Traveling after what felt like an eternity has been a blessing indeed! With the unfortunate turn of events this year, travel had been on the back-burners for all, and apart from visiting ‘throwback' photos on Instagram, there wasn’t much that people could do. So, when the tourism industry slowly opened up with ample precautions and safety measures in place, people let out a collective sigh of relief and headed out like cattle out to graze on a sunny day! Being travel enthusiasts, my friends and I were also long awaiting that opportunity to hit the road, and Diwali weekend finally saw us leave for the lush green valleys of Chikmagalur. Our destination? A solitary bungalow on a beautiful and expansive coffee estate.
In terms of luggage, this trip was quite different from our previous ones! Keeping in spirit with the “new normal,” disinfectants, sanitizers, and single-use dinnerware were packed to the brim, but, along with sanitization precautions, we also had a four-legged package with us—a furry addition to my family! Adopting an adorable puppy a few months back was probably the only bright side to the lockdown, but taking a pet for a trip would be a first in our travel history. Earlier, 'pet-friendly' was never a facility that we needed to check on the likes of Airbnb and Booking.com, and now our hotel/resort research was centered around finding a suitable place for our 5-month-old dog.
And, Coffeebase Homestay, just turned out to be the perfect start to our pet travel diary!
The ride to Chikmagalur was refreshing and invigorating beyond words. Having been forced to stare at the same four white walls every day, the rich green trees and piercing blue skies formed the perfect slice of nature, giving the much-needed break from urban living. For Momo, our dog, this was like a trip to Disneyland! Trees and cows on the roads kept him at the window throughout the 5-hour drive with his ears flying around like a little school girl’s pigtails. Momo is extremely cautious (read shit scared and terrified) of crowded places and strangers in general, unless he gets the occasional ‘pet-lovers’ vibe (in which case a mega lickathon begins!). So, having a whole bungalow to ourselves worked out best in this regard. The estate, and its neighboring land, was no alien ground for visiting animals—with two dogs of their own and plenty of cows around, this place was as close you could get to Old McDonald’s farm!
The sprawling estate spread across 15 acres, and the host was gracious enough to take us on a hike on the plantation trail, which turned out to be one of Momo’s major highlights of the trip. While we were equipped with gumboots to combat the infamous leeches on the trail, Momo was equally geared up with his blue paw boots (basically rubber balloons that cost a bomb!) The 4 km hike was slightly challenging with the trail being pretty steep and the path around the cliff being quite narrow, but it was a wonderful adventure for not just Momo but his 'pawrents' too! Between smelling all the coffee seeds and chasing a few harmless butterflies around, Momo spent the entire time walking in amazement. It was probably too much greenery for him to take in at a time! The trail led to a quaint little stream with fallen tree trunks lying around that looked like bridges made for Hobbits! With the previous day’s rainfall, the trail, at one point, turned slightly swampy, which led to a host of leeches just waiting to grab on to any kind of flesh. The unaware Momo turned out to be quite a few leeches’ prey, which apart for a few drops of blood is absolutely harmless, but he had other worries ahead. One of the estate’s cows was grazing, and for Momo, being the 'brave' soul that he is, it seemed like a wildlife encounter. He merely refused to proceed in the same direction, and we were stuck in a limbo with a dog, a cow, a confused man, and surrounded by nothing but trees and shrubs as if locked in a tiny green pocket!
But all’s well that ends well, and the equally scared cow was ushered onto an upwards path of the hilly slope, and Mr. Momo gladly resumed his walk back to the bungalow with his tongue almost touching the ground in exhaustion. The two-hour trek was probably one of the most memorable moments in little Momo's life, and he seems to be ready to climb any Mt. Everest life throws at him now!
For a dog whose asleep for most of the day, Momo surprised us all by his enthusiasm and excitement at being outdoors. Our apprehensions on traveling with a pet for the very first time eased out with his lack of anxiety at coming to a totally different place. Walks along the hilly roads, playing cricket with us (he just ran around the ball frantically), and getting the sights and sounds of the countryside was a well-deserved Petcation indeed!
Until next time, keep woofing!
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