Like most of my trips, this trip was an unplanned one too but by far one of the best trips to connect me to nature. It all began one day in December when I got home late from office. I sighed and craved a break from the city life. But what the hell, I thought. I can work from anywhere. Why can’t I make a run for the hills ! And that’s exactly what I did. I was saving a visit to Wayanad for the monsoon, but Banasura Hills was calling… I packed some essentials and was ready to leave before dawn.
While most of the journey remained uneventful, one decision changed added an important experience to my kitty. I decided to drive through the Nagarhole tiger reserve. Well, to be honest I was hoping to see some wildlife there. I felt the weather change inside the forest. It was cooler and beautifully lush green. I immediately felt calmer but at the same time I became super alert trying to scout for wildlife in nature. And there ! I was rewarded. Amidst a herd of deer were two elephants feeding along the road. It was mesmerising to watch. Though I could not stall and watch them to my heart’s content. There are rules to driving through the reserve you see.
The rest of the journey, although beautiful, was devoid of any wildlife sightings except for a huge male Indian Gaur and a white-throated kingfisher. But it was a whole different experience to be so alert. Nagarhole Forest Reserve ended and the elevation and flora changed as I now drove through Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
The nature had a certain lull and held a certain temptation. I did not want to leave the forest area. By now I was at Sulatn Bathery and back to the crowd and traffic of yet another city. I stalled to check if any accommodation was available back near the forest. I made several calls but with no favourable response. Either the rates were too high or they were full or they just did not get back to me. That is when I looked a little further out and the manager from Brown Bean Resort responded positively and was very accommodating. Prashob quickly helped me with directions and I blindly followed even without looking at the photos of the property (by now with all the rejections I was thoroughly exhausted). Getting there can be tricky but his directions were excellent.
As I drove down a narrow path, I came across a gate that looked like a gate to a private property that reminds you of “Trespassers Shall Be Prosecuted”. I called the manager again to double check and he said I had reached. As I drove through the narrow lanes of coffee plantations with ripe red berries hanging in bunches, I began to wonder if I had made a bad decision. Was I going to live in a hut in this cold on a coffee plantation ? But the opening cleared and I saw the wooden cabins. Words cannot describe how rustic it all looked. The pictures should help!
You ask me why I would like to practice social distancing here ? This was a paradise ! With acres and acres of coffee plantation surrounding your idyllic cabin as far as eyes can see with some staff and minimal guests (Wouldn’t be difficult at all to practice social distancing). I felt like I could breathe again. No traffic, no noise, no pollution. Just a blissful sky and the water reservoirs reflecting their sunset colours. I soaked in as much magnificence as I could. I put my feet up in the balcony and began working on my laptop. This is the workstation I need. This is where I want to be. This is where I belong, I thought.
My feelings just got stronger with the scurries of the night. Is that a civet cat I spotted ? And the hooting of the owl. The gurgling of water from one of the reservoirs and the croaking of frogs. These sounds felt new to me.
I fell asleep with all the new experiences in my mind. I woke up to a beautiful morning with a blissful sleep. Birds hopped in the bushes below. But wait.. are they growing pineapples here ?
I trotted down for breakfast and had the most amazing coffee and puttu kadala curry, idli and sambar. And also the pineapple juice off the plantation like the coffee. I walked around the huge property and realised that they housed a small splash pool but the cold did not let me want to venture there. There was also a viewing tower, a badminton court and what do you know – paddle boating in one of the reservoirs ! I also did find some paw prints and poop and recognised them from a documentary I had watched on the most expensive coffee – yes the civet coffee !
I did talk to the staff and learn about how coffee Is processed from the raw beans. How they came about building the cabins. How they were designing the new ones. Later I did go boating. That is when I felt one with myself amidst all the nature and water and feeding birds.
While all the good experiences kept getting added, I was truly at peace. Even if the monkeys took away my shows and returned them without my insoles. Hmmmm.. I wonder what they did with it. Don’t worry. I found them tucked in the nook in the balcony where the pepper creepers rose to meet you.
The balcony.. That’s where I left my heart. That’s where I would have loved to be practicing social distancing. That’s where I would have loved to live and work. An impressionable experience ! Alas! I did come back. Take me back ! Lock me down there until I crave to see more !
- Shyama Pal (Ph.D.)
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