KERALA BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
The long-awaited holiday to celebrate Den's 60th birthday in Kerala began to take shape on November Friday 5th as we all converged from various places on Cochin Airport.
Jeff and Anne were the first to arrive, by train from Hampi, and after being met at Ernakulam Station by our Palmlands Tour Guide, managed some sightseeing in Cochin before coming on to meet us all at the airport.
Den and Carolyn arrived next flying in from Pune, via Delhi and then waiting a few hours at the airport for
Michael who flew in from a week-long work at a mine near Jamshedphur.
Eventually we were all happily reunited at about 4.30 pm and we set off in our Palmlands Bus with our tour operator, Suresh, who we were very pleased to finally meet after months and months of preparation.
Our FIRST STOP was at HORNBILL CAMP in the THATTEKAD BIRD SANCTUARY and what a perfect start to the holiday this was. We were greeted by a wonderful rain shower as we sat on our verandah in the fading evening light enjoying the sensory orchestra of the rain and sipping our Kingfisher beers.
Waking to quiet and birdsong and the pristine riverine beauty the next morning was most refreshing. After a good breakfast we set off to meet our birdguide, the knowledgeable and experienced local birdwatching expert, Mr Eldhose, 
meeting some implacable bovine traffic on the way!
Mr Eldhose certainly knew his birds and the territory very well and walking through the beauty of Kerala tracking the birds was a wonderful way to get acquainted with each other and the Keralan landscape.some of the friends we made along the way:
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Working elephant on the road |
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| Women returning to their homes in the forest after shopping |
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| enthusiastic village kids |
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| Beautiful views of Thattekad area |
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