Sunday, January 4, 2009

MUTTUKUDU AND CROCODILE PARK

Sitting benches on the bank of the river
Birds on the trees, The care taker there told us that after 6pm, all the trees here are worth a sight, as birds of all varied species are here and trees are full of them

This is the heaviest captive crocodile of the world----575 kg in weight.


Baby turtle in hand of Elu malai




Baby crocodile...2 year old in the hands of my H



crocodiles lying, they are given the food once a week only, as soon as the person comes to give them food, sudden activity starts..till now you see as if they are sleeping, but suddenly even from the water they start moving towards him, take their food and go back to water:), so systematic better than humans, where i have seen stampede everywhere whenever any distribution is taking place:)..7000 crocodiles eat seven tons of meat in a week.





Fisherman doing their job in the midst of Mutukudu lake...its a back water one















Yesterday we went to Muttukudu..its around 40-50 km from here on ECR, Its a boating place, quite scenic place and they have pedal, rowing and motor boats. We took motor boat....for 6 people...charged us 300/- for 3 km ride.It was very enjoyable..no less than a cruise on Ohio in Cincinnati or in Michigan in Chicago and when he took us from under the bridge , i thought we are going under Rialto in Venice:).

But the only problem is that in India, infrastructure is not maintained...there was no good and clean shop selling any eatables, whatever is there is so dirty we didnt feel like taking anything, and there under the nose of the govt....the shopkeeper was selling everything at hiked prices, few educated people were arguing but to no avail , after his question...tell me do you want it or not?

Then our driver asked us..sir have you seen crocodile park, if not, then its worth it and near here ...so we went a 7 km more, and it was worth it..It was started in 1970 by some foreigner and runs on a trust made by him. here they have snakes also and extract poison from them which is used for anti venom and other medicinal purposes. Very beautiful scenic place.
I forgot yesterday..but I had a request to everybody--on the way there are many trees on the sides of the road and beautiful places to picnic and i saw many families eating food and enjoying there...but the most disgusting part was that the whole place was littered with used plates cups and newspapers.....please.....look before you leave the place, enjoy the picnic but dont leave it in a mess for others....it was a literal sore to the eye and I felt very sad that today, when Youth is so verbal about their rights etc...why cant they honour the rights of nature..so please dont spoil the environment...do a picnic, enjoy , but collect all the used items in a paper bag and leave it in a trash only, If you dont find it, take the trouble to keep it with you . Thank you!








20 comments:

Maddy said...

Sounds you had a nice trip.

Muttukaadau...It brought some nostagic moments

Cess said...

wow lovely pics!! ur hubby carried a baby crocodile!!!!!!!
glad u had fun
tc
C

Pixie said...

Looks like a fun place to visit. :)
I would love to hold a baby croc in my hand too!! :)

Anonymous said...

oh wow... mahabalipuram in chennai.. cool.. i have been there many times

Piper .. said...

oooh crocodiles! arent they dangerous? Lovely pics Renu! Looks like you had a fun day!

SMRITI said...

Beautiful pics...talking of venice, I felt that way in Alleppey...So damn heavenly :)

I agree on eatables..its the prob in most places :(.. I always stack up on chips :)

sansmerci said...

wow renu ... u did eh? hope u had fun :)

aneri_masi said...

Oh my, your husband held the croc in his hands!!! Those big ones lounging out there look scary!

Renu said...

Maddy; yeah, I am very fond of going out and specially around natural surroundings:)

Cess; yeah:), it was a baby crocodile only 2 years old:)

mahabalipuram; we almost reached there..mahabalipuram, but didnt actually see it:(, I visited it once ,when we were not in Chennai:)

SUKKU: My pleasure:)

Piper: They ARE dangerous, but it was a baby only:)

SMRITI: I have missed Allepey so far, must go there once, saw Cochin,munnar:) Venice is a dream place,beautiful:)
I dont like chips much, prefer something fresh and hot, whenevr i am outside:) really wonder that why somebody doesnt take this as an opportunity to make money...providing good hygienic food at such places?

Sanmerci; I didnt do much, just relaxed and enjoyed

Renu said...

Aneri_masi; Yeah, they were quite scary, that caretaker asked me also to take it or touch it, I said..keep them away from me, I am a Darpok, I detest those slippery things:(

Just call me 'A' said...

wow..your H is a brave man. I would never dare hold a croc, even if it was a baby.
Seems like you had a good trip. keep the travelling spirit up.

A

Smriti said...

Nice presentation Ma! Sounds like you'd fun :)

Sandhya said...

Renu, good to know that you are enjoying Chennai. Yes, the Crocodile park is a 'must see' place in Chennai. The baby crocs are beautiful. Nice pictures. I think the park was started by Romulus Whitaker for preserving crocodiles/gharials etc. Only thing is, we have to bear the stench, when we bend down to watch the crocs!

Your husband seems to be an animal lover, otherwise we can't digest holding them!

Amrita said...

ahan :)
is it a gud trip?
hmmmm mebbe i shd push K to take me along :)

hmmm and reg this "why somebody doesnt take this as an opportunity to make money...providing good hygienic food at such places?" i feel like openin a dhaba down the line and K intends to open a salon! not the hi fi loreal ones but the gen ones nukkad wali salons :D

hope our dreams come true :D

sansmerci said...

of course ur invited... chek my new post :)

Renu said...

A: That is true, My H is never scared:)I am a typical saggi, very fond of seeing places:)

Smriti: Thanks Guriaji:)

Sandhya;Thank u for telling me the name:). and taliking of stench,once we went to a snake park in Pune...i think it was near Saras bagh, I cant remember exactly, but the stench there was unbearable, and it was very very dirty,no maintenance at all, though it belonged to Govt.
My husband is not an animal lover as such, but he is not afraid of anything:)

Amrita;; yeah its good for a picnic, but take ur own eatable, though near the crocodile park, there were some shops but i didnt try any, so cant say anything abt them.
My H is a very good cook, and also wants perfection in everything, so i always used to tell him that open a restaurant when u retire:)
Good luck to ur venture, hope they materialise soon. I can say this much that today..open an eatable joint and if its clean hygienic and good food, it will always flourish.

Amrita said...

u toooooo sagi! no wonder our thots are so similar :D

Renu said...

Amrita; yeah I know:)

PG said...

sounds like a lot of fun! crocodiles, not they are too scary for me to hold. :D

Renu said...

PG: it was lot of fun as the ambience all around was very beautiful,but would be real fun if u have kids with you. Even I cant take any animal in hand, not even pets:)

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