"C'était fabuleux" Charline Marzin, France

Mes grands-parents sont venus visiter le Kerala pendant 2 semaines. On avait organisé leur voyage avec The Blue Yonder qui organise des voyages touristiques responsables. Si vous voulez passer des vacances personnalisées, en découvrant les réserves naturelles de ce pays ainsi que les arts et coutumes traditionnels, tout en respectant l'environnement et en collaborant et aidant les populations locales. Je les recommande vraiment car ils font un boulot remarquable:

Après avoir visité l'école Kalamandalam, nous nous sommes dirigés chez des particuliers, qui font partie d'une communauté héritière d'un art folkorique en voie de disparition, que l'agence aide à maintenir grâce au tourisme responsable.

Ces familles se rendent régulièrement dans les maisons pour chanter des prières au dieu serpent pour repousser les maladies ou assurer de bonnes récoltes. Pour les cérémonies plus importantes, ils dessinent des kalams au sol, à l'aide de poudres naturelles, ce sont des dessins géométriques de serpents entrelacés. Ils chantent ensuite puis effacent le kalam dans une sorte de transe. Les rituels varient légèrement selon les régions et les familles. Le problème est qu'aujourd'hui ils ne vivent plus aussi bien de leur art et sont obligés de faire d'autres métiers. L'initiative de cette agence de tourisme par exemple leur permet de les aider financièrement, tout en perpétuant leurs traditions. Ils ont fait ce kalam et ensuite chanté rien que pour nous, c'était fabuleux !

 

The Connection:
AP United States
"When an experience connects you with people and places such that you can remember the touch, sound, sight in a hundred individual moments, you want to share that with others. I was fully engaged by the culture, terrain, flora and fauna, and the thoughtfulness to how we interacted. This emerged through the simple luxury provided by the care of those involved with The Blue Yonder. To have walked so thoughtfully through the lands of those who live and love near the Nila River, Alleppey, Wayanad, Periyar, Chinnar and Chimmony was a gift. The Blue Yonder's expertise and commitment to the environment and culture in giving that opportunity to travellers should be applauded.
 
What is as noteworthy is that The Blue Yonder has incorporated volunteerism, along with the personal and professional development of their  colleagues and those who can bring further solutions to challenges of Kerala's many treasures. Saving a river is no small life goal!"  (Two weeks of walking tour through the wilderness of Kerala with short stopovers. Read more here

"Wonderful time in Kerala"
Tamara, Miriam, Carolyn and Chris, North London, UK
We are home from our wonderful time in Kerala. We have great memories and great pictures to remember it by. The time with your team was a real highlight. We enjoyed hearing the answers to our questions. My comments are only small as we all thought that you reached a fantastic balance between responsible tourism, comfort and excitement. We thought the food was out of this world and highly commend the cook. There was a lot of fuel used and hours of driving from where we stayed (beautiful venue) and the rivers. Is it possible to use filtered and bottled water in the house rather than plastic bottles? "

TBY answers: "Chris family was travelling from Cochin to River Nila (Kuttippuram) which is around 3 hours drive by road. One way of avoiding this was to take a public transportation like trains, but with the short notice of their visit, it wasn't really an option. In most of our trips, these points are discussed before hand and decisions are taken jointly in terms of transportation. Regarding bottled mineral water and other related policies, we are requesting property owners to declare their policies and share the same with their guests. We will be happy to be of assistance to both. Read more here on our new initiatives "The Blue Yonder Associates"