Wildernest - Jungle within the resort

We thought & surfed & thought & surfed.... to find a suitable holiday. A holiday away from the sea. Our minds had become sea saturated in our 5 years at Goa. Its not that we do not like lounging around on the beach. However, a holiday means doing something different. Sea doesn't offer so many "different" possibilities. Mountains, rivers, waterfalls, jungles do. So, thats the kind of place we wanted to be in over our weekend. An adventure holiday ? Not really. We wanted a perfectly non-adventurous & a lazy holiday on a mountain in a deep jungle. We found promise of such a holiday at "Wildernest resort" at Chorla Ghat just on the other side of Goa in Maharashtra.

We nearly did not end up going to Chorla Ghat. "Wildernest" was full. We were disappointed. Blogs had told us that Wildernest was a wonderful place. I had convinced myself that Wildernest was just perfectly tailored for our weekend holiday. Just when we thought we would have to change our plans, Shaili's friend (who had once gone for a holiday to Wildernest) gave us the contacts of the resort itself. It turned out that Wildernest was running another resort, 2 Kms away called "Swapnagandha". Acommodation was available at Swapnagandha. We lost no time to book this acommodation.

Day 1
We started off in our Indica at 10:30 AM and reached the resort by 1:00 PM. Could have reached even earlier had we chosen to race our way to the resort. But, the route is as delightful in Goa as the destination itself. The climb up the Ghat to the resort lasted around 20-25 kms. The climb overlooked the anjunem dam, which would look beautiful in the monsoon. Right now at the peak of summers it looked nice. A charming sign by the side of the road indicated to us that we had reached our destination. A security guy rushed towards the road on noticing our car slow down in front of the signage. A nice welcome. However, except for some security there was no other sign of the resort itself. Later we came to know that the resort was half-a-kilometer away from the road into the jungle and connected with it by a bumpy road. Our Indica could never have survived this 1/2 km journey on this road. Mahindra jeeps survive any major break-downs for a few months.


We learnt from the secruity that we were put up in "Swapnagandha" resort which was 2 kms down from "Wildernest". We drove back wondering how we could have missed our resort on our way up. Swapnagandha was located by the side of the road but was well hidden from view by the forest.

The staff escorted us to our cottage. Swapnagandha was a small resort with only 8 cottages. All cottages were beautifully arranged in a row with the same path leading to all. As we stepped inside our cottage, I was swept away by the breath taking view from the room.

The room was on a hill-slope, facing the thickly forested valley. A huge glass window opening into the valley gave a "never-before" experience to both of us. There were 3 water falls on the other side of the valley that were dry right now and waiting for monsoons to add to the pleasure of gazing at the valley. Birds were chirping away. Leapords could be roaming somewhere within sight. Later, while I was standing on the balcony admiring the valley I saw some of the bushes moving wildly around 50 m away. To my relief but also disappointment it was a monkey. Had it turned out to be something to be scared of, I could have told a more interesting story.

I have trekked enough in jungles, stayed in tents but this resort gave a truly different experience.

After refreshing ourselves we were invited by the staff for lunch to the resorts restaurant on a machan overlooking the valley.

The restaurant was done up in a way that merged with the wooded & green surroundings. Traditional local food was served in earthen ware. We sat on the machan gazing at the jungles, hills, valley savoring the food amidst the twittering of variety of birds. The silence of the jungle relaxed our minds.

The silence was interspersed by the song of the birds, rustling of the leaves, sound of the wind, and the strokes of our spoons. The natural sounds of the forest fill up the silence in a way that makes one feel a part of it all. Whenever I have chanced upon such silence it has stayed with me for ever.

In the evening we were driven up to Wildernest. We had earlier volunteered to go down in our car itself but were told that we would have to go in the resort's jeep. We soon understood that car's like ours cannot make it down the bumpy strech in one-piece. After driving down deep into the forest we reached Wildernest. This was located on the hill-slope just across from Swapnagandha. We were given a tour of the resort by a "guide" who politely, enthusiastically showed us around - bar, restaurant, swimming pool (I wanted to jump in straight away), etcetra. There was meant to be a folk dance late evening. We had time till then and decided to have tea-snacks at the restaurant. A beautiful place with glass walls. We chose to occupy tables put out in the open and  placed on a wooden floor supported by stilts going down to the hill-slope. A nice place to relax, talk and enjoy the forest.

