Periyar National Park, and the tiger reserve, is located in Thekkady within the state of Kerala. Situated around the Periyar lake, it is a protected region that offers for some spectacular views. Unfortunately, given the diurnal nature of tigers, we weren’t able to see any of them during our visit. 🙁 Alas!
I have quite a few photos, below, from our recent visit to the region. You can see that the water level is considerably lower than normal due to a few years of consistent drought. Given the use of hydroelectric power in Kerala, this has implications beyond that of the animals in the region.
Rawr!Beautiful sculpture expressing the relationship between animalsMap of the reserve itselfSnackable TortoiseAn old palace… now on-park accommodations!
Regional Flora
At the entrance to the park are specimens of trees that are found in the area. They were kind enough to attach placards to the trees to identify them as well as their fruit and purpose!
Teak
Wild FigKindal
LonganKarakilCharcoalAfrican Tulip
Animals!
As I mentioned earlier, we weren’t able to see any tigers, which was sad though not unexpected given their diurnal nature. If you want to see tigers, the best times are early in the morning or during twilight hours in the evening, as that is when they are most active.
We were able to get rather close with many monkeys, however, as well as see water buffalo, an elephant, and many birds.
Monkey!“If you aren’t going to give me treats, I’ll get my own!”No trip is complete without a selfie!Water BuffaloStork!Wild Boar!Or as our guide called them “Wild Piggies”Elephant!Google kindly auto-animated for us
This branch of the Sarovar resort chain is located in the hills of Thekkady in Kerala. Though not a long distance from Kochi, because of the switchbacks and road conditions, it took more than six hours to arrive.
Arrival
On the way we drove past quite a few tea plantations, which piqued our interest as all of us enjoy a nice cup of tea! (Though you’ll never hear me turn down a cup of coffee, regardless of the hour!)
Kerala is known as “God’s Own Country”So. Much. Tea.Delicious caffeine…Can you smell it?
The resort entrance was tucked away behind a few backroads and further up a hill, which made for an adventure in and of itself, but once we were there, it was smooth sailing.
Resort entranceGorgeous from both sides!Beautiful wall-art in the lobbyMore wall art
Rooms
Our rooms were located a short distance away from the main building, and offered an excellent view of the valley. Most mornings we were greeted by the sounds of wildlife from outside.
Spacious bathroomGorgeous views!A second window and the bed itselfBack-lit art!A bench for luggage or to put on shoesThe view from the balcony!
Christmas Decorations
The infinity pool area was completely decorated for Christmas Eve dinner, and looked quite lovely.
The infinity pool on arrivalDecked out for Christmas Eve!
Upcoming Deals
Sarovar VasundharaSarovar Portico
If you have some vacation time coming up and don’t mind the trek, I highly recommend taking advantage of some of the deals at the Sarovar properties!
We took a rather round-about route because we wanted to land directly in Kochi as opposed to another city (like Delhi, Mumbai, etc.) and go through customs there. To achieve this, we flew Delta to London, British Airways to Doha, and then Jet Airways to Kochi.
Outbound Routing
RDU-ATL
On the flight to Atlanta, we had the opportunity to try Delta’s new premium peanut snack. No more self-branded nuts!
Honey Roasted!
We had a short five hour layover in Atlanta, so we went to the SkyClub in terminal E and stretched out a little. We took this opportunity to get a quick nap before our next leg.
ATL-LHR
Selfie!
On our next leg, we flew in DeltaOne on one of Delta’s 767-300ERs. This meant we got Westin blankets and pillows, as well as Tumi toiletry kits. On longer flights, this makes all the difference in the world.
Lie-Flat Seats!Personal lighting, 110V outlet, and USB charging.Ridiculously comfortable bedding and the Tumi kitLumbar massage? YES PLEASE!Passive noise-cancelling headphonesThe Tumi KitOlder OS but the screen tilts!
For our snack, we were given spiced Georgia pecans. These were offered with our selection of water, orange juice, or champagne.
Champagne and JuiceSpicy!
We were then introduced to our purser and given our dinner menus. I opted for the lamb while Carrie opted for the fish.
Once we were in the air, we were given our three course meals: appetizers, main course, and our choice of dessert.
StartersCreole Blackened FishLamb!Wine for my lambCheese plate for dessertSnack!
We made excellent time thanks to some storms in the US giving us a very strong tailwind. The downside being that parts of the flight were bumpier than normal.
Zoom!
Closer to London, we were given the option of having breakfast. Unfortunately, they didn’t bring the cabin lighting up so we weren’t able to get a very good picture of it, but it was delicious!
London-Heathrow Sheraton Skyline
We planned a nice long layover in both London and Doha to give ourselves some padding for local customs, and time to leave the airport to find a local hotel. Here, we opted for the Sheraton Skyline. They offer discounted cabs to the hotel and since I had SPG Ambassador service, I was able to arrange everything well in advance!
