Born to be Wild

A Travelogue about his trip to kerala by Colin Bennet

Photographs by Shibu Bhaskar

The caterpillar hung cradled by a black thread beneath a small branch of the cashew tree. Chocolate brown with a creamy girdle, its spiky body hunched in repose, The fact that it had chosen this spot to turn from caterpillar to the curled leaf chrysalis of the Southern Birdwing initially puzzled me but on closer observation I found that a particular creeper by name Aristolochia Indica had wound itself to the tree. But this tree was host not only to the creeper food plant but also to voracious red ants.

Shibu Bhaskar and Jijo, Marari’s resident naturalists had watched with me, a swarm of ants overwhelm and devour, another caterpillar higher up in the tree. Ant scouts were exploring the caterpillar’s branch, so, to deter them, the naturalists wound some kerosene-soaked string and double sided sticky tape around the caterpillar’s twig to keep them at bay – a neat and practical solution to the problem. For, twenty-four hours later there was the chrysalis in its leafy disguise, safe and sound.

I first met Shibu Bhaskar, back in the year, 2006. He is passionate about everything wild from the smallest insect to the mighty elephant, though snakes and birds are perhaps his favourites. His father was a Mechanic who used to shoot birds with a muzzle loader. Shibu who accompanied his father to the fields also shot birds but with his camera and is now an award-winning wildlife photographer. He’s been wild about nature since he was a child and everything he knows about the wild, he’s found out for himself.

The same is true of Jijo, his junior assistant. Thanks to Marari, this young chemistry graduate can indulge his passion for the wild and share it with others.

My own love of the wild also stems from my childhood and though I’ve never been lucky enough to be a professional naturalist, I have always loved to tell anyone who will listen about the world of the small things to be found around us.

Naturalists, I think never lose the curiosity that all young children have about the world around them, and take childish delight in sharing what they have discovered with others.

That’s why you’ll see us heads down, looking in the undergrowth, heads up peering into the branches of a tree. That’s why you’ll be asked to maybe hold a green and blue vine snake, look at that crab spider eating a butterfly,

Take a walk in the vegetable garden and see what your dinner looks like before it reaches the kitchen. That’s why we believe we’re all born to be wild. We should all rediscover our wild side; without it, there’s something missing in our lives.

Colin Bennett

Colin Bennett is a regular visitor of Marari Beach Resort(Cgh Earth Group). Amazed at the number of butterflies to be seen in resort, he carried out a survey of those he found in the grounds and suggested that other guests might be interested to learn more about them. The painting of butterflies in reception of Marari Beach Resort shows the results of his butterfly spotting.