Bear Mountain was our choice by chance. We scouted for various options in jungle resorts and by elimination due to mainly non-availability of rooms and also lack of safaris in most of the resorts in Karnataka, located this one in Mudumalai. There are a number of resorts more or less in the same vicinity at the foothills of the Nilgiris range. We spoke to the owner, David and from his description of basic but clean cottages as well as the offer of a safari.
Bear mountain was attractive for us. We are a family of 4 adults and 2 children. David offered us a couple of cottages with a common verandah, which suited us well so that we were connected as a family.For the reservation we made an advance payment of half the amount. The deal was good with Children not being charged for the room but only food. The rate was with all meals included, mattresses for children included in the rooms.
Refer https://bearmountain-india.com/ for details and tariffs, etc. The deal we got at that time was Rs.3000 for a couple inclusive of all meals, tea/coffee in the morning and evening. For kids, the deal was no charge for the room but Rs.375 charged for meals per day for two kids. It could have been a good deal due to the low crowd during that time.
We headed off from Bangalore to Mudumalai via road. The journey took us around 6hrs. starting off around 7am. to beat the weekend crowd. The roads were fine till we hit Gundlupet. From there the road was uneven till we hit Bandipur. After that, it was just the narrow road to take care of when driving.Bear mountain is bang at the foot of the mountains and it’s a wonderful view right there in front of our cottages.
The whole place is picturesque. Most of the other resorts do not have this direct view of the jungle rising up into the mountain in front of you.Once we entered the Bear Mountain resort, we were received by Suresh, the manager. He was very organised and right away directed us to our cottages with our luggage. We offloaded and then one of us handled the registration formalities ( one line in a register) while the others freshened up.
The room was very clear, with one room having 4 beds and the other 3. There were clean sheets, pillows and blankets on each bed. The bathrooms were the best of all. Very clean and well maintained. No stains or dirt, etc. This was the most pleasant surprise considering a number of jungle resorts we’ve stayed at in the past. The bathrooms have bathtubs and showers, bucket and mugs. Soap and shampoo were also provided. We had running hot and cold wate in the shower and sinks.
We had clean white towels provided and more were supplied on request. We found them in our room on return from lunch, without any need to remind or follow-up.The rooms have fans, which came in handy during the mid-day. However the rest of the day was cool and the nights too, with cool breeze.
Lunch was made for us. This was excellent fare. We had a comnbination of North and South Indian food. The variety of veg and non-veg dishes with fruits, salad, pickles, papad, etc. was more than average and we were hard put to do justice to it. All food was freshly prepared and served to us in the dining room which has an excellent ambience. Every request, whether from additional rotis, or yoghurt, etc. were catered to immediately. We didn’t have to remind them for anything.
We did not face any formalities during our meal such as signing for it etc. or anything like this. The account was kept separately and accounted during the checkout. The service was with smile and very attentive.Tea/Coffee was served in the morning and evening with biscuits. When we requested for additional tea/coffee, this was also catered to without issue.
Some rooms have tents on raised floors and they offer a camping feeling and yet have the facilities of the cottage.Most of the tented accommodation are still housed in a cottage-like structure and all of them face the jungle and the area where deer will wander past your tent-cottage very often. You can gaze at then from your bed.
The safari and bird-watching activities were organized for us and the staff reported on schedule for us. The safari guide was knowledgeable of the areas to reach to spot animals and seemed to have an excellent network of people who when met on the way directed us to the location of an animal sighting. The result is that we spotted a herd of elephants, a lone elephant and then a lone tusker on different instances. These were all close up. We also spotted a herd of deer, peacocks