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17,000 km with my Safari Adventure Persona: A flawless experience!
The car is a true blue highway cruiser and I'm putting that capability to use as much as I can.
BHPian Neversaygbye recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
The Safari completes one year today (in terms of registration - I had taken delivery on 22nd March 2024) and the odo now stands at 17030 kms.
To mark the occasion I had the car thoroughly vacuumed and cleaned at a decent local car wash.
I also got the PUC done, now that the car is no longer "New" (that's what it used to say in mparivahan under PUCC). I also got the OD insurance renewed.
Since it's been only about 2000 kms since my last update on this thread, there's really not much more to add. The car has been a sheer joy to drive all this while and the ownership experience has also been smooth and hassle free (Excellent would be an understatement). Everything has held up well and works like it should. There hasn't been a single issue with the car that has necessitated an unscheduled SC visit. There have been zero DPF clogging related issues too despite plenty of running in slow moving bumper-to-bumper traffic. Which is a good thing as there is no manual regen option in this version of the Safari. (This option has been provided in the facelift now, though).
Anyway, going by the first 17,000 kms, I am hoping that I won't get to experience any DPF issues over the life of the vehicle.
The engine seems to have opened up a bit after the third service and the loud protest of the AT on a heavy footed takeoff from a standstill has become somewhat muted. The AT feels a lot more responsive now. Since this is my first AT car, I don't know whether it's me who has got used to the AT or the other way around, but whatever the case may be, I don't miss the acceleration of the Vista any more when I'm in this car (which I used to do in the initial months).
With heavy footed highway driving the T2T mileage usually hovers around the 12 kmpl mark and with a light foot and Eco mode this goes up to a shade over 14 kmpl. (The max mileage I have got is 14.6 kmpl). Now that I have got used to the acceleration and driving dynamics of the car, I'm usually getting more of the 12 than the 14, which also says a lot about my driving style, I guess. It also does not help that I'm using Sport Mode a lot more on my highway drives these days, since I don't mind sacrificing the extra 2kmpl in the service of a more spirited performance.
In the city the mileage varies greatly depending on traffic conditions and is usually in the 9-11 range.
The car is a true blue highway cruiser and I'm putting that capability to use as much as I can.
Apart from all the trips that the car did last year, it has also seen a fair bit of highway runs in the new year. While January was a blank (other than a short drive to the Team BHP picnic location), in February, we did a weekend trip to Maithon, which is a picturesque lake created by a dam on the Barakar river, on the Bengal-Jharkhand border.
WBTDCL has a very decent property there. WBTDCL has upgraded their properties and though they aren't cheap any more (no 1k per night rooms like there were a decade back), the extra money is justified. I hope they manage to maintain this standard (3 star) going forward. In many locations, WBTDCL properties offer a very VFM experience and also have an edge because of their (usually) better location. As long as you keep your expectations low and don't expect too much variety in dining options, you won't be disappointed.
Suffice to say that Maithon is a good choice for a weekend break especially considering the 4 hours' driving distance from Calcutta, a major part of which is on NH19.
With last month being the warmest February in recorded history, it was no surprise that the Flame of the Forest tree that typically flowers in end-March, bloomed last month itself. These trees (locally known as Palash) are ubiquitous in the Purulia region of Bengal, and are famous for their bright red flowers that give the entire countryside a reddish hue during peak season (Typically about a month through spring).
Though Ananya and I have been to Purulia many times, we had always missed the Palash blooms and this year we decided to make amends. It helped that DBHPian Samba had just been there a week prior, and after a quick call with him on routes and stay options, we finalized our trip.
Unfortunately, something came up and we had to shift the dates and this resulted in all the recommended places getting sold out. Finally, after facing multiple rejections, we got accommodation in Sonkupi Banjara Camp, which had pretty decent Google reviews but was otherwise not a place we'd heard of. Only the non AC tents were available and as it was still quite pleasant outside we were ok with those.
So on a Saturday morning in early March, we were on our way. Samba had suggested that we take the Calcutta-Kharagpur-Ghatshila-Galudih-Manbazar route and that is what we did. This route is some 50 odd kms longer than the conventional route through NH19, but it is much less congested, has good road surface throughout, and is very scenic in parts.
The turnoff from the highway towards the resort is a dirt road through a forest that also has plenty of Palash trees.
We reached our resort in about 7 hours. The total distance was 387 kms.
The resort itself is a huge property with lots of palash trees growing inside the compound. As such, we felt that we didn't need to step out, and really enjoyed spending time in the beautiful garden and grounds. It helped that our tent was decent enough and the staff helpful.
Among the abundance of palash trees and bougainvillea flowers, there was a beautiful rose garden too.
The resort also arranged for a performance of the local dance form, Chhau, in the evening. This was as authentic as it gets, and one of the highlights of our stay.
Gods Ganesha and Kartik make an entrance:
The Mahishasur (demon) vanquishes Ganesha:
Climax - Goddess Durga slays the demon and saves the day
The videos don't do justice to the effort put in by the artistes. This dance form demands a high level of fitness and acrobatic skills from its exponents.
Performance over, the gods and asuras are put away, till the next show. These troupes do as many shows as possible during peak tourist season, as this is not a very financially rewarding vocation in itself, despite being pretty well known in general (in pop culture, Anurag Basu's Barfi had many sequences featuring this dance form)
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Finally it was time for us to head back home.
With that, a great trip came to an end, to underline a year of putting the car through its paces.
Hoping that the next phase of ownership will be just as great - I will keep updating this thread as and when the car reaches new milestones. Signing off for now with a parting image of the Safari with the Palash. Thanks for reading this far.
Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.
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