Day 11: Natural Beauty

Dear readers, welcome back to the SWIndia blog! We’ve been absolutely astounded by the natural beauty of Wayanad, and we’re excited to share it with you. This morning, some of us got ready quite early for a 7 AM bird watching expedition. They saw several beautiful birds from a distance! Afterwards, we all met for a delicious breakfast, which included juices, idli, dosa, and other traditional Indian items. After breakfast, we headed back to our rooms to relax for a while. After so many days filled with new and interesting experiences, having time to relax was very nice!

In the late morning, we attended a session by the naturalist, Varkey, on herpetology, which is the study of amphibians and reptiles. We learned about the natural habitats of many animals that exist on the property, which include elephants, tigers, and many species of frogs, snakes, and insects. After the presentation, we headed back to our rooms to relax, and many of us used the gorgeous pool. It started to rain pretty heavily, but that just added to the natural beauty of the area.

In the mid-afternoon, Jade and I braved the rain to head on a hike through the rainforest to view the nearby tea and coffee plantations. Although the hike was difficult at times, and we both got soaking wet, the view of the mountains was absolutely breathtaking! We followed the hike with coffee at the lodge. After a short break, we attended a cooking class with the Wayanad Wild staff and watched a vegetable masala dish being made! 

Jade and I during our rainy walk!

A very interesting cooking demonstration!

In the evening, we attended another presentation by Varkey on the snakes of Wayanad, which was very interesting, and we learned about some common myths about snakes. After the presentation, we had a delicious dinner and headed out for a night hike with Varkey. During the hike, we spotted many frogs, snakes, insects, and slugs, which was so fun. 

A gecko seen on our night hike!

We finished our night by relaxing and hanging out together. Tomorrow we’ll be leaving Wayanad for the last leg of our journey, so stay tuned!

See you soon,

Sanjana (and the rest of SWIndia!)