Day 6 - Happy Vishu

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 Vishu is a big celebration here in Kerala. Something like a New Year celebration. Lots of fireworks are involved. The hotel was decorated with flowers and a shrine in the entranceway. A gift of flowers and rice was left in our room.

A bit of information about Spice Village and CGH group. CGH stands for Clean, Green and Healthy. The is not much plastic anywhere. There is an organic garden where they grow veges for the restaurants, and a papermaking centre providing some artwork and employment.

Anyway, this morning was an early start, 7.30 !!  We were delivered to the Periyar Tiger Reserve, a national park. We were to walk 5kms to Lake Periyar, the a bamboo raft ride, then walk back all by lunch time.  Phew- although the walk was an easy one, by NZ standards, the heat makes all the difference !

We were given backpacks containing water, sandwiches and fruit, then left the centre and walked through the tribal lands to the gates of the park.  Lovely bush all round. 

We had a park ranger (Satheesh) who stayed with us the whole way, pointing out birds, trees and picking fruit for us to try. 

Satheesh

  And off we go

There are apparently elephants, tigers, bears and lots of other wildlife in there. One of the rangers was armed with a rifle !  However, there was no danger today, although we saw one guy get bitten by a flying ant, he was jumping up and down a bit. (Note we are wearing long pants as protection from snakes or other bity things)

We did see some black monkeys in the trees, which are endangered, and some great hornbills flying, also very rare. But no other mammals. A bit disappointing.

There was definite sign of them though. Saw elephant poo, bear poo, and Tiger scratches on a tree. Also the skull of a Buffalo that a tiger had killed.

  Buffalo grave
Scratch marks denoting tigers territory

Once we got to the lake, it was time for breakfast - (sandwiches and fruit)  it was quite hot by then, I had sore feet and was a bit overheated. A short break, then down to the bamboo rafts.

The tour group. Just us and this family from Tamil Nadu

The trip was calm and peaceful, but again, no wildlife, just a few common birds.





After an hour or so, it was time to head back. My feet protesting the whole way, and of course it was even hotter. Sateesh stayed with us, and arranged for Dennis to meet us at the park gates, rather than having to walk that last wee bit.

                                                                  Made it - only just

Home to the hotel for a drink, cold shower and cat nap.

The next adventure was a jeep trip over into Tamil Nadu. No walking involved ! Because Tamil Nadu is a different state, Dennis couldn't take the car over there, so he organized a guy with a jeep, the trusty old Mahindra.

Tamil Nadu is quite different to Kerala. The bit we saw was all about market gardening, orchards and hydro power. 

View over Tamil Nadu
Dennis buying bananas for the monkeys
Roadside monkeys
Dairy cows
Crops
Hindu temple

They grow coconuts, bananas of different types, mangos, pomegranates, every type of vegetable and cotton!
We drove into a Vineyard where they grow grapes like we grow Kiwifruit, and bought some bunches of their sweet grapes.



Banyan tree


Looked at several other views on the way home. The driver took us up some really rough tracks to see some fantastic views, then back to the hotel.


Hydro power and irrigation 


Giant squirrel ! Lucky to spot this as we drove by
Back in town

Badly rutted track up to good views


It gets very foggy in the afternoons, hard to get good pictures!


Enjoyed a good stiff gin on our veranda, followed by a buffet meal in the main restaurant.

                     View from our cottage

Sitar playing at restaurant, also afternoons at Spice Village



Comments

  1. JanineApril 15, 2023 at 8:39 PM

    Loving your trip so far

    ReplyDelete
  2. EdApril 16, 2023 at 2:50 AM

    Kia ora Whanau, magnificent bamboo making the rafts, pleased to see your raft was the most bouyant, didn't want a wet bottom to go with sore feet. Thankyou for putting the effort in to share a different place and culture with us at home. All well here, been a kind weather day. Love Ed

    ReplyDelete

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