Who doesn’t love coffee!!
Well we are coffee addicts and always in need of a nice cuppa..
Last month when we were looking out for destinations for a vacation, we felt a stay at a coffee estate might be interesting.. Combining our love for coffee and travel seemed like a very logical thing to do
We checked with few friends and Sakleshpur was something which got more votes, based on nature and less knowhow with people which has kept natural beauty intact. A close friend recommended GoldenWood ecoresort at Harley Estate Sakleshpur, hence we booked the property in advance. Sakleshpur here we come..
Sakleshpur is 250km away from Bangalore and is well connected through roads. Route taken by us was :
Bangalore > (NH48 and NH 75) Kunigal > Channarayapattana > Hassan > Sakleshpur
Roads were great except for the last 10km. Locals updated, last few Kms were bad since Govt is adding big pipelines to bring water from Sakleshpur to Bangalore, hence all the digging work.
We started really early in morning 8am, being Saturday we witnessed less traffic on the way.
Manjarabad region is rich is history and is in heart of Sakleshpur, in this region lies Harley Estate which has its roots dating back to 1860’s. This 500 acres of coffee plantation (really its 5 0 0 acres), hoses lush green acres, many lakes, and a gurgling stream at Harley estate, in middle of this estate lies
Golden Wood Ecoresort
Golden Wood Ecoresort
We reached the Estate in about 5 hours, And were shown the options available with the resort. We totally loved the HillTop Courtyard. It had a breath taking panoramic view of the estate, green valley below us and the soothing blue skies above, to add to it, the cottage was surrounded by a large garden. It looked so peaceful that with the first view itself we were totally engrossed in the beauty.
After freshening up we went for Lunch in the open segment within the property, they served us Local Malnad cuisine which was different than Karnataka cuisine with good use of garlic and organic spices, I totally loved the Pork made Malnad style. While having lunch we heard the sound of water gushing and that’s when we were told there was a little visual treat waiting for us.
After lunch they took us to in-house natural waterfall stone through away from deck where we had lunch. The whole private waterfall at your disposal, now how cool is that.. To add to it they had 3 lakes within the property, but waterfall is the showstopper. We decided to come there next day and enjoy waterfall.
This being the Harvest season at coffee plantation, estate people asked if we are interested to take tour into the coffee plantation and learn about the process of Harvest to Cup of coffee. Who in the world would deny such an offer, we are all set, lets go..
We experience the whole process from plucking the ripe and unripe coffee fruit, to collection center where they segregate Ripe and Unripe fruits, from where they go to deseeding machine where fruits are added and machine removes the coating and retrieves coffee beans from it, then coffee is cleaned and segregated based on quality in the machine, from here it goes for drying in Sun. once its dried properly it is segregated again based on their quality, next step is roasting and grinding.
After going through the whole process now is the time to treat yourself with some awesome coffees from the plantation, They have a premium coffee brand with the name Classic Coffees, and we tried different filtration methods to brew our classic blends.
The evening started with Bonfire, they have separate section for it, since the evenings get cold at the estate. Accompanied that with some light music and you can enjoy wilderness at your comfort. We ended the day with dinner from the organic produce from the plantation.
I was amazed to know that estate supports a sustainable eco-system with a large variety of flora and fauna, being home to over 200 types of birds and various other wild life. It is also part of the Elephant Corridor.
Golden Wood prides itself in being ecologically friendly. The electricity used within the resort is generated hydraulically at one of the gushing waterfalls on the estate, or by solar.
Next day of full of off-roading within the estate on Thar and spending quality time with Shal around the waterfall. We spent the whole day exploring the green belts and ended the day with Sunset. It was one romantic getaway for us.
The biggest seller is the fact that the resort is only 250 km from Bangalore so any weekend can be well planned and spent here.
Finally I would like to highlight that, no matter what your preference is, whether it is a relaxed holiday, an adventurous one, a romantic getaway, there’s something for everyone at this coffee estate with its fresh water streams, ‘mountain-esque’ landscape steeped in history. Here at Golden Woods you will be spoilt for choices..
Till next time....Keep it STYLISH By Nature !!
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