which Exists in Bandipur, Nagarhole (Karnataka) OR Mudumalai (Tamilnadu)) -- I am quoting these other names as it's more or less 80 kms within your favourite destinations and Nagarhole being the Ideal sanctuary to sight many a wild animals (Especially Elephants , Fox ,& herds of deer).Coming back to your original question, If you have a 4 WD vehicle , you could get in for your own safari (Ofcourse with a Forest dept person with you) OR you need to hire a Jeep to do the safari .

And for all of the abovementioned sanctuaries, the Safari timinigs are 6 -9 am & 3-6 pm.

Kalpetta ( District Head Quarters of Wayanad) is the ideal place to visit these two places with Kalpetta having many a resort / lodge kind of places to stay with all the facilities. If you travel from Goa, get down at Calicut (Not Kannur) and get "Mysore / Bangalore / Kalpetta" Bound bus to reach Kalpetta.(Kalpetta is around 60 kms from Calicut (Kozhikode))

Muthanga is around 40 kms from Kalpetta & Tholpetty is around 65 kms from Kalpetta.

If you u visit Tholpetty , Plan to visit nagarhole (Kodagu (coorg) district of Karnataka)) too as it's hardly 20 kms from this place thru a scenic "Coffee Plantation" route Via Kutta .

If you need any more info on any of the above,feel free to post.

Regards
Velu

DDee

We spent a couple of days in Sultan's Battery, to break up the trip from Calicut to Mysore. There was nowhere to book the jeep other than through a hotel there: Kalpetta would be easier for that.

The Wildlife Sanctuary was a pleasant drive (Rs 400 for the guide/entry). Not much wildlife to see that day; spotted a bison and some deer. You'd be very lucky to see wild elephants or tigers, I think.

We went on a half-day trip (Rs 1200), next visiting Edikkal Caves, which have pictograms etched into the walls. A full day safari would include visits to local dams, parks etc...

nomad

if you have only limited number of days, may i suggest jungle lodge and resort Kabini. its the same forest but in the state of karnataka.

else kalpetta is the place to stay and take jeep tours. your hotel should be able to arrange rest of the things for you. in my case i took a jeep (the original design of the vehicle came from jeep company, so we call it jeep).
go early in the morning.

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istonge

Many thanks to all of you who replied. I am going to l look at all this information and reassess my plans. Great to hear from you.

backpakker

I would also suggest Kabini which is near by ..you can do a google search on it, if you havent finalised your plans.Its a great place to sight wild life

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istonge

Thanks, backpakker, I'll take a look at Kabini as well.
iso