My First Camping (Glamping) trip in the Wild | Weekend Getaway 2019

[Ambreen]

Hello Local Guides,

Today I am excited to share my recent staycation experience of Camping in the Wild. I have always been fascinated with the life of backpackers, bikers, wildlife explores/photographers and these aimless travellers who just go out there in the wild and enjoy the silence of nature.

Star gazing and camping in the wild was on my wishlist since a very long time and I was astonished to discover Ananta Ecotel Resort which is a newly launched eco-village resort to experience Wild Camping near Mumbai city. I instantly connected with the resort checked on all the facilities available and planned a visit with two of my gorgeous friends who were equally enthralled with the idea.

About Ananta Ecotel Resort:

Ananta Ecotel is a conscious luxury tent resort located on one of the oldest Sahyadri ranges near the spiritual land of Trimbakeshwar in Khodala village, Palghar district, Maharashtra. The resort is surrounded by mesmerizing views of natural landscapes, mountains, forest, waterfalls, wildlife, organic fields of vegetables and fruits, local villages and the area is one of the world’s ten “Hottest biodiversity hotspots” and has over 7,402 species of flowering plants. This earthy resort is spread across 15 acres of land and it’s a huge space where different activities are scattered in different areas. The area has many trekking trails around and is also known for spiritual awakening spots surrounded by all elements of nature, making it a perfect place for healing, meditation and relaxing your mind, body and soul.

How to Reach Ananta Ecotel Resort?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYZBM7LyMho

The best and fastest route to reach the resort from Mumbai is by road. It is approximately 3-hour drive from Mumbai till Ananta Resort at khodala village. You can also have a halt at Food highway and Food hub on the National Highway for quick refreshments.

Do check Google maps for fastest route options and also you can download IRCTC app for Indian train updates. We travelled by car and it was a smooth drive from the Wada – Khodala road which was really beautiful. Because of the monsoon season, we experienced heavy rainfall throughout the way which was spellbinding and made our journey even more fun.

* My stay at Ananta

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOlxz0hVWGo

After a smooth exciting journey we all received a very warm sweet welcome by the owner of this resort and his team of local villagers. Once we reached the luxury tents we were jumping with joy because it was like a dream come true. I couldn’t believe that the tents had almost everything we needed, it had all the modern amenities but there were definitely some rules of camping you had to follow to be safe in those tents to keep creepy crawly insects and wild creatures away from the tent. The forest had snakes, scorpions, fox leapords and other wild creatures/animals around.

The ambiance of the resort, views, and landscapes was awesome. It had all the basic facilities we required. The services were also excellent. Initially, night in the tent was little scary, it was very dark and there was this constant buzzing of insects. Later when we entered our tents we had absolutely no problems.

*Weather and Best Time to Visit?

I love Monsoon time in Maharashtra and hence we visited this resort during End of June 2019. The climate was nice and pleasant with moderate rainfall. It was such a great experience, if you visit in July you can spot some mind-blowing waterfalls in the resort itself where you can even sing with thousands of different species of birds around or do bird feeding. During heavy rainfall trekking in the forest can be difficult hence if you want to go on these long trekking trails then November to May will be the best time for you to visit this place. During this time the temperate drops to almost 12-15 degrees, perfect for bonfire and barbeque.

* Food at Ananta?

The food is so delicious out here, you will get authentic local village organic food cooked by the local villagers. Enjoy the local Maharashtrian cuisine, there is a buffet for all the meals, you can even enjoy barbeque treats and try the fresh fruits and vegetables from local farm produce.

* Activities and things to do at Ananta

There are endless activities, sightseeing and things you can possibly do at Ananta Ecotel Resort. It has facilities like Conference Room, Restaurant, Amphitheatre, Hammocks, Library, Adventure sports, Bonfire, Barbecue, Playground, Trekking, Play area for kids, Indoor Games, Stargazing, Live band, Music and entertainment, Guided tour of planets, Rappelling, Fishing, Canoeing, Kayaking (water activity – at a site close by) and many exclusive secluded pergolas/huts to enjoy the natural and peaceful environment.

Trekking Trails near Ananta:

Discover historic and spiritual locations on your trek to ANJANERIHILL, RAMSHEJ FORT,TRINGALWADI FORT, HARIHAR FORT, DABHOSA WATERFALL, VIHIGAON/ ASHOKA WATERFALL, DUGARWADI WATERFALL, SANDHAN VALLEY, KOHOJ FORT, GHATGHAR DAM, RATANGAD TREK, KALSUBAITREK, BHANDARDARA CAMPING, ALANG MADAN KULANGTREK, ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY BHANDARDARA, GHATGHAR KOKANKADA, WILSON DAM, BOATING AT BHANDARDARA LAKE

Overall Value for Money?

Ambiance: 5/5*

Service: 5/5*

Staff: local villagers: 5/5*

Food: 5/5* (Buffet meals)

Accommodation and Stay: Perfect tents 5/5*

Prices: Depends on the packages you pick

Facilities & Amenities: 5/5* as the place is under construction and we had absolutely no issues in the jungle.

