Here comes another weekend of May and the Bangalore weather has already started cooling down with good amount of rainfalls in regular intervals. We planned this trip out of nowhere as we only knew that we would run away from the crowd during the weekend.
While looking into a few places in Nagarhole, I came across the South Kodagu map.
South Kodagu in untouched, unexplored and holds a part of Nagarhole and Wayanad green belt. This was interesting. Though it did not have much on to do list, we chalked our way for a relaxing weekend. Searched for a good place to stay and kept the Nagarhole Safari intact in our mind, we looked up The Woodpecker Homestay in Kutte. They are prompt and online on Facebook. I was certainly impressed by their welcoming communication over FB.
We left Bangalore early morning 4 AM on Saturday and took the exit into Mysore road through the Matikere Road. We drove till the Circle of Ranganathitthu Bird Sanctuary and went into Hunsur - Elivala Road. AT Elivala Junction, we had a quick fresh breakfast. The small joints offer mouthwatering freshness of the morning. Once done we continued till Kutte.
Our route was Bangalore - Ramanagara- Channapatna - Mandya - Mysore - Hunsur - Nagarhole - Kutte. We took the NICE Road exit into NH17 and continued for 147kms.At the KRS Road to Elivala, we drove for about 17.9kms and took the Mangalore-Mysore Highway or Mysore-Medikeri road to Doddahunsur for about 37.1kms. From there, we followed the Nagarhole Rd to Gonikoppal. Then into the Kutta Rd/Squadron Leader Ajjamada B Devaiah Rd for about 47.4 km. From there, we drove to the Manchalli Rd. Manchalli Forest is an extension of Nagarhole Forest reserve and the Woodpecker Homestay is 2.7 kms from the Main Road. Surprisingly the distance between the Manchalli Forest and Nagarhole is about 7kms.
It had been a beautiful drive through the greens. We reached there by 11:30 AM. The Owner of the Woodpecker Homestay, Sharmin, was waiting for us on the main road. Sharmin and his wonderful family is the warmest host any guest can ever find. They make every guest feel at home. His wife and mother are awesomely homely and amazing chefs. We greeted us with fresh juice and oranges from the orchard. They made us comfortably settled in the homestay rooms that were booked for us. The property is beautiful and looks like a postcard with flowers, a blue well and trees all around. Overlooking the homestay is the Wayanad Mountain.
The homestay can accommodate people in 3-4 rooms. The rooms are big and clean. They are well equipped and clean big rest rooms. The long balcony is the best place to sit and listen to the silence or the chirping of the birds and the sound of the crickets. The dining space is out in the open in the extension of the balcony. On the whole, a very cozy place to be.
The woodpecker does not serve lunch so once we freshened up and chatted up with the family for a while, we went with Sharmin to pick up lunch from the nearest Robusta Restaurant. Once done, we grabbed a nap to freshen up for the evening.
The coffee from the estate came around 4:30PM. We walked around the property for an hour to see turkeys, ducks, birds and a good number of butterflies. There is a stream with gushing water just behind the homestay and we walked around there. When we were back, the evening started getting colder and we were served with soup and salads. We spent the evening sitting by the stream in a born fire, humming and singing.
Around 10PM, we were served with a buffet of dinner. This was a wide spread and vegetarian, non-vegeterian, pork and deserts were there. The food tasted amazing. It was hot and fresh and so lip smacking that we could not thank Sharmin enough. Both his mother and wife are very warm people and has classic and authentic culinary skill. We could not finish the food for its quantity; however, we were guilty to leave such tasty bites for the day. We retired early around 11:30PM that day.
Next day was early. I woke up to my regular travel routine of 5:30AM and set out with Camera to capture some interesting things around. The fog would not let me do so anyways; hence I strolled around with a homestay dog in company. Once I was back around 7:30AM, we left for Nagarhole. The 50kms odd stretch of Nagarhole forest had been beautiful. There is something wild about this stretch, something virgin, untouched and wild. We say elephants- tuskers to be precise, herds of deer, monkeys and our regular forest mates here and there. We were back from Nagarhole around 10:30AM.
We were served with lip-smacking breakfast of Coorgi cuisine and continental. We had kadambuttu, curry, sambar, bread, jam, egg, fruits and coffee. Post breakfast, we packed up, freshened and bid goodbye to our amazing hosts.
Woodpecker is peace abode, beautiful place with beautiful people. I cannot write enough about how good the hosts are. One has to visit and experience the essence of The Woodpecker Homestay. We will want to go back again and again.
On our way back we drove down the Iruppu Falls and took our way back to Bangalore through the Hassan Road in the rains.
Contact:
The Woodpecker Homestay
Address: Woodpecker Homestay, Manchalli Village and Post,
South Kodagu, Madikeri, Karnataka 571250, India.
Phone - Sharmin +91 99022 30943
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