Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

  Kumily, India
Friday, December 14, 2007

crafty monkeys at cafe, great entertainment

I fought off the monkeys with my umbrella as we ate delicious parathas (doughy flat bread served warm) and curry at the worker's cafe at Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. That was the most exciting part of the visit to the sanctuary. The parathas were the best that I had in India and only cost 10 rupees. I'm glad I decided to eat there rather than up the hill at the swank guest lodge above the boat jetty.

wild boars, the largest wild mammal I saw

We walked into the park from the guest house before sunrise to join a nature walk in hopes of spotting some elephants. We did see endangered black monkeys, large squirrels unique to Periyar and lots of wild boar, but no elephants. And, no tigers.

Martin and Margaret on bamboo raft before hike

I didn't expect to see a tiger but they do supposedly have them there. Martin, a Brit in our four person hiking group, asked a guide how many tigers there were in the park. He said 38. I don't believe him. I think it's more like 3 to 8. Probably 3. Probably 2 by the time you read this. The poaching still continues despite whatever you hear or read. I haven't met anyone who saw a tiger in India.

small altar at park entrance

The guide did try and jip me out of an extra 100 rupees. He said we had to pay extra if we wanted the leech proof socks. I figured he was bluffing. I'm not sure if he was, but I didn't get overcharged. Nor did we get to wear leech proof stockings on the walk. Now I have three leech-mouth sized punctures on my right ankle.

me this morning with no coffee

But, the parathas were good and the grey monkeys thrive all over town and in the park--proabably because they eat so many good parathas from tourists not equipped with umbrellas.

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color

Notes to other travelers: Green View Guest House was nice, no frills, but clean and run by a super friendly family (Though its on a road I named Rickshaw Raceway Road. It sounded like I was sleeping in the middle of Autotopia at Disnelyland). Coffee Inn was a wonderful haven to escape to and the food is delicious as well.