Tribe, which was your favorite season when you were a child? For me, the monsoon or Indian rainy season has been always my favorite season. Whenever I talk to my son about my childhood, there are mentions of monsoon & treks on mountains. Those are the inseparable parts of my childhood. So to experience the beauty of the Sahyadri mountain ranges of the Western Ghats during the monsoon and relive my childhood with my son; we planned a trip to Lonavala near Pune in India. Then keeping up with our eco-travel tradition, we looked for an eco-resort there and found a beautiful treehouse resort, The Machan!
Our road trip from Pune to The Machan was comfortable, we passed Lonavla on the way and went further up the mountains to reach the resort. Unfortunately, tourism has spoiled this once pristine hill station of Lonavala. We could see a lot of waste in the streams and jungles of Lonavala. But as we went further up in mountains, away from all the maddening crowds of Lonavala; the pristine landscape started appearing. Monsoon creates unending shades of green and when you can see such natural landscape, that too almost untouched by humans (& free from the garbage and commercialization); you start wondering if heaven can be as beautiful?
The Machan
The moment we arrived I could start seeing the sustainable features of this resort. Near the reception of the resort, there is a beautiful pond, a small solar farm, and windmills. Most of their energy demands are fulfilled by on-site renewable energy. They have used local species in the landscaping so it fits well in the surrounding woods. The treehouses are the highlights of this resort though.
Built with natural materials like wood, bamboo, etc and these are located high up on trees supported by steel structures. You approach the treehouses through a small wooden path build high up between the trees.
We selected Forest Machan to accommodate three generations of our family (Ruhaan’s grandfather is our favorite travel companion). Inside our Forest Machan, there was the 4 post bed, another bedroom on the loft, 2 bathrooms including one open to sky shower. The facade made of glass and wooden structure offered spectacular and uninterrupted views of the surrounding forest and mountain. The private wooden deck which can connect indoor-outdoor space makes it a perfect sustainable as well as a luxurious treehouse. This was not our first treehouse experience, we have stayed in another sustainable resort in a treehouse deep in the rainforest of Bali. However, the familiar surrounding nature and Sahyadri mountains made us feel this treehouse a little more special.
The resort offers some great facilities like a library in reception, yoga studio, campfire meeting place (must be fun during winter), a spa, a restaurant with amazing views. Believe me, watching the resort’s rotating windmills risen above the mist in the forest was very calming while having breakfast. There is an edible organic garden near the restaurant and they use ingredients from the garden in their food preparation. However, I would have loved to see more of the local Maharashtrian cuisine in this restaurant than the standard north and south Indian menu. They treat their wastewater on-site and reuse greywater for landscaping. You could find many more sustainable features of this award-winning resort on their website.
Things to Do Around Machan
We stayed at Machan for 3 days, very appropriately there is no TV in the resort but a lot of outdoor activities you can do in and around this property.
Nature Trail
The property has 4 Km of a private path or a nature trail where you can see local flora and fauna. But the biggest highlight of the resort was the surrounding natural setting it was situated in. The resort is located on a huge plot on the mountain slope and they have preserved the surrounding woods and hill as it is. A natural stream runs through the resort premise. We could hear the sound of the stream running just beneath our treehouse, but we had no view of this stream thanks to the thick forest below. The resort offers a guided trek in the surrounding forest trail, so we went on this trail on the first day afternoon to get familiar with the surrounding. The guide was knowledgeable and introduced the group to all the local flora and fauna, the great thing is you can find nameplates for many trees and plants and so you can even go on this trail on your own.
The trails start with a climb down the valley, then you cross the freshwater stream a few times. After a walk in the deep forest for half an hour, it suddenly opens up and you can see a valley filled with clouds and the mountain on the other side from a viewpoint. We went around this trail a few times and every time we spotted something new, that’s the beauty of Nature.
Monsoon is a great time to spot insects, bugs, and small crawling animals. We spotted a lot of snails, grasshopper, butterflies, caterpillars and so many other insects in the surrounding jungle here. It was equally exciting and educational.
I wanted to give Ruhaan real experience of monsoon fun which is getting wet and play in clean natural streams, which appear only during the monsoon in the mountains of Maharashtra. This experience is exactly the same as in my childhood. I was so glad Ruhaan could have all that fun here. We made a boat out of twigs and leaves to float in this stream.
Bird-watching
The resort’s remote location, high up in the mountain and the views from the tallest forest machan; gives you a great opportunity for bird watching. On one afternoon, we spent a great time watching birds and also rain with some hot cup of tea. We borrowed a book from the resort library which helped us spotting some local bird species, we generally pack our binoculars when visiting outdoors so it came in handy here. Our wooden deck felt like a hide-out or watchtower in a nature reserve.
Villages Around The Machan
The resort provides free electricity to villagers’ homes, half a kilometer away. The resort also buys fresh produce directly from local villagers to support surrounding villages.
Apart from these monsoon activities in other seasons like winter, I can imagine one can enjoy activities like star gazing (this place is so far away from all the light pollution) or trekking in the surrounding mountains when mountains are dry and not slippery due to rain, visiting some historical sights nearby.
Take In Surrounding Nature
If you feel lazy and don’t feel like going out, even then you can have a lot of fun in these treehouses during the monsoon. Just lying down on the bed and observing the surrounding nature through open doors or deck or glass walls is so relaxing. The clouds wrap the mountains and with the wind, those clouds keep moving, so they uncover the mountains and you see a different landscape with some waterfalls. As the rain increases, more waterfalls start appearing in these mountains. Have you spent time, watching this hide and seek of mist and mountains?
You can hear the flowing stream, chirping birds when rains stop otherwise you have a constant companion, the relaxing sound of rains falling on the trees and leaves. The jungle here gets so thick during the monsoon that when we were walking in this jungle, very little rain was directly falling on us. The freshness in the air here is second to none. If you are after the joy of doing nothing, this can be a perfect place!
What to pack for a monsoon trip
Do not pack an umbrella, you need a raincoat or water-resistant/waterproof windcheater or jacket. In the mountains, winds are stronger so an umbrella can not protect you from rains, it will break. You also need rainy shoes with a good sole which has a better grip. You need to pack light but don’t forget to pack some warm layers and an extra pair of clothes than your usual number of clothes. Apart from that pack binoculars for the bird watching, some natural insect and mosquito repellant.
Though I would like to share with you how we found an ayurvedic all-natural mosquito repellant on the property here when we forgot to pack one. When we went on the nature trail around the property and found one tree marked as Chinese chaste tree, Nirgudi and it was mentioned on the tree-sign that when the leaves burnt they act as a mosquito repellant. So I decided to crush the leaves and apply them to my son’s hands and legs, and somehow it worked! My son didn’t like the process and so his grandfather didn’t approve it but then what is a family vacation without a little family drama? :D.
If you are looking for some more inspiration for ecotourism in India, have a look at our ‘Ecotourism in Goa‘ post and I highly recommend one of our favorite eco-resort in India, Maachali!
You can find sustainable travel guides from around the world on Sustainability Tribe along with some free downloadable guides. Some of my personal favorite destinations are Iceland and Oman!
One Comment
Hello, Thanks for sharing the article. You have specified all the important points which are necessary to explore the hidden places in Lonavala with beautiful pictures.
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