A Trek to Dhoni Waterfalls

Dhoni Waterfalls....

Dhoni is a quite and serene forest 15kms from Palakkad in Kerala.Dont mistake,the name of the place resembles the famous Indian cricketer!But no swashbuckling stuff here!All quite and cool and the singing of birds and the sound of jungle streams and waterfalls welcomes you to Dhoni.

Webcast.....

Situated in the western ghats, Dhoni is famous for Jersey breed cows and farms.Dhoni waterfalls is a 4KM trek from the base of the Dhoni Hills.Eventhough a jeep road exists upto the falls, private vehicles are not allowed beyond the Forest check post at the foothills of Dhoni.

A scorpion on the way.....

After paying the nominal entry fee,we started our walk towards Dhoni falls.Its 4KMs thru the motorable road but the shortcuts make the distance quite lesser.We started the trek around 10Am and thick forest and big trees welcomed us to Dhoni.Teak plantations can be seen at the beginning and wild animals also move around inside the forest.

A Sign board on the way.....

Shortcuts are steeper and required regular stops and rest.We carried some food and refreshments along with us.As we climbed up we could see the plains below and there was reasonable coverage for the mobile phones.

A Green rough snake caught a Frog.....

We reached the Dhoni falls around 1PM and the sight was refreshing.All tiredness vanished as we dipped ourselves in the river.One has to be careful while bathing near the falls as the rocks are slippery and the depth is more than 7 feet.

Dhoni Waterfalls...Another view

What happened next was very exciting for me as a photographer.I was moving into a canopy of green leaves and vines by the side of the river when I heared a distress call.I turned and saw a green snake having a mouthfull of a frog.The distress call was of the frog.The snake was small but lengthy and it carried the frog into the canopy.I could take several pics and some video as well.It was around for almost 10 minutes and it disapperaed.I wonder how it could have swallowed the frrog which was very big compared to the mouth of the small snake.

Could it have swallowed the Frog?....

I was satisfied with the trip as I thought I got a number of good pictures of the snake and frog.We couldn't spot any other animal except of course a dead scorpion.

We started our return trek around 3 pm and reached the base at 5pm.The trip was a refreshing break for all of us

Click on the following link to watch a short video of the Green Snake and Frog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOmErHhwOvY

See later.....