If you can convince your boatman to switch off the engine and cruise for a while, you will hear the sweet sound of Hill Mynahs, orioles and drongoes.

Also look out for the Great Indian Hornbill that swoosh noisily around the fruiting trees in the forest. Woodland birds include the Whitebacked Vulture, the Cuckoo, the (maddeningly persistent) Brainfever bird and the Nuthatch.

Spend a night at the observation towers in the forest. It is reminiscent of long waits in the machans, the earlier method used to hunt, and later on watch and capture wildlife on film.

For elephant watching, the warmer months of March and April are ideal. The other water sources in the forest are low or dry and the elephant herds spend more time at the reservoir. With the grasses shorter, the other animals too are more easily seen.

Don’t forget to ask for a guide to take you to the small patch of forest around the reception area where you might be able to photograph a troupe of Nilgiri langurs. In the same area, with a little luck, you could also see Malabar giant squirrels, barking deer, and fruit bats called flying foxes (because of the shape of their heads).

At Eddapaliyam, from the hotel itself, it is possible to sit back and watch gaur, elephant and wild boar as they come out to graze from inside the deep forest.

Trekking is an option open only to the serious naturalist. For such visitors, the Forest Department provides guides who are local tribals. A walk into the forest with such people is an experience unto itself as you will come to learn about their customs, mores and legends.

In very special cases, the Field Director may give you permission to boat up along the Periyar river right to the core area, where huge mahseer fish may be visible. There is a rest house here at Thanikuddi. This is typical Hornbill country. If you do get permission (by no means easy) you should look out for tiger pug marks and sloth bear scats.

From Thanikuddi you can walk to Mlappara, (where away from tourists the forest takes on a much more natural character) provided you are willing to spend the night in a very basic camp. Spectacular views of a mighty river cutting through rolling grasslands and the Sivagirimalai mountains rising skywards are among the area’s visual delights. Thanks to the thick forest there is very little silt flow into the crystal clear waters where schools of multi-coloured fish can be seen, including three types of mahseer, some exceeding 20 kilos.

Mlappara is actually the gateway to the evergreen forest of the core area. The canopy is closed and the leaf litter on the forest floor is thick and damp. As you walk here your footfalls are cushioned and the smell of fallen logs overgrown with moss, fungi and termite mounds pervades the air. A characteristic of the rain forest are the buttress root systems of some of the tallest trees, with may rise to heights of over 40 m.

Further on from Mlappara is Moolavaiga, where the river turns broad and placid with the river bed sandy and pebbled in small stretches. Here you are most likely to come across tribals out hunting for wild cardamom, honey, or the odd bird they can trap for their pot. In this part of the forest, a closed canopy rarely allows sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor where branches are laden with mosses and ferns. You will constantly hear the drip of water, and understand why rainforests are so named. This is the heart of giant squirrel, Nilgiri langur, liontailed macaque and Imperial Pigeon country.