Wildlife enthusiasts…

After John’s call and all the questions..we were very apprehensive as to how they are going to be….we were expecting a challenging bunch who are going to be very finicky …. but then we like challenges, so we decided to bend our backs a little bit and go all out to ensure that our guests would have a good time.
We decided to use two cottages and set about laying it out in our standard practice, disinfect, swab and dry. Our normal configuration for all the cottages is for 4 people, this time, We moved out the extra beds to other cottages and moved dining tables in their place. Lunch was to be served not in our usual dining area but on the sitout which offers a spectacular view of the Brahmagiri range.

Rakesh ensured that Lunch was special, with the spread including Non-Vegetarian and Vegetarian dishes. We always aim to do that little extra that makes an activity from good to great, Whenever we take a menu from a guest, we always try to add an item to the menu that the guest hasn’t asked — that extra little surprise is what we aim for..

It turns out our guests were wild life enthusiasts ..they had been traveling to almost all of south indian wildlife scantuaries in search of wild life..and unfortunately had a very poor success rate..especially as a group… So we decide the best course of action would be to send them early in the morning to the safari in Wayanad..and in the evening they could go into the Nagarhole. We called up Hamsa, when we called for Hamsa, he was not available in the Morning, as he was hired by the forest ranger for a trip into the forest, but he promised he will be there to take our folks around once they come back from Safari in Wayanad.

A word about Hamsa..
You can find Hamsa in the Kutta Jeep stand, he drives a Mahindra Di Jeep, and is one of the best drivers you can find anywhere. He is scrupulously honest and has thorough knowledge of the terrain and the wild life in Nagarhole and Wayanad and above all, he does his utmost to ensure that all his customers are treated to the best as he possibly can… If you understand Kannada..then he is at his happiest and will very gladly regal you with jokes, stories and experiences.

The best time for animal sightings is Dawn or Dusk, preferably dawn, try to take the safari as early as possible before the animals are driven away by other noisy safari vehicles. However many of our customers goto bed planning to get up early ..almost none ever make it, so it came as a surprise to us to see Rashmi/John up at the break of dawn getting ready for the safari and waking up Prasad and Priyanka. We also had a surprise for Rashmi…It was Rashmi’s birthday, we had tried to arrange for a cake..but all we could get was a nice bowl of assorted chocolates..we had that kept ready for Rashmi in the morning.

The Wayanad trip included 2000 year old Thirunelli temple, famous as Dakshin Kashi, Kurvadeep islands on the Kabini and the Wayanad safari. On the way back, they were to go into the Nagarhole forest. On the whole their Wayanad trip was disapointing, they had very few animal sightings, Priyanka sprained her ankle in Kurvadeep and was in considerable anguish for the rest of the day..However they had better luck in Nagarhole and had quite a few sightings..

The next day, they were supposed to leave back to Bangalore..however after some discussion the folks extended their vacation and decided to take it easy and rest, the only activity was a trip to the Nagarhole forest in the evening…with the fond hope of sighting the elusive big cat…. the Tiger. however it was not to be…and they returned disappointed…

The left the next day after a delay, Priyanka was not feeling well..and was fit to travel only later in the day. This was again a great group of customers..Nature lovers, fun loving, sharing experiences, it was really nice to play host to them. I hope they come back again..

Some of the sights they saw…

By the bonfire

Fireworks….

Morning mist..

Monkeys..

Thirunelli temple

Snake in the water..

Prasad, Hamsa and John..

Elephants..

The tusker..

Rashmi in the Jeep..

Priyanka with Hamsa’s parrot

Our first Webbies!!

The 24th May 2008 weekend was supposed to be Webby week end, We would be hosting our first Web Customers in Bethel. Since its inception Bethel never had a single week
without customers, but these were mostly Rakesh’s old customers (which reminds me I need to make a website for him..) who have been to Coorg and their contacts. Two months ago we started http://www.bethelestate.com to broaden our reach to other customers, since then we received a lot of enquiries but none of which translated into an actual visit. We were hoping that the Web can help us reach far and wide….turns out it also reaches places very close to home.

Our first Webby’s, Priyanka, Prasad, John and Rashmi are not from far away..but actually reside in the same neighbourhood as Rakesh in Bangalore, they were practically neighbours, who didn’t know each other !! The Web, it seems, works in mysterious ways

Priyanka had done a lot of research and some how stumbled upon our site and gave us a call, she seemed convinced that we were real enough and what we put on the web was what we were actually had, It looked as if we will finally get our first Webbies.., she then put John to us, who had a hundred questions for us.. Will there be any creepy crawlies in the tent ? Lizards ? Mosquitos ?…at the end of this call we were no longer sure if the gang is going to make it here …turns out they were all convinced and they made their payment to Rakesh’s brother…Rakesh immediately called me up to congratulate me..we finally had broken our web jinx..and we would have our first ever Webbies coming to Bethel homestay on the 24th of May!!

Here they are with Hamsa’s parrot..
John…

Prasad..

Rashmi…

and Priyanka….

Thanks a lot for coming….

Happy Birthday Manas!!

30th May was Manas’ birthday, Hope you had a great time.

Here she is splashing water on her sister..

And getting paid back in the same coin by her sister and mother..

Happy Birthday Sneha!

15th May was Sneha’s birthday, Hope you had as much fun as you had when you were here

Here she is …

Here is someone who would also like to say Happy Birthday.. Kenju, the Brown one..

Busy Weekend..

