Famous tourist destination in Karnataka
Jog Falls is one of the famous tourist destinations in Karnataka. We went to Karnataka on a road trip with loosely laid out plans. Initially we didn’t have plans to visit Jog Falls as the water flow will be less in the month of December. But it looked like right in the middle of the trip , we were going to cross the Jog falls anyway in our travel. So we just thought to make a pitstop over there and we were really glad that we did it.
Usually Vinod and myself don’t mind much about our stays in the travel except to be close to nature. In Jog falls, the best place to stay very close to the falls is Hotel Mayura Gerusoppa (KSTDC hotel). So if you want to have a look at the falls in midnight like us, I would suggest this stay even though the facilities were very basic.
We reached the Jog falls around noon and we just had a quick peek at the falls. The second highest plunge waterfall in India and the third highest waterfall in India ( as per wiki page) looked beautiful but nothing extra ordinary at the first glance. After a quick lunch and rest , we returned back to the falls with binocs and our camera kits. Seeing our camera gears, the tourist photographers skipped asking us to pose for photos with falls in the background. There were tourists merrily enjoying the view of waterfalls by sitting on the platforms or standing near the rails. There was a lovely trail to reach the bottom of the waterfall , unfortunately it was closed for maintenance ( that means cutting off all the grasses ! ).
We were disappointed that we couldn’t go closer to the falls , so we just found a secluded spot to sit and took with our binoculars. We just sat and watched the falls with our binoculars.
Have you noticed the pattern of water flow in the falls ? It is mesmerizing !
It is just a whole other world when I started looking into it in binoculars. I started appreciating the height of the waterfalls, the rhythm of the water, the rainbow colors on the rocks where the water lands and the small plants that grew on the watery slopes near the falls.
I understood that even though the waterfall discharge was low , the falls still hold an ethereal beauty in it. While I was just admiring the water, I noticed some birds sitting on the wet rocks near the falls. Me and vinod guessed those were the actual Rock pigeons , instead of the feral pigeons we are used to in the apartment buildings.
We meticulously checked and confirmed whether there were other birds flying through the waterfalls. After a brief search we could see thousands of birds circling the falling water. They were so tiny that we couldn’t confirm their id but with the flying style we thought it could be some swift species. We were enthralled to see those tiny birds flying through the curtain of water. Now having the binocular was like some magical goggle, when we saw the world through that it gave us a new perspective. We felt like the whole other tourist crowd in that place were muggles and we were the wizards with magical equipment to see the little bird community inside the waterfalls. We confirmed the id of the birds as Alpine swifts.
Once our eyes got adjusted to the waterfalls, we spotted thousands of Alpine swifts flying through the waterfalls and it was truly one of the spectacular birding moments in our birdwatching history. There were few flocks circling above the waterfalls too. After spending quite a good time doing birdwatching , we walked along the pathway with the view of waterfalls. It was pretty obvious that the entire tourist crowd preferred to flock together at the main view point. So even after few minutes walk, we got a private view of waterfalls a little distance from the start. The pathway was setup well with good greenery on the slopes, so it was good for a casual scenic walk.
It was evening and the waterfalls was in a different shade from the time we saw in noon. Then we heard a familiar sound and while we were searching for the birds on the trees, two Malabar Grey Hornbills flew in front of our eyes with waterfalls in the background. That was really a beautiful sight to see these amazing birds in that location. The Malabar Gray Langurs were also casually sitting around everywhere. They didn’t beg to humans but just monitored us from high up the trees , feeding on the wild berries. We watched how the shade of the water changed as the Sun went down.
During night we went back to the waterfalls viewpoint , with no other tourists only Vinod and myself sat there and enjoyed watching the falls which was in different shade.
But there was a lodge close to the waterfalls in that end and they had put on lights which spoiled the wild view to some extent. In a country where the actual pollution itself was not considered as a serious issue to be fixed , who is going to fix the light and sound pollution !!
Anyway this was the first time I saw a waterfall at night, so I just enjoyed the chill night while munching my homemade choco cookies and discussing with vinod about where all those tiny Alpine swifts would have rested for the night.
Next day early morning, we did birding along the pathway. The shade of water was quite dull but the mist covered waterfalls was very scenic to look at. It was quite chill and the birding activity started slowly. Hill mynas, Malabar Parakeets, Golden Orioles and Black-hooded Orioles started off their day with their loud voices. We heard the Malabar Grey Hornbills also at distant. Bronze drongo, Ashy drongo, Black drongo were sitting in the same place to catch the insects from the grasses that were mowed down (The MAINTENANCE WORK) Yellow-eyed babbler, Rufous babbler, Jungle babbler were foraging around in small flocks.
Orange minivets were making the hills colorful. Now the shade of water has changed to golden color as the rays of Sun fell on the falls.
We loved how the color of waterfall changed with the time ! In Tamilnadu, people are so used to waterfall only for bathing. So usually we can’t see a waterfalls for just the way it is but as a big shower from nature for bathing. In other states, that’s not the case always. Like Athirapally falls in Kerala, Shivasamudra falls in Karnataka where tourists have no opportunity to take bath. Anyway no other falls in South India is as huge like the Jog falls.
You will enjoy the Jog falls just for the sheer height and massiveness. We decided to come back again to this Jog falls in another season and explore the trail to go near the falls and also witness the monsoon fury.