ERAVIKULAM NATIONAL PARK:

Eravikulam National Park established in 1978, covers Area around 97 Sq KM, Altitude from 1400 m to 2995 m. 16 km away from Munnar.

About half the world population of Nilgiri Tahr roam these lands. Sambar, barking deer, Indian gaur, wild cats such as tigers and leopards, also wild dogs and wild boars thrive in these forests. Besides being home to a resident population of Asiatic elephants, thepark also serves as migratory route for elephants from Anamalais to the Cardamom Hills. The nilgiri langur and Nilgiri marten are endemic to the Western Ghats.

Cloudy Season

Nilgiri Tahr:

In the Tamil Language it is called varaiaadu. The Nilgiri Tahrs are stocky goats with short, coarse fur and a bristly mane. Males are larger than the females, and have a darker color when mature. Both sexes have curved horns.

At the bottom of National Park buses will take us to the peak point, where these Nilgiri Tahr's are usually availalbe. At the last point one small information center is available which gives the information about Eravikulam habitats, different flora and fauna.

Cute Baby @ Eravikulam National Park

Munnar Flower Garden

Dear friends during my trip to Kerala I have visited one of the flower garden, which was full of different species of flowers, have a look on them 

Green Rose: Below you can see the green Rose flower. Which i have seen first time. It is very difficult to understand whether it is flower or leafs.

Green Rose

Hibiscus

If you take a close look of below image, you will come to know why it is called as Holy Cross Flower, because it give exact look of Lord Yeshu's Cross.

Holy Cross Flower

Orchid Flowers seed........

Last but very nice is Lady Shoe Flower, which give exact look of Ladies shoe, so named as Lady Shoe Flower.

Tea Factory @ Ooty

Tea Factory at Ooty:

Dear friends on the way to Dodabetta (highest peak point i.e. 8640 ft from Sea level) in Ooty, one Tea manufacturing company offers the view of tea manufacturing, demo on Tea making process and free sample Tea test. Which is as shown below..

Tea Process

The Rotorvane:

The machine seen below is the Rotorvane. It consists of stainless steel ‘vanes’ and gunmetal resistors. The leaf, while passing through this machine, is crushed and the juices extracted. The leaf, soaked in its juices, comes out of the Rotorvane and enters the CTC Machines.

Rotorvane

CTC Machines:

Seen below is a chiain of 5 CTC (Cut, Turn, Curl) machines. The leaf is cut, twisted and curled when it passes through these toothed, high speed stainless steel rollers, which run in opposite directions.

CTC Machine I

CTC Machine II

CTC Machine III

The Googy:

The leaf which has been cut into tiny particles now enters the Googy. The Googy is a large aluminium drum which runs at normal speed. The tea particles while passing through this machine, assume the needed rounded shape and density.

The Fermenting Floor:

The leaf which comes out of the Googy is spread on the Fermenting floor. The leaf is spread in the form of beds, usually of 4 ft width and 10 ft length, with a thickness of not more than 3 inches. During Fermentation, the leaf reacts with Oxygen in the atmosphere and changes colour. The green ‘dhool’ which is spread on the floor, slowly turns copper red. At a particular point, when smelt, a fruity fragrance is identified, which indicates that the dhool is ready for drying.

The Fluid bed drier:

The dhool is now fed into the Fluid bed drier. The tea passes over a perforated, stainless steel sheet of dimensions 2 ft X 16 ft. Hot air produced by a heater enters through the bottom of the sheet, keeping the tea in constant motion, making it appear like a liquid. Hence the name – Fluid Bed Drier. The drying process takes 16 minutes.

The Fibromat:

The dried tea now gets elevated through an Elevator and falls into a machine called Fibromat. As the name indicates, it helps remove the fibre in the tea. At the end of the Fibromat is mesh that separates the Dust and Leaf. 

Company has a sale outlet as well, there we can purchase different varieties of Tea. One first time I heard is White Tea.

Cute Baby @ Tea Factory

Ooty Dolphin Nose

Dolphin Nose: 

Dolphin's nose is one of the most scenic view point near Coonoor. Dolphin's Nose is an enormous rock formation that is entirely unique. 

In one of the ravine's you can clearly see the awe inspiring Catherine Falls with its continuing stream several thousand meters below. 

In the other ravine, you can spot where the Coonoor stream meets the Kotagiri stream. Both streams that are contained within these two ravines ultimately feed the Bhavani River which is located a relatively short distance away opposite of the Dolphin's Nose. 

When I visited Dolphin's nose covered with clouds and the lush green tea gardens in the white clouds were worth enjoying and capturing. I did my best and below are some of them.. Enjoy..

 Best spot to have snaps as shown below....