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We we up early (again!), to leave for Periyar Tiger Reserve. We arrived ahead of schedule and checked into Mickey Cottage (another home stay with a really friendly family), then went straight into the park. We went on a boat ride around the reserve to animal spot - we were lucky enough to see elephants, deer, water buffalo, bison, wild boar, although we think the boar could have been a rock! We also saw lots of birds, but unfortunately there aren't many photos of these, as they were really far away!
We then went on a 3 hour woodland trek, with 2 couples and our local guide. We had to first get on a bamboo raft across the water, which we had to pull ourselves across, with a rope! The raft was only made for 5, so with 7 of us aboard it started to sink, and we were the unfortunate ones in the middle of the big puddle! During the walk the guide pointed out grey, white and black monkies, boar, bison and (drum roll).........a tiger..........print! But we were still really excited! Apparently it was from the night before.
The reserve has around 40 tigers, which is on the decrease, but they are not very often seen! After the tiring trek we headed to the Ayurvedic massage centre for a traditional Indian massage. We were quite surprised to find that this full body massage was exactly that, a FULL body massage - front and back! They used natural oils to relieve tension, travel fatigue, improve circulation and boost immune system which they did by cleansing and energising our Marmas - apparently! This was an experience to say the least!
We ate dinner at the house, cooked by Sujata; egg curry, chappatti, poppadoms, a potato dish, curd dish and tomato chutney with Kerala rice (big fluffy grains) and pineapple and bananas for after. We ate with 4 of the other guests and Sujata hovered around us to fill our plate after every mouthful! We were stuffed by the end, as she wouldn't let us leave with out trying everything twice!
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