National Park, and a Farm/Plantation
This day saw us leaving the more urban or even the rural farming part of India and entering a national park and part of the rain forest. The national park is supposed to be homes to elephants and at least 85 tigers. We did see elephants including this mother and her "baby" boy. (Only males have tusks.)
These are Asian and not African elephants. The lack of the big "Dumbo" ears is the biggest clue although any good zoologist would have a number of other bases for making this distinction. We were told that the elephant's lifespan is approximately that of a human and that the mahoot (elephant driver) is usually introduced to "his" elephant when both are fairly young and that the elephants learns to respond to the mahoot's commands even if given from a fairly large distance -- and only to its own mahoot. Also, if you get a chance to read the article on saving orphan elephants in the September National Georgraphic you really should. That article though is about African elephants.
The national park also has (Rhesus) monkeys. Watching them in the wild is a lot of fun and you may remember from earlier photos that the definition of wild for these monkeys in India includes the inner parts of several cities. I particularly like the mother and child in this picture, keeping up with the motherhood theme.
The green ones are fairly new and have had just part of the first day of drying. They will then be rolled up and kept that way for a few days and then finally dried for about two days more yielding the black peppercorn we're used to. And, what about the white peppercorn? Well, it turns out that if you remove the skin of the green peppercorn, the corns will then dry as white pepper -- they are a different color and the flavor is somewhat less intense. Somewhat like the difference between red and white wine.
And we all know that the banana is a berry -- right? And you can get a lot of different varieties of bananas in India incuding some really wonderful minature ones. Not only are they delcious, but the provide a nice small snack without needing to use a large bananan. The farm owner is showing us a banana tree flower with several layers of banana bunches growing.
And, as promised earlier, the brown stuff you see on the bark is the result of termite activity. In fact, there was one fairly large termite hill near this area, which was of no concern to our host. He says termits cannot destroy a healthy tree and they perform an important task of recycling dead and dying trees. So he simply lets them do their thing.
And, since it was getting to be late afternoon by now, it's time for a cup of tea. Unfortunately all we came across was this collection of unprocessed tea.
Yes, these are tea plants. Acres and acres of them. And in this area we're dealing with plants that produce decent but not superb tea. For really good tea in India, you need to go to Darjeeling or Assam, not Kerala.
This day saw us leaving the more urban or even the rural farming part of India and entering a national park and part of the rain forest. The national park is supposed to be homes to elephants and at least 85 tigers. We did see elephants including this mother and her "baby" boy. (Only males have tusks.)
These are Asian and not African elephants. The lack of the big "Dumbo" ears is the biggest clue although any good zoologist would have a number of other bases for making this distinction. We were told that the elephant's lifespan is approximately that of a human and that the mahoot (elephant driver) is usually introduced to "his" elephant when both are fairly young and that the elephants learns to respond to the mahoot's commands even if given from a fairly large distance -- and only to its own mahoot. Also, if you get a chance to read the article on saving orphan elephants in the September National Georgraphic you really should. That article though is about African elephants.
The national park also has (Rhesus) monkeys. Watching them in the wild is a lot of fun and you may remember from earlier photos that the definition of wild for these monkeys in India includes the inner parts of several cities. I particularly like the mother and child in this picture, keeping up with the motherhood theme.
Another animal in this park is the termite -- and they make wonderful looking termite hills. Later in this email we'll learn a bit ore about their positive role in farm management.
Not quite part of the national park but in the same area is the Wynberg Resort which is part of the Wynberg plantation. The owner/manager of the plantation is the third generation to own and farm this land and he claims to have learned much from his grandfather and father. And from some of the things he told us, he must have had very wise ancestors. The plantation (maybe farm is a better name) is fairly large and it has multiple crops, often in rotation. For example, rubber trees, which live for about 40 years but don't start to produce until they are 10 years old, are often planted with coffee plants -- which start to produce early while the rubber trees are maturing. Once they are mature, the coffee plants re taken out and put somewhere else. And the rubber trees, after their forty year life span, are cut down and used for wood. In fact, our dining room table is made from rubber tree wood.
The first thing we saw walking into the farm was drying pepper corns.
The first thing we saw walking into the farm was drying pepper corns.
The green ones are fairly new and have had just part of the first day of drying. They will then be rolled up and kept that way for a few days and then finally dried for about two days more yielding the black peppercorn we're used to. And, what about the white peppercorn? Well, it turns out that if you remove the skin of the green peppercorn, the corns will then dry as white pepper -- they are a different color and the flavor is somewhat less intense. Somewhat like the difference between red and white wine.
And we all know that the banana is a berry -- right? And you can get a lot of different varieties of bananas in India incuding some really wonderful minature ones. Not only are they delcious, but the provide a nice small snack without needing to use a large bananan. The farm owner is showing us a banana tree flower with several layers of banana bunches growing.
Now, all we need is Harry Belafonte singing. (By the way, the common banana we're all used to is in great danger. It accounts for 90+% of the commercial banana crop because it ships well. Unfortunately it is also susceptible to a virus or bacteria which kills the trees and for which there is no presently known cure. This virus or bacteria does not seem to affect other varieties of bananas. One more argument for much greater species diversity in our farming.
And, since we had high hopes, we next got to see the rubber trees (sorry).
And, since we had high hopes, we next got to see the rubber trees (sorry).
The rubber that rubber trees produce is a sap which is harvested from the tree by cutting some of the bark, being careful not to cut all around the trunk and thus potentially kill the tree. The black on the bark is simple pitch which is used to heal the scar caused by cutting the bark to harvest the rubber. As you can see, the process is very labor intensive. And the process produces two types of rubber. The sap which flows into the bowl produces a high quality tire type rubber while the rubber which is form by the hearing of the scar is used in other rubber products such as rubber bands.
And, as promised earlier, the brown stuff you see on the bark is the result of termite activity. In fact, there was one fairly large termite hill near this area, which was of no concern to our host. He says termits cannot destroy a healthy tree and they perform an important task of recycling dead and dying trees. So he simply lets them do their thing.
And, since it was getting to be late afternoon by now, it's time for a cup of tea. Unfortunately all we came across was this collection of unprocessed tea.
Yes, these are tea plants. Acres and acres of them. And in this area we're dealing with plants that produce decent but not superb tea. For really good tea in India, you need to go to Darjeeling or Assam, not Kerala.
This night we stayed at a "jungle" retreat that is surrounded by a tropical rain forest and with the sound of a flowing river outside our cabin. And a suspension foot bride to get to the dining room. Video of the river and pcitures of the bridge will be part of the expanded pictures available sometime after the conclusion of the trip. So, reserve early for this set -- be the first in your neighborhood, etc.
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