Natural Southern India

Discover southern India's incredible beauty and rich cultural heritage on this incredible tour. From interacting with local villagers in the Western Ghats to discovering verdant Periyar, you'll gain a captivating insight into the region's ancient traditions, warm people and fascinating local trades that still thrive today.

This exotic tour gives you the chance to become a partaker of your destination, rather than just a spectator. Along the way, our specially chosen hotels and houseboat include four that are part of CGH Earth, a company committed to sustainable travel.

MEAL PLAN
•   Prices include breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout.
•   Lunches are often organised en route at specially selected places such as homestays or as a picnic.

GRATUITIES
•   We recommend tipping your driver and guide at the end of your tour.
•   All other tipping is at your discretion.

TRAVEL TIPS
•   Please be aware that October is still rainy season in the Wayanad area, where you will be staying for your first three nights.

ACCOMMODATION
•   Three and four star hotels are used throughout; however the Treehouse at Vythiri is a unique accommodation with no standard rating.

NB
•   Many optional environmental activities can be added on in both Periyar and Marari, including nature walks, tribal heritage tours and interactive cookery classes.


ANANEA
•   Sensitively crafted within a lush forest region, at Vythiri Resort live life shrouded beneath or cocooned within the rainforest canopy at a resort constructed environmentally sensitively in local style and from local materials.

•   Providing the remaining accommodation used on this tour, CGH Earth are a company renowned for their environmental commitment. A philosophy that extends to minimising impact by minimising numbers of rooms, turning waste to natural gas, water conservation, using natural disinfectants, repellents and fertilisers and working in solidarity with local people and cultures.

•   Stay at resplendent Brunton Boatyard, a heritage building restored from its former glory and preserved for future generations.

•   Visit local villages to experience an authentic slice of life, witnessing traditional crafts, experiencing authentic local cuisine and learning how many of these communities live harmoniously with their environment.

•   Visit magnificent Periyar National Park, a Project Tiger reserve at the forefront of conservation that is renowned for its significant elephant population.

•   Cruise the Keralan backwaters aboard a traditionally crafted Keralan Houseboat, witnessing a way of life seemingly preserved from time itself.

DAY 1 - LONDON TO CALICUT
Fly Emirates Airlines from Gatwick to Calicut via Dubai, arriving the next day.

DAY 2 - CALICUT TO WYANAD
Transfer by car to Vythiri Resort for three nights. This eco-friendly jungle retreat is set in the heart of Wyanad in northwest Kerala. Staying in a unique treehouse built by indigenous tribes using local materials, you'll be high above the canopy of the lush rainforest. The treehouses have been designed to utilise natural spring water and use solar energy for power. In the afternoon take a walk with the hotel’s resident naturalist, exploring the majestic landscape, dense forests and spectacular waterfalls.

DAY 3 - WYANAD
After breakfast drive to Pranavam Homestay, stopping en route at a local village to learn more about the cultural traditions of the land. Enjoy lunch at Pranavam, a quiet natural refuge with ginger, pepper and coffee plantations. Walk through the plantations, taste fresh coconut water and coffee produced on the grounds. In the evening join a cookery class that focuses on local Malabar cuisine.

DAY 4 - WYANAD
After a morning at leisure and an early lunch at Vythiri Resort, travel to either the Muthunga or the Thollepaty Wildlife Sanctuary. These unspoilt sanctuaries house rare and endangered species of flora and fauna. Boar, langur, bison and deer can also be spotted. Tonight, enjoy a final night at Vythiri Resort.

DAY 5 - WYANAD TO COCHIN
Journey from Vythiri to Cochin (approx. 6 hours), visiting Punnathur Kottai (elephant fort) along the way, where the 60 elephants of Guruvayoor temple are cared for. Non-Hindus cannot enter the temple itself, but may view it from the outside. The next two nights will be spent at Brunton Boatyard, which was sympathetically resurrected from the remains of a disused Victorian shipyard using 19th Century materials including brick, lime, wood and terracotta. During your stay discover the hotel’s nautical past, sip a sundowner on the porch and cool off in the swimming pool.

DAY 6 - COCHIN
Take a tour of colonial Cochin, including the Jewish Synagogue, huge cantilevered Chinese fishing nets and original burial site of explorer Vasco da Gama. Arrive in Kumbalangi in time for a traditional lunch with coconut prepared by local villagers. This pretty village boasts an unspoilt virgin landscape and warm inhabitants who rely on nature to surve. Experience authentic Southern India as you to witness local activities including coir processing, copra pressing and olamedayal (netting of coconut leaves). In the evening relax at the Kerala Kaleidoscope, a show of authentic, colourful dances that explore the region’s rich cultural traditions.

