When the radio took us to Kotagiri!

It’s 9am and we are at war! Literally. Driving through rush hour traffic in Bangalore is nothing short of WWIII. The radio is on and it helps draw our attention away from the maddening crowd near Lalbagh. An ad on air catches our attention as it talks about tea estates and a serene hill station. Nature Resorts has opened a new property in Kotagiri, Tea Nest Nightingale and we immediately decide to get in touch with them. A call is made and we are booked for the coming weekend!

5:30am on a Saturday and we are off to Kotagiri. Its raining heavily as we drive through Mysore road. Soon we have crossed Bandipur and reach Ooty. The scene is quite harrowing. Rivers of sewage water flood the streets in Ooty as the rain pounds heavily all over the Nilgiris. Reminds us of the recent flood situation in the North East and Mumbai.

We take a break and have our lunch. Our shoes are completely drenched. Its 2pm and we head towards our destination. At this point we are tired of drving through the rain and waterclogged roads and just want to have a hot cuppa tea. The map shows we have reached our destination. We wind down from the main road on to a small 1 acre property that houses an old British bungalow. The car is parked and we are greeted by Augustine, the manager here.

All though the homestay is next to the road, its quiet peaceful here. There is a lovely landscaped garden in front of the bungalow with a view of the hills and tea plantations. At a distance we can see the hills surrounding Mettupalayam. Lovely view!! We check in and are taken to our room, The Scarlet Minivet. 4 rooms here and all are named after bird species. Ours has a king size bed with an attic and a bed for kids. There is a small sitout area too with a view of the garden.

The room is very plush with all creature comforts in it. The room is cozy, elegant and provides for a great recluse from our busy lives. The property is very well maintained and well suited for couples as well as families. Children would love it here since there is plenty of space to play around. There is a small trail that leads to the tea estates and we are sure the kids will love walking through these!

 The rain stops and the clouds move away. The hills appear from behind the black clouds and the view is just so amazing! This is exactly what we look for when we travel to such places. We take a table on the lawn and are served piping hot tea. A cool breeze blows towards us making the tea drinking experience even amazing. The next couple of hours are spent taking pictures of the landscape and talking to the staff. Some are locals and the chef is from Nepal. We request him to make us some nepali cuisine for dinner and he obliges. They have an elaborate menu with options of Indian, continental and Chinese food with yummy deserts as well.

After spending tranquil moments surrounded by tea estates, a couple of meandering clouds, immersing ourselves in the chirping birds and the clicks of camera shutters, we decided to head back inside. The chef informs us that dinner is served and we go out into the dining area. A large antique radio and a few, really old cameras are kept on the fireplace. We strike a conversation with the staff as they explain how these items were collected from all over the years.

Dinner is served and we are glad to see that the chef has made nepalese chicken and yellow dal. The food is absolutely yum and we finish it off in no time. Its time to hit the sack. We watch an old movie and soon doze off.

 6am and we are up to witness the sunrise. There is a small hillock next to Tea Nest and we see the sun rising from behind the hill. Its an amazing spectacle and we tried to capture this moment with our cameras. Tea Nest Nightingle offers a lot of activities such a horse riding/training, jeep rides, tea tours, waterfall visits, market tours etc and one can indulge in these during their stay here. We recommend you come here for at least 2 nights to experience all these activities.

Nature Resorts is the group that manages this and other properties such as Tea Nest, Tea Nest Annexe and Kurumba Village. We have already fixed dates to visit other properties as we’ve had a lovely experience with Tea Nest Nightingale.

