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Published: January 20th 2009
View from our balcony
The fern-like trees are giant timber bamboo. We are visited daily by water buffalo and lots of wild boars, plus a cacaphony of birds that love hanging out in the trees directly overhead...kingfishers, babblers, drongos, do any of these sound familiar?Viewing elephants, wild boar, water buffalo and gazillions of birds
We left Madurai on Saturday morning, hiring a car to take us from the big city to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary and tiger preserve. The drive is about 4 hours, and takes us from the coconut palms and rice paddies of the state of Tamil Nadu into the Western Ghat Mountains in the state of Kerala.
The preserve is a "hill station" run by the state. The city, Thekkadi, adjoining it has some nice tourist accommodations on the outer fringe. We took a boat ride yesterday on Lake Periyar and were lucky enough to see elephants near the shore, along with water buffalo, huge deer, and lots of birds, especially cormorants.
We are staying in a small pension, run by a local family. Our room overlooks a forest of giant timber bamboo and trees. The birds are a constant source of entertainment, as are the wild boar family that visited us last night directly below our balcony.
Interestingly enough, the name of our pension is "The White House." This being January 20, 2009, I guess we can say that we were guests of the White House on
The forest around Lake Periyar
Inhabitants of this forest include elephants, monkeys, and yes, tigers! This is a scene from the boat ride yesterday on the lake. We did see elephants. inauguration day!!
In a couple of days, we'll be on the train to Chennai. But first, we plan to go for an elephant ride into the forest, and visit a local spice plantation.
Best to you all, and three cheers for Obama!!!
Dr. Betsy and Dr. Ann
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