Staying in a Tree House in Rain-forest in Kerala: Wayanad district

21st March 2014

We men are a little choosy when it comes to growing up. We choose very carefully the rare occasion when we like to act like grown up men. Most of our life we choose to remain boys, be it mama’s boys or reincarnation of Mowgli. There is a little bit of Mowgli in me who wants to climb trees, jump holding vines, chase squirrels, make faces at macaques sitting on a branch higher than me, and have my own personal sunset from my balcony in my own Tree House.

On reaching Wayanad at our abode for 2 nights the Vythri Resorts, one of our #KeralaBlogExpress member bloggers Gaia Calheiros, who is visiting us from Brazil was offered a Tree house to stay. Truth be told I was jealous of her, and I am pretty sure others in the team were also curious about the Tree House. Though Gaia had to check out of the Tree House next morning, we got a tour of the same with the Sales and Marketing Head of the resort Mr. Roy Chacko.

I was excited as an closet Mowgli would be to get a chance to see a tree house. The Tree houses are in an exclusive section of the resort and you have a jeep on call to take you and bring back from the tree house. Though the ride lasts just a few minutes on the dirt track, you are soon transported to the land of Mowgli and Tarzan in first gear on  steep incline.

When we reached the first Tree house I could not see it as it was surrounded by the great canopy of Nature’s Skyscrapers the strangler fig trees. But the first glimpse of the Tree house majestically sitting on top of the canopy of evergreen rain-forests of Wayanad was a sight to remember. Glowing in the evening sun, the Tree house appeared like a jewel in the crown of the tree.

The Vythri Resort, management had just completed the periodic maintenance of the tree house and one could see the new ropes, and smell the paint.

We took the metal stairs, then a very wobbly Burma Bridge to reach the house that dreams of young boys, and refusing to grow up men are made of.

While standing on the platform I looked below the floor of the rain forest, but I could not see much because of the gurgling sound of a wild brook flowing below. I could imagine how the stream would look from top in monsoon, when it was mumbling in march, I am sure during monsoon it will be full of energy and much bigger.

Inside the tree house was a luxurious king size bed, with a net, reminiscent of old Bollywood movie made by the dream merchants during their hay days. Right next to the bed was a huge branch piercing the floor and vanishing in the roof.

The tree houses have been made around the trees, making sure natural growth of the trees is not hindered.

But the biggest surprise was an absolutely modern attached bathroom with running water and shower cubicle, the water in the stream comes from a perennial upstream source using gravity, so no need to worry about nature’s call in the middle of nature.