A Fairy Tale Homestay

As kids, many of us have watched fairytales on TV every Sunday morning, but in real life how many of us have got a chance to live or even be at a place like that? Well I have!! A place which is far from the maddening crowd and amidst a huge coffee plantation. Where Drongo’s make such cute yet unusual sounds that it blows your mind away. A place where huge mammals are welcome as well as cute little pups..a place which I call “LALALAND”For those who believe that fairytales exist and childhood dreams do come true then this place is definitely for you. Nestled in COORG-KUTTA, the unique cottages and their architecture is enough to remind you of your fairytales. No wonders its owners-Mrs Meena and Mr Ravi fell in love with this property the very first time they saw it, and decided to sell their house in Gurgaon in order to buy this plantation which they now call Turtlepond.
At the beginning, the huts were just shells and it was with the help of an Estonian traveller and his girlfriend who were on a cycling tour of Coorg and fell in love with the region. They stayed at Turtle Pond for many months and decided to design the shells and turn them into cottages. Later the cottages were also painted by them. The most amazing part about these wooden cottages is that every single bit of it is handbuilt and they typically look like cottages that are found in rural Estonia and Northern Russia.
The rooms of the cottages are cute, quaint, spacious and very comfortable. Apart from the beds, there is an almirah, a cooler, a dressing table and a big washroom.  Every cottage has a small and cute deck outside, where one can listen to the birds; their early morning chatter, or sip a cup of coffee, or even watch some wildlife pass through the property.  Moreover Coorg, that has a cool temperature throughout the year, makes this homestay an ideal place for you to relax and lose yourself in nature.
The owners/ host (I like to call them Uncle and Aunty) are an absolute pleasure to be with. They take such good care of you and ensure you are at your utmost comfort during your stay in Turtlepond. The food served is just delicious. Girish, their cook cum helper, prepares it all along with aunty. I still cannot forget the taste of that yummy chicken gravy which was served to us for dinner that night.
We had an absolutely wonderful experience at Turtlepond. The stay, the place , the room, the food, the gossips, the campfire and the warm hosts  were all just perfect. Exactly what you want when you are on a vacation. Oh and not to forget the thrilling discussions we had about their working days and Masai Mara!!
The owners of Turtlepond  are trying their best to restore the pristine beauty of their property and the plantation. They  are putting in all their efforts to turn their plantation into an organic one.  

Although our first visit to this place was planned for 1N2D,  I am coming back soon and given a chance I would spend days staying in this place. The homestay is so serene, beautiful and has a perfect blend of wild outdoors, coffee plantations, nature trails and beautiful scenic views. A perfect destination for us to be !

Green Eyes, Dark Jungle!

We are wildlife lovers and always jump at the opportunity to spot some in the jungles of Bandipur or Masinagudi. Recently during one such experience we were headed to a homestay near Masinagudi. The Mudumalai National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary also a declared tiger reserve, lies on the northwestern side of the Nilgiri Hills (Blue Mountains), in Nilgiri District, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-west of Coimbatore city in Tamil Nadu. It shares its boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala. The sanctuary is divided into five ranges – Masinagudi, Thepakadu, Mudumalai, Kargudi and Nellakota.Situated around the sanctuary is a small homestay. It looks quiant and secluded but as we soon found out, its anything but. This homestay has a lot to offer in terms of nature, wildlife, treks, adventure or even food – this place has it all. Around 260 kms from Bangalore is this homestay where Man meets Wild. While going towards the stay you feel you are going towards a big hill from far, but this hill turns out into a thick wild forest when you enter it.
We reached there on a Saturday noon and the one thing that captured my eyes was the thick forest in front of us. I look around and the only thing I could see is trees & bushes…At this point I knew I was amidst the wild. The rooms here are like those that we saw in the movie “CROODS” …They are stoneage style. A bed, a small table and an attached bathroom is what you will find here. Take a small hike uphill and you will find more rooms that look like caves. They look dark and dingy and we opt to take the ones with better lighting!
After resting for sometime a satisfying lunch awaited us. Rice, rotis, dal, chicken..there was everything ..everything that is least expected in a place like this. While we were enjoying our food someone screamed “Look Up!!…..our heads turned…It was a giant squirrel playing around in the trees- It was my first encounter with such an animal. A treat to our eyes 🙂
Post lunch as we decided to take a short nap while enjoying the whistle of a bird called the Schoolboy; yes it whistles like a kid and its as melodious as a song. Out of the blue, we are disturbed by the howling of monkeys…dozens of them sitting on tall trees going berserk. We wondered what was wrong and then our guide told us that there is a PREDATOR nearby. The monkeys are warning the jungle!!
Since  the howling of these monkeys was a familiar noise for us we too started paying attention. And then we heard it…the footsteps of something heavy….walking in the bushes. Our guide picks up a long dagger and ushers us to move towards an observation deck. We walk inside to get a panoramic view on the ravine. Nothing! No movement or sound. Our guide decides to go down into the ravine; he says the predator won’t attack with so many people around. We somehow muster enough courage, pick up some sticks and cautiously walk behind him. We hear footsteps on top of the ravine and suddenly there is silence.

