I keep getting sidetracked from our fantastic family vacation to Kerala ... which took place FOREVER ago. Actually a year and a half ago, but still. When last we visited God's Own Country, we were exploring the tea estates of Munnar. After our hike through the tea, we piled back into the car and Kareem drove us over and around many a mountain until we arrived at a homestay called Vanilla County. It was remote, it was surrounded by rubber plantations and gorgeous flora and fauna, it was run by a lovely and welcoming family, it had amazing home-cooked food ... it was fabulous. If you are ever anywhere near Kerala, you need to relax at Vanilla County for a few days. Just look at how relaxed this child is ...
If you know John at all, then you know that his idea of relaxing has little to do with hammocks and lots to do with exploration. He quickly roused the rest of us from our hammocks and led us off on a nature hike down this mountain road.
These photos don't really do it justice. I loved the way palm trees were poking up from among the other vegetation.
Weird flowers we saw everywhere ...
There were lots of jackfruit trees ...
The owner of Vanilla County, Baby Matthew (yes, that's his real name), has a friend who owns a working elephant that's used on the rubber plantations. On our first morning there, we got to help give the elephant a bath. First we hiked a little ways up the middle of a wide stream that had cashew trees hanging over the banks. This is a cashew fruit in the water ...
Cashews on the tree ...
After walking a little way, we came upon this scene ...
The elephant's name is Indira, and her mahouts were giving her a bath. We grabbed scrub brushes and lent a hand ...
I don't know how well you can see it in these photos, but Indira is an albino. All of her fur is translucent.
After her bath, Indira was ready for a snack. Her mahouts made sure we were well out of the way before she stood up and walked back down the stream.
Here's Samuel feeding Indira bananas ...
The other kids each had a turn, too. Indira seemed very docile, but we weren't allowed to come close enough to feed her until she was chained, and the mahout was constantly on the watch. We were allowed to help bathe her only while she was lying on her side and had to move far down the stream before the mahouts helped her stand up again. Elephants are beautiful but huge. You don't want to be in the way of a swinging trunk or pounding foot. I'm certainly not an expert, but Indira seemed happy and healthy. She definitely looked better than some of the temple elephants we saw in India.
She let John put bananas right into her mouth and kept nudging him for more ...
After Indira had her snack, her owners invited us inside for our own snack of jackfruit. It was the first time I'd tasted it. Not my favorite thing, I have to say. It's a bit on the stinky cheese side of taste when it's raw, but we had a great jackfruit ice cream another time.
If you know John at all, then you know that his idea of relaxing has little to do with hammocks and lots to do with exploration. He quickly roused the rest of us from our hammocks and led us off on a nature hike down this mountain road.
These photos don't really do it justice. I loved the way palm trees were poking up from among the other vegetation.
Weird flowers we saw everywhere ...
There were lots of jackfruit trees ...
The owner of Vanilla County, Baby Matthew (yes, that's his real name), has a friend who owns a working elephant that's used on the rubber plantations. On our first morning there, we got to help give the elephant a bath. First we hiked a little ways up the middle of a wide stream that had cashew trees hanging over the banks. This is a cashew fruit in the water ...
Cashews on the tree ...
After walking a little way, we came upon this scene ...
The elephant's name is Indira, and her mahouts were giving her a bath. We grabbed scrub brushes and lent a hand ...
I don't know how well you can see it in these photos, but Indira is an albino. All of her fur is translucent.
After her bath, Indira was ready for a snack. Her mahouts made sure we were well out of the way before she stood up and walked back down the stream.
Here's Samuel feeding Indira bananas ...
The other kids each had a turn, too. Indira seemed very docile, but we weren't allowed to come close enough to feed her until she was chained, and the mahout was constantly on the watch. We were allowed to help bathe her only while she was lying on her side and had to move far down the stream before the mahouts helped her stand up again. Elephants are beautiful but huge. You don't want to be in the way of a swinging trunk or pounding foot. I'm certainly not an expert, but Indira seemed happy and healthy. She definitely looked better than some of the temple elephants we saw in India.
She let John put bananas right into her mouth and kept nudging him for more ...
After Indira had her snack, her owners invited us inside for our own snack of jackfruit. It was the first time I'd tasted it. Not my favorite thing, I have to say. It's a bit on the stinky cheese side of taste when it's raw, but we had a great jackfruit ice cream another time.
Coming up: We explore a natural rock pool where kids enjoy swimming and Mom destroys her knee ...
There are a couple hip vegetarian restaurants in Columbus that use jackfruit as a substitute for pulled pork. It's pretty good when it's cooked BBQ style!
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