January 31. We have just arrived at our beach hut in Varkala, a 50km drive from Trivandrum. Even in complete darkness this place has a good feel to it. Clean and Spacious. The only sounds we can hear on arrival are the Arabian Sea and the overhead palm fronds and the calls and rustle of the night life in the light ocean breeze.  It looks to be an idyllic beach front coconut grove location looking out onto the lights of the night fishermen boats. The hut is the nicest accommodation we have had so far and the out of town location much appreciated. It is much nicer than I expected, which is always a welcome surprise! Only 2 huts on the grove, nice and quiet. No traffic!! No beeping, just one nearby mosque with a fairly mediocre amplifier for their calls. 

The owner is pretty chilled out and says he will get us some coconuts off the trees tomorrow so we can enjoy some fresh coconut water. Looking forward to some beach time…

We awoke to an ocean view. Calm and peaceful solitude. The best night’s sleep we’ve had in ages. We spend the next couple of days walking the cliffs and on the beach, swimming in the beautifully warm subtropical waters which are alternately wild and frothy and completely calm like the Mediterranean sea.

The boys have loved the space and freedom to play. They have set down as busily as beavers constructing their complex sand forts the moment their feet touch the black and white sand. I built a shelter out of palm fronds to shade us from the unrelenting sun and it stood firm for the days we stayed through several high tides. I am not a little proud…

We had our ‘own’ beach. We call it ‘Poo’ beach as to get down the cliff from our hut to it, we had to navigate down a steep rocky slope and around some deposits of (probably human) faeces. A small price to pay for the isolation and peace of ‘our’ beautiful beach. The second day another family and a couple braved the test to descend, but apart from this intrusion we had the place to our ourselves- a rare pleasure in crowded Kerala!

We are not ready to leave! We want to stay a week, but it is time to see the backwaters of Kerala. It’s Goodbye to this gorgeous place after one last quick swim before our car arrives at midday.