Vinayak Hegde

We traveled from Bangalore overnight to Sagar and from there went to a short trip to nearby village. A 20 minute trek later we were at the shores of the Sharavathy river. Since we were planning to stay on a river island for 2 days we had to coracle across with our luggage. It was tough initially to use the coracle as it requires that the rowers on each side of the coracle row in synchronization with the weight evenly distributed across the bowl shaped coracle. If this is not done then the coracle circles in the same place or becomes lop-sided and can even topple. However we managed to get across with a little struggle to the island. As this is a nature camp we could relax under the tree while sleeping on foam mats. We were to live on this island without electricity and very basic amenities for that day and the next. Later in the afternoon we had a swim in the sharavathy river. The water was really clean and we use it to fill our bottles for drinking water (after going slightly away from the slightly muddy shores).

Clear waters of the Sharavathy River	The view from the campsite
A bison skull on the banks of the river	A fallen tree trunk

Early in the after noon we took a tour of the connected islands. I say connected islands as these are low lying regions that connect some adjacent islands. But these low lying regions cut off these islands in the rainy season when the water level rises. I saw a skull of a bison lying on the shores. Probably the bison had got stranded on one of the isolated island with no trees and died. Later in the afternoon we had a round of water sports after lunch (which was cooked on the island itself by local guides). We then headed out west by coracle to one of the island so that we could have a clear view of the beautiful sunset. A little bit of trekking on the island and a little wait later we could see the amazing sunset from the river shores with the water reflecting the last rays of the sun and the barren trees in the water giving it an eerie feel. After sunset as the light started fading we set out to the coracle in a hurry so that we could reach our camping island before nightfall. We were now got used to rowing the coracle and it did not take as long as the earlier trips across the river. After a lively discussion during the campfire and dinner under the clear skies we setup tents and dozed off.

The moulted skin of a millipede	Me in the Sharavathy backwaters
Me sitting on the banks of the Sharavathy.	Amazing sunset

Sharavathy Valley Day 2

We woke up early in the morning just before sunrise so that we could take photos of the rising sun. It was quite bright before sunrise itself. After having tea we headed out to have another round of water sports, this time learning to kayak and raft. Kayaking looked easy when the local guides used it to traverse the route from the island to the other shore but it was anything but easy. The wind blowing across the river made kayaking a little difficult. As there were only 6 people in the group other than me, we got quite a lot of time for kayaking. I was able to kayak fairly well after a couple of failed attempts as I understood how to use my weight and balance to steer the kayak even in the wind. In that sense Kayaking was similar to cycling or swimming. Once you overcome the steep learning curve and get into a rhythm it is an extremely pleasurable and effortless activity. After this we had a round of rafting. Rafting was by far the easiest of all the three water sports that we tried though it also required synchronisation between the left and right oarsmen. It was a breeze after all the struggles learning to coracle and kayak. All the water sports made me famished and hungry. We had a tasty meal of akki rotis and sabzi before we headed out for a trek in the afternoon.

The colours of sunrise	Kayaking in the Sharavathy Backwaters
View from the top of the hill after the trek	Small green bee-eaters on the way back to Sagar

A little rest after lunch and we on our way across the mountain to avail the bus that would take us to Sagar. The trek did not seem that tough initially when we started but the exertion of water sports in the morning and the sun beating down mercilessly (my being out of shape did not help either) meant it was tough going. I managed to reach the top with some difficulty as the slope was fairly steep in places. The trek was made tougher by the fact that we had only a 1 litre of water between the seven of us. We managed to reach the to and were awarded with amazing views. The hard climb was well worth it. After a bit of rest we descended down the other side of the hill which was fairly easy. We waited for the bus and went to Sagar and then onto bangalore after having dinner at Sagar.

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