Rainforest Retreat at Mojo Plantation has a communal daily program much
like an Ashram although there are no compulsory early mornings and the optional
activities are based around nature walks and talks on the Kodagu (Coorg)
environment, conservation and organic plantation farming. Elective early mornings tend to take hold the
first time you are woken at dawn by the whistling thrush and rush outside to
hear it again along with its vast array of backing signers. Tasty, healthy and locally-sourced buffets
are served in an open pavilion beside the stream which we cross a couple of
times on the path that winds between the lush green plants from our cottage. Log burners in the outer walls of each
cottage (and the shared bathrooms for the bunkhouse and tents) are lit morning
and evening for steaming hot water. There
is no phone signal and no internet access.
Lights operate on batteries charged through solar units during the long
sunny days. Meals are cooked using the
biogas generated from the cow and goat manure which is digested anaerobically
in a tank right beside the livestock area, creating combustible methane and organic
fertiliser slurry. Everything here in
this (Indian) temperate paradise is done beautifully, from the “eco-chic”
cottage decor to the delicate carrot and beetroot salad.
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| Papaya |
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| Pepper ready for Harvest |
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| Steve (Irwin) and the 7ft Rat Snake Skin! |
Our fellow guests were originally a couple of charming Lithuanian
orienteerers, a Swedish ecologist rock climber and an Indian biodiversity
research student, however, we were then joined by seven, twenty-something “conservation
and lifeskills” students and their lovely teacher, a botanist who runs a
botanical reserve in the Wayanad area of the Western Ghats. Their fascinating course to date has seen
them building and living communally in a shelter within the botanical reserve
and experiencing first-hand the impact of uncontrolled mining in the Goan
foothills of the Ghats. The camaraderie
between their group has been heartening to watch and a pleasure to reside
amongst. The arrival of the students was
fortuitous for those of us who were already here because we have been able to
tag onto their educational program which has facilitated walks with three naturalist
experts and some very interesting supplementary talks in addition to the basic
educational talks about the plantation and its organic operation. Last night, Maya the owners’ daughter, gave a
passionate and insightful presentation on the full suite of local fauna without
reading a single word from her powerpoint slides (…a fine example from a 14
year old for many a UK business presenter!!!).
Maya’s presentation was followed by an impromptu talk on the Indian
Elephant by one of the world’s few female Elephant Mahoots, who runs a nearby
sanctuary and had been invited for dinner.
This evening, Chamika the research student (who Osa the Swede had spent
the day bagging soil samples with) gave us an overview of her findings to date
and with the ever-present “Collins challenge” and all of the other scientific
opinion interjecting around the place she was brave indeed!
The main crops grown in the plantation are coffee (a blend of Arabica and
Robusta is brewed morning and afternoon), cardamom (apparently you can also “pop
a pod” to help you get over a nicotine craving), vanilla and pepper - although
the planting by no means stops with the crops.
Biodiversity has been groomed here using lure plants and barrier plants
to encourage the beneficial bugs to thrive and inhibit the hostile ones from
surviving. There are also a lot of useful herbs, flowers (hibiscus juice is
delicious!), fruit trees (even a fat and cholesterol and busting one!) and of
course hundreds of orchids!
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| Tarrantula Nest |
Our walks have taken us from fish watching in pretty valley bottoms to bone
dry ridges topped with unique “Shola” grasslands and we have wandered steep
sided forest tracks that place you right in the rainforest canopy and areas
that the Indian Government calls “forest” but which actually represent a spread
of non-indigenous fast-growing trees which look “foresty” quite quickly but do
not support the delicate local ecosystems.
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| Ants eating larvae petrified by a wasp for its babies |
For the first time ever I have been shown bird calls and images and gone
away able to identify them for myself, I have viewed creatures that would
normally have made me squirm with absolute fascination and my itch for scientific
learning has been well and truly scratched.
When Steve landed
in India, I think my whole body sensed the arrival of a support network and packed
up having to look after itself.
Following internet research and antibiotics we now believe that I either
have Giardia or my tummy has been so assaulted that it is now highly
sensitised. The culprits are dairy,
spice and fat so I am on a pretty boring diet right now but it seems to be
working. Anyway, I digress …the tummy
has had somewhat hampered our trekking plans since reaching the plantations but
whilst at Palace, we managed to achieve our aim of climbing Kodagu’s highest peak
…Tadiyendamol. The walk was only as
challenging as a day’s summit-bagging in the lakes but we had the whole range
almost to ourselves, the rain held-off and we didn’t come face to face with
wild tigers or elephants …although we did see wild elephant poo in a rather
enclosed corner of the reserve!
