The view from the balcony of the guesthouse where I stayed in Kotagiri on my recent trip to Tamil Nadu (see Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and Biodiversity Festival). A patchwork of tea plantations in different stages of development. Kotagiri has some of the oldest tea plantations in this part of India. The first one was started in 1863 by the daughter of M.D. Cockburn, a Scottish planter and the district collector. Wonder what was growing here before the Camellia sinensis took over?