Periyar and the Wildlife Sanctuary

Performance of Kalarippayattu, the Indian martial art.
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Our next stop in the Western Ghat area of South India was the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary and the nearby town of Kumily.

The area was mountainous with lush greenery much like Munnar. We stayed at a wonderful homestay that provided us with way-to-large portions of homecooked south indian food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

water buffalo, wild boars, deer, monkeys and river otters.

The first evening we went to a performance of Kalarippayattu, a South Indian form of martial arts that utilizes swords, knives, sticks, shields, as well as some extreme yoga. It is for men only to perform and is based on the movements used in battle.The group was by far the most agile and athletic of all the Indians we had come across thus far. We can guarantee they were not eating the same gigantic portions we were being fed. Avani most enjoyed the sword fights and the leaps through rings of fire.

A battle scene from Kalarippayattu.
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The region of Periyar is well-known for their spices, providing 85% for all of India's main spices. The next day we took a tour of a spice farm. We saw plants of pepper, cinammon, ginger root, cardamom, allspice, cloves, coffee and turmeric. It is an amazing amount of work to grow, harvest and prepare the spices. I cannot believe that don't cost even more than they already do.

We had the unfortunate experience of an elephant ride at ____. We have devoted an entire blog entry to this experience and how it has changed our perspective.

Avani and her best buddy from our homestay, Anu.
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The next day was our visit to Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. After the atrocity of the elephant ride, it was nice to see animals roaming freely in their natural habitats. We took a boat tour onto Lake Periyar, an artificial lake created by the British in 1895. We saw water buffalo, wild boars, deer, monkeys and river otters. Sadly we did not see elephants on our boat trip but there were many sightings the days before and after our trip.