A completely spontaneous weekend plan to surprise my husband on his birthday , it's been quite a gem of a find at such a short notice .
LOCATION :
Satkosia sands resort is a nature camp organised and maintained by the government of Odisha.The resort itself is situated surrounded by the jungles of satkosia tiger reserve , on the banks of river Mahanadi at Badmul. The river flows peacefully through the Satkosia gorge between the mountains and it's a beautiful sight to behold in itself
TIME TO VISIT : The resort stays open from October to February, though the best times to visit are the months of Dec and Jan
HOW TO BOOK: Online booking can be done on the government website of Odisha : www.ecotourodisha.com
The website has all the details regarding most nature camps and natural reserves in Odisha and is quite reliable to book from .One gets an online generated e receipt after the booking is completed that one has to print and carry while visiting the resort.
HOW TO REACH : Satkosia is 125 km from Bhubaneswar station, that's approximately 3 and a half hours on road by car .
Nearest airport is Bhubaneswar airport 123 km from Satkosia .
We started off our journey on a Friday night in the month of February from Howrah station .we took the PURI HWH exp at night , and reached our destination Bhubaneswar early morning at 6 am
We hired a car from the station itself ,and drove all the way to Satkosia . The roads are excellent to and from the resort , and it's quite a pleasant roadtrip as we leave the city. We reached our destination at 10 : 30 am .
we had booked an AC Swiss tent by the mountain side with an aerial view of the river bank under the canopy of trees lining the mountains.
After freshening up , we set off for the boat ride exclusively for the both of us on the river Mahanadi which was already included in the tour package as booked from the government website : www.ecotourodisha.com
Back from the boat ride we set out for a simple lunch cooked by the local folk at the resort . Satkosia sands resort has helped a lot of natives living in the nearby villages here . Most of the employees here are local village folk, and the food cooked by them gives one the true essence of authentic Odia cuisine .
Lunch served to us was a simple meal of
white rice, daal, alu chokha, a veg curry with cauliflower , potatoes and peas ; chicken curry , red tomato chutney and papad.
Multiple servings are allowed , and one can order egg curry or chicken pakoda etc from the menu too .
post meal , next on our to do list was the evening program performed by traditional folk dancers and singers native to this part of Odisha.It was a very lovely and energetic performance with folk beats ; and it's needless to say that one doesn't need to understand the language to enjoy the performance .
The staff at the resort were very helpful and were more than welcome to share stories about that region with us .the evening rolled on with hot cups of ginger tea, onion pakoda and potato pakoda.
Late evening, by 7 30 pm the cultural program wrapped up for bonfire night .
A campfire was built exclusively for us at the sandbank of the river Mahanadi. The property is huge and there was enough space for everyone to have a private bonfire and enjoy the beauty of nature .
We wrapped up the bonfire night with a sumptuous dinner and went off to bed early in order to catch the sunrise next morning .
Day 2 started early as our guide came up to our tent with hot piping tea at 6 : 30 am , we set off with him for nature walk.
A forest trail well known by the guides here to experience the nuances of the forest . We saw a few birds and wild squirrels that morning ,along with footprints of deers.
post nature walk , and breakfast we got ready to check out and start our journey home via Bhubaneswar railway station .
It was a wonderful weekend spent away from the hustle bustle of the city , and a perfect place if you would like to forget the world in the lap of nature for a few days.
The air is absolutely clear here , hence the beautiful clear skies and continuous humming of the crickets which adds more to the experience .
signing off for now , Hoping that you guys would enjoy the trip as much as we did !