London-Heathrow South Gallery
Upon returning to the hotel, we had plenty of time to relax at the South Gallery, as we were flying Club World to Doha. The WiFi was nice and fast, and the food was quite nice. The cheese and wine were probably my favorite – no surprise, there!
Though we were late in leaving for our plane, we made it with plenty of time thanks to heavy fog which delayed our departure by an hour. Once we were in the air, it was smooth sailing, though! This was my first experience with a Club World seat, and though we didn’t have Westin bedding, the seat itself was much more comfortable than on Delta (even without the massage).
The Boeing 777-200 we were on was divided into four cabins: First Class, Club World, World Traveler Plus, and World Traveler. The Club World cabin was arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration, which was a little cramped compared to the 1-2-1 layout of Delta’s 767. We also do not have direct aisle-access for all seats as we do with Delta. The nice thing was that since the seats were arranged facing each other, Carrie and I were able to talk to one another without having to turn constantly.
Conversations without twisting…Makes for happy necks!The seat!TV controlsFolding TV and tableSeat controlsBubbly!
Instructions for operating the seat!
As with our DeltaOne experience, we were given our menus by our purser and asked to select both our appetizer and main course. I opted for the steak while Carrie went with the chicken.
Mezze plate!Dessert!Delicious steak…Chicken!
A very cool feature of our Boeing 777-200 was that our in-flight-entertainment OS showed us what we were flying over from different angles!
Viewing OptionsOver-Wing View
Close to landing, we were given a very quick breakfast. Pastries, smoothies, and fresh fruit.
Pastries and fresh fruit!Buttermilk and oat smoothieMozzarella danish
Doha Airport
Upon landing in the Doha airport, we made our way to the arrivals area to collect our bags. I was lucky enough to notice a very distinct curved wingtip and was rewarded with a sight of one of Qatar Airway’s Airbus 350s! For an AvGeek like myself, this was a real treat!
A350!Another shot!
Doha Marriott
Since we had 13 hours in Doha, we opted to head to the nearby Marriott. Thanks to my status, I was able to guarantee a room for the same day! Gotta love it! The light poles we drove by were actually laser etched with the Qatari National Anthem, which I thought was a nice touch. They also change color periodically!
The beds!The TV and tableAmazing showerOpulent bathroom!The balcony!Balcony view at nightThey CHANGE COLOR!
DOH-COK
Our last flight was in economy on Jet Airways, on a Boeing 737-800. Since it was just 3 hours and 40 minutes, we thought we could tough it out. It was fairly cramped, but we were still given a full meal service and fresh tea, which was nice.
Overall it was a very positive experience, and I am decidedly pleased with my expenditure of miles!
Starwood, now part of Marriott, has announced their Q1 promotion for 2017. Called SPG Double Take, you earn double-points on your first three stays and some decent bonuses beyond that. An extra 10,000 points once you hit 20 nights, for example.
Promotion Details
You can register on the SPG Promo Dashboard. Registration is between December 15th and March 15th, and the stays have to be completed between January 16th and April 15th.
For our return, we took another circuitous route, though not as bad as our arrival to San Diego. The things we do for segments! Though our first two flights were without incident, our final flight was delayed by almost an hour because the thrust reversal indicator light wouldn’t turn off. Consequently, we had to return to the gate and get maintenance on-board to reset it.
Though we were all frustrated by this, the flight attendants were stellar as always. They took excellent care of us and even put up with the misogynists sitting in front of us discussing how they couldn’t joke with their female coworkers about being called “daddy”. (Seriously, the flight attendants aren’t paid nearly enough for this…)
I took this time to skim the Sky magazine and came across an article on the new blankets from Westin. Interesting stuff!
A huge improvement!
Lyft
One last note… while most of you might be more familiar with Uber, I encourage you all to take a look at Lyft. Though it doesn’t have quite as large a foot print as Uber, it has quite a few distinct advantages… in addition to a huge promotion ($5 off 20 rides, which I was all over this visit), the app allows you to tip your driver. I’ve also found Lyft drivers to be much friendlier than Uber drivers, and always ready with suggestions for things to explore when traveling! Give it a go!
For Thanksgiving, instead of opting to spend time with family (boo), we decided to spend some time together with animals (yay)! SeaWorld offers all you can eat tickets, where you can eat at one of the five restaurants every hour, so we opted for that to reduce the stress of trying to find a restaurant that would be open on Thanksgiving.
So, without further ado… the pictures!
Poor lonely polar bear… his mate is in the den!Nothing to see here… just an orca asking for a rinse…What? Whales can walk!No trip in San Diego is complete without good beer.This guy was a real jerk… he swam up behind another turtle and bit his tail!The bitee. 🙁Blue Tango Bromeliad
