Exploring India: Amazing plants and tea plantation, Iddiki, Kerala

Hi dear Hive community,

After a historical discoveries in Hampi, we decided to head south to Kerala. It is famous for it's tropical, hot temperatures and rich vegetation. To escape big moisty weather we first went to visit the Idduki area, which is located more in the hilly, mountain area. The weather here was okay and we explored the area with ease.

We were staying for a few days with our friends there. They showed us around the area and one day we went on a full road trip with jeep from Indian car brand Mahindra. This beast was so powerful and we reached everywhere with it.

Tea plantations look marvellous! You can see from far away already how the small tea bushes are planted in line. The light green tops are ready to be picked. Later they dry them and voila, we have excellent tea.

The nature was rich and very diverse. Plants and trees grow very big and everywhere we could admire big green leaves.

Red pepper is a climber type of plant. The small balls go from green to red and black.

One of the most surprising was coffee plant. We all know what is coffee, but from where we get it and what it is only minority knows. It's actually a big thin tree which has only little leaves and the fruits are red balls which are later peeled and dried and roasted in order to get the coffee beans that we know today.

The land was full of different fruit trees and it was wonderful to imagine having a garden yourself. They have papaya trees and five different banana trees (small banana, big banana, red banana, funny shaped banana,..). Next we saw mango trees and big old avocado tree.

Curcuma or Turmeric is a common spice used in India and can be found almost in every meal. It grows like a long grass, but when you pluck it, you can take the roots. Same type of plant was ginger that we found deeper in the forest.

Out of all, the most we were excited and impressed to see the pinmapple plant. It grows like a bush and each one grows only one pineapple on the top. It looks very funny and beautiful with mini fruits.

We were continuing driving with old Mahindra jeep through the jungle and off road. The bumpy ride was fun and on the way we were going through different areas which means that we saw many scenarios. In the far away hills, which are not allowed to freely visit, hide many wild animals from tigers to elephant.

Thank you for reading. Wish you a nice day!