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Kerala

September, 2000

It is almost impossible to tell from this photograph, but the black circle in the middle of the canoe is a man's head. He is diving down to get black sand, which he is loading into his boat. Kerala sand has lots of valuable radioactive elements in it.

Kerala is famous for its houseboats. This is the one we rented for a day. I recommend it highly -- for the DAY. The night is another matter, when the mosquitoes come out in force and the warmth of the water keeps the air from cooling down.

Our houseboat had no motor, just two polers pushing us along gondola style. Most houseboats are powered by a motor though. Ugh. Noisy. Polluting.

We saw several dozen of these boats, all a bit different.

It was very relaxing to float along the water....watching the locals....

Make that EXTREMELY relaxing.

It was also extremely relaxing IN the water. This is at the Taj hotel beside the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, near Kottayam.

And rather relaxing BESIDE the water too. This is 10 steps out of our Taj cottage.

Course the best thing about this hotel was it had its own elephant!

We also got to ride elephants near Verkala.

The view from our hotel in Kovalum. The sound of the surf was amazing. Even drowned out Sher's snores!

Periyar, south India's largest park, is dominated by its man-made lake. You are not allowed into the jungle without a paid guide. The forest is lovely, just like much of India was not too long ago. Now these few acres are almost all the wilds left.

The tourist boats are a joke. Horrible diesel belching machines that go AWAY from any animals you might spot on the shore.

Our guide, with a much better boat for navigating the jungle.

A lizard at our hotel in Periyar.

Tea is grown in the high hills near Peiyar. This is what the jungle has been turned into: manicured tea plantations. And, lower down, rubber plantations.