Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
You are looking at a member of the genus Trichosanthes, blooming in one of south India’s Sholas – high altitude forests which “punctuate” cooler, wetter parts of the Western Ghats.
Circa 2000 metres above sea level, this vine was discreetly thriving in a very small, very special national park.
Eventually, Kerala’s Pampadum Shola National Park will have its own multi-image post.
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Delightfully perky as is its “post-punk” crest, an adult male Indian flycatcher’s signature feature is the prodigious length of its “tail”/tail feathers.
Evidence suggests that here, size does matter: apparently, individuals with longer tail feathers enjoy greater breeding success.
Generally, extravagant tail feathers are a feature of promiscuous species, but the usually-monogamous Indian paradise flycatcher is a spectacular exception to this “rule”.
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As you can see, India’s wild boar and spotted deer (aka “chital” or “axis deer”) are acutely aware that they rate highly on the list of tigers’ “preferred” prey!
The full list of tigers’ prey is long and sometimes-surprising; it ranges from termites to baby elephants.
In many respects, India’s south-westernmost state – Kerala – is India’s “best”.
By area, Kerala is just 57% the size of Tasmania.
By population, it exceeds Tasmania circa sixty times over; the entire population of Australia is less than 75% of Kerala’s.
Kerala includes both the lowest place in all of India and its highest point, south of the Himalayas.
Collectively, Kerala’s citizens are much more diverse, healthier, and more highly educated than are “average” Indians.
Keralans also eat some of the world’s most delicious food.
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Bos gaurus – gaur, sometimes (wrongly) called Indian “bison” – used to roam forests across south and southeast Asia.
Their number and range are much-diminished, and their conservation status is “Vulnerable”.
India is now gaurs’ stronghold; in suitable, “protected” Indian forests – most especially, in south India’s Western Ghats – the gaur population is increasing.
Older males are the world’s largest living cattle; 1 metric tonne is not exceptionally massive, and some of the oldest, darkest individuals weigh circa 1.5 tonnes!
Comments closedYour three key needs are all equally urgent: an alcoholic drink, getting your hair “done”, and your clothes washed.
There is a place where all three of those needs could be met, simultaneously, at the same address, early in the day.
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Occasionally, one encounters an “instructive” sign.
Comments closedIn northern Namibia – and just about anywhere else in Southern Africa – the pictured takeaway food outlet’s “alarming” sign would cause no unease whatsoever, nor would its meaning be unclear.
”Russians” – with or without chips – have long been a great favourite of southern Africans, whether “dining out” or “cooking up” in their own homes.
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Looking for a harder-edged, “no-frills” retail therapy experience?
Northern Namibia has a cornucopia of “eminently suitable” venues.
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There is at least one of the world’s “malls” which Paris Hilton has never shopped.
It is surely safe to assume that no visiting North American tourist will ever feel compelled to enter this mall for a dose of “retail therapy”…
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