This is the one of best known wild life centers in India. The Periyar Wild Life Sanctuary here offers a fairly good chance of seeing the great Indian tiger in its natural habitat.

There are excellent services to Kumily from Kottayam from both the KSRTC bus stand and the Nagampadom Private Bus stand. The journey takes about 4 hours. Kumily is also accessible from Madurai. Thekkady Kerala is 4 km from Kumily. The forest department runs a bus service (Rs. 5) to the sanctuary from Kumily though the bus is not regular, one can reasonably expect it to make a trip once in 2 hours. Autorickshaw fare will be Rs. 40 from the Kumily bus station. Walking or cycling through the shady roads is also a good alternative.

If you are a one day tourist all you can do is, take the sight seeing trip by boat offered by the forest department and probably squeeze in a hurried walk in the forest accompanied by a forest guide. The chances of seeing wild animals are poor. But chances are better during March / April when the ponds in the forest dry up and animals are forced to come to the lake for a drink. Otters and Elephants are common sightings.

If you have more time you could stay in one of the many rest houses in the reserved forest area or the luxurious Lake Palace. The chances of wild life sightings are distinctly better. Some time you can see the animals moving close to your window in the night.

The bookings to the rest houses can be made at the wild life information centre. The other way to watch wild life is to reserve one of the observation towers. (One has to book well ahead) costing Rs. 50 / night plus the boat service charges. You have to bring your own food. There are elephant rides in the park costing Rs. 30 / ½ hour for 2 people.

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