Periyar Tiger Reserve

The queue for the bus on a foggy morning.

The boat ride on the reservoir in the Tiger Reserve.

A cormorant drying its wings.

An Indian myna bird.

The Periyar Interpretive Centre.

The giant bamboo forest.

A negrili langur.

A strangler fig tree.

An Indian gaur.

On the ground and close by.

Monday, March 6^th.

I didn’t sleep well and was awake before our 6 am wake up time. John, Jo, Jamie and I were out of the hotel by 6. It was still dark and foggy and the temperature was fairly cool. We are in the very touristy village of Thekkady. We walked to where we were supposed to be able to buy tickets for the Periyar Tiger Reserve and the bus to take us to the boat, but it was the wrong place and we had to double back and walk about 750 metres where we found a line of people. Indians pay 33 rupee and foreigners pay 450 rupees. After we bought our tickets we took the bus about four kilometres into the reserve to the boat platform where we bought tickets for the boat cruise. This is a man made lake in a very pretty setting. As we set sail the fog lifted and we could see the shore and the birds that were busy fishing. We had assigned seats and we were in the back row of the boat. People were not allowed to stand or walk around and take photos so it was a bit difficult. But then two members of the boat crew took John’s and my camera and took a bunch of photos for us from the back of the boat. They got some great shots. When we got off the boat we gave them a nice tip.

We got back in time to have the included breakfast and then get organized again for the hike in Periyar Tiger Reserve. We drove by bus to the start point where we met our guide. He is a local man who lives in one of the remote tribes that live within the reserve. He took us for a three hour hike into the park. By now the temperature was in the mid thirties and it made for a sweaty, tiring walk. The ground was very dry and covered with leaves. It felt like autumn as there were leaves falling from the trees. The first part of the hike was through the Giant Bamboo forest. This is the tallest member of the grass family and during the monsoon season it can grow eighteen centimetres a day! We saw several species of birds and a family group of nilgiri langur, which are a black monkey with a blonde head and a very long tail. Unfortunately, there were quite far away and the shots are not great.

This is a large tiger reserve with about 40 tigers in it, but we knew we had no chance of seeing one on the hike, but we did see a family of otters swimming and fishing and a herd of the gaur, which is the largest member of the buffalo family in India. We saw them very close up, which was a bit unnerving.

After the hike John and I returned to the hotel and had a nice long nap as we were both hot and tired. We hung out in the room for a bit before going for a walk to find dinner. The temperature was lovely and we walked up and down the street trying to find a recommended restaurant without luck, so we returned and had a veggie curry at our hotel. Then we packed it in.