Back Afloat Again

While it was great to try out some truly Indian forms of transport, a visit to Kerala is, more than anything else, about seeing the backwaters. As the backwaters stretch for about 1,000 km and there is so much to see on them - birds, animals, local industry and people simply living out their lives - you simply cannot spend too much time exploring and how better to explore the backwaters than by boat?

As we are boating bears, we were very happy to get back afloat. We didn't get to go on a traditional rice barge as none of our boat trips involved overnight stays which they are geared up for, but we were very happy with the boats we travelled on, especially when the masters of the vessels let us have a drive. We were pleased to find there aren't any speed limits like on the Norfolk Broads at home, but while we couldn't resist an occasional burst of speed (just to see what she could do) most of the time we drove like the responsible bears so as to get the best sightings of kingfishers and fish eagles.


The boat in today's photo had very thoughtfully provided safety straps to stop bears unwittingly slipping overboard. We thought this was a very nice touch.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx