Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
431 taKe to the trees in
Kerala
432 exPlore the sunderBans,
india
You can see your accommodation - a wooden
hut housing a double bed swathed in a mosquito
net, with an attached bathroom and verandah
- on top of a giant banyan tree. You don't fancy
shimmying up the 18m trunk to get there
though. Thankfully, you're saved by an ingenious
“water lift”.
Babu Varghese - the owner of the treehouses
at Green Magic Nature Resort 2, situated at
Kalladi, in the hilly district of Wayanad in
northeastern Kerala - is the inventor of this
unique contraption: a giant bucket is filled with
water, which is then used as a counterweight
for the caged metal lift that holds the guests. As
you wait several minutes for the buckets to fill,
you may wish you hadn't had that extra serving
of curry at dinner. But it wouldn't be easy to
say no. The resident chefs prepare spectacular
Keralan vegetarian specialities, with all the
ingredients sourced from their own farm. Those
keen to try Keralan cooking at home can even
take classes in how to make delicious dishes
such as pineapple curry or potato bhaji.
During their stay, every guest - whether they
are staying in a treehouse or, for those suffering
from vertigo, in the remote cave room or simple
rooms in the lodge - is required to plant a
sapling to help ensure the forest's survival. The
rest of the time, the resort offers visits to the
lovely Soochippara waterfalls, searches for wild
elephants, or drives around the surrounding tea
plantations. But with the plethora of bushy-tailed
Malabar squirrels and brightly coloured song
birds in the camp, it would be just as tempting to
spend the day sitting in your treehouse, training
your binoculars into the branches. It'll give the
staff time to fill the bucket, too.
The Sunderbans National Park is the largest
mangrove forest in the world - a giant mass
of trunks and spindly roots that reach deep
into the salty water, enabling them to survive.
The area is home to crocodiles, monitor lizards
and hundreds of species of birds, including
kingfishers and egrets. But the animal for which
this region is most famed is the Royal Bengal
tiger, of which around 270 live in the park - the
highest density anywhere in India.
Help Tourism is one of the few companies
offering safaris around the Sunderbans park
- in their case, via a motorized boat that cruises
through the park's rivers and creeks and stops
at wildlife-watching towers en route. Their
accommodation, the remote Jungle Camp on Bali
Island, consists of six comfortable bungalows
and a restaurant situated among trees and lush
paddy fields. Towards the end of the tour guests
visit a village and then spend an hour on rowing
boats exploring the mangroves.
Four million people inhabit the Sunderbans,
sharing the marshy ecosystem with the animals:
a large proportion of them are fishermen and
rice farmers, while some also venture far into
the tangle of vegetation to collect honey, always
at risk of a tiger attack. As well as being a
significant source of employment for the local
people, Help Tourism is committed to protecting
the tigers and their prey, the spotted deer,
from poaching - and they've almost achieved
a complete stop to this on Bali Island. Staying
here not only helps them with their continued
efforts but provides one of the best chances of
spotting a tiger in the wild.
Need to know Help Tourism will transfer guests
from Kolkata airport to the harbour (3hr), from
where a boat takes you to Jungle Camp (2hr). A
three-night stay, including transfer, all food and
safaris, costs R15,950 (US$330) per person. For
further information and reservations visit W www.
helptourism.org; T +91 (0) 983 103 1980.
Need to know The treehouses cost US$240 full-
board per night, which also includes jeep transfer
to and from Kalladi. Kalladi can be reached by
taxi in a couple of hours from the cities of Ooty,
Kozhikode and Mysore. For further info see W www.
tourindiakerala.com; T +91 (0) 471 232 8070.
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