Mararikkulam North, Kerala, India – Moments – Travels and Adventures of Joyful Stephanie

I hope you enjoy these small moments of everyday life during Michael and I’s first two weeks steeped in the humid heat of the Indian summer!

Our day at Arakal Heritage Homestay starts with coffee. This morning our table is decorated with flowers from my recent 50th birthday!

One morning, as we sipped our coffee on the deck of our villa, our “wild” dog friends Popeye and Olive stopped by for visit, much to the displeasure of our hosts. We’re still trying to train Popeye and Olive that they are not welcomed on the homestay property!

Other visitors who join us for coffee are the ever elusive, hard to photograph, greater coucal or crow pheasant!

The fast and furious Indian palm squirrel! There are two squirrels, chasing each other from tree to tree. I forgot to change the setting on my lens, so the pictures are blurry.

One of many butterflies that make an appearance during the day!

A grasshopper!

Morning sunshine through the trees on the homestay property.

Every morning the grounds keeper, Sabu rakes the fallen leaves from the many trees throughout the property. Every other day he burns the leaves in one of the piles along the property’s perimeter.

This property has been in the homestay’s family for 300 years, whose forefathers were farmers who harvested coconuts.

Coconuts are a constant ingredient of the daily home cooked meals, by our lovely hostess, Mini.

Clement, who is employed by the homestay family, is from Dimapur, Nagaland, Northeast India. He cleans the villas, does the laundry, helps with property maintenance and works in the kitchen helping Mini.

Here, Clement is cutting dried coconuts for use in the kitchen:

First, the coconuts are gathered from the trees by climbing up these crafted steps:

The coconuts are cut then placed in the sun to dry to be ready to, as Clement was doing, be used in the kitchen,

Here, behind the kitchen is where the harvested coconuts are sorted and prepared:

The groundskeeper, Sabu is taking a break from cleaning the area behind the kitchen:

As well on the property is the homestay’s family landlocked boat!

Appreciating the beauty of a fungus on a fallen tree along the property’s perimeter.

This is Olive, without Popeye but another dog in the area!

As we walk the path to the beach through the small neighborhood of fisherman’s homes, we meet two young boys who ask me to take their picture!

This day at the beach, woven mats are drying in the sun, the air is pungent with the smell of fish.

After playing in the waves, we return to our homestay for a swim in the pool.

With the heat, and my dislike of wearing bras, Michael and I take a drive into Chethy on our rented scooter to find a shop that sells cotton dresses. This was harder to find than I expected! I eventually found a long cotton skirt in this shop, that I pull up to my armpits to wear as a loose, strapless dress!

Pictures during our drive back to our homestay:

Time to relax!

Our homestay family had some family members visiting with small children, who also enjoyed the hammocks!

One early evening, our homestay family was host to their monthly prayer group. The smoke is incense – maybe to keep the mosquitos away? I believe the two ladies in soft peach colored saris are the priests who led the meeting.

During an evening walk along the path through the small fisherman village that leads to the beach, we discover what looks to be the area’s recreation centre. This is where young boys play cricket!

An evening walk on the beach with Popeye, Olive and another dog of the area!

Sunset…..

But one more moment has to shared! Late one evening, as Michael and I were sitting on our deck, we heard Clement let out a yelp! He stepped on a snake!! I was immediately curious, grabbed my cell phone for the flashlight to help Clement locate the snake in dark! Clement had already found it, and trapped it! It was a baby cobra – maybe an Indian or king cobra!! Of course I took a picture! I had to get pretty close to this baby cobra to take a picture, and if this baby cobra could have attacked me, it would have, I’m sure of it!!