The landscapes and wildlife in Valparai in this season, in December, are just amazing.
BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Last month (December 2024), we did a drive to Valparai, Tamil Nadu, primarily to see the landscapes and wildlife amidst tea plantations there. This was a “friends and family” drive, done together with my friends @robimahanta and @justwheels, each of us driving our own Thar 4×4. Thus we had three families in three Thars going together for this drive. This drive and the theme was the idea of @robimahantaand thanks to him for this well planned and well executed drive.
We stayed at a beautiful bungalow called “Sheikalmudi Bungalows by Tahr Trails“. It is an old tea estate bungalow with three rooms – perfect for our group of three families. Of course, although quite old, the bungalow is very well maintained and brought up to the modern standards, and offers a very comfortable stay experience.
The scenic bungalow that we stayed at:
The bungalow is located in a scenic and secluded place atop a small hill, surrounded by other hills and acres and acres of tea plantation. The hospitality of the staff led by the property manager and owner of the “Tahr Trails” brand, Lingesh was first class, and the food served was absolutely delicious. Fresh, hot and authentic local food. We loved it. Overall we had a great time there!
The only note of caution would be that since the bungalow is located deep inside a tea estate, the last 3km or so of the road to the bungalow is a typical estate road – a combination of unpaved trails and some old paved but broken down tarmac. It helped us that we were driving Thars on this road, but for low slung sedans, this road will prove to be a challenge. Nothing that can not be managed in a sedan, but it will certainly require a lot of care and patience to drive a sedan here.
The landscapes and wildlife in Valparai in this season, in December, are just amazing. We were so engrossed in enjoying those scenes that we forgot to take any car pictures at all. I did not get even a single photo of all three Thars together. Somehow managed just this photo of my own Thar, “Dusty”, there in the tea plantations.
Dusty in the tea plantation
Lingesh was a great host; he is an expert in the nature and wildlife in this area, and knows the entire hills like the back of his hand. He was also gracious enough to be our local guide and drove us around in his old Jeep – sort of like a private Safari – and showed us the landscapes and the wildlife in Valparai. Truly a great experience.
The lovely old Jeep that was our Safari vehicle there:
With this introduction out of the way, let me get to the main agenda – the landscapes and wildlife photographs, in the next posts.
Landscapes from Valparai
While being driven around on the hills full of tea plantations, in that lovely old Jeep, tracking the wildlife (more on that in the next post), I managed to click a few landscape photographs there.
Jeep trails within the tea estate: 
Worker in the scenic tea gardens: 
Red tractor on the tea garden roads: 
Views of the “Lower Sholayar” reservoir: 
Bright green tea and colorful evening skies: 
Late evening mist over the Sholayar reservoir: 
Moonrise over the tea gardens: 
Morning light: 
A sole red tree: 
Morning light and shadows:
Evening light on the top of the hill full of tea plantations: 
Finally, my favorite photo of the trip, sunset over the tea plantations: 
Continue reading BHPian Dr.AD’s travelogue for more insights and information.
