Novel Destinations: India and Pacific Ocean

I recently finished Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. What an fun trip! It began in India, around 1975. Pi’s family owns a zoo, but feels pressure to leave India due to the political turmoil surrounding Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. However, before they could leave, they had to make provisions for all of the animals in the zoo. After much selling, trading, wheeling and dealing, the family is finally able to board a ship bound for Canada.

During the voyage, the ship is sunk. Fifteen year old Pi, although losing all of his family, is fortunate enough to board a life boat. At first, he believes he is the only one on board, but soon realizes he has been joined by an hyena, an orangutan, and a Bengal tiger! His experiences in not only maintaining his own survival, but maintaing a delicate eco-system on board the life boat, makes for an fun, exciting and interesting read.

Life of Pi is so well written that several times I had to remind myself that this is a work if fiction. The ending has such a surprising twist that I am still trying to figure out what really happened.

I didn’t learn much about Indian life, but I did gain some insight on surviving while lost at sea. In this case, I hope I never have to rely on the knowledge I gained on my trip to India, through The Life of Pi.

For more of an in depth look at India through Life of Pi, check out the Spark Notes page on it!

About Robin Egerton

Robin Egerton has written 84 posts in this blog.

Robin considers herself a "Baby Prepper" - that is, she is not preparing for a Zombie Apocolypse, but is proficient at preparing for emergencies. The most current project at her homestead is establishing sustainable gardening in raised beds. She is an experienced homeschooler and has extensive experience in fostering and adopting. After several years as a foster parent, Robin and her husband adopted a total of five children and later began a homesteading project. Robin learned to raise chickens, sheep and dogs. After growing extensive gardens and planting an orchard, the produce is canned and added to the food storage pantry to this day. When life with teens became extraordinarily hectic, Robin began putting her canning energy into preparing her own convenience foods. Robin's hobbies are knitting, crocheting, genealogy and she will soon be joining the world of amateur photography. All of Robin's interests can be found on her blog www.RobinsCozyNest.Webbly.com