As a country, India is blessed with variant geography. From the burning Thar of Rajasthan to the freezing Siachen at Kashmir, beautiful beaches of the West and East to the towering Himalayas in the north and fertile Gangatic planes to ever green forests at Sahyadri in the Western Ghats, Mother India is a treasure of staggering splendour all over. Being a part of this nation, the State of Karnataka has also inherited many such qualities from her mother. I had an opportunity to explore a place, which is still unknown to many Kannadigas now. After my tour of this enigmatic, scenic nature in our own backyards, I am still amazed. Perhaps, I will ruminate on this experience lifelong.
Tired of routine work, I was planning for a holiday with my family during Diwali vacations. Due to the high inflation and ever increasing travel expenses, I wished to keep my holiday, a cheaper but memorable affair this time around. A sudden call from my brother about the idea of holidaying in a place called ‘Honnemaradu’ in the back waters of river ‘Sharavati’ left me skeptical. I okayed his plan with much reluctance, as the destination was largely unknown and unheard too. As part of our tour plan, I was busy in collecting information things ‘to carry’ and ‘not to carry’ to the destination, initially. However, when ‘to carry’ list turned out to be small and hovered around water adventure based activities, my cynical perception about the location started fading and I started dreaming about floating on the backwaters.
Before explaining my terrific experience of Honnemaradu, let me give a brief background of that place. It is a submerged village under ‘Sharavati backwaters’ near Sagara after the construction of ‘Linganamakki’ Dam in 1964. Since then the river ‘Sharavati’ swallowed most villages in the surroundings, leaving a few hilltops to turn into Islands. The mainland on the bank of the backwaters also has a range of hillocks covered with a forest blanket.
‘The Adventures’ is a non-profit organization based in Bengaluru that was allotted a huge area by the State government to maintain the surrounding of Honnemaradu in the year 1991. In 1995, this organization started ‘adventure sports’ activity in the surroundings. The organization offers Diploma in Adventure sports like rock climbing, rappelling, rafting, boating, Nature study, bird/animal watch etc. The duration of the course can vary from 6 months to 1 year depending upon the sports chosen by the student. This place was thrown open to the public too, for making a stay with the nature, water and to learn few adventure activities during their stay in the natural environment.
Unlike resorts, this place doesn’t offer you a lavish life in an isolated place, but offers you an opportunity to live with Mother Nature. The establishment provides trainers cum guides, who will be very friendly and honest in sharing their knowledge about the adventures. The most striking feature of this place is the simplicity that is expected from the visitors. Visitors are given Vegetarian food only and there is no scope for throwing the waste around. Visitors must quit alcohol and smoking during their stay here.
The campus is a steep hill surrounded by greenery with skyscraper bamboo trees around. On the peak of the campus, a panoramic view of various islands in the blue waters of Sharavati can be seen. A couple of small staff quarters are situated on the hill top. The vistas seen around 360 degrees from the peak reminds one of the paradise explained by many poets like Kuvempu, Bendre in Kannada and William Wordsworth, Ralph Waldo Emerson in English, who adored nature in their writings. There is a camping location, which is a small plane at the bottom of the hill. This is called Robert Beetman camp since 1999. Mr. Robert Beetman, a Canadian artist who was devoted to nature, visited this place in the year 1999 and lived here for more than 6 months.
To my surprise, we were also received by a foreign host in the team of guides. Ms. Christine a German national is currently here for her stay of 6 months with nature. The water at the reservoir of Linganamakki is astonishingly blue in colour. The trainers will be ever-ready to help visitors and guide them to float on the blue water. They provide life-saving jackets for floating and ‘Coracles’ (Round shaped boat also known as ‘Teppa’ in Kannada language) for paddling on the vast water body. After a couple of hours of Training sessions the visitors will be ready to paddle their way to a distant island.
As I mentioned earlier, there are many islands visible to the naked eye. However, for camping, 3 major islands are preferred. The most common and biggest of them is ‘Korigudda Island’. The other 2 are ‘Jamoon Island’ and ‘Single Tree Island’. Though, we have not visited the later two, I was told that there are abundant blue berry trees in ‘Jamoon Island’ and it is relatively smaller in size compared to Korigudda. In fact Korigudda is the nearest Island and it is close to about a kilometre from the mainland.
Paddling ‘Coracle’ for about 45 minutes to Korigudda from shores of mainland is an incredible experience. A spectacular view of the entire mountain ranges from the main land started moving away from us, as every one of us packed our luggage and headed for a stay in a mysterious island by way of paddling. As we sailed ahead, we took a welcome break in the midway in a small barren island. It’s known as ‘Kappe Chippu Island’ and with a tiny area of 6 square meter can accommodate not more than 6 people at a time. The sun was challenging us with the time and our test was not only to reach the Island but to reach the camp location and collect firewood to make a campfire to keep wild animals away during the night.
To keep the entire night lighting with fire, the quantity of firewood required was relatively huge. Great exploration in an unknown island jungle to get the firewood was a fantastic experience for us. We succeeded in getting the tent ready on time with the huge collection of firewood to keep the atmosphere lightened throughout the darkness. We sang, danced and shared humour in the camp site. The entire night passed off quickly and the sun smiled again the next morning, to remind us that ‘no matter where you are, I do my duty round the clock’. It was time to explore the island and we could reach the other shore, to see a breathtaking view of Linganamakki dam site from a far away distance. We completed all our routines out in the nature and returned back to the main land with a feel of victory.
It was time to practice ‘Canoe’ (a small boat). Canoe sails faster than Coracle but equally dangerous too. Slight imbalance could cause Canoe’s capsize. Hence it is not advised for inexperienced folks like us for journey till the island. However, the short journey on the water close to mainland was so refreshing for each one of us.
When it was time up for us to pack our bags, it was a load of disappointment for everyone of us. We never felt so close to the blessed environment in the past and the enjoyment of being with Mother Nature was truly astounding and distinct experience. I wish to return back to this magnificent world of dense trees and blue water soon.
We are still churning with the excitement of ‘Honnemaradu’. I am sure at least a few of you would have made up your mind to visit and stay there soon.
Useful information:
Name of the place: Honnemaradu.
Distance from Sagara, (Shivamogga district) 25 KM.
From Sagara to Talaguppa-15KM, from Talaguppa to Honnemaradu-10 KM.
It is advised to travel in small utility vehicles like cars or jeeps.
Better off, if you carry swimsuits and simple dresses.
You must carry plates and beddings.
Alcohol consumption and smoking is strictly prohibited. Garbage is not thrown out in the open or in the backwaters. Pick the water in the vessel and use is for cleaning your face on the banks. While in the water, no soaps are permitted.
Minimum group-size is 12. Always book at least 1 month in advance.
Contact: Contact: Mr. Swamy, Ms. Nomita
Swamy S.L.N.
The Adventurers
142, 69th Cross, 5th Block, Rajajinagar,
Bangalore INDIA 560 010
Phone: 91-80-23305508 (Office),91-80-23409712
Email :
Photos Courtesy: Vidyadhara Padebettu
About The Author
He loves travelling and has extensive travel experience in the Far East. This article is his first contribution to Mangalorean.com. |
Author: Ananda Padebettu- Mumbai