We wander around hoping to get a glimpse of the animal but instead come across a carcass of a Bison. It was recently attacked by a tiger a week ago. The sight of bones and dried up skin is a little disturbing and frightening. We quickly get out of the ditch and move towards our room.
By now it was evening and we were waiting for our tea to be served we were shocked to see a huge tusker just meters away from where we were standing. There was panic amongst everyone. We watched the mammal closely, hoping that it keeps its peace. He looks weak, there is dearth of water and food in this jungle. Rainfall has been below average and animals don’t have much food. The elephant lingers on slowly, disappearing into the bushes.
It was night by now..pitch dark and the only light we had was that from our bonfire. Soon we were discussing on how interesting the day had been for us  and how close we came to spotting a predator. I had too many drinks and I head towards the washroom. Its a little far away from the campfire so I grab a torchlight; just in case. I shine it around the area where we heard the footsteps. I see Green Eyes….lurking under a tree. I am scared, too scared to move or call out to my friends. I stand there absolutely still….those eyes focussed on me, not moving.

My friends saw me and they grabbed their torch lights and pointed it towards the jungle in front of us. It looks like a big cat and I am quite sure its a leopard. Our guide comes running down from the pantry and confirms our fears. What separates us from the leopard is about 20 ft of bushes. He slowly moves towards us and disappears. We frantically point the lights around..desperately trying to spot him. We are quickly pushed into one of the rooms by the staff and ordered not to come outside. This is scary…we can hear each others heart beating faster and faster. This is no longer fun; a leopard is quick and agile and can easily overpower us.

Its been two hours since we have been holed up in our rooms. The staff finally comes over and ask us to join them for dinner. Dinner is fast…we gulp it down in a hurry to get back into our rooms! We move in groups, holding hands, and shining the light near the trees. We spot it again; perches this time on top of the tree. On a branch right opposite our room. Its looking at us with those shining big green eyes. It doesn’t even blink once. We all huddle into our beds and soon we have slept!

The next morning is spent talking about our experience and how scared we all were. Our only regret is that we couldn’t capture anything on film; no one thought of getting the camera!!! Since then we have returned to this place every 3 months and spotted a plethora of wildlife; from giant squirrels, to black monkeys, bisons, elephants, hornbills. But the leopard hasn’t come back. But we hope someday it does!

Home on a Hillock!

We often head to Wayanad, a quaint hill station in Kerala located 300kms from Bangalore. It makes for a perfect getaway due to its proximity to home, it’s wildlife and breathtaking landscape.

It’s yet another weekend today and we are headed to Kalpetta. Our objective is to see some wildlife and enjoy Kerala cuisine.

We take the route that crossed Muthanga wildlife sanctuary. Located next to Bandipur, Muthanga is know for its elephant and deer population with the occasion tiger/leopard sighting. As we reach Muthanga, we slow down hoping to spot something. The landscape looks barren; brown bald trees and dried out shrubs. The sun is shining hard on us and we are feeling a little hot even with the AC on. We wonder how animals survive this without any shade of water.

Our car nudges on slowly and the landscape has turned green. Signs of water nearby. High chances of spotting some elephants maybe. We linger on but looks like we’re out of luck. We lose hope and move on looking for lunch options.
Location – Muthanga forest. The location of our first stop. Tucked away in the forest is a small guest house with a small rocky stream flowing nearby. Plenty of Elephant and deer sightings and unfortunately we weren’t carrying our camera at the time.
Our stay at the first guest house was pleasant. Food and service were top notch and now its time to move to the next homestay.
Some sort of green tea served upon arrival. Couldn’t figure out what it was but it sure tasted real good!
After a long scenic uphill drive, we arrive at our homestay/hotel. We had seen pictures of it earlier but the place is just so much more beautiful in real. Pictured above is a view of the Karapuzha Dam from our property. The rooms are comfy, equipped with all amenities and a view like that. Lunch is served to us on the portico. Food, cooked by a local villager, smells of herbs and spices and tastes heavenly. After a big meal, we decide to take a stroll around the property. The estate manager tell us that they have a cave room and a small natural pond, so we decide to check these out as well.
The stay was memorable; staff was friendly telling us stories about how this property came about, they cooked us some great dishes and the view in the morning was just so pretty. We had a good experience and even though we didnt see any wildlife apart from the stay deer/wild boar, we are surely going to come back to this place! Kudos to the owners and staff for being so hospitable!