Thekkady

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We headed into the Periyer wildlife reserve to go on a boat ride to see local wildlife. The queue was lengthy and while the others waited Grant and I were entertained by the antics of the monkeys. Firstly they were charging about rolling over each other, tussling and chittering. One very young one suddenly darted over to a family group who were having a snack and stole the toddlers bottle of milk. There were screams, laughter and the howling of the toddler as the monkey took off, higher and higher into the tree. He spent some time grappling with the bottle, getting the teet off- chewing it for a while before dropping it in disgust. We watched storks soaring and wheeling regally in the clear blue sky then headed down to meet the ticket buyers. The ferry ride was slow and we all wore very attractive life jackets -I'm not actually sure if they would save you or weigh you down. Anyway we saw a family of elephants grazing by the lake -a bit too far away for a good photo, A team of wild boar with heaps of piglets and birds. On our way out we watched a man lose his bag ( containing his lunch) to a very cheeky and determined monkey who then looked very ferocious when the man tried to get it back. Needless to say the monkey won. He leapt up onto the branch of a tree and proceeded to effortlessly open the lunchbox ( obviously well practiced) and devour the contents. Though a number of other monkeys were around there was defiantly no sharing! In the early evening Pete and I walked for a while on the main road of the park and saw a huge black monkey, samba deer, 32 wild boar and a group of black monkeys charging through the trees littering us with leaves. The heritage hotel where we are staying is lovely and Maddy finally got her own room. Sue, Roy, Grant and Maddy are off having a massage. Ahhhh bliss.....

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