I thought I had finally struck gold when my search for a wildlife conservation sanctuary led me to the Agumbe Rainforest Complex, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
It sounded perfect - it receives around 11,0000mm of annual rainfall, nestles high up on the Western Ghats mountain range and is also a biodiversity hotspot home to several threatened species.
A major project is underway to save the world's longest venomous snake, the King Cobra, much revered by villagers but ruthlessly killed when it gets in their way.
The research station is open for volunteers and researchers who can spend time assisting in various jobs, educational programmes and the King Cobra telemetry project.
The cost of accommodation is cheap and the facilities offered are excellent.
However, as I read through their Frequently Asked Questions, I found a strange clause prohibiting volunteers from wearing camouflaged clothing while in the rainforest.
The reason provided was that the Naxalites, Maoists who have been waging a war against the state for some time and the Anti-Naxalite Squad don the same uniform.
To avoid coming under the scanner of either group and for the villagers to know the neutral position of the volunteers, coloured clothing was advised.
All the initial bravado my friend and I felt about exploring rainforests soon evaporated.
The Naxalite movement, which first began in a village in West Bengal called Naxalbari, fight for the cause of impoverished peasants against rich landlords, through violent and bloody terror campaigns.
Last week, 26 policemen from the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed and eight others injured in an ambush attack by the Naxalites, in the state of Chhatisgarh.
The attack came after 75 CRPF personnel were killed in April by the Naxalites in the same state and a month after 148 civilians perished when a train was blown up by the insurgents in West Bengal.
The Naxalites thrive in the heavily forested regions, which provide them ideal cover and with help from tribals who are sympathetic to their cause.
The tribals favour the Maoists, having long been denied their rights to the forests' produce under government restrictions while, on the other hand, big companies are freely allowed to profit from the mines in the same region.
This makes an entire region of the country, with heavy Naxalite presence, a dangerous area termed the 'Red Corridor'.
My friend wisely said that even if we abandoned the idea of visiting Agumbe, we wouldn't be far from danger should we choose to visit any another rainforest.
It is commonly acknowledged that both the insurgents as well as the armed forces have committed violent excesses.
Meanwhile, as the fighting goes on, the natural heritage of a country is being held hostage.
¥ Ms Gnana is a former Bahrain resident now studying in Mumbai
Copyright 2010 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group
'Rainforest off limits', Gulf Daily News, July 2, 2010, Jennifer Gnana
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