DAY 1
L, D included
We meet in the morning at Cochin airport and have a 1.5 hour road transfer to our eco luxury beach hotel, individual thatched villas in beautiful grounds leading onto the beach. The hotel has won many awards for environmental standards and is the perfect place to unwind, with its huge coconut palm tree-edged pool, an Ayurvedic spa, and an excellent restaurant serving Keralan specialities, particularly fresh seafood.
DAY 2
B, L, D included
A relaxing morning – swimming, walking on the white sand beach, reading in a hammock – before a short transfer to board an elegantly converted rice boat and have lunch on the rattan canopied deck. A 4 hour cruise takes us quietly through the canals and lakes of the Backwaters, bird watching as we drift past herons, kingfishers, Brahminy kites and colourful Indian rollers, and observing village life on the waterways.
DAY 3
B, L, D included
Heading inland (in a comfortable air-conditioned vehicle) a scenic morning’s drive takes us up into the Western Ghats and over the Palakkad Gap. Crossing the state boundary into Tamil Nadu, our destination for the next 2 nights is a welcoming heritage home set on a 4,500 acre private estate growing vanilla, cardamom and coconuts. After a late lunch we have a butterfly and bird watching walk on the estate, looking for Paradise flycatchers and blue-winged parakeets moving through the forest.
DAY 4
B, L, D included
This morning we visit the Anamalai Tiger Reserve and have a guided walk through the forest to spot wildlife - leopards, tigers and gaur (Indian bison) all occur here and the birdwatching is very good. A relaxing afternoon follows, with the option of a visit to a nearby Tamil village, with its blue painted houses, to observe the rural way of life; or reading on the verandah.
DAY 5
B, L, D included
After an early start for the drive to Coonoor, we board the Blue Mountain Railway train for the spectacular ride (almost 2,000 m up) to the celebrated hill station at Ooty (properly called Udhagamandalam), once the summer residence of the entire Madras Presidency. We have tea in our historic hotel (the 5 star Savoy Taj), then set off on foot to see the local Botanical gardens and the beautifully kept English Church, with its commemorative plaques redolent of the colonial era.
DAY 6
B, L, D included
A day’s drive to Mysore (6 hours) is punctuated by lunch and a bird watching walk near the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, a tropical dry forest where we hope to find rufous tree-pie and Ceylon frogmouth. We settle into our Sustainable Tourism award winning hotel in Mysore (a converted Princess’s palace where profits go to charity and staff are recruited from less advantaged groups), then have an evening walk round the nearby Kukkerly Lake.
DAY 7
B, L, D included
Mysore has the reputation of being India’s cleanest and most ecologically aware city and has a good share of pre-Independence buildings. The Maharaja’s Palace, designed by British architect Henry Irwin in 1912, is a huge, walled, eclectic building, full of memorabilia which provide a fascinating insight into a grandiose Indian dynasty. There is time to visit the Devaraja produce market (mountains of marigolds and jasmine) and then shop for the silks and scented sandalwood for which Mysore is a noted centre. In the afternoon we travel east to visit Tipu Sultan’s fort (the site where he was finally defeated by Col. Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington) and his charmingly decorated summer palace, dating from 1784.
DAY 8
B, L, D included
Travelling west into the Ghats once more, a scenic 2 hour drive brings us to Nagarhole National Park, former hunting reserve of the Maharajahs of Mysore, where deciduous forest along the Kabini river harbours wildcats, sloth bears, leopards, elephants and monkeys, as well as the rare Malabar trogon and Indian pitta. We have time to swim before lunch and settle into our very comfortable private jungle lodge, recently awarded the title of Top Wildlife Resort in India. An optional birdwatching walk precedes a 3 hour early evening boat trip on the lake in search of wildlife.
DAY 9
B, L, D included
We have the choice of a jeep safari before breakfast, with the Park naturalists guiding us, or a relaxing start to the day, watching butterflies from our hammocks and perhaps visiting the local village before lunch. In the late afternoon we again walk in search of wildlife and take a second boat trip on the lake (an ideal way to approach game quietly as they come down to drink, providing excellent photo opportunities).
DAY 10
B, L, D included
Setting off around 9, we have a long, bumpy, but extremely picturesque drive down from the edge of the Western Ghats (the road suffers monsoon damage annually), pausing for lunch en route. In the small town of Thalassery (Telicherry) on the Malabar coast we spend 2 nights in a delightful, colonial style, heritage hotel, famous for its food and with a temple pond pool and panoramic views from the terraces.
DAY 11
B, L, D included
We accompany our host on a shopping expedition to the lively fish market by the harbour, then walk to the fort, built by the British East India Company in 1683 to protect their trade in pepper. After lunch we relax on a beautiful palm tree-backed beach and hope to catch a performance of Thayyam, an ancient Dravidian ritual dance drama special to Malabar, before dining under the stars.
DAY 12
B, L, D included
We catch the express train which travels the coastal route south to Cochin (airconditioned carriages, with luggage transported separately by road), reaching our historic hotel, a beautifully restored 300 year-old Dutch mansion (a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World) on the island of Fort Kochi, in time for a late lunch and a swim in the courtyard pool. This afternoon we can visit the charming 16th century Pardesi Synagogue, investigate the intriguing antique shops near our hotel or make some last minute shopping forays.
DAY 13
B, L, D included
We walk along the shore by the famous cantilevered Chinese fishing nets and watch the morning bustle around the fish market. Exploring the atmospheric lanes we glimpse warehouses dealing in cardamom, chillies, ginger and pepper, and visit the Mattancherry Palace with its murals depicting stories from the Ramayana, and St Francis, the earliest church built by Europeans and original burial place of Vasco da Gama. After a leisurely lunch overlooking the water there is time for an Ayurvedic massage in the hotel spa before our farewell seafood dinner, accompanied by Indian classical music.
DAY 14
B included
We depart after breakfast for the airport and flights home.