Dixie and I don't usually agree on things, but this one is a no-brainer: we've never been to a place like Kerala before. Every stop we make has a totally different ecosystem than the last. The final leg of our trip, which brought us to the famous backwater region of Kerala, was no exception.
The shores are dotted with resorts, but it's not so developed that you can't imagine what it must have been like before the locals decided to open their doors to tourists. In fact, as we were being paddled around the backwaters, we were treated to a good dose of village life. As in Venice, boating on the canals is a major means of transportation here. Unlike Venice, the waters are also used for bathing, washing and fishing.
On the morning of our second day in Kumarakom, we made a trip to the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary. As at Periyar Lake, the wildlife continued to conspire against us: we could hear the distinct calls of many different birds, but see only a handful of birds in the canopy above. This is the difference between a zoo and a wildlife sanctuary, I told myself, and all in all, this is a good thing.
After a couple hours on foot, we decide to try our luck on boat. Actually, we met a ranger who scoffed at our attempt to view the birds from inside the forest. He said we'd get a better look from the water as the birds left the trees to feed on the fish and insects in Vembanad Lake (India's longest lake), and without pausing for our reaction, he called an oarsman who was paddling down a nearby creek over for us (yes, it was really that easy).
He was right...it was much better to be back on the water. From the lake, we could watch the birds circling above the canopy and then leaving in flocks as they set off across the lake. The larger birds, cormorants and herons, were easy enough to identify. Ornithologically speaking, it was pretty cool.
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