[gadadhar]

I don’t want to call this a travelogue, but wanted to share my experience about my recent trip to Kuruva Island Wayanad

Kuruva island side of Wayanad was there on travel cards for long time, but was kept on hold due to the horror stories in Team BHP site about the HD Kottey --> Bavali Road condition. Through some of the recent posts I could gather that Nagerhole --> Kutta --> Thoalpetty is in good shape and we decided to take the plunge

Next challenge was getting a good accommodation, priority was to stay away from the crowd, close to nature, good food etc. My search for stay in Wayanad brought up many results, but all were in and around Sultan Bathery which is other side of Wayanad (and the crowded part). By strike of luck I heard from people about a new resort that has come up very recently very near to Kuruva Island, got hold of the numbers and made the bookings. Though they have not formally started functioning (now they have from what I heard), they were ready to take us.

So now all set, we started off from Bangalore on Friday morning 8 am in my Hyundai Elantra CRDI . Route was JP Nagar --> Kanakapura Road
-->NICE Road (now they collect toll) --> Mysore Road --> Srirangapattanam(from here right turn to Madikkeri) --> Hunsur (enter Hunsur town and take Nagerhole road near the bus stand) --> Nagerhole --> Kutta (only stretch where roads were bad, but it was hardly for 4 Kms up to Kerala border) -->Tholpetty --> Kaattikulam

Kaattikulam is a small place with few shops, HD Kottey road joins here, at the T-junction, right is Mananthavady, left is HD Kottey Road. Take HD Kottey road which has got pointers for Kuruva Island. About 1 kms on this road, you will find the right deviation to Kuruva Island. Around 5 kms from there is the resort. Surprisingly this small stretch is dense forest and elephants and bisons frequent this area during night

With some help from the resort manager over mobile we could find the resort without much issues. It was such a lovely place (thanks to our friend who referred the place). The whole place is built with bamboo and is on the bank of Kabani (not many people know Kabani starts in Kerala).. Close to nature and wild life all around (elephants are common). Best part with this place they claimed not have cut even a single tree for building this place ( Pepper Green Resort Pepper Green Village, Wayanad Resort, Kuruva Island Resort, Wayanad Holidays Phone: +91 4935 251 110, +91 9946 680 887) . Went for an early morning trek around the resort and came across lot of signs of very recent elephant activity. It was bit scary on foot without a guide (not sure whether you can get one) and with scent of elephant in air and the animals in this area not used to people in their territory (unlike Muthumallai). BHPians with four wheel drives can explore many areas where my Elantra could not venture in.

Except for the trekking the only time we ventured out from resort was a drive to Tholpatty wildlife sanctuary during midnight (came across a lone tusker on the road) and a short visit to Kuruva island. Thanks to the resort manger, he kept us all well fed, arranged for fishing and rest of the time was spent soaking in Kabini.

Highlights:
Drive is excellent and most part of it is through the forest and there is no traffic once you leave Hunsur.(around 6 hrs from Bangalore). Sorry that I didn’t track the odo keenly, but is close to 310 Kms from Bangalore. Respected rules of the forest and drove really slow in the forest and some good zooming till Hunsur, could reach the place in around 5.30 hrs.
Could spot lot of wildlife in Nagerhole & Tholpatty - Elephants (2 lone tuskers on different occasions), Bisons, Sambars & lot of Spotted and braking deers. No luck on the big cats

Forests in and around Kuruva and Kabini is still not polluted by tourism (not the Kuruva Islands) unlike the other part of Wayanad around Sulthan Bathery and has got lot of opportunities for trekking, watching birds and wildlife and will be a dream for shutter bugs.

Lowlight – No good eateries after Mysore, Lunch onroute was an issue, Kutta would have been a good choice but we didn’t venture in to the town (hardly I km was the deviation) while going and that was a decision we regretted later.

Place to stay - Pepper Green Resort Pepper Green Village, Wayanad Resort, Kuruva Island Resort, Wayanad Holidays Phone: +91 4935 251 110, +91 9946 680 887

Overall it was an excellent trip with a very comfortable stay. Enjoyed and planning to go again soon

Bobby

[snaronikar]

Nice write up. Pls do post some pics.

[gadadhar]

It was my first attempt to put together a travelogue. Thanks for your encouraging words snaronikar, I will try to upload some snaps ASAP.



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[pranava999]

nice write up . now that's an interesting option for me to run in the new car. Thanks mate. expect a pvt message for the route soon.

[HappyWheels]

The place is a wonderful get away for people in Bangalore. Had done it once and might end up doing it few more times!

Bobby, few pics would be appreciated.

[Jaggu]

A very good travelogue and brilliant pictures, do update more

[mobike008]

Nice travelogue. Do post some pictures of the interiors of the resort too. Liked that picture of the colorful trees.

[rjstyles69]

Well you never highlighted the actual kuruva dweep and its beauty. This is where the Kabini splits and joins back further ahead.

Also the big cats dont roam this place freely, mostly found around the Kabini Jungle lodges forest area.

[akas_chauhan]

Nice travelogue and nice pictures there. Do post more pictures and some more words about wayanad.

[arin_12]

It looks like MM hills area are completely...

[gadadhar]

Uploading some of the resort snaps here.. I am planning for a second trip to the same place in couple of weeks, will get some snaps of the route and will update the exact distance between landmarks. Check this link, Route A is what I tried and is the best bet I feel Bangalore to Wayanad by road

BTW I heard work was happening in H.D Kote - Baveli road..Please let me know if any one had tried that route recently

[HappyWheels]

Bobby,

Great photos!

The place (and also the food) looks very very tempting!

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

...Bobby, few pics would be appreciated.

Could not understand how I missed the first set of photos!!!

And it is great seeing you here in this forum. Check you PM to know more!

[kannan666]

Well documented travelogue, thanks for sharing gadadhar ! Got a new place to go to and explore now !

[phamilyman]

Short travelog and lovely pics!

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Well you never highlighted the actual kuruva dweep and its beauty. This is where the Kabini splits and joins back further ahead.

Also the big cats dont roam this place freely, mostly found around the Kabini Jungle lodges forest area.

Sorry, I dont have many snaps to talk on Kuruva.. and when we reached the island it was typical kerala hot weather.. so didn't venture deep in to the island (planning to do it during next visit)

On big cats, heard about daily sittings of a tiger and 3 cubs around Muthumali checkpost, need to plan a trip soon.. Nagerhole is also know for tiger sittings.. Was lucky to spot a film a leopard 2 months back in Chinnar on route to Munnar

Bobby