Beaches
Kovalam beach near Thiruvananthapuram was among the first beaches in Kerala to attract tourists. Rediscovered by back-packers and tan-seekers in the sixties and followed by hordes of hippies in the seventies, Kovalam is today the most visited beach in the state.[13][14][15]Flanked on the western coast by the Arabian Sea, Kerala has a long coastline of 580 km (360 mi); all of which is virtually dotted with sandy beaches.
Other popularly visited beaches in the state include those at Kappad Alappuzha Beach, Nattika beach (Thrissur), Calicut Beach, Vadanappilly beach (Thrissur), Cherai Beach, Beypore beach, Marari beach, Fort Kochi, and Varkala. TheMuzhappilangad Beach beach at Kannur is the only drive-in beach in India.
Backwaters
The backwaters in Kerala are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast (known as theMalabar Coast). Houseboat or Kettuvalam rides in the backwaters are a major tourist attraction. Backwater tourism is centred mostly around Alappuzha, Kollam andKumarakom. Boat races held during festival seasons are also a major tourist attraction in the backwater regions.
The backwater network includes large lakes such as the Vembanad Lake, the largest among them, linked by 1500 km of canals, both man-made and natural and fed by several rivers, and extending virtually the entire length of Kerala state. The backwaters were formed by the action of waves and shore currents creating lowbarrier islands across the mouths of the many rivers flowing down from the Western Ghats range.
Hill stations
Eastern Kerala consists of land encroached upon by the Western Ghats; the region thus includes high mountains, gorges, and deep-cut valleys. The wildest lands are covered with dense forests, while other regions lie under tea and coffee plantations (established mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries) or other forms of cultivation. The Western Ghats rise on average to 1500 m elevation above sea level. Some of the popular hill stations in the region are Munnar, Vagamon, Paithalmala, Wayanad,Nelliyampathi, Elapeedika, Peermade and Ponmudi.
Wildlife
Most of Kerala, whose native habitat consists of wet evergreen rainforests at lower elevations and highland deciduous and semi-evergreen forests in the east, is subject to a humid tropical climate. However, significant variations in terrain and elevation have resulted in a land whose biodiversity registers as among the world’s most significant. Most of Kerala's significantly biodiverse tracts of wilderness lie in the evergreen forests of its easternmost districts. Kerala also hosts two of the world’s Ramsar Convention-listed wetlands: Lake Sasthamkotta and the Vembanad-Kol wetlands are noted as beingwetlands of international importance. There are also numerous protected conservation areas, including 1455.4 km² of the vast Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. In turn, the forests play host to such major fauna as Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus), Bengal Tiger(Panthera tigris tigris), Leopard (Panthera pardus), Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius), and Grizzled Giant Squirrel (Ratufa macroura).[16] More remote preserves, including Silent Valley National Park in the Kundali Hills, harbour endangered species such as Lion-tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus), Indian Sloth Bear (Melursus (Ursus) ursinus ursinus), and Gaur (the so-called "Indian Bison"—Bos gaurus). More common species include Indian Porcupine(Hystrix indica), Chital (Axis axis), Sambar (Cervus unicolor), Gray langur, Flying squirrel, Swamp Lynx (Felis chaus kutas),Boar (Sus scrofa), a variety of catarrhine Old World monkey species, Gray Wolf (Canis lupus), and Common Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). Many reptiles, such as King Cobra, viper, python, various turtles and crocodiles are to be found in Kerala—again, disproportionately in the east. Kerala's avifauna include endemics like the Sri Lanka Frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger), Oriental Bay Owl, large frugivores like the Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) and Indian Grey Hornbill, as well as the more widespread birds such as Peafowl, Indian Cormorant, Jungle and Hill Myna, Oriental Darter, Black-hooded Oriole, Greater Racket-tailedand Black Drongoes, bulbul (Pycnonotidae), species of Kingfisher and Woodpecker, Jungle Fowl, Alexandrine Parakeet, and assorted ducks and migratory birds. Additionally, freshwater fish such as kadu (stinging catfish—Heteropneustes fossilis) and brackishwater species such as Choottachi (orange chromide—Etroplus maculatus, valued as an aquarium specimen) also are native to Kerala's lakes and waterways.
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