Day 11 Tue 6th Nov India - Houseboat Kerala Backwaters

I woke around 6 and popped my dressing gown quietly leaving the room with my camera and phone. I walk through the bungalows looking out for a glimpse of the birds I can hear and the red squirrel. It’s not long before I spot one high up in the nut tree, it is enormous! He is sat there munching on a nut, his tail hanging from the branch. I am so chuffed, I stand there for ages, neck aching from looking up and then hear the call of the black monkey’s. I hurry along to the back of the bungalows by the Yoga hut and can see the tree tops swaying with the monkeys jumping. Then there is one sat high on a branch with no leaves. A great shot to photo and to just watch. I follow them and try to get video and photos but in the end just enjoy watching them play and feed on the fruits.

On returning to our bungalow I look back one last look and see a pair sat huddled together sleeping on a branch, so adorable. I continue to watch them for ages and drag myself away as today we leave at 830 for our trip to the houseboat.

So even though we enjoyed our trek in the park we didn’t really need to go as we had the monkeys and squirrel at our bungalow!

The Nilgiri langur monkey is a langur found in the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats in South India. Its range also includes Kodagu in Karnataka, Kodayar Hills in Tamil Nadu, and many other hilly areas in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This primate has glossy black fur on its body and golden brown fur on its head Critically endangered

Travel tablets taken, goodbyes to staff we are sad to go but really looking forward to our next destination, the houseboat. I sit in the front as usual and the 4 hour journey back down the mountain to Alleppey where we are picking up our Kerala backwater tour for the rest of the day and night.

Exploring the backwaters was an amazing experience, the labyrinthine network of waterways which weave through villages set amidst lush vegetation. It offers glimpses of Kerala’s unique rural lifestyle where land and water are inseparable. Rice fields and coconut husks with Kites, Eagles, Herons, Fruit Bats, colourful dragon flies and Kingfishers. The coconut husks are soaked in shallow waters near the banks and are then beaten to produce the fine fibre to make coir which the villages women use to make ropes and carpets from. It is often tied to make brightly coloured mats. The flesh is converted into oil and cooking.

We had our own boat with air conditioned room. It was blissful. 2 shared the driving and one cooked. I wish we had booked 2 nights! Absolutely loved watching the birds and villagers go about their days.

Washing their bodies, their clothes and using some kind of plant to clean their teeth’s, the school children catching ferries to the schools in the heart to the backwaters. We stopped off at one village and visited a church, lighting a candle for those that we want to remember.

The food was fantastic prepared in the tiny kitchen.

We parked up for sunset and dinner, it was magical, truly was. We lay on the deck watching the sunset, silent in our own thoughts, taking in the moment, a moment we won’t forget.