Elephants, Back waters and much much MORE!

We left the orphanage on Tuesday morning for a four hour drive to Fort Cochin in Kerala. Kerala is on the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea and was the port Christopher Columbus thought he was sailing to in 1492. Kerala is covered with palm trees, back water lagoons and beautiful beaches. The actual city of Fort Cochin was crowded with thousands of little shops and touristy restaurants and bars. We couldn’t walk ten meters with out somebody offering to sell us whatever we wanted… On our first afternoon we dined at “Chiles the Joint” right on the shore where we watched ships, ferry boats, the fin of a dolphin and the Chinese fishing nets. It took three hours for the food to come but it was good and what we didn’t eat, the stray cats at our feet enjoyed. We walked along the rows of stalls where people were selling sandal wood carvings, jewelry and tapestries and then we went to the Kathakali cultural center to watch a very strange traditional dance performance. Both male and female parts were played by men heavily made up with green, yellow, red, and black face paint. It was very hot and we were given bamboo fans to cool ourselves down with. After the performance we had dinner under the stars at our hotel.

The next day, we took a seven hour boat tour of the backwaters of Kerala. Along the way we visited a factory that turns muscle shells into lime used for concrete and chalk and we also saw women spinning coconut fibers into rope. There were nutmeg, mace and pepper trees as well as several water snakes along the way. The boat didn’t have a motor but was polled by two guys with long bamboo poles. Jon and Mr. B took turns guiding the boat. Once we got into a large lake, we let the wind push us while our guide had a well deserved afternoon siesta (he snored).

Thursday morning we were awake at 6 am and drove quite a distance to an elephant training center where we were able to witness the trainers washing the elephants in the river. We got to pet the elephants and also took many pictures. They range in age from 8 months to 36 years. The elephants were extremely well trained and they did not forget their commands. They stood, turned, lied down, walked and even wrapped their trunks around us on command. It was a great experience because this was the first time that all of us were able to pet elephants. After lunch, we trove the van on a ferry and took the ferry across Erankulun Bay and headed north to Cherai Beach. Most of us body surfed in the meter high surf of the Arabian Sea. The water was almost as warm as a bath tub and very salty and buoyant. It was a lot of fun and a nice break from the hot temperature of Kerala. We drove back to town and caught a ferry right away that took us back to the hotel just in time for facials and massages. The massages were some what similar to the ones in Canada minus the towel. We were lathered in coconut oils from head to toe for a 45 minute experience we will never forget.

The next day, we slept in and checked out the shops in Jew town and the spice market before driving back to Tamil Nadu, where the kids were so happy to have us back. It feels great to be back at our Indian “home” and we look forward to spending the next five days with the kids before making our way back to Toronto.