Periyar Lake is a reservoir flooded in 1895, and its dead tree trunks still stand out of the water like the masts of a sunken fleet. The boat safari circles the shoreline where the forest comes down to drink.

Go for the first boat of the day. Dawn is when the reserve performs: wild elephants wade in with their calves, gaur graze the open banks, and if the water is still, you will hear the otters before you see them.

The reserve is real forest, not a zoo — sightings depend on season and luck. What never disappoints is the setting: cardamom hills, mist burning off the water, and the sense that you are being watched by things you cannot see.

After the boat, add a guided spice-garden walk in Thekkady town. Half the plants you brush past are cardamom, vanilla or pepper, and the guides' ability to identify them blindfolded by smell alone is worth the ticket.