The Forest Homestay, Maradi

December 20, 2019
Our day started at Horanadu, we spent an hour at Annapoorneshwari Devasthana, had breakfast and started our journey towards Aldur. Though the bus ride from Kalasa and Kottigehara wasn't a comfortable one, I kept my mind busy by looking out at the hills, valleys and jungle. Few kilometers before Kottigehara, Sridhar pointed out to a huge scar of landslide two or three years ago. The effect was seen down in the valley as well. Long tree trunks and huge boulders lay heaps in the stream bed, all washed down the hills by rainwater. Our journey ended at the private bus stand at Kottigehara. None of us were in no mood for another bus ride, we hired a Omni to take us  to Forest Homestay. It was ages since I'd  ridden a Omni. The driver was experienced, it was an hour and half drive. The last two kilometers of the drive was dirt track, max 5 kmph. The Omni had to stop 100 meters before our destination since the road was too rough for Omni. So that's the arch of Forest Homestay, Maradi. we walked in with our bags.

A gracefully curving concrete path descended towards the coffee estate house. We were greeted by two friendly dogs. They seemed to be siblings, same color, build and height. That's Pushpa making a video on the way here. The place felt serene, was happy that our journey ended and I declared that I'll not be travelling by vehicle for the next 24 hours.

That's the estate owner Nuthan Maradi's house. We were the only guests for the day. The host welcomed us with buttermilk. I shouldn't have had the cold drink.. but couldn't resist the creamy drink.

This is the view from Nuthan's house. The dirt road descends deeper into the estate. There are two cottages and several tents for guests.

We checked out both cottages and decided on this one. This has an open dining hall, the room has five beds and attached bathroom. This plateau is situated next the valley where a stream flows, the sound of water was a soft background music, like the Tampura in classic Indian music.

Sri and I went for a short stroll down the estate path to check out the stream. Sri remembers seeing this stream gushing down in full force during one of the rainy seasons. BTW, Sri has been coming to this place a dozen times over the past six years. I was impatient to explore the surroundings but the immediate need was to eat and get rest.

Back at the cottage. Pushpa was hungry. As we waited for the lunch to arrive, Pushpa wanted a quick bite and got some chikki from her bag. One of our new friends was hungry too. There he is watching Pushpa open the package. He made sure he got the first bite :)

Our caretaker Pradeep and his colleague brought lunch from the kitchen and set it up on the table. Chapati, vegetable curries, rice, sambar, rasam, pappad, curds, sweet, and few other items. We thoroughly enjoyed the lunch. We rested until 4-15 or so. Sri and I had planned to go exploring with our cameras. Pushpa wanted to stay back and watch "Big Boss."

Our host Nuthan joined us. This is a pond on the other side of the valley. Behind me is another plateau. Guests can play football or volleyball here.

Nuthan's boys were preparing this mud volleyball pit. They were readying this for a large group coming here for the weekend. With its two water bodies, this plateau might be attracting wild animals at night.

We wanted to explore further. Nuthan carried on with his work while Sri and I went into this jungle towards another pond. In this direction, there are two hills. We would be climbing one of them in the morning, not the one seen here.

What seems like a dying tree still has life in it. The tree is infested with termites, a small ecology within the tree.

The ground is quite hard here, light colored soil. The two to three feet tall grass is at the end of its life, will be completely dry in 15 days or so. Sri was looking for birds. In the green cover ahead is the coffee estate. Everything looks so peaceful.

This pond was a pleasant surprise. The mirror surface says its all. Peaceful. But Nature has its way. There are little green birds flying around stealthily. They hop on from one bush to another, one by one.

The triangular pond is accessible comfortably from one side. The other two sides are either high or too soft for a good foothold. The place was silent, just the sound of birds chirping. Even the air was still here.

Perfect reflection, isn't it. That's Nature's canvas.

The rocky shore of the pond is birds landing place as well. This spot seems to be a favorite for water birds. So many signatures left behind. Watching water has a calming effect. Gentle movements of black dots and tails caught my attention.

A fleet of tadpoles or call it a school of tadpoles. They are shy creatures, the moment they saw my camera lens moving towards them, they started swimming away. I really enjoyed watching them swim. I called Sri to take a look at them. He replied its a waste. What!

There he goes after the winged creatures. He moves like a cat, silently but his bright orange tee-short is a like warning flag for his targets. Nevertheless, he gets his shots.

This little bird with green tail feathers are super active. It was a group of four or five. This bird has moved its tail to its right hence not seen here. These birds would fly over the water, and suddenly dive and hit the water with a splash and fly up again. We saw it happen seven or eight times. Not sure if it was the same bird every time or if they took turns. I guess they were catching little water insects.

A heron perched high up on a tree. It was sitting still for almost fifteen minutes before taking off. Probably its did not like our presence.

It was almost 5-15, time to head back to the cottage and grab a cup of hot tea. The plan for the evening was to trek to a sunset point. That would be nice.. to see sunsets from a hill top.

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