Kalypso Adventures

We feel totally pampered having had nearly two weeks with Kalypso Adventures - cycling, birding, treking, kayaking and generally having fun in Kerala. Thomas was great, very flexible and helpful in organising our trip. Vipin was the BEST Guide imaginable and Shameer the safest driver and ace photographer. We were two couples and we had a superb introduction to India, thank you Kalypso!

Kalypso helped put together an awesome trip. Our guide and driver were both awesome (Vipin / Santosh) couldn’t speak more highly of them. Food was great at all of the hotels and very workable itinerary as the group saw fit each day.

Kalypso's management of logistics of local travel in a new location was worth hours and hours of time. Owner Thomas Zacharias solved roadblocks that we didn’t know existed and kept up with our changes.

Our guides, Vipin and Das knew how to pick a roadside food stand for their superb fruit or dip into a dark and tiny hotel restaurant filled with warmth and generosity. Speaking the local language, Malayalam, more doors were opened and smiles were larger.

While we did not choose a guide service for the luxury, having our bags transported and having multiple roadside stops for hydration, local fruit and nuts and rest in the 30 to 35° C temperatures may have even been a necessary luxury. Perhaps Das, our driver, knew more about the effect of humidity and heat than we did, getting us to stop and refuel at intervals.

Vipin, our riding guide, was able to spot creatures in the forest and detail local plants, providing much more of a backstory than even an app on your iPhone could provide. Both guides photographed us in the landscape with a point of view we could not provide ourselves. Using local knowledge, Vipin adjusted some of the routes to our liking.

Even if you didn’t use a guide service, I can highly recommend visiting Kerala by bicycle. But you would be missing quite a bit not to take advantage of their service and knowledge.

If you were from the US or Europe, I can imagine that the thought of Kerala traffic will terrify you. Having experienced this heavy traffic, I can say that steadiness is the solution to working with all of the individuals and various vehicles on the road. Kerala roads are clearly shared by pedestrians, as well as massive trucks and buses. Everyone has somewhere to get to, and the visual chaos actually does have some order to it.

The part you will miss is the hostility of American pickup truck drivers who would intentionally come as close to you as the traffic in Indian must. In general, kindness replaces hostility here, in India.

When on the back roads and in small towns, a smile and a “Hi,” were constant companions. When paused, “Where are you going? Where are you from started engagement. Motorcyclists were constantly giving us a wave of recognition as fellow open road travelers.

Really you are not the smallest person, nor the slowest person on the road. Everyone jointly uses the road for travel. Women shimmering in saris, bright, beautiful and frequent as the roadside flowers wander or head to work along the road. The aged and the infirm are going somewhere as well.

Horns are your constant companion. They are typically friendly, and are a summons to you not to deviate from your course, as you are being passed in close confines. It is effectively the responsibility of the passer to notify the passed.

Extra benefits. Tobacco smoking is prohibited in Kerala. There’s still quite a bit of diesel fumes in the air, but tobacco smoke is effectively missing.

You might come to realize how connected the world is when you see all of the spices grown here that you consume. Also, in the realm of fruit, you get to move beyond that hard yellow thing euphemistically called a banana in large supermarkets.

Take a cycling trip to Kerala for a beautiful immersion into South Indian culture.

Did kayaking with Kalypso in Kadammakkudy backwaters. Such an amazing experience for my daughter.
The process of booking was smooth, right info shared, staff coordinated well to help us reach the place.
All safety protocols followed throughout. The instructor was very friendly, knowledgeable and service oriented. He made sure he took photos of us kayaking which came out really well.
Enjoyed the experience thoroughly. Very safe for kids as well. Strongly recommend Kalypso for any such adventure experiences. Looking forward for more fun with them.

My wife and I booked Kalypso's "Vegan activity holiday in Kerala" tour through Responsible Travel and it was amazing! The company were very accommodating of our timeline (and our poor organisation in terms of the booking process) - they were able to adjust and arrange the tour as needed. Our guide Jeffyn and driver Vivek were both incredibly friendly, professional, and knowledgeable, and arranged an incredible sightseeing and cycling experience. Would absolutely book with Kalypso again!

One of the best soft adventure tour company in India. They are also one of the largest cycling tour providers in India. If you are in South India Don't forget to take the tours of Munar... Specially Hiking tours. You will be visiting one of the most beautiful areas: Scenic region of South India. Check out the pictures I am posting Below... I have done couple of tours with them including Cycling, Hiking and Kayaking. Their are very professional at work and nice and friendly in nature. loved them.

My partner and I did a four night kayaking trip on the Keralan backwaters - it was absolutely brilliant. We stayed in homestays, the first was ok, the second and third excellent. All the food we had was very good and the accommodation comfortable. We kayaked during the day, with a boat accompanying us with our luggage and provisions for lunch and breaks.

Our guide, who was called Praveen, couldn't have been better - very friendly, knowledgeable and spoke very good English. My partner and I are keen bird watchers and were very impressed with Praveen's knowledge of the local wildlife. On the first day we were on our own and enjoyed having our own personal guide! The next day we were joined by another couple and it was just the four of us for the rest of the week. We made a few stops on our trips to local places of interest, which were brilliant and showed us the local way of life.

I can't fault this trip. It was well organised and thoroughly enjoyable. I would certainly recommend this company and I hope we have the opportunity to use them again.

