I had a painful ‘near miss’ of the Western Ghats WHS in 2011 when I visited Ooty, saw the Nilgiri Hills and crossed the Ghats by bus from East to West; but I did not enter the core zone anywhere. While preparing for my 2024 India trip, it didn’t fit in either. These 39 parks and reserves are all so isolated. But at the end of my journey, while on the bus from Bangalore to Mysore for almost 4 hours, I tried Googling again to find an accessible location. I 'discovered' Mandalpatti Viewpoint inside the Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, reading stories about locals running ‘jeep safaris’ there (more offroading than safari). 

At this stage in my India trip (day 26) I wasn’t hesitant anymore about requesting a full-day trip out of town at the last minute. So at 8 am the next morning I was on the road again, towards the hill station of Madikeri. It’s a straight shot from Mysore, 120km on a decent road but with lots of speedbumps. We made it to the ‘Madikeri Jeep Stand’ in 2.5 hours. The Jeep Stand turned out to be well-coordinated by a drivers’ cooperative – with a fixed price on display of 2,500 rs per jeep for the 3-hour excursion.

The road to Mandalpatti Viewpoint requires a 4x4; in the beginning because the road goes steeply uphill, later on because there isn’t a road anymore, just rocks. I suspect that the Madikeri cooperative likes it just fine the way this is, if the State would pave it they would lose their livelihood.  The first part goes via the coffee plantations for which this region, Coorg, is known. The coffee plants are shade-grown (like I saw in Colombia), which means tall trees protect them from heavy sunlight. It's a pretty sight.

A few kilometers from the top we had to pay an entrance fee (125rs for a foreigner + 50rs for a car) to enter the Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary. The “road” is really bad after that, but at the end a fine welcome sign decorated with Nilgiri langurs awaits. The drive uphill took an hour, and the excursion allows you another hour to roam around by yourself at the viewpoint. There are some information panels at its base, with very clear statements about this being part of the WHS. Reaching the viewing platform requires a 10-minute walk uphill.

What stands out most at the top of the 1,600m high mountain is the abundance of grass on it and the surrounding hills: this feature typical for the Western Ghats at higher altitudes is known as the Shola-grassland complex. 'Shola' is the local name for small patches of remaining forest. Right after the monsoon season these grasslands are covered with flowers, but it was hard to find some in December.