We were busy last weekend, Ganesh is an old school mate of Rakesh’s brother Rajesh, this weekend he came over with his family – Lakshmi his wife and two daughers, Bhavana and Manasvini. His friend and colleague Vidhyasagar and his family – Girija, Vidhya’s wife and daughter Sneha; joined him.
Rajesh too decided to join for a day to make sure everyone settled in.

We had ear-marked two cottages and spend the day preparing the rooms and getting them ready, Rakesh went out to Gonikoppal to receive Ganesh and Vidhya while and I stayed back to prepare the Bamboo cottage, we had no intention of using this cottage but nevertheless we wanted it spruced up a bit just in case folks wanted to have a look at it. Till then we were using it as a store room.

Our general operational plan is that one of us would got to receive the guests, when the guest arrive, we call back to the estate so that folks back there know about it and start last minute checks to ensure there are no surprises, next when the customers pass T-shettigeri another call is made to the home stay and we start to layout refreshments in the dining area.

The plan was that folks would come in by 1-2 in the afternoon, we would serve ‘Bhinda’ juice (‘Bhinda’ is a local fruit, its juice is very refreshing and tends to cool you down), Britannia Cheeselings and green salad (since Rajesh had told us that all the folks were pure vegetarian..) and get the folks settled, then hot lunch would be served………

Our day couldnt have started more wrong…Ganesh,Vidyasagar were over an hour behind our schedule, Rakesh calls up from Gonikoppal to say that its pouring down over there…and Rajesh will take more time to reach Gonikoppal but he cannot wait because folks are hungry..so he leaves Manju behind in the Jeep to show Rajesh the way to Bethel and joins the rest of the folks in their Qualis

Instead of Eight guests spread in two vehicles, our nightmare scenario, eight very hungry guests, cramped into the confines of a Qualis and they had yet to go through the jungle road sections that lead to our home stay, and worst of all, as they
cross t-shettigeri it begins to pour down in Bethel! The entire dining table, paper napkins everything is ruined by the rain.

I ran down with the umbrella to wait for the Qualis to arrive, once it comes I handed over the umbrella to Rakesh so that he can escort the guests to the rooms, while I run back to clean up the dining place and get fresh dry towels for every one
Before I am done, Lakshmi and Manasvani have reached the dining hall with the rest of the folks following…all I could think was..there goes our First Impression down the drain..

Fortunately for us, Ganesh, Vidya and the folks were very accommodating and we were able to move past lunch without any further hiccup

Next day morning, we took Girija, Bhavana, Manas and Sneha did their first trek of their lives, they are more courageous than what they give themselves credit for, not only did they do the shorter 3 km trek, the next day day morning they did a harder trek that was almost twice the distance even with all their misgivings..and that after they had spend the day travelling over Wayanad.

Manasvini, Girija, Bhavana and Me (Right to left) during the trek

I missed the Wayanad trip because we had another guest coming over and I needed to stay back and prepare the rooms for their arrival. The next day however I joined everyone to the Stream below the estate, this was one fun team and I had great time being with them

Ganesh, Rakesh and Vidya in the stream

Sneha, Girija, Manas, Bhavana, Lakshmi

It was sad to see them go, especially Sneha / Manas with whom I had spread so much time ..and happy to see that all our efforts paid off and they enjoyed their stay here

The Doctor and his wife, our other guests in the weekend, with Arun and Rakesh in front of the Tea estate

Genesis

Bethel homestay today has 4 operational swiss cottages and one bamboo cottage, capable of serving upto 30 people, a proper crew of chefs and workers, our own jeep — but it owes it all to, few people, who got it here from an Idea to an actual working homestay.

Bethel homestay started almost a year ago, when it first started it was one single swiss tent on the hill slope with the most bare boned facilities. One single temporary shack that served as a kitchen and ‘fire place’ and one Swiss cottage.

Our neighbours, the Dalu family, graciously allowed us to use one of their rooms as a store room which would hold our supplies

Rakesh doubled as our cook and travel advisor, Arun as the host and the driver..
They were the bell boys, the chefs, the hosts, the cleaners….all rolled into one

We had Hamsa, who would always be available whenever we want him, no matter what the hour of day to ensure that we had provisions supplied whenever we wanted it, and to take customers around

There were several others ..who had their hand in getting Bethel homestay where it is now..

Here is Rakesh, in front of the dome tents in the homestay,

Here is Arun, with one of our first tents,

Here is Dalu anna, after the visit to the Teerthamulai falls, one of the almost unknown falls of Coorg,

Bethel homestay, Coorg

It has almost been a year now that Bethel homestay is running, I thought it is about time that I blogged my experiences with the homestay.

But first, a little about Bethel homestay.

The Bethel Home Stay in the Brahamagiri range prides it self in being one of the best home stays in Coorg, Bethel home stay focuses on nature and adventure actvities, It is the only home stay in south Coorg themed to get its guests close to Nature that Coorg is so famous for.

Accomodataion in Bethel Home stay is in Swiss and Bamboo cottages, The cottages introduce its guests to the adventure of camping without sacrificing any of the amenities of a modern Home.

There are 3 swiss cottages (with a fourth coming up by June, 2008) and a Bamboo cottages in Bethel home stay. Each tent is raised clear of the ground and enclosed within a bamboo structure to ensure that the living spaces remain protected and cool irrespective of the temperature outside.

All the cottages are fully furnished and have attached bathrooms with hot water facilities.
Though all the cottages are electrified and have solar and generator backup to take care of emergencies, we prefer that our guests go with the theme and use traditional lanterns for lighting

Visitors can get a good idea about Bethel homestay by visiting www.bethelestate.com.