Crashing Ocean Waves on Rocky Breakwater
© Anantha Krishnan/500px/Getty Images
Wet and wild
The southwesternmost stretch of the Indian subcontinent has been known as the Malabar Coast for more than a millennium. Crossing four modern Indian states (including this one, Kerala), the beachy strip between the Western Ghats mountain range and the frothy Indian Ocean is one of the wettest parts of the country, and the first to receive monsoon rains each year. The extreme seasonal weather powers the Western Ghats' rich rainforests, home to 30% of all plant and animal species found in India—including more than 300 threatened ones. Another regional rarity: a special coffee variety known as Monsooned Malabar. These coffee trees are exposed to heavy rain and winds for months, resulting in a swollen, pale bean with almost no acidity.
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