We ate some more local cuisine for dinner. We enjoyed each meal that we ate except for the last dinner when  Shaili had a bad stomach ache after gouging herself with snacks during tea time !

After dinner we returned to our cottage at Swapnagandha.  Turned off the lights. Moonlight spread itself on the valley below. We sat in our rooms gazing thorough the huge window at the moonlight bathed valley & jungle below.

Day 2
Breakfast, the next morning, on the "machan" restaurant lifted was soothing to the stomach & the spirit. Birds sang and twittered while we ate our breakfast. We recorded the bird-songs on our mobile. Why are bird-songs so relaxing. We sat and talked over breakfast wanting to enjoy these sounds & the sights of the forest & mountains for a long time.

After breakfast we took a walk down the motorable road. We walked 1 Km down. The resort had organized their own short trek but we preferred choosing our own trail. It was a nice walk. We felt the need to return in monsoons and see the landscape transform itself from being beautiful to enchanting. That is the feeling we had continually during our stay at the resort.


At the time when we were still trying to pick up the place to go for a holiday, one of the things that drew me to Wildernest was its swimming pool. It was meant to be perched on a cliff, overlooking the "Swapnagandha Valley".

Unfortunately, I did not own a swimming trunk but fortunately "Wildernest" had anticipated this and stocked these for sale. After our short walk we drove down to Wildernest from Swapnagandha resort, bought a swimming trunk and as quickly as I could jumped into the pool. It was like a dream to be swimming in this pool. It must be the most beautiful pool in the world. It overlooks the valley and ends nearly at the edge of the hill. I had a wonderful time swimming while Shaili looked on and clicked photographs. She missed the opportunity of taking a dip in this enchanting pool.

Some langurs showed up (remember, the pool is in the middle of a jungle) jumping between trees. That made me cut short my swim but I decided that my next swim on my next trip would be a day-long affair broken up between reading a book on the side of the pool and floating on its water.

After lunch we went up for lunch which was as good as the earlier mails - local cuisine and served in a nice, tasteful manner. Shaili made sure that no stone was left unturned in making the best of the meal. That was not such a great idea on her part as the result was to show later in the evening. Post lunch we drove back to "Swapnagandha" resort. The evening was spent relaxing and talking. Before dinner we again drove up to Wildernest for a Documentary. By the time documentary ended the effect of Shaili's tryst with the local cuisine began to show up. Stomach-ache surfaced. Shaili had to skip most of dishes and I had to dash through my dinner cutting short my attempt to pamper my tongue. As soon as we could we drove back to our room at Swapangandha and slept off.

Day 3
The mornings were delightful. Mornings in the middle of  a jungle are always beautiful. Natural sounds and beauty do something to do the mind. Why, I do not know. Perhaps, its something to do with the fact that humans have lived in the jungles for most of their existence. So, we probably like it just because jungle has been our home. At the moment of writing this, I am not exactly in a mood to execute my "logical" part of the brain to explore this further.

The resort does not have room service for good reasons. Room service will be a ready invitation for all types of jungle creatures, insect and ants to share the food and the room with its human occupants. Morning tea is also served in the restaurant itself. We had a good morning cup of tea and soon after walked back for breakfast.

The resort had kept bicycles for the enthusiasts. I've been on a few challenging cycling expeditions. Also bicycled over mountain roads. I reckon it to be one of the most fun-filled activity that I believe one can engage in. It is one of the best ways to see new places. Bicycling down a mountain slope at a breakneck speed with no need to pedal feels great. Right now on this trip, however, we had no such ambitious plans. Shaili wanted to feel the feeling of bicycling down a mountain. She had to go down at a really slow speed. The bicycle was not comfortable for her and without the experience of negotiating mountain roads it simply was not a good idea to try and race down. So, we went slow. Infact, very slow. Shaili enjoyed it since she was doing such a thing for the first time. I enjoyed it for I was able to get Shaili to experience this and I was myself got to bicycle on a mountain after ages.

We completed our mini-bicycling expedition, returned to our rooms, packed and got ready to leave. We are determined to return during monsoons. It will transform itself from beautiful to enchanting with lush greenery, waterfalls, and streams. We have to return to live with these for another day.