Out in the Wilderness

I recently spent three nights at Wildernest resort  (http://www.wildernest-goa.com/) which is about 70 km from Goa airport. The resort claims that it is located in the wettest spot of the Sahayadris range of the Western Ghats and after experiencing non-stop rain for over 80 hours I don’t really doubt it.

The location of the resort is idyllic- it feels far away from everything and the views from the rooms (the valley and waterfall facing rooms) are divine. I mean it is not every day that you can wake up to see two or more waterfalls falling like a bolt of continuous lightning down a green hill.

If you are familiar with Jungle Lodges Resort in Karnataka you would feel familiar here- you are located in the middle of a forest with only the noise of the forest for company (unless of course you are unfortunate to have loud noisy tourists staying in the next cottage). The rooms are homely in that Spartan kind of way that has at least come to mean eco-friendly. All rooms have large windows facing the valley and a huge balcony where you can walk around and take in the views.

The View from the Balcony

 

Note however in the monsoon season, everything is damp and moist- the floors (they have put anti-skid tiles) look permanently like they have just been mopped, the bed is damp, the chairs are damp etc but this is part of the rainforest feel and you can actually come to enjoy it as an out of the world experience. From your bed you can literally see the clouds rolling into the valley and then even into your room- the dampness is a small price to pay. If you do not like damp you might want to stay away during the monsoon and visit during the drier winter months.

The View from the Door

There is a fair bit to do around the resort- they conduct treks to the waterfalls nearby and to the highest point close to the resort , the plateau and so on. If you don’t mind getting soaking wet you should try these- quite exhilerating. Leeches can be a problem during the treks (not anywhere else within the walkways of the resort) during the monsoon months. I wore anti-leach socks during the waterfall trek and passed unscathed.

Some of the easy stretches of the waterfall trek

 

There is quite a nice looking infinity swimming pool which is fed from rainwater and water from the mountains. If all you want is some R&R though you can just laze around in your room (though be warned your choice of furniture is restricted to the bed or a slightly uncomfortable cane chair). I liked the fact that I could just walk around the compound and do a fair bit of macro photography.

Infinity Pool

Food is probably not the biggest selling point of the resort. They advertise that it is rustic fare (fair enough!) but what they don’t tell you is that they have only two menus and the only rice dish prepared for dinner is Jeera rice (we had it all three nights!). There are absolutely no snacks available if you feel peckish in between meal hours and evening tea only has a hybrid bread/ rusk that accompanies it. Once again if you are here to enjoy nature you probably won’t mind this for a few days.

The resort staff are nice- I think with a little more of training their hospitality could be outstanding.

Away in the Wilderness