We strolled down the beach towards the taxi rank, steeling ourselves for the inevitable early morning scrum as taxi drivers jostled for a day’s easy business. With no idea what to pay, we were happy to negotiate a rate of about US$30 to hire our taxi for the day.

Our charming driver, keen to please as a tour guide, took us first to a golf resort for breakfast. It wasn’t what we had in mind at all when we requested a food stop, sipping Earl Grey from bone china cups in our scruffy khakis and backpacks! That over with, we drove on through Kerala’s beautiful red and green countryside, taking in the rice fields, smartly uniformed crocodiles of schoolgirls and the occasional elephant jam in the road.

Dusty and hot, we arrived at Periyar reserve, in the South Western Ghats montane rain forest. Periyar river was dammed in 1895, inundating swathes of land. The newly formed reservoir, however, has become a wildlife hotspot, with prolific birdlife, gaur, sloth bear, giant squirrel (the size of a cat!), and sambar and mouse deer. There are also langurs and macaques, but the main attractions are the elephants, and the tigers and jaguars that few ever see.

The dense forest vegetation makes wildlife spotting from the road a frustrating experience, but for a few dollars we hired a motor boat to take us across the lake to see sambar deer, gaurs and more birds than my flimsy field guide could handle. While not the greatest wildlife viewing in India, the strange diversity of vegetation around the lake, and the fact that you won’t see another tourist all day, are major selling points, and surprising for somewhere so accessible from the beach resorts.

The highlight of Periyar was of course the elephants. We met the working elephants chained in the forest, and it was difficult to know how to feel about their captivity while their keepers fawned over them, kissed them and treated them with bananas. Unable to resist the lure of an elephant ride, we scrambled aboard a doe-eyed, wiry-haired female and lumbered unsteadily around rice fields for an hour, just in awe of the lovely animal; her composure and her incredible strength. I could have fussed over that elephant all day, and was loathe to leave.

Wending our way slowly homeward, we drove through rich green coffee plantations and dense rainforest cover, alive with the squawks and screeches of monkeys and parrots. A coffee stop provided some of the freshest and best coffee I’ve tasted anywhere, and a backpack full of beans which would never recreate the plantation experience back in London.

In all, our 9-hour trip cost around US$50 for two, and was a completely unique Keralan experience. Now I’ll always brave the early-morning taxi rank!