Down to earth holidays

Is it for you?

This is for everyone with a spirit of adventure who want a fabulous holiday in Kerala where you can meet the people as well as enjoy the beaches, landscape and wildlife. It is fine for all ages and levels of fitness.

Best times to go

Between October and March is the best time for this holiday. We also have a departure in April - you need to be aware that it will be very hot at this time of year so is not suitable if you don't like the heat!

Getting there

You need to fly into Cochin and out of Calicut. We can arrange the flights for you if you wish (we are ATOL-bonded) or you can get your own if you prefer. You would normally leave the UK the day before this itinerary and on the way back would arrive back in the UK the day after this itinerary.

Gallery

Responsible Travel

How your holiday helps:
This holiday helps in a variety ways, mainly relating to helping back local people in terms of their traditions, cultures and livelihoods.

Once practiced in several places in Kerala, and especially on the banks of River Nila, featured art forms and rituals are no longer financially viable for people who practice it, as there are less and less people who are showing interest in these rituals (change in life tyle and attitude). This has affected the way of life of these ritualistic performers and they have been looking for other jobs based on daily wages. The Responsible tourism initiative has helped some of our community members to continue their lifestyle and earn from what they have known for many generations; instead of having to look for a lifestyle they aren’t comfortable with. This initiative has brought together 25 plus youngsters ( girls and boys ) to document folk traditions of the local region and even to maintain a digital archive in their village.

Due to many social restrictions, some of the gifted musicians have no access to perform in temples and courtyards which are otherwise restricted only to musicians of upper caste communities. These members from the poor families make a living out of traditional launderettes and daily-wage jobs which are very seasonal. Now the program has shown them an alternative source of income and more than anything, a sense of pride and social recognition. The initiative is now raising funds to build the memorial for a renowned musician from the region through the musical trail.

The boats we travel in were traditionally used for transporting fine sand and coconut husks to different locations. (In River Nila, most of the boats are used for illegal sand mining). A slump in the local economy and falling market prices along with the ban in sand mining has hit the boat owners and workers. We believe that by hiring these boats from them instead of owning our own boats, for ferrying tourists, we could give them an alternative source of income. This in turn gives them a dignified job and decent income to live with. Part of this holiday supports those people who live on the fringes of the forest as trackers, guides and interpreters. Due to several "social re-engineering" and political decisions, many of the tribal people have been forced to leave the forest and are no longer associated with its day to day activities. This particular trip focuses on their role as care takers of forest, its resources and wildlife and by doing so also assures them a decent livelihood with dignity. Sustainable income through responsible tourism ensures increasing interest amongst local community members, which in turn supports conservation of wildlife and forest resources.

Pottery and Bell metal workshops give an insight into the resilience of the artisans and how our holidays help them to make a supplementary source of income. Promotion of such initatives has created new found interest amongst locals and new orders are regularly recieved by workers. The traditional home stays that are part of the holiday accommodations were introduced as part of heritage revival and is providing a source of income for locals to maintain their age-old architectural marvels. Well maintained with high standard facilities, these home stays give insights into the day-to-day sustainable life-style of the destination. Most of the food ingredients are sourced within their own farms and are organically grown. Energy generated for lighting and irrigation purposes are from the bio-waste from the farm and house-hold.

On behalf of every single traveller who visits our region, we plant sapling(s) to promote traveller's forest, which is a community owned eco-restoration project. Post monsoons, travellers themselves can involve in planting activities. The focus of planting in Wayanad is on livelihood generation and environmental support through bamboo, where as the focus of planting along Nila region is eco restoration.

Carbon Offsetting:
For every client we take on holiday we plant 10 indigenous tree saplings. This is used as a poverty alleviation and biodiversity scheme as well as helping with carbon offsetting. Click for more details…

Giving to grassroots projects:
Our registered charity, The Tribes Foundation, is currently raising funds for a project in Tanzania. The kindness of strangers can make a big difference, so if you’re a travel philanthropist considering donating to a worthwhile charity, please consider backing this excellent community project.

The Nila Foundation was set up to help revive and regenerate a dying river called Bharathapuzha ( river Nila) in central Kerala. This also involves preserving and reviving traditional art-forms and knowledge that once made the river valley civilisation so unique. Currently the foundation is involved in documenting the status of five major rivers of Kerala ( including Nila), and is developing a study module for schools on the importance of river ecology. Traveller's Forest is another initiative that is supporting the eco-restoration of the region.

We will shortly have a page with photos of the project on http://www.the-tribes-foundation.org/.


FOR MORE GENERAL DETAILS ABOUT OUR RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL POLICIES, CLICK HERE.

Comments

• Overall view of the holiday

  Exceeded all expectations – a wonderful fortnight and I would love to go back and do a similar different one. All the visits and experiences are too many to mention but it really gave us a unique view of Kerala.

  Did the trip live up to your expectations? In what way?

  When looking at the itinerary before setting off I decided I had chosen the wrong holiday – it was going to be too “beach and relaxation” – which one could do anywhere and is not what I look for in a holiday – I like stimulus. In fact it turned out to be a really interesting insight into Kerala – very varied.

  What type of person would you recommend this holiday to?

  To someone who wanted to experience a beautiful country (they put under the names, especially in Cochin “God’s own country”!). Someone who enjoys the fair trade type visits to see local skills, some supported by the Govt. of India, and the cultural events such as kotakholi, drumming, dancing, martial arts and someone who is interested in nature.

  What did you feel about the service we gave you in the UK before your trip?

  We wanted to leave 2 days before the holiday started and to break our journey home in Dubai. All these arrangements were taken care of perfectly, and our hotel in Cochin was delightful – very “heritage” which was just to our taste!

  How did you find your guides, especially in terms of general service, knowledge and responsible attitude towards wildlife, environment and local people?

  The guides were very keen to please us and meet our interests. They answered questions frankly. We had a wonderful wildlife walk through the jungle with a knowledgeable tribal guide and a knowledgeable jungle guard – our official guide was not very knowledgeable but that didn’t matter!

  Do you have any comments on the standards the accommodation, meals, transport or other services?

  Excellent – to experience the homes of the namboordinis was a privilege. Our driver was not familiar with our destinations so the travel time was considerably longer – but, to be fair, we were going into out of the way parts of Kerala and I doubt whether anyone could have done better. Our transport was a very comfortable vehicle just for the 2 of us. It had air con. which we did appreciate at times. All the food was delicious. And all the hotels & home stays offered excellent accommodation but individual to Kerala, i.e. not mass produced hotels which are all over the world which we very much appreciated.

  Any other comments?

  Our driver had a good knowledge of the various herbal plants and as we travelled through the days he was happy to point them out, and to stop if we wanted to.

  The namboordini historic homes were amazing – most hospitable and interesting hosts. Also an opportunity to learn a great deal about the Brahmin culture and Hinduism.

  Francesca