DAY 7 - COCHIN TO THEKKADY
This morning drive from Cochin to Periyar (approx. 6 hours), stopping en route at the Christian ancestral home of the Kottukapally family, whose roots date back some 2,000 years, for  a traditional lunch served on banana leaf. Drive on to Periyar, south India’s most popular wildlife sanctuary set high in the ranges of the Western Ghats. Its man-made lake provides a perennial source of water for local animals and the National Park attracts over 300,000 visitors a year.

The sanctuary was made a part of Project Tiger in 1973 but is now better known for its elephants. Stay the next three nights at Spice Village, Thekkady in the heart of Kerala's Cardamom Hills. The hotel is the perfect place for nature lovers, with fresh mountain air, the scent of cinnamon and cloves and an abundance of wildlife and fauna.

DAY 8 - THEKKADY
After an early-morning boat trip on serene Lake Periyar, the rest of today and tomorrow are at leisure to enjoy the beauty of the surrounding area or to take part in one of the optional programmes on offer. These include a nature walk, border hiking, a tribal heritage tour and bullock cart discoveries - all great eye-openers to the surrounding wildlife, local culture and Periyar's indigenous Mannan tribe.

DAY 10 - HOUSEBOAT CRUISE
This morning is a four-hour drive to the serene backwaters of emerald green Kumarakom (approx. 87 miles). Arriving at the jetty, board Spice Coast, a traditional thatch-roofed houseboat where you'll spend the next two nights. The houseboat is made from locally sourced natural fabrics such as bamboo poles, coconut fibre and coir carpets. Cruise these enchanting backwaters from the shores of Lake Vembanad.

DAY 11 - HOUSEBOAT CRUISE
Continue your tranquil cruise to Alleppey, commonly known as ‘Venice of the East’. These beautiful backwaters are sandwiched between verdant paddy fields and exotic palm groves, providing a lifeline for the people that live here. Life here is all about the backwaters. Farming is done under the water, commuting is done over it and children learn to swim and row boats before they even begin school. It is the main hub for coir carpet making and prawn farming and an important region for learning about the positive impacts of local trade.

DAY 12 - MARARI BEACH
After breakfast, disembark your houseboat and drive to Marari (8 miles/20 minutes). Transfer to eco-friendly Marari Beach Resort for two nights of rest, relaxation and an array of optional activities. Over the next two days you are free to unwind. Perhaps try some Kalarippayattu or yoga classes or experience the ancient practice of Ayurveda. Environmental tours and interactive cooking sessions are also available.

DAY 14 - MARARI BEACH TO LONDON
Depart Marari Beach early this morning and transfer back to Cochin (approx. 40 miles/2 hours). Fly Emirates Airlines to Gatwick via Dubai.

ACCOMMODATION ON TOUR
Three and four star hotels are used throughout; however the Treehouse at Vythiri is a unique accommodation with no standard rating.

Vythiri Resort
A jungle getaway, Vythiri Resort secludes amongst the heady forests of mystical Wyanad, with accommodation dispersed beneath and within the jungle canopy. Facilities accommodate the restful and encourage the active with a spa and Ayurvedic centre complementing jungle treks, boat trips, temple visits and wildlife spotting.

Accommodation is in one of the hotel’s four unique Tree Houses, however, another room type can be allocated if preferred.

Brunton Boatyard, a CGH Earth Hotel
Beautifully restored from the remains of a Victorian shipyard, the Brunton Boatyard luxury boutique hotel is right on historic Cochin’s famous waterfront, just steps from the iconic Chinese fishing nets.

Spice Village, a CGH Earth Hotel
This unique holiday experience offers visitors a tribal village reborn for the modern traveller. Recreating the mood of the local community, Spice  Village has been designed with charming individual cottages scattered amongst a landscaped spice garden with a relaxed and enchanting atmosphere.

Spice Coast, a CGH Earth Cruise
Onboard your traditionally made, cane and rattan Kettuvallom houseboat, let your senses fill with silence and space as you glide across the waters of beautiful Vembanad  Lake and through the enchanting Backwaters of Kerala, you’re attentive crew on hand for an intensely personal experience.

Marari Beach Resort, a CGH Earth Hotel
Marari Beach is set upon beautiful golden shores looking out over the glistening Indian Ocean. It echoes the style of traditional Keralan fishing villages and evokes a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere.