subject: Visitor's Guide to Ooty, a home away from home [print this page] Visitor's Guide to Ooty, a home away from home
Ooty is commonly referred to as the "Queen of the Hills", this term was coined by the British who loved this beautiful hill station so much to make it the summer capital of the Madras Presidency and used it as a summer retreat. According to the Visitor's guide to Ooty, the Hill resort of Ooty is located in the state of Tamil Nadu. This hill station is situated right in the centre of four high hills; Doddabetta, Elk hill, Club Hill and Snowdon. All these 4 hills belong to the 'blue mountains' or the Nilgiri range of hills that surround Ooty on all sides.
The Botanical Garden in Ooty was the mastermind of the Marquis of Tweedale, who was the governor of Madras in the year 1847. The Botanical garden is spread over an area of 22 acres. The garden is also home to the fossil of a tree trunk that is supposed to be around 20 million years old according to the Visitor's guide to Ooty. The flora and fauna of the vast garden consists of six separate sections comprising of varieties of species of trees, ferns, grass carpet, multi colored flowering plants, fashioned beds laid out in an Italian style, orchids, house ferns and nurseries. The Botanical Garden also holds a Flower Show every year in the month of May.
As per the Visitor's guide to Ooty, the Mukkurthi Peak is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ooty. This peak is located 40 kms from Ooty. The Mukkurthi Peak houses the Mukkurthi National Park towards the Southern tip of the Nilgiris Plateau. The national park contains a large number of the Nilgiri Thar (Botanical name Hamitragus hilocrius). The Nilgiris Peak and the Kollaribetta are the other major peaks that can be found around the Mukkurthi Peak. The area around the Mukkurthi Peak is surrounded by chains of innumerable beautiful perennial streams that fall into the Bhavani Puzha.
The Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary lies at a height of 1140 metres at the junction point of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and is spread over a total area of 321sq.kms. The sanctuary has a wide variety of habitats that ranges from moist teak forest, tropical ever green forest, secondary grass lands and swamps. According to the Visitor's guide to Ooty visitors visiting this sanctuary can capture in their camera's animals such as Panthers, Spotted Deers, Sambars, Wild boars, Barking Deers and Porcupines here.
