About Cardamom Hills Journal

Cardamom Hills Journal is a small publication about one stretch of India's southern Western Ghats: Periyar and its lake, the forests and grasslands of the Cardamom Hills, the animals and birds that live there, and the spice and tea country around Thekkady, Kumily, Munnar and Vagamon. It is written for people who want to visit well, and for people who simply like knowing how a forest works.

Who writes it

Five of us write the notes on the trail. Arjun keeps the bird lists, Sneha plans the trips, Biju writes about the plantations and towns he grew up among, Thara reads the field studies so the rest of us do not have to, and Rohan carries the camera and the dry bags. None of us works for a forest department, a tour company or a research institute. We are travellers, birders, readers and hobby photographers, and we write in that voice. You can read more on the field writers page.

What we do and do not do

We write guides, explainers and field notes. We do not sell tickets, safaris, boat trips, treks or any other activity inside a protected area, and we cannot reserve them for anyone. Timings, fees and rules inside the reserve are set by the people who manage it and change from season to season, so we describe what exists and tell you to check the current details before you go.

How we check facts

Figures about wildlife, history and research come from published sources: management plans and official notes, peer-reviewed papers, national survey reports and well-kept species databases. When a number appears in a note, the sentence says where it comes from. When sources disagree, we say so rather than pick the more exciting figure. If you spot a mistake, write to us and we will correct it.

How the site pays for itself

Some pages carry labelled partner notes, for example a link to a hotel listing site for rooms near Thekkady or to a travel insurance company. If you follow one of those links and reserve or buy something, the partner can pay us a commission. It costs you nothing extra. Partners never choose what we write about, never see a piece before it is published, and a link only appears where it is genuinely useful to the reader on that page. The privacy policy explains the cookies these partners may set.

Write to us

Corrections, questions and ideas for notes are welcome at fieldnotes@periyarfoundation.org or through the contact page.