India adventure: Hike through the Jungle

At a luncheon a few days ago, I met an old hippie named Mark who owns some undisturbed jungle land halfway down the mountain. So we took a road trip down the mountain to visit this land, and had an incredible time! He is very environmentally-minded and has been buying up land in order to preserve it, as much of the original forest and grassland has been taken over by coffee, banana and rice agriculture (often monoculture). The land that he owns is amazing tropical jungle, home to elephants, tigers, gaurs and many other species. Although we didn't see any elephants, we saw elephant dung and banana trees that had been trampled by elephants, as bananas are one of their favourite foods.

A few of Mark's neighbours are growing organic shade coffee, which is environmentally sustainable. So one of his projects is to connect with North American companies who are willing to import this coffee. He wants to give a large amount of the proceeds to a struggling NGO here in Kodaikanal called Palni Hills Conservation Council (PHCC), who would like to continue their work in ecological restoration of grasslands, mangroves and sholas. A very interesting project that I am hoping to help him with, both here and in NA.

During the hike we stopped by Mark's neighbours, who are growers of organic shade coffee. They were extremely friendly and generous, giving each of us (there were 4 on the hike) a full glass of thick, creamy milk, straight from their cow. We sipped on the milk as we sat in the middle of the jungle watching the process of coffee being made, from berry to bean. It was a really cool experience.

For those who are interested, here are a list of birds I have seen so far in India:
-white-browed wagtail
-long-tailed shrike
-common myna and jungle myna
-red-whiskered bulbul
-little grebe