The Plantation Experience

With the perennial river Periyar flowing through, abundant rainfall and surrounded by virgin forests and tree cover the whole area is very fertile. Settlers had moved from the lowlands over a century ago, cleared the forests and started plantations. Fortunately they only took the land necessary and left most of the forests untouched. Agriculture is still the main source of income for the local community and most people still live off the land. There are small holdings owned by families that follow multi cropping and then there are larger plantation of mainly rubber owned by companies. We take you though some of these plantations where you would get to know more about the various crops like cocoa, pineapple, pepper and other spices. More than a knowing about the crops its all about learning about the local community. You will be accompanied on the walk by our local naturalist and for those keen you could also do some birding on the village walk.