Boating at Thekkady

2-1-2018: As soon as we checked into the jungle lodge yesterday we booked our first boat ride for 2nd morning scheduled to start at 7.30 am. Accordingly we set our mobile phone alarms and were up at 5.00 am. We bathed & dressed up and were ready by 6.30 am. and meandered into the restaurant for steaming cups of delectable Bru instant coffee which warmed up our cockles on a cold morning. Then we took off on foot towards the boat jetty - a one km walk on a jungle road past Aranya Nivas ( another property belonging to KTDC) to the sounds of barbets & cuckoos and tweets of many innumerable but invisible birds, chattering of bonnet macaques &accompaniment of a phalanx of amazingly tall trees on either side as if they have been positioned there to provided us protection. We reached the jetty in about 12 minutes and saw some crowds already thronging the boat house reception office.We joined the queue & slowly sauntered towards our boat The Jala Tharanga. A mesmerizing sight beckoned us at the lake - cloudy morning shrouded in mist with the sun playing hide'n'seek occasionally peeping out. We clambered up the steps into the boat and found our to the top tier where our reserved seats on the front row awaited us.The boat accommodated around 50 people - some Indians & many foreigners - armed with cellphone cameras, exclusive cameras, professional cameras & a few with binoculars.Wearing life jackets was mandatory and the boats attendants explained how the jacket should be worn & tied. It was an exciting and exhilarating 90 minutes boat ride with great expectations of wild animal sightings. The ride was indeed spectacular with spell binding scenery, still languid waters with reflections & ripples & a chill breeze pinging your face. A great thrill arose when some elephants were sighted grazing in the valley but at a far distance.Then we spotted a herd of wild boar. There were more sightings - red mongoose, a Brahminy kite soaring in the sky, dozens of egrets, a kingfisher, snake birds nests with chicks being fed, cormorants & a few others. We were back to the boat house at 9.00 am. On our return walk back to our jungle lodge we spotted a black furred lion tailed macaque high up on a tree. We also astonishingly saw two medium size hornbills & a pair of jungle fowls crossing the road.