From two days ago…only getting around to downloading photos now.

And my apologies for posting blog posts that say “authored by Julie Newcombe” when in fact they are authored by me.  Julie is/was my administrator and the problem only occurred when I post blogs from my iPhone. The issue has now been fixed. ……

We are in Kerala. Everything here is very clean and pleasant.  There is an emphasis on healthy living.  The air is pure and the jungle very green. The whole town is built around Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary where, if you are lucky, you can see tigers and elusive leopards.  We did not see these big cats, but we did see wild elephants, deer, sambar, buffalo, a boar, otters at play on land near the water.  We also saw wild dogs which look like beautiful wolves with a big thick coat and black tipped bushy tails.  We saw giant squirrels, and countless exotic colorful birds. The birds here in the jungle whoop, whistle, chortle, and whip out a cacophony of songs that delight and entertain.

Elephant and Tiger Territory:

Seeing the pack of wild dogs was indeed a rare sighting.  The wild dogs had just taken down a sambar (a deer) and were feasting on it.  We saw this from the boat. I’d say there were about 9 or 10 dogs in the pack.  They were a far cry from domesticated dogs.  Not wolf-like, not domestic-looking, not coyote looking.  They were beautiful but vicious looking. I would not want to encounter one in the jungle!

Kerala, South India is lush with vegetation.  Ayurveda massages are offered seemingly everywhere.  Our hotel has an Ayurveda Spa and a medicinal herb garden.  Most people in our group booked an Ayurveda treatment or massage and I have to say my treatment was exceptional! There is an Ayurveda doctor on staff who gives free 15-minute consultations when a spa treatment is booked. There is a yoga studio here.  A yoga class is offered daily for the hotel guests and I have permission to use the pristine and lofty yoga room for my group anytime when the regularly scheduled evening yoga class with the hotel yoga instructor is not taking place.

Kerala has a ban on plastics! Absolutely no plastics used in this city.  No plastic bottles either! That means the water here is purified and safe for drinking.  Elsewhere, we only drink out of bottled water. Here the water is doubly purified and filters and brought to our room in glass bottles.  Arvind says that we can most likely brush our teeth with the water from the faucet, but just to be extra careful, he advised us to continue using the doubly purified and filtered water from the glass bottles and avoid drinking faucet water.

The word jungle comes from the Sanskrit word “jangala”.  It refers to a wild tangle mass of vegetation.  The air is rich here and the temperature is perfect. We are walking distance to organic Spice Plantations and Periyar Tiger Reserve.  We are at 900-2000 meters above sea level.

Early in the morning, we went Jungle Trekking in Periyar Tiger Reserve.  The reserve is 925 square kilometers.  Only 44 square kilometers are open to trekking and trekking is only allowed with a guide. We walked among teak trees, rosewood, and enormous ficus trees. Our guide told us there are 100 species of ficus in this jungle reserve.  Of the 100 species of ficus, 16 are strangling types.  The ficus below is a strangler!  It strangles other trees.  You can see how this would be possible with all the swirling limbs.

I like to think we were safe with the guidance of our trusty trekking guides. Our group split in two because my small group of three wanted to have our guide identify birds and the other group wanted to MOVE and cover territory.  Well, we all got a lot of hiking in, but we did see the other group MOVE across the way from us, when a family of India bison came into view and the second group’s guide said, “Bison is coming.  Move quickly!”  My small group of three saw all the action from a distance.  I’m glad to report that Group Number 2 ran quickly and avoided the Bison family.

As we walked, bird song filled the air.  You might think me crazy, but walking in the Periyar Jungle is a spiritual experience. I could say the jungle is a cathedral, a temple, a shrine, a mosque.  And it is more.  When you walk in the jungle or forest, I believe you are as close to the divine and universal consciousness as is humanly possible.  When the bird song blots out all extraneous thoughts and you walk among the precious protected and rare sandalwood trees and hear the chortles and whistling bird songs and see blue flycatchers, and see many of the 165 types of bamboo growing in this forest, some reaching as high as 75 meters, you don’t ask questions. You just know this singular experience is a sacred one.

There are 342 species of birds in this jungle. There are 262 species of butterflies. A golden oriole caught my eye. And next to it, a black hooded oriole surpassed the other in beauty..if that is possible. Then a plum headed parakeet shows its head and we all say, OH!

As our guide identifies specific types of orioles, mynahs, parakeets, bulbuls, and orange and scarlet minivets, langurs and giant squirrels (115 cm in length) make noisy alarm sounds as we approach.  We are in another world.

And look what we saw on our jungle trek!  Tiger claw marks on a tree:

Below you will see more photos from our time in this marvelous healing place.

On the drive to Kerala:

Our walk down to the sightseeing ferry boat for a ride on Lake Periyar, where we sighted the wild elephants:

And later, leaving Periyar Tiger and Elephant Preserve and heading to the houseboat in Aleppi, we passed tea plantations and a lovely Catholic church.  18% of the population in Kerala is Christian. St. Thomas the apostle came here in the 1st century.