We were waiting for the long summer holidays to plan a refreshing holiday tour to with family. That has become a ritual for us, to plan Kerala tour packages for family during the holiday. Though none of us belong to Kerala, we always love this place since we first visited Munnar a few years back. I remember my kids were quite upset with having to spend 2 weeks in Kerala, of all places! We showed them photos of our friends who had recently visited Kerala but till we reached there they did not seem to be happy. Within a day they too fell in love with the stunning locales of Munnar, especially since we stayed in a remote resort inside a plantation which looked like a forest. Since then we have visited Kerala on all our summer holidays and have already visited Munnar, Allepey, Trivandrum and Kochi. This time, we wanted to explore the Northern part of Kerala and decided to visit Wayanad. As we were checking the details of Wayanad online, we wondered why missed this beautiful place this far! There were a lot of options for accommodation available in Wayanad contrary to our belief that it was a jungle. Now we were wondering what all we would be able to see in our 10 days of holidays. We planned it such that we could enjoy every element of nature there except the beach, of course! We planned a day for trekking at Chembra peak, a day visiting the waterfalls, a night’s stay at a Bamboo resort, a day for jungle safari, a visit to Edakkal caves and the heritage museum, a visit to Banasura Dam and the lake, Bamboo rafting at Muthanga lake, a possible visit to Vythiri and Lakkidi and a visit to Pakshipathaalam. It is going to be just raw nature and nothing else to experience in Wayanad and all of us were quite excited to take a break from the concrete jungle.
We landed in Coimbatore and took a car from there to Wayanad. Even though Wayanad is a popular destination on Kerala tour packages for couple, the place is as perfect for family holidays also. We had booked in the Windflower resort which was located close to the Chembra Peak. The restaurant there serves awesome Kerala cuisine which is finger-licking delicious. They also have a lot of modern facilities to keep the guests cozy. We enjoyed the uphill drive to Wayanad which in itself was very famous among the photographers and travelers. It was a long journey and we wanted to take ample rest so that we will be ready the next day early morning for our Chembra trekking.
As planned, our driver picked us from the resort by 8 am when we were ready with our breakfast and some packed snacks to much during the trek. We reached the valley within an hour avoiding the early morning traffic. The driver parked the car and we could see many more tourist cars like ours parked nearby. The driver came along as our trekking guide too. The entire trek took us a little less than 4 hours, huffing and puffing! We stopped by at the stunning love-lake on the way which has never dried up even during peak summer. The sight was extremely beautiful and we realized why this place was loved by the honeymooners! Our teenaged children took the opportunity to get us pose silly in front of the lake and my dear husband did the most romantic act I was missing for the last 10 years!!! He kneeled down and proposed to me and since he did not have a flower, my darling daughter managed to get one from nearby to give me. I was blushing all shades of pink and red! The sight from the top was even more stunning. We could see Wayanad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and even Nilgiris from the peak. It was a tiring yet refreshing trek and all we could do after we came back to the resort was to enjoy a steam bath, relish the dinner and fall asleep!
The next day morning we were fresh again and ready for our tour of the waterfalls in Wayanad. We visited Meenmutty waterfalls, Soochipara waterfalls, Chethalayam waterfalls and the most stunning one which was the Kanthanpara waterfalls. Though all these are located inside the forests, Meenmutty and Soochippara were crowded with the tourists. Chethalayam was not as crowded as it was not in full force owing to summer. We all loved the Kanthanpara waterfalls particularly because it was very easy to access, just a few kms from the road. It was very safe since it was probably one of the smallest waterfalls. The most attractive feature was the dense forest surrounding it. We felt as if we were on the sets of the Jungle Book! It was as beautiful and green all around. So far we would have suggested Munnar honeymoon packages to our friends but after visiting such stunning places, I would say Wayanad is the best honeymoon destination in Kerala. We did not venture out too much as my legs were still moaning after the previous day’s trek and we went back content to pack our bags the next day to shift to a Bamboo resort.
We checked in the next day morning at the Bamboo resort which was near Edakkal caves, our next destination. We spent the first half of the day exploring the resort which was quite exciting in itself! The kids were overjoyed to walk through the bamboo bridges and the green lawns. The rest of our tour was managed by the resorts’ travel desk.
After lunch, we were taken to the Edakkal caves where the kids enjoyed squeezing through the narrow fissures and exploring the stone-age carvings. I did not venture out too much into straining myself physically as there was a lot more to see. We went to the Kuruva Islands next, where we enjoyed bamboo rafting. It seemed a little dangerous initially, but since it was summer season and there were so many tourists and guides around, we all enjoyed it a lot. We saw many young couples on their honeymoon packages for Kerala here. Our next destination was the museum which was quite informative to the children. By evening, we were back in our beautiful resort where they served a great dinner with a lot of seafood. We spent the next day exploring the wildlife at Muthanga wildlife sanctuary on a jeep. We managed to see some elephants and deer and a lot of colorful birds. We spent the next day doing nothing. It was even more refreshing to spend a relaxing day at the beautiful resort just enjoying the sun and cool breeze and relishing the spicy retreats.
We shifted to the Banasura Resort the next day which is the largest earth resort in Asia. It looked unreal! I mean, I cannot imagine a place as beautiful anywhere on the earth. It looked heavenly! After checking in, we went on a visit to the Banasura Lake and also enjoyed boating there. We came back to the resort for lunch and spent some more time at the resort checking out the beautiful landscaped gardens.
By evening, we went to Banasura Dam again to enjoy a beautiful sunset. It was an awesome sight to savor, perfect for Kerala tourism honeymoon packages.On the next day morning, after the delicious breakfast, we went on a visit to a Bamboo factory where we spent the day watching the gifted craftsmen meticulously carve out beautiful handicrafts and even some furniture. That was a great day spent well and we bought back some handicrafts for our home and some to gift our friends too.
The next day we went on a plantation tour at Wayanad and within a day, we managed to visit a tea plantation and coffee plantation which had an organic vegetable farm too. We just had 2 more days left at Wayanad and had to decide between Pakshipathaalam and Lakkidi.
So Lakkidi it was and we went on a day tour to Lakkidi which was an awesome experience. That’s when the children realized there were so many shades of green that nature displayed brilliantly! We reached back late night and were quite tired to pack. So the next day morning after breakfast, we all started packing our bags preparing for the return journey. All of us were happy and equally enjoyed our days at Wayanad and our family time together. Nature had us completely refreshed and even after 10 days of travel and adventure, we were as fresh as the morning dew. We had never expected to enjoy this trip so far and as we have always experienced, we realized that Kerala has many more hidden treasures to be unearthed. We were happy to return as we were all content with our experiences and wanted to share the photos and the gifts to our family and friends back home. Wayanad is full of life, green and wild!
Gogeo Holidays 