I woke up early morning, got ready and ran to the bus station only to know the next bus to Kumarakom is after 45 minutes or so, which was good in a sense. It gave me ample time to have a peaceful spicy vada and Kattan (Kerala tea) for breakfast. Kattan is something unique yet indigenous to Kerala, its bold local black tea (without milk) which is a staple for anyone from God’s own country. After the breakfast I got back to the bus stand and got onto the bus in next 10 minutes, in a ride of merely 35 minutes, I was at the gates of Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary.
Kumarakom is situated only 13 kilometres off Kottayam and being on the side of Vembanad Lake; gives it a big push when it comes to flora & fauna, angling, boating and Bird watching. The bird sanctuary is the biggest attraction here, with miles and miles of mangrove forests, green paddy field and coconut trees; Bordered by white lilies makes it a must-see place on the National Geographic list. A mere 50 INR entry can get you to bird heaven with migratory ones like Siberian stork, wild duck and Indian darters, Egret and Cuckoos to name a few.
I consider myself lucky, as soon as I reached here, it started to rain and within 10 minutes it was a heavy downpour. My personal belief to call Kerala, God’s own country is it’s controlled by God, it will rain in a minute and be sunny the next. You don’t control anything here. That pushed most of the romantic lovers, out of this peaceful place and there were only a handful people trying to brave the rain.
The watchtower at the end of the sanctuary is definitely the spot you don’t want to miss for its a unique vantage point. The green cover you see there might even scare someone from the dense Amazonian jungle. There are extra-long creepers which run horizontally on top of trees, to make it a complete mesh kind of structure for the birds, which is possibly the greenest most sight, I ever saw in my life.
By 5 pm I was out and on my way to back to Kottayam in the unique shutter window bus, to save myself from rain. Once I boarded the bus I was informed the village of Indian famed author Arundhati Roy, author of Booker prize-winning “The god of small things” is Ayamanam; which is very close to this place but I was already halfway down, thinking about tomorrow; the plan, the place, this life !!
“Traveling tends to magnify all human emotions.” — Peter Hoeg
Timing: 0630 Am to 0500 Pm
Entry Fee: Domestic-50, Foreigner-100
Contact Number: 9633992977
