Nature

Day 6 - 12/17/12

Today was nature day!!!  After lunch we headed to the waterfalls of Kerala – Vazhachal, Charpa, & Athirappilly waterfalls.  Along the way we stopped and checked out a cashew tree, passed a Bollywood film in the making, and some monkeys. Unfortunately many of them have been affected by humans.  That is not always a good thing.  

 We did get to meet and talk with some college students whose purpose was to educate visitor about the issue of plastic bottles and pollution.  


There is a dam upstream that controls the water flow and the water is diverted for irrigation purposes.   It felt good to be walking around and seeing the natural beauty of this land.  

 Many of the plants I have found here are the same in Kentucky - coreopsis, gomphrena, marigolds, butterfly weed, bougainvillea, and the shrub euonymus.  I have a couple of them growing in our back yard, cuttings from my mom's yard. It was great to see others enjoy the gardens.  

 There were a few butterflies left - the winds started picking up 2 days before, sending some of them off to their winter home.  

That night we ladies got a chance to visit with a couple of professional women who live the neighborhood.  It gave us a chance to ask questions and learn about what life is like for a middle income Indian woman.  Following that discussion, we headed to Fr. Leo’s family home and enjoyed a spectacular home cooked meal with his mother and 4 of his brothers’ families.  What a stitch the kids are.