Our day started early and by 7am we were in Periyar National Park ready to begin our 3-hour hike through this jungle. We were all eager to see wild life.
Our first encounters were the Nilgiri Langur monkeys.
Then across the lake we spotted families of wild boar plus a few bison.
Our guide pulls a bamboo raft to shore so we can cross the lake.
The first team heads off across the lake…
…and into the jungle.
82-year-old Anne and Dandapani make up team number 2 and it is our turn now to cross the lake. Anne is truly an inspiration. In our 3-hour hike she only took a 5-min break and kept up with the guide and me the entire time.
Our guide spots a tiger paw print which he says was made the previous night.
We come across our first team in our hike.
A colorful ginger flower.
The absolutely beautiful Giant Malabar Squirrels. At 3-feet long they are the world largest squirrels. They are maroonish in color with some baige around the bottom neck region. We also spotted Samba Deer (which were too fast for the camera), hornbills and many varieties of other birds.
