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Practical notes from the people who run the boats — when to come, what gets cooked, which tier to book and what is actually at the bird sanctuary.
What the backwaters actually are, why Kumarakom is a different trip from Alappuzha, and what a night on a kettuvallam is really like — written for people booking their first cruise.
Getting here, safety, meals, mooring rules and the cancellation policy. Anything else — call the desk on +91 94468 21720.
Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary sits on the old Baker estate on the eastern shore of the lake, three kilometres from our jetty. It is small — fourteen acres of mangrove and rubber — and dense.
Little cormorant, Indian darter, purple heron, pond heron, white-breasted waterhen, brahminy kite, common and white-throated kingfishers, and Indian cuckoos calling from April onwards.
Garganey and pintail on the open water, wood sandpiper and marsh sandpiper on the margins, and the storks that draw most of the visitors. Numbers peak in late December.
We can drop you at the sanctuary landing on the morning leg if you tell the captain the evening before.