Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic
Earliest Inhabitants
Tribals have been an integral part of the Wayanad district for thousands of years. Its earliest settlers were the tribes of Adivasis, which are divided into various sects such as Paniyas, Kurumbas, Adiyas and Kurichyars. It is currently estimated that nearly 400,000 tribal people live Wayanad. The sects are physically distinguisable with their dark skin and stout builds. Tribal dwellings recreated on the adjoing grounds of the wildlife sanctuary offer a glimpse into their traditional life.
Bird of the Day: Barn Swallow (Los Angeles River, CA)
Delicious vs. Tasty & Cardamom Calm
Guest Author: Neema Morajevi
I work at a computer. Too much.
It stresses me out. And I run the Calming Technology Lab at Stanford. Ironic? Well, I started the lab for a reason; I am my #1 client (my students are #2).
I want the productivity and efficiency of technology but I don’t want the stress usually associated with it. And I am not alone.
I’m trying to figure out how to live sustainably in an always-on world. One foot in the browser, the other on the grass. But which one is supporting the bulk of my weight? It varies hour to hour.
When my wife and I decided to travel for several months, starting in India, I was more explicit in my desire to “unplug”: surely I’d be able to disconnect if I leave the country… right? Continue reading
Aesop’s Wisdom
From Science (click the image to the left for the full story) a short piece about the wisdom of not being too rational:
A thirsty crow comes across a pitcher partly filled with water but can’t reach the water with his beak. So he keeps dropping pebbles into the pitcher until the water level rises high enough. A new study finds that both young children and members of the crow family are good at solving this problem, but children appear to learn it in a very different ways from birds.
Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary
Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary is located in Lake Vembanad, the largest fresh water lake in India and second largest in south Asia. Set against the backdrop of rich green paddy fields and still grey waters, the 14 acre sanctuary is the home for many species of birds.
Bird of the Day: Plain Prinia
Kerala Backwaters, India
Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary
Located on the southern tip of the Deccan plateau, Wayanad is packed with scenic beauty. The region includes sub-tropical savannahs, thickly wooded hills, evergreen forests, rolling paddy fields in the valleys and verdant spice plantations in the heights. Blasted by wind and lashed by rain, Wayanad spreads across 2,132 square kms of the lofty Western Ghats and is recognised for its biodiversity. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Yellow-billed Babbler
Tamil Nadu, India
“There is no better designer than nature.”
Color is quite possibly the most strategic tool a designer can use to breathe life into a concept.
And it comes as no surprise to the RCDT that used effectively and responsibly, color can transform an existing space more powerfully than any other single alteration. But it is important to realize that color does not exist as an object in itself; rather color is the relationship between light and an object, producing a condition that is unique and inherent to a specific material. As pure white light from the sun reaches a material’s surface, various light frequencies are either absorbed or reflected causing our visual perception to interpret the surface as a certain color. Thus color is actually a very scientific narrative between light, a surface, and our eyes.
This post could delve very deeply into the science of color and those factors that cause us to perceive what we do, but the scenery of India is far too inspiring to diminish it to wavelengths. Instead I dedicate this post to the basic and simple application of color, what it is, and why it is one of the things that makes India one of the most beautiful places on our earth. Continue reading
Trip to Gavi
Gavi is quite different from the section of Periyar near the Thekkady gate. All guests should take advantage of Cardamom County’s outbound excursion to Gavi in order to fully appreciate the unique beauty of wild Periyar. The scenery and the animals are incredible, and this full-day trek is an experience you will cherish always.
Measure For Measure
Sustainable development has been in an experimental, invent it as we go state for about two decades. The good news is that the model has been experimented with. The less good news is that the progress of those experiments is outpaced by less sustainable development. Nonetheless, half glass full, it is heartening to see a bit of progress in a developed economy, especially in tough economic times. Measurement: what a concept!
Measures of ‘capital’ will show how much natural resource – such as fish – is left, rather than just how much is being used. Photograph: Cathal Mcnaughton/PA
Click the image above to go to the story:
The state of England’s natural world and the sustainability of its society and the economy is due be published on Tuesday, tracking everything from bees, butterflies and birds to long-term unemployment, social mobility in adulthood, and knowledge and skills.
Dahlia
The dahlia is a tropical plant widely cultivated in the Western Ghats of India. In Kerala, as in locations around the world, the plant is popular for its beautiful flowers. This decorative flower is found in gardens and farms of the high ranges, creating a kaleidoscope of colours, sizes and shapes.
