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Southern India

The park is home to a wide variety of animals including birds, reptiles, deer, wild pigs, king cobras, Indian python, macaques, water buffalo seen in this photo.

The orange flower tree is the African Tulip Rain Tree

Monkeys

A family of Wild Boar

35 species of mammals have been recorded in the park, including many threatened species. It is an important tiger and elephant reserve. A total of 40 Bengal tigers have been counted in recent years.

Just outside of Thekkady tea fields are plentiful. They are so green and healthy,

We now journey along the highway through the state of Kerala to the village of Nedumudi where we board a houseboat, originally former rice barges now floating house boats.

The Kerala backwaters are a network of brackish lagoons and canals lying parallel to the Arabian Sea of the Malabar coast of Kerala state in south-western India. It also includes interconnected lakes, rivers, and inlets, a labyrinthine system formed by more than 560 miles of waterways.

This is one of our two houseboats we are cruising for 2 nights. Each had 5 bedrooms, 3 downstairs and two up. A large dining room up stairs. a kitchen aft and room at the front to just relax and watch the Kerala Backwaters float by.

We anchor at Pally Kayal and step shore to meet and talk with locals about rice cultivation. He we find a hut where rice farmers live while working the fields.

We have the chance to speak with some of the rice farmers who tell us about rice cultivation below sea level, collective farming and the problems face in this southern area of India

A rudimentary farming of allowing the water from the canals into the rice cultivation. A damn so to speak.

Sunset over Kerala's palm fringed canals in a very tranquil part of southern India.

Our first night stopping along the canal. Each of our Houseboats have 5 bedrooms, 3 downstairs and two up. A large dining room up stairs. a kitchen aft downstairs and room at the front to just relax and watch the Kerala Backwaters float by.

After a super dinner and great breakfast the net morning we motor on the canal. Our first stop is at the home of one of our Captains of the two Houseboats. We are stop to learn about living along a river that floods frequently and living outside of town with the only transportation on the canal to towns.

The mother of the family shows how they start a fire and boil mussels from the mud of the canal. The wife is beginning to cut up a coconut.

Here she is splitting the coconut for us to sample.

We have a demonstration of taking a palm leaf and preparing it for use braiding the palm leaf.

The mussels are complete and ready for sampling.

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