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← Older: India – Kerala – Munnar – 13th-14th April
Before we left Kumily we couldn’t resist another fabulous Claus breakfast, the same as the day before , perhaps we’d been subconsciously craving this kind …
Newer: India – New Delhi – 17th-18th April →
We had a long journey from Thattakad to eventually find ourselves in Delhi early evening of the 17th. We started at 4am from Ms Sudah’s …
India – Kerala – Thattakad Bird Sanctuary – 15th-16th April
After our Indian breakfast in Munnar we got a 9am bus heading towards Thattekkad Bird Sanctury, we had to get 2 buses in the end and a rickshaw. One bus went from Munnar to Adimaly and from there we had a swift transition to a bus going to Kothamangalam from where we paid 150rs for a rickshaw to take us to the bird sanctuary. We decided to add another destination into our travels en-route to Kochi airport.
We had lunch not long after we arrived and knew we would be in for some good food whilst staying with them. We explained that we were only going to stay the one night but then she convinced us to stay a second when she said she could arrange a taxi to the airport at 4am the following night rather than us staying in an airport hotel we opted for the more homely option. The home-stay is inside the park entrance and is on the left just after the lake.
That afternoon we enjoyed our first spot of bird watching, something neither of us have claimed to do before now. We went with Ms Sudah as it is only permitted to explore the sanctuary with a guide and she is one of them, along with her son Ginesh who wasn’t at home. So off we went along the paths and into the forest. We saw plenty of Malabar Grey Hornbill’s amongst other exotic birds, she informed us well about the local area and the types of birds and species in the national park. She has been living there for 43 years and so most people passing her would say hello, we knew she was a highly regarded lady and she even owned the shop right on the outside of the entrance to the park. A woman with fingers in a lot of pies.
There’s not much else to do in the area if you’re on foot other than to explore the park and wildlife. Although boating is optional, we couldn’t go out on the second day due to a big storm but we did manage another excellent bird watching walk in another side of the forest once again with Sudah.
We saw loads of birds that morning and Dave has lovingly compiled a list below of what we had right in front of us:
When we were back at her home later on we enjoyed more good home-cooked food and opted for a nice session of relaxation in our room. It was incredibly hot and humid and so we needed a break from the heat.
When we finished our last meal we were entertained by the grandchildren who were encouraged to perform, sing and dance in front of us. We could tell they really didn’t want to do it, but in the end we were all laughing along and as they performed their songs in front of us. When Ginesh came back in he was really egging his 3 and a half year old little girl to sing on her own and so we decided to film it. We want you to see how special a moment this was for us. We couldn’t help but love this family who open themselves towards complete strangers in their home.
To them everyone is their friend and family and we certainly felt like we were part of it when we said goodbye to them all as they hugged us and welcomed us back next time. The incredible spider was there in our bathroom again later that night, and again Dave had just missed it. It didn’t stick around for the rest of the night though which was a little more comforting for the two of us.
Ms Sudah charged us 1500rs/room/night including all meals as well as tea and biscuits along the way and 600rs for the bird watching. We then paid the driver 1000rs to take us to Kochin airport which is some 40km away from Thattakad.
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