[hummer]

I always like nature camps, natural water bodies and adventure trips compared to man-made theme/water parks.

This year, fortunately my birthday fell on a weekend in May. Wife and kids wanted to give me a surprise gift. I was pleasantly surprised indeed when they opened secret on the Friday night.

We had to plan and pack many things to for an overnight stay at the resort “Anandadhama a Nature Retreat”. Though the website looked good, I had my apprehensions towards this lesser known place near Sangama (Mekedatu) on the banks of Cavery river inside the jungle.

Booking was already done for Luxury Cottage, so I had no choice, only hoping it would be similar to Jungle Lodges. Our check-in was at 11am Saturday.

It was a nice cloudy Saturday, we had breakfast at home and started at 9:00am from Bannerghatta road. Reached Kanakapura at 10:30am, took deviation towards Sangama. Absolutely no traffic after Kanakapura, it was a scenic village road, it would be much greener after the monsoon. We had to take a right turn just before Sangama inside the jungle towards Anandadhama. We were stopped at the forest gate, we were allowed after showing the “Forest Entry Pass” given by Anandadhama. We drove inside the jungle along the riverside for about 3 kms from Forest Check Post. It is about 2.5 hours from Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore.

We saw a large gated community type of property, covered with electric fencing. Yes, we arrived at the Anandadhama at 11:30am. Made entry at the gate and entered inside. Impressed with the property we drove inside. Mr.Harish greeted us with smiling face and showed our tent house. While we settled down, he came back with welcome drink (fresh lemon juice). He explained the plan for the day. We wanted to relax till lunch and start the activities post lunch, but kids were not ready to wait till lunch, so we went to sports room, it was full of sports equipments and 25-30 BTWIN bicycles.

We played bicycles for 2 hours and got ready for lunch. It was pure vegetarian buffet line up (mostly South Indian dishes made from vegetables grown locally there). Food was very tasty. Took rest till 4pm and started to walk with Harish for activities. Played Archery, Balancing beams, Tarzan jump and Trust fall. Kids enjoyed “Tarzan jump” most and played again and again. It was close to 6pm, it was time for coffee with hot pakodas. Played cricket after that till dark.

It rained heavily for an hour, Harish called and informed about an early dinner due to rain. There was just another family apart from us. Since there were very few guests probably they wanted to close early. Dinner was OK. We slept early as we had to go for trekking in the morning. That night we could hear only the sound of water.

Pictures of day-1:

As usual filling at shell:


Entry into Cavery reserve forest:


Welcome to waterfront:


Restricted entry into the jungle:


Steep roads:


Welcome to Anandadhama:


Luxury tent:


Few pics of the interiors:






BTWIN store:


Family cycling:


Solo:


Places to relax (and read if you want to):


Hammocking:


Boating in small artificial lake:


View in front of the tent:


Dining hall:


Lunch thali (It's buffet):


Archery:


Balancing beams:


Tarzan jump:


Tarzan jump:


Trust fall:


Trust fall:


Night view from cottage during rainy night:

[hummer]

Day-2:

Coffee came at 6:30am, we got freshen up and got ready by 7am for a short 2-3 kms trekking wih Harish. We walked through Ashram, Vedic school, cows farm, fields with various vegetables/fruits. We went to the top of a small hill, passed by Ganesha and Anjaneya temples, walked down to the river, took some nice pics and returned to the tent.

Had breakfast, relaxed on Hammock for sometime. Since it was a Sunday there were some people for day outing. Last event was playing in river, Cavery river is 2 mins walk from the tent, wore life jackets and got into water, played till noon and returned. Time had come to return to Bangalore, all packed up with heavy heart and got into the car.

Pics from day-2:

Trekking via Ashram:






Anjaneya temple at the top:


View from top:




Few pics on the riverside:








Nicely maintained park:








Getting ready to return:


Little offroading experience:


Water due to the rain previous night:


Website: http//www.anandadhama.com/

Mode of travel: Nissan Terrano.

Travelers: Two kids, wifey and the driver (me )

Happy about:
• Well mannered and courteous staff
• Food was hot, tasty and satisfying (except one incident during dinner)
• Well maintained tents, toilets and greenery
• Pure vegetarian and no alcohol, not a crowded place
• Sports goods are new and well maintained
• No mobile network , no TV, no pollution, no horns

Areas of improvement:
• Slight bad experience at dinner - couple of dishes from afternoon were kept and one dish was almost spoiled. We informed them, they said they didn’t realize etc
• Power cut was frequent, switching to generator was taking lot of time
• Hot water available only in the morning
• Property could be maintained well
• Website needs an update - showing things far away from reality,

Overall it was an awesome experience if you like raw jungle and can enjoy the nature without a well-organized itinerary. Very different from the conventional & crowded resorts, take your kids to show how close you can get to the nature.

[21Archer84]

Nice pics & Thanks for sharing hummer. Brings back the memories when we went there as a corporate outing about 8-9yrs ago. I remember, there was craze for the Tarzan jump even for us grownups.

[chandrda]

Looks like a nice adventure vacation with your Boys..

Had not heard of this place and looks like its been there for some time now.

Can it be reached in a small hatchback or is it difficult due to rain.

Friends are scouting for a place to relax over couple of days with some activities as well, will ask them to check this place out.

Regards

[STraiTDriVE]

Super outing and Nice clicks.. It looks to be wonderful place to be in.. Will surely share it with my enthusiastic friends to try out once . Thanks for sharing..

[hummer]

Originally Posted by chandrda

Looks like a nice adventure vacation with your Boys..

Had not heard of this place and looks like its been there for some time now.

Can it be reached in a small hatchback or is it difficult due to rain.

Friends are scouting for a place to relax over couple of days with some activities as well, will ask them to check this place out.

Regards

Yes, it can be reached in small hatchback also. It may become difficult if it rains heavily continuously for 2-3 days, in that case I suggest to check with Anandadhama people and proceed.

[drive2eternity]

Nice pictures Hummer!

Surprisingly I did not know about this place. Seems very interesting. I too share similar interests like you, of jungles, nature and adventure trips.
Would definitely plan a trip there sometime. Added benefit is its proximity to Bangalore.

Thanks for sharing !!

[haria]

Wow! You had a Nice vacation! - Not too much of a drive ; and yet away from the crowd / bustle. Looks very picturesque and clean.

Can you share the tariff ? Couldn't find in the website.

Will definitely include in my list :-)

[hummer]

Originally Posted by haria

Wow! You had a Nice vacation! - Not too much of a drive ; and yet away from the crowd / bustle. Looks very picturesque and clean.

Can you share the tariff ? Couldn't find in the website.

Will definitely include in my list :-)

It is Rs.2000/person per night including lunch, high tea, dinner and breakfast (For Luxury Tent House).

[pduttaghy]

Hummer great pics. Such a lovely place and 2grands per person all inclusive is actually cheap.