Restrooms: 4/5* this could be a new experience for people. But I enjoyed it

*Pet Friendly

*Great for Family Outdoor Vacation

*Great for Backpackers

*Great for Wildlife photographers

*Amazing for Camping in the Wild

*Amazing for Adventure sports and trekking

*Amazing for Spiritual healing, yoga and meditation

*Kids Friendly

*Parking: Available for private cars

*Wifi: A Technology free zone hence no wifi, but networks like Jio and Vodafone work fine over here. Airtel doesn’t work here.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post and found it helpful

Overall Value for Money 5/5*

#WeekendGetawaytrip2019 #CampingnearMumbai #campinginthewild #retreats #letsguide

~All Good Things are Wild & Free~

Updated on 5-07-2019: OMG so happy be part of the Friday Favorites: a meet-up in Rivne, glamping, and more wonderful post. Thank you so much @MortenSI @Sorbe

Lots of Love to all,

@Ambreen

Blog | Instagram

[AdamGT]

An amazing post with lots of detail and amazing photos and videos @Ambreen

[Ant_Bad_Yogi]

@Ambreen

I feel like flying to Mumbai and visiting that place now. Thank you for sharing this nice story and amazing photos with us. If I could, I would give you 100 likes.

[Austinelewex]

Wow! @Ambreen very nice post. You’re always detailed in your writeup. All the questions I wanted to ask you were answered as i read through the post. Keep it up. And keep up camping but be aware of most of the wild animals you mentioned here​:joy:.

For this l’m going to share the link of this post on our local guide WhatsApp group.

[marcorp]

@Ambreen very nice post! great content and even better pictures! thanks for sharing!

[Ruxellan]

Hi, @Ambreen , great post, your post is a complete tour guide. It is very much descriptive, as I saw your last post about Gulmarg that was also very much descriptive. I like your story telling style. Thanks for sharing.

[InaS]

Hi @Ambreen ,

Great post! I guess you had lots of fun. Would you go again? Did you get the chance to see any shooting stars? Last weekend I was camping too. The bonfire, barbecue and stargazing take the whole experience to another level. We went next to the lake. What impressed me the most during the night, was the croaking of the frogs. It was so loud and didn’t stop all night long. While stargazing we saw many shooting stars and made many wishes.

I am sharing with you two pictures:

[AslamMo]

Great post, looks like you had a great time, love the sign board “be like animals”!

[Ambreen]

Hi @InaS

Wowww beautiful pictures. Must be so exciting. The lake is beautiful and the bonfire looks amazing. Thank you dear for sharing. Oh yes I can relate to nature’s orchestra in the background I would love to go back to this resort, it was such a rejuvenating experience and definitely, we had alot of fun. We had this constant buzzing of insects mostly crickets and there was this weird insect which made a very unique sound like Woahhh… Woaah…

We got a very educational guided tour of the history of this land which is near Trimbakeshwar. Actually more than stargazing, what really caught our attention was the time when the electricity went off. We were having dinner in a shack and it was pitch dark, within secs we saw thousands of fireflies in the forest and even the rooftop of the shack was covered with fireflies twinkling like little stars. I tried to capture a video or an image but I failed as it was dark and scary, we were asked not to switch on our torch as the blood-sucking insects would get attracted to light.

When the lights came back we saw a few scorpions around us The local tribals went hunting in the dark, they would normally hunt for rabbits and peacocks. We also heard some local interesting stories from the tribals who believe that there is a 100 year old Indian cobra, who lives near a Fig tree in this resort. A lot of takeaways from this trip

Thank you so much for appreciating dear

Regards

@Ambreen

[Ambreen]

Thank you so much for appreciating @AdamGT

Really means alot.

[Ambreen]

@Ant_Bad_Yogi Thank you so much for appreciating and for such a sweet comment

You must visit, I am sure you will like it.

[Ambreen]

Hi @Austinelewex

hahaha so sweet yes I will be careful, we had the local tribals with us who knew how to survive in the forest. Thank you so much for appreciating, this is very motivating for me to keep producing good quality helpful content. Really means alot.

Regards

@Ambreen

[Ambreen]

Hi @Ruxellan

Thank you so much for your kind words. I am glad you enjoyed reading both of my posts.

Thank you for appreciating, really means alot

Regards

@Ambreen

[Ambreen]

Thank you so much for appreciating @AslamMo

Oh ya, they had such amazing signboards ?

Be like Animals

[Austinelewex]

[InaS]

We went there to escape the noises of the city, and nature welcomed us with her own style @Ambreen . But if we don’t have such things happening, how would we remember this experience as a great one. Small things connected all together make the bigger picture look even better.

Wow, that must have been a show in its own. I didn’t see any fireflies, unfortunately. A 100-year-old cobra story must have been really cool.

[Ambreen]

@InaS So true dear small things make the bigger picture and these beautiful memorable moments are like treasure

Ya, the tribals had many interesting stories to share but the 100-year-old cobra with a precious stone was pretty amazing. I am glad you had a nice escape away from the city.

Have a lovely day!

[chinyama]

Great post you have there @Ambreen it’s so detailed with quality photos and All you need to know about the place. I feel like I have been there and it sparked an interest in me to visit the wild though I do it during the day hunting and sight seeing but have never attempted camping.Very afraid of the stealthy snakes.

Thank for an excellent post .

[Sahilmsk2208]

Wow, I don’t know there is a beautiful gem near to Mumbai. Sure I will go there one day.

Your photos and videos are so beautiful and mesmerizing. Thanks for sharing this Beautiful posts with us @Ambreen

[Ambreen]

Hi @chinyama

I feel happy that you found this post helpful It took some time for me to really be ok with these wild creatures around. I was constantly on an alert But even when you spot these things from a safe distance, it kind of makes you admire the natural beauty and how fragile we humans really are.

Thank you so much for your kind words.

Have a lovely weekend