Spotlight on ‘Green’ Kerala

The vice-president of business development – international for a tour company in the southernmost Indian state of Kerala says that jurisdiction has clearly been blessed by Mother Nature.

Wilson Mathew of Intersight Tours & Travels told a Toronto audience yesterday (March 22) that Kerala is “the greenest state in India” and a third of it is forested. Among animals that can be viewed are elephants and Kerala also has tiger reserves, he said. “The wildlife is amazing.”

Mathew added that Kerala’s west coast has 580 km of beaches and the interior of the state has some 44 rivers in a jurisdiction that can also be explored by houseboats, vessels that Mathew reported have the likes of air conditioning and kitchens and amount to “floating palaces.”

Mathew added that Kerala is also home to mountains that top 2,000 metres and visitors can find the likes of coffee and pepper plantations in the hills.

Mathew also praised Kerala for having “5,000 years of Indian culture,” and noted the traditional Indian practice of Ayurveda medicine is from there. Kerala is also a “place of colours and festivals,” Mathew continued.

Some 20 international airlines serve the Kerala city of Cochin alone, making it easily accessible, he added.

Pictured are Sidharth Bodwal, India Tourism, Toronto; Abraham George, Kerala Travel Mart Society; and Anil Oraw and Eugene Corrrea, India Tourism, Toronto.

(http://www.intersighttours.com, http://www.incredibleindia.org)