Poothan-Thira Kali
Kerala offers a veritable array of the performing arts, most of them springing from folk tradition. Though often related to religious rituals and mythological stories, they are also very much the language of the people. Dramatic costumes, vibrant colours, throbbing music; watching a folk dance is an unforgettable experience. Poothan-Thira Kali is one of the popular ritualistic dances of North Kerala. Continue reading
A Different Protected Status
Holstein cows that graze on the tidal flats of the Wadden Sea provide beef with a distinctive flavour, say farmers. Photograph: Angus Taylor/Alamy
Picking up on the thread that Tim started most recently, then Crist responded to and Martin further commented on, and placing all that within the larger context of our interest in conservation, here is a novel twist on protected status for an animal from today’s Guardian (click the image above to go to the story):
The meat from wading sea cows that graze on Denmark‘s west coast has been given protected geographical food name status by the EU – the same status enjoyed by champagne and parmesan cheese.
The protection covers the meat from the Holstein cattle raised in the marshes of the Wadden (wading) sea in southwestern Jutland.
“It gives us a good stamp on a good product that we have,” said Andreas Andreasen, who represents an association of local farmers.
“We sought this approval so that it could be known more widely.”
The beef is said to gain a distinct flavour from the tidal flats’ salt content, in a grazing tradition that goes back 1,000 years.
“Chefs have told us there is a distinct difference in the meat’s taste from other cows – a more powerful taste,” said Andreasen.
According to the Danish ministry of food, blind taste tests of the Wadden Sea beef proved the meat was juicier, more tender and more fragrant than conventional beef.
Across Waters to the Mississippi River Adventure
Guest Author: Rania Mirabueno
Adventurers canoeing 2320 miles of the Mississippi River.
As I recall my beautiful houseboat experience in the backwaters of Kerala with River Escapes, I cannot help but think across waters to four adventurers, who are embarking on a journey with two canoes and 2320 miles of rafting across 10 US states on the Mississippi River. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Red-winged Blackbird (Stateline, NV)
Tea Factory Tour
If you spend time in India, you are sure to have four or maybe five cups of tea a day. A former British colony, India has absorbed many British customs, and tea drinking is certainly one of them. As you drive throughout Kerala, you are bound to see numerous tea plantations on the beautiful hillsides, and Cardamom County offers you the opportunity to tour one of these plantations as well as its factory. Take the tour and learn how the cup of tea you just enjoyed at All Spice Restaurant ended up in front of you.
Engineering a Conversation
Guest Author: Siobhan Powers
My roomie Chi-Chi recently blogged about miscommunication between clients and architects so I thought it may be timely to bring to light some of my own recent difficulties in conversation and work development. I could not even begin to blog about engineer-non-engineer relations as that would take all day and there’s no point-we’re nerds to the core, I’ve realized and thus, misunderstood. Recently, however, I’ve found not just confusion between myself and non-engineers, but also with my fellow engineers-my people!
I have had few moments of serious language barriers during my time in India. Most people speak at least a little English, and if not there are pictures and hand gestures that can get points across. Shopping and dining is easy enough. Camping with strangers? You’ll find something to talk about (reference my other blog post– shout-out to Chief and Wise Eyes!). Engineering conversations, however, are not like this-there are no commonalities across language boundaries that can be pointed at and then nodded about, but instead there are abstract concepts like energy and science (gasp!).
Gijo and I talking over some data in the engineering office.
A Tolkienesque Adventure
This Wednesday, I planned on walking from the school to Puerto Ayora on el camino viejo, or the “old path” that people used to walk before the asphalt road was created and cars became common. I had been told a few weeks before that the National Park recently cleared the trail and that it would be a great place to take kids to see quite a few species of finch and plenty of other birds. Last week I’d found the end of the trail on the upper edge of Puerto Ayora, and I thought I knew where to start from Tomás de Berlanga downhill.
I left the school at 10:45AM after covering 3rd graders for two hours between exams (we read eight or nine stories and then they played on their own) with my backpack full of food, snorkeling gear, and papier-mâché materials for my planned afternoon of lunch, the beach, and Bird Club. The path, which was about two meters wide of mostly cleared earth, weeds, and lots of lava rock, had the occasional green and white wooden poles the Park uses to demarcate National Park territory, and was always bordered on the left side by a barbed wire fence. Sometimes I passed farmland on the left, other times forest similar to that on the dense right side. Passion fruit often littered the path, and a couple times I passed orange trees, so I ended up never even considering the snacks in my backpack.
