The giant squirrel
First breakfast today was a couple of bananas, eaten whilst queueing at 06:30 for a bus into the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Half an hour later and we were in the park, being greeted by our guide for our Nature Walk. There seemed to be four other pairs of western tourists doing the same thing (each with their own guide), whilst the hundreds of Indian tourist headed straight for what looked like the boat cruise from hell.
Thankful to be away from the crowds, we slithered onto a bamboo raft to cross the water (it was of interesting construction, most of it seeming to sit below the water when we were on it) and then disembarked onto the bank. Setting off in pairs, we all started to follow the same well-used trail along the lakeside. I was feeling a bit dubious about the experience at this point - the park is known to be quite commercial and it didn't really feel like a "private" tour, or one where you would see much nature, with four other groups in front. This wasn't helped by the fact that in the first half mile or so, all that was pointed out to me was a bit of fresh porcupine poo!
However, we were soon all hushed, and on the opposite bank we could see some wild dogs, which were together tearing apart a deer for breakfast, not a normal sighting apparently! There were also some interesting birds lurking, including herons, eagles and a pretty Kingfisher. Things were looking up! Also, the park itself looked particularly stunning in the morning mist, set of beautifully by it hanging over the water, and the sun streaming through the trees.
Another half mile or so on and we saw three wild elephants mooching a few hundred metres away, including a calf. I could watch elephants for ages, they are so large yet graceful, and indeed we were treated to seeing a few more further along in the walk. These only made their exit when a Gaur (big black boar thing) decided to have a wander towards them.
On our way back to base, all the pairs split off, and our guide seemed excellent. He found us some black nilgiri langur monkeys, perched in a beautiful flowering tree of Australian origin (ok I am not good with remembering species names), and then - the highlight of my walk certainly - a giant malabar squirrel! This really was huge, about the size of a large cat, and had lovely autumnal colouring.
Feeling pleased at all we had seen on our walk, but also starving hungry as it was now 10:30, we returned to our home stay for breakfast. The owner here was really helpful, bringing us food and for once telling us now to eat it (normally we are left to guess / watch others). Some sort of rice noodles and coconuts were served to start with, and into these we mashed banana, milk and sugar (coincidentally this combination was a childhood pudding favourite of mine). Next up was more noodles and a lovely onion and egg curry. I think he was surprised how much we ate, but brought us seconds nevertheless.
The journey to the Kumakaron area was a twisty four hours, but I think I am adjusting to the roads here and my passenger car-sickness seems to have abates. I am very glad my stomach has recently been on the good side of normal though!
On arrival we were greeted and immediately in undated with trip suggestions (this is quite normal although a little frustrating when all you want to do is put your rucksack down and pop to the loo!) but decided that as we had the whole day tomorrow, we would just take the bikes that are here at the home stay for a spin. This turned out to be quite enjoyable, with lovely flat quiet roads spoiled only by the single flat tyre (we kept swapping bikes as it was quite an ugg). The views encompassed small waterways, local houses spread along them, then further out, vivid green rice fields. We paused at a bakery to buy some snacks (and bananas, I definitely won't be short of potassium after this trip) and then sat and ate these at the furthest point of the ride (a whole 2.5 miles out!).
Getting back to the home stay we enjoyed dinner to views of the canal, as the local mosquito population also enjoyed a good feed....
First breakfast today was a couple of bananas, eaten whilst queueing at 06:30 for a bus into the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Half an hour later and we were in the park, being greeted by our guide for our Nature Walk. There seemed to be four other pairs of western tourists doing the same thing (each with their own guide), whilst the hundreds of Indian tourist headed straight for what looked like the boat cruise from hell.
Thankful to be away from the crowds, we slithered onto a bamboo raft to cross the water (it was of interesting construction, most of it seeming to sit below the water when we were on it) and then disembarked onto the bank. Setting off in pairs, we all started to follow the same well-used trail along the lakeside. I was feeling a bit dubious about the experience at this point - the park is known to be quite commercial and it didn't really feel like a "private" tour, or one where you would see much nature, with four other groups in front. This wasn't helped by the fact that in the first half mile or so, all that was pointed out to me was a bit of fresh porcupine poo!
However, we were soon all hushed, and on the opposite bank we could see some wild dogs, which were together tearing apart a deer for breakfast, not a normal sighting apparently! There were also some interesting birds lurking, including herons, eagles and a pretty Kingfisher. Things were looking up! Also, the park itself looked particularly stunning in the morning mist, set of beautifully by it hanging over the water, and the sun streaming through the trees.
Another half mile or so on and we saw three wild elephants mooching a few hundred metres away, including a calf. I could watch elephants for ages, they are so large yet graceful, and indeed we were treated to seeing a few more further along in the walk. These only made their exit when a Gaur (big black boar thing) decided to have a wander towards them.
On our way back to base, all the pairs split off, and our guide seemed excellent. He found us some black nilgiri langur monkeys, perched in a beautiful flowering tree of Australian origin (ok I am not good with remembering species names), and then - the highlight of my walk certainly - a giant malabar squirrel! This really was huge, about the size of a large cat, and had lovely autumnal colouring.
Feeling pleased at all we had seen on our walk, but also starving hungry as it was now 10:30, we returned to our home stay for breakfast. The owner here was really helpful, bringing us food and for once telling us now to eat it (normally we are left to guess / watch others). Some sort of rice noodles and coconuts were served to start with, and into these we mashed banana, milk and sugar (coincidentally this combination was a childhood pudding favourite of mine). Next up was more noodles and a lovely onion and egg curry. I think he was surprised how much we ate, but brought us seconds nevertheless.
The journey to the Kumakaron area was a twisty four hours, but I think I am adjusting to the roads here and my passenger car-sickness seems to have abates. I am very glad my stomach has recently been on the good side of normal though!
On arrival we were greeted and immediately in undated with trip suggestions (this is quite normal although a little frustrating when all you want to do is put your rucksack down and pop to the loo!) but decided that as we had the whole day tomorrow, we would just take the bikes that are here at the home stay for a spin. This turned out to be quite enjoyable, with lovely flat quiet roads spoiled only by the single flat tyre (we kept swapping bikes as it was quite an ugg). The views encompassed small waterways, local houses spread along them, then further out, vivid green rice fields. We paused at a bakery to buy some snacks (and bananas, I definitely won't be short of potassium after this trip) and then sat and ate these at the furthest point of the ride (a whole 2.5 miles out!).
Getting back to the home stay we enjoyed dinner to views of the canal, as the local mosquito population also enjoyed a good feed....
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