A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Post by **Mack The Knife** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:34 pm

A friend of mine was taking three American friends of his to the Cauvery and when asked if I would like to join....

John, Michael and David (the three Apostles

) are keen hunters and anglers, so you can guess what direction the conversation took. Meal times were hilarious because the Apostles talked about hunting for all to hear (complete with sound effects) and we enjoyed it so much, we did not bother asking them to lower their voices. The raised eyebrows and turning heads are a sight I wont forget soon.

Thanks to more motorable roads these fishing camps are now full of day trippers who have literally buggered up the place. That apart, it was a most enjoyable trip and we made three more friends.

Herewith a few pics from the trip. Enjoy.

A bend in the river.

Retrieving a spinner. Fortunately, our crocs are shy creatures...

John with one of his many murral.

Hitched to a rock and casting into the rapids for mahseer.

Three men in a tub...

Primitive digiscoping with a hand held binoc.

L-R: Mack The Knife, John, David, Yasin, Michael, Sahadev, Farhan & Prathap

Mack The Knife

Post by **Grumpy** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:48 pm

Spectacular location Mack The Knife - seems ridiculous that I`ve never even heard of the place. Thankyou for sharing the photographs. Quite noticable when the after dinner Guiness kicked in isn`t it ? !

Post by **Vikram** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:11 am

Beautiful photos,Mack The Knife.Thank you very much for sharing. Reminded me of the Srisailam jungles and the river Krishna.

Grumpy, there are many such places that are not promoted enough. Bad marketing. Good sometimes....

Best-
Vikram

Post by **Mack The Knife** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:20 am

Grumpy,

If only you could see the sea of litter left behind by these day trippers... It is disheartening and infuriating in the extreme.

Quite noticable when the after dinner Guiness kicked in isn`t it ?!

Are you refering to the second last pic? If so, the tilt was the result of placing the camera on the bonnet. Interesting thing was that the croc wouldn't budge whilst we were taking pics of it but as soon as we turned our backs to it to take the group pic it disappeared into the water. This particular croc has an ongoing battle with cattle that come to drink at the river. Last December I almost saw him get one.

Glad you like the pics.

Thanks.

Mack The Knife.

P.S.: I have edited the pic sizes. Photobucket is a bit slow on this account but hopefully we should have easily viewable pics tomorrow.

Post by **Mack The Knife** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:31 am

Glad you liked them as well, Vikram.

Grumpy, there are many such places that are not promoted enough.

If only that were so...

I don't mind people coming out into the sticks but when they show blatant disregard for their surroundings I feel like breaking out the cat.

If a place can only accomodate 25 then that's the number that should be there. Not bus loads of them and I do mean bus loads. Jungle Lodges & Resorts have become a joke. They couldn't be bothered about angling and conservation now, not even the groups of Poms (read as foreign exchange) who come every year because of this huge influx of day visitors.

The really sad part is that this was part of the WASI stretch until the day we had to renew our lease and found that our President had his snout in the trough. That's how JL&R got the lease to this stretch.

Pardon the rant.

Mack The Knife

mehulkamdar · Post by **mehulkamdar** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:11 am

Mack The Knife,

Beautiful pics. As far as busloads of tourists and "development" are concerned, I feel your pain. I'll never go back to one of my favourite places - Kodaikanal. I have too many lovely memories of the town to go there and see how thoroughly it has been ruined.

FUnny, but the one predator that I have always longed to hunt is a croc. I canpt afford an African croc hunt but there just might be a Florida or Georgia alligator hunt in the near future if Mark and I work things out.

Thanks again for the pics. Beautiful stuff and you guys seem to have had a fantastic time.

Mehul

Post by **Grumpy** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:47 am

Why do you want to hunt Alligator Mehul ? Do you need a new handbag ?
A cheaper alternative to Florida or Georgia might be the Manhattan sewer system - unless the Alligators have all been `flushed` out..........
Seems that India ought to promote tourism much more - and publicise the beauty of the less well-known attractions. The Indian authorities really must get the matter of littering sorted-out in these locations though and introduce strict laws regarding the same - it`s all very well attracting tourist dollars but if those tourists go home complaining that such stunning places are knee-deep in litter they won`t come back....and their friends won`t come at all.
Mack The Knife, you can make all the excuses you like but we know better.....Hic !

mehulkamdar · Post by **mehulkamdar** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 4:58 am

Grumpy";p="3389 wrote:Why do you want to hunt Alligator Mehul ? Do you need a new handbag ?

Grumpy,

Now you're asking questions which require a sensible answer!

Why do some people want to hunt Cape Buffalo or lion? Don't know why but I always wanted to shoot a croc as a boy. Unfortunately, that is not within my reach financially speaking, and I have to consider the poor substitute of an alligator instead. I tried alligator at an exotic food restaurant and it had a fish type taste though it was tougher and somewhat rubbery. Personally, I think trophy hunting is not my cup of tea, but I do think that a croc would look nice on my wall.

Mehul

Post by **Vikram** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:29 am

Crocs are the creatures I am most afraid of. Snakes, I really don't mind. I hate to admit that I am afraid of anything but one of my worst fears is getting caught by a croc in water. I hate them. Irrational but I hate them.

Best-

Vikram

Post by **eljefe** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:14 pm

Great Mack The Knife,
Hope You do it often-the T shirt is very apt...
Did I tell you about the time I fell into the river in Bhitarkanika, orissa, while 2 salt water crocs were fighting over a dead feral cow? that was about 50-70 m from the steamer...Its a wonder my agent sells me insurance!
Dont even want to talk about the rape of the environment-the Shimla, Manali, old timers probably have a lot to say,glad to know, we s indians are not far behind, most likely must have overtaken them, as the pollution index goes.

Best, Keep on doin it
Axx

YouTube · Post by **mundaire** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:47 pm

What is that basket shaped boat called? I take it this is a hull design specific to that area... Can't be easy to handle in the water...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Post by **eljefe** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 1:22 pm

coracle- wicker basket frame, covered with cured buffalo hide.
Not easy to handle Abhijeet, one has to have a lifetime around the river to get it anywhere...
Best
Axx

Post by **Mack The Knife** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:43 pm

mehulkamdar";p="3385 wrote:Beautiful pics. As far as busloads of tourists and "development" are concerned, I feel your pain. I'll never go back to one of my favourite places - Kodaikanal.

Know what you mean, Mehul.

Some years ago I had taken the family to Coonoor. On the way back I thought I would show the wife and kids the bungalow (Sedgemore) I used to stay in when I was a child. It was a beautiful bungalow with a lovely rose garden, putting green, etc. I made a U-turn before I reached it because I just couldn't take the change anymore. The thickly wooded slopes were now a mass of slums. They had removed all the trees and god alone knows how old those conifers must have been. We Indians have a talent for destroying our environment.

Mack The Knife

Post by **Mack The Knife** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:53 pm

Vikram";p="3391 wrote:Crocs are the creatures I am most afraid of. Snakes, I really don't mind. I hate to admit that I am afraid of anything but one of my worst fears is getting caught by a croc in water. I hate them. Irrational but I hate them.

Best-

Vikram

Honestly, Vikram, these crocs are quite shy. In the past couple of months I have spun for murral in waist deep water with a croc less than six and ten feet away on two seperate occassions. On the second occassion, the croc did come back after ten minutes or so and we decided prudence was better than valour and we switched to another place. Never seen that happen before - probably had young ones there.

Hope this wont put you off your intended trip. None of us play Rambo and nobody is forced to do anything he is uncomfortable with. Look forward to having you with us over a weekend.

Mack The Knife

Post by **Mack The Knife** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:00 pm

Dont even want to talk about the rape of the environment-the Shimla, Manali, old timers probably have a lot to say....

Haven't seen them since the early 70's. Simla was already on the downward spiral then but Manali was still virgin. Amongst the most beautiful places I have seen anywhere in the world.

we south indians are not far behind, most likely must have overtaken them, as the pollution index goes.

Would you believe when I say that Ooty actually has traffic jams that can rival Bombay?

Mack The Knife

Indians For Guns

Indians For Guns

A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.

Re: A weekend at Bheemeshwari.