Yesterday I returned from an 8-day trip to the south of India, the state of Kerala, and I want to thank the team of Calypso for their contribution to the success of the trip, led by Roger, who escort us with dedication and responsibility all along the way. Thank you for great patience, for plenty knowledge, for personal attention to everyone in the group, for caring and listening to everyone's needs. Always with a smile, laugh and joy.
And another thanks to the camp staff. The wonderful Rahun, Raja and Satish who contributed to the success of the trip in the mountains. And of course the wonderful food that we enjoyed very much.
I really enjoyed the trip 💖 thank you very much Tali 🙏

I planned my college get together with Kalypso. We all met at Kadamakkudy for a refreshing kayaking session. The company is very professional and it was real pleasure working with them and planning this activity. We started at around 4.30PM and came back at 6.30 PM. I never experienced kochi back waters so closely. Rowing the kayak through the river during sunset with the backdrop of Chinese fishing nets is a memory I would hold on to forever. Kudos to Kalypso!

Highly recommended. I booked an India biking holiday through Saddle Skedaddle out of Great Britain. They worked with the local group Kalypso to put on the ride. The service was amazing from both companies. After the ride, I booked a ten-day car tour across south India directly through Kalypso. The provided me with an excellent vehicle and a driver, Joji, a wonderful man who became a friend. They chose the destinations, the accommodations, the in-city guides and every choice was perfect. I've traveled quite a lot but this trip was one of the top adventures thanks to the efforts of Kalypso. The cared about me and showed it.

The organisation focuses on adventure tourism. The organization provides importance to sustainable activities rather than economic benefits. Really impressed with the responsible tourism initiatives undertaken to seep the economic benefits to the local communities. The organization strives to develop the capabilities of the employees to enhance the quality of service to tourists.

We had a fabulous family holiday to Kerala with an 11 year old.

Thomas planned a great itinerary for us with an excellent range of hotels. His administration and organisation skills were excellent, with quick responses to all my questions before departure.

Our guide and driver, Deepu, was perfect. In addition to being professional, well organised, a safe driver and having a comfortable car, Deepu was friendly, helpful and offered brilliant extras to the standard tour to reflect our interests. For example, when the wild elephants decided to not appear on our safari trips, Deepu offered an elephant ride to our son.

On hearing of my wish to try on a sari, Deepu took us to a magnificent sari shop and then surprised us with an amazing homestay lunch where he presented our whole family with Keralan clothes and the host family kindly helped us dress. We also greatly enjoyed our in-car chats with Deepu when he would tell us interesting facts about India and patiently answer our many questions.

We have travelled on family adventure holidays with several UK companies in the past (Explore, Family Adventure Company and Exodus), but this was our first time of buying a holiday direct from a local company. Kalypso's performance far surpassed those UK companies. This made it a far more rewarding holiday, tailored to our needs and with better knowledge of the best local itinerary to use.

I would definitely use Kalypso again if we return to India, plus request Deepu to be our guide and driver.

Had a time of our lives . The whole kayaking trip was amazing. I was spellbound to see the unique backwaters in kochi. Mr.Abid and Mr Sanal guided us through the whole journey and they gave us all the information regarding kayaking and the whole expedition was informative. Looking forward for more and keep up the good vibes.❤

Their kayaking is the best of tours to unwind over a weekend. Took the Sunday sundowner kayaking and the experience was beautiful in and out. Very well behaved and helpful staff, well maintained kayaks and good food after a tiring kayaking session.

We were delighted with our two weeks of birding with Satyan, our birding guide, and Noble, our driver, in January 2013, and so we booked again for January 2018, as we wanted some of our other friends to experience it. This time tour took us to three destinations in Kerala, Thattekad, Kumily, and Munnar, and two destinations in Tamil Nadu, Ooty and Mudumalai. All of the accommodations selected by Kalypso were excellent. We were happy to have Satyan as our guide again. Satyan is an excellent guide, patient, accommodating, and he is passionate as well as knowledgeable about birds. Joji, our driver, was also very helpful and though a driver has become very proficient in locating and identifying birds. We were 6 along with them, in a spacious Traveller van. The price for such an arrangement, with a driver and guide is much more affordable in India and with Kalypso than in most countries. And so we booked a second excursion to follow the first, in early February, with Kalypso again, in Gujarat and Rajasthan. We went to Little Rann of Kutch, Mount Abu, Kumbalgarh, Siana, and Jaisalmer. Once again we were very pleased with the accommodations. We had Satyan as our birding guide once again.
For our western India excursion, our driver had very little English, and was more aggressive as a driver with speed and unnecessary honking, so we did not enjoy that as much, although we were very happy to have a driver and not to be driving ourselves in India. The Traveller van was even more comfortable than the one we had in South India, always super clean, and with windows that opened easily on either side for photos from the vehicle (as a blind). The typical day on both tours was getting up early in the morning for morning birding, returning to home base about 11 AM, and out again for late afternoon birding, from about 3:30 to 6:00 PM.

We have just spent a wonderful two weeks trekking with Kalypso in Kerala/Tamil Nadu. Every activity was well organised and enjoyable, and our tour guide Roger was a star - charming, patient, knowledgeable. Nothing was too much trouble for him, and he made this trip the perfect introduction to Southern India.

Just finished a charity trek for the Teenage Cancer Trust with Kalypso and they are superb, this is my 10th annual trek and easily the most professional and well organised, I couldn’t pick out one member of the team as they all were brilliant as was the trekking routes and accommodation.I would recommend this company to anyone wanting to trek or cycle in India.

I had an amazing experience with Kayaking at Kadamakudy islands. Our trainer Vineeth was explaining each and everything on the route.

We signed up for Kalypso's kayaking trip and it was so great!

Kalypso offers organised and good quality adventure tours in India, Sri Lanka, and Andaman Islands.