Day 10: Periyar National Park

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It was a bit of a struggle to get up this morning but we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and up to a sumptuous breakfast in the hotel. Phoebe wasnt felling to well this morning and had a bit of an upset tummy. Apart from that we were ready for another day of adventures. First stop a forest walk in the national park. We took a van down to the reception and Anoop was there waiting for us, so we headed straight off to the park. On arrival, we had the option of going on bikes around the park but Chloe would have needed to perch herself on my bike as there wasnt one small enough for her and no kids seats. We decided against this rather precarious option and walked instead.

Anoop took us on a short 1 1/2 hour walk through the forest, first stop Macaque monkeys, and some tiny babies who cant have been more than a couple of weeks old. The kids were captivated by the family scenes that went on in this group. We then followed the trail for a while with Anoop pointing out black eagles, giant squirrels, black monkey, golden backed woodpecker, Sambar deer and many others as well as the odd Cinnamon tree that smelt great! The trail ended at the boat pier point which we had a look around in preparation for our boat ride in the afternoon. Lucas was approached by some Indian ladies whilst were there who were very keen to know how old he was and whether they could take a selfie with him. He was a little taken aback by the whole incident! We also had a roving macaque, who targeted anyone with food in their hands, we saw a number of shocked people get food taken right out of their hands.

Having seen the fun we took the bus back to the Hotel and had lunch and a bit of a rest before heading out in the afternoon for the boat ride.The boat was more of a ferry but we were on the top deck and so could see most things. We really wanted to see a wild elephant but sadly it wasnt to be; we saw otters, turtle, Bison, a couple of kingfishers and plenty of birds....but sadly no elephant. The boat took us through the national park and some beautiful sites though and so a successful venture.

On returning to the dock we met back up with Anoop and went out to dinner at the Ambadi restaurant which was delicious. We all ordered banana lassis which Dad was the only one really keen on. Mum and Dad got a bit overexcited with the options so over-ordered and got totally bloated! After a couple of games of Uno we headed back to the hotel for our final night in paradise before moving on to the River Boat tomorrow.....

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Comments

[Tory Glenny]

Love the towel work on the bed!