morning walk at Madhugiri coffee estate

Our vacation started with a quick visit to Annapoorneshwari Devastana at Horanadu. The same afternoon we reached The Forest Home-stay, Maradi. The following morning we trekked to Benne Kallu Gudda, Maradi and the same afternoon we moved to Madhugiri Homestay. A large group from Bangalore had booked for the day, so we had to move to the other home-stay. Though we weren't happy shifting, we decided to the make the best of the time. Having woken up early, the trek through the hills had left us little tired. After lunch, we hit the sack for a nap and none of is woke up until it was 5-15. After tea, we explored the paddy fields of Agla village with a hope of sighting peacocks. No such luck. It was dusk, stars were appearing, on the way back we saw several fireflies. The last I'd seen them was in Dharwad, probably in 2013. Back at the home-stay we sat around a fire and chatted until dinner time. We retired early with a plan of morning walk at our host's coffee estate.

December 22, 2019

Pushpa skipped the walk, she preferred to spend a lazy morning. Jayanth our host was ready, we hopped into his M&M MPV.. I sat in the back. The dirt path through the estate was uphill, it was quite rough, once a jerk was so sudden my head banged against the roof frame! Ouch! The ride ended about a kilometer into the jungle. I was happy to be back on the ground walking :) That's Jayanth leading us..

At one point we crossed over from one hill to another. As we were talking, somehow chilly came into the conversation. While the people of plains who use Byadgi/Guntur chilly in their food, estate people use a special variety called Jeer-Menesinkayi. This chilly is small, can be quite hot on the tongue but doesn't hurt the tummy. To our luck there was one plant close by and Jayanth led us to it. The plant in the foreground with smaller leaves is the chilly plant. It appears short but it was close to 6 feet tall.

A close look t the chilly. The longest was about inch and half. I could not smell it because of cold, my nose was blocked. Anyway, it was good to know about this chilly. I would like to try its flavor one day. Heard they are available in certain stores in Bengaluru.

The pain in my head was getting duller by the minute. As we moved deeper into the estate, we had to negotiate a short steep path and we reached this clearing. I guess this was clear because of the rock bed here. We chatted a while here talking about coffee and pepper.

Our trekked continued. This is one of the interesting scenes in our path.

Most coffee plants had borne cherries which were at different stages.. raw green ones to red half ripened ones to dark red fully ripe ones. Also, the pepper vines had strings of berries. Jayanth asked us to taste it. First I plucked a berry and bit it slowly, the little explosion warmed the throat, it was a comforting experience for the sore tissues.

As we walked, I kept eyeing more pepper vines to find the dark green ones, they give a good punch. The second one was hotter than the first one. The flavor of pepper.. ah! No wonder its the king of spices. As we walked down this path, Jayanth mentioned about a beehive he had seen a day ago and wanted to show it to us.

The beehive was on a mango tree, just seven to eight feet above the ground. First time I'm seeing a hive so closely. Jayanth was surprised to see the hive empty.. it seems the bees were here when he saw a day ago.

A close look at the nest. Ants were scavenging the hive for any remnants of the sweet liquid. Such a beautiful creation this is. Nature has no dearth for engineers and architects who are completely in tune sync with other living creatures. There's one exception- man! The most destructive being on this planet. The enemy of Nature. We left the hive as it is and moved on

A close look at a bunch of coffee berries which are at varies stages.. raw green, green-red, red, dark-red and dry brown. The fully ripe berries are picked and sent for pulping and then drying which happens at the pulping & drying yard.

This shot shows the scale of size. Man is so small in the presence of these trees, yet so destructive. Anyway, this picture is has a nice feel to it. Should see this place during rains.

We were back on the road. Sri and I wanted to walk more so we let Jayanth carry on with his work. He had to take plucked berries for pulping. Estate owners with small holdings do not usually have their own pulping system. They take their produce to estates who provide the service.

The ambiance of the estate was good. Silent except for few birds here and there. More than half way down the path, we saw this temple. Surely the ancient would be ancient but the structure is new.

We reached the estate gate and stepped into the village road. We decided to go down on the opposite side, the same path we had explored previous evening. We were hoping to see a peacock or two at this hour.. no such luck in the paddy fields and they get camouflaged among the trees.

The ground was covered with grass, hardly any exposed dirt. In the grass there were patches of white of different sizes and shapes. It was dew drops on spider webs. These webs were made by ground spiders which have a shaft to trap insects. As the air gets hotter the dew dries up but the web remains unaffected.

Along the edge of the paddy field was a stream of fresh water. It was tempting to wade into the water but we refrained from doing so. I liked the stream but the presence of those water plants makes me uncomfortable. Somehow they spoil the look and feel of the place. Grass creates a nice feel but not the other plants.

These plants which grow on trees trunks are quite common in this region. They are called epiphytes. This is the dry remains of a epiphyte. The form of the leaves is fascinating.. the prominent ribs and jagged edges create a strong look. I thought of tearing one from a plant but felt the leaves were brittle, might crumble on applying force.

We turned our attention to the clumps of paddy talks. I have a feeling this is organically produced crop. Long back I'd tasted rice at a cousin's estate house and also at a friend's place in Uttara Kannada. The taste of those rice is very different compared to the ones we get in cities.

The walk had made us hungry, time to leave, the home stay was fifteen minutes away and then bath. On the way back I noticed the 'Drishti Gombe' in a plantation. The owner wanted to be sure no evil eye was cast the property. Good for the plants, the Earth needs them.

It was a nice morning walk and a good breakfast of neer dose and some curry I cannot recall but it was made with Jeer Menesinkayi, the small chilly we saw couple of hours back. Our vacation was coming to an end, time to leave this place and head back to Bangalore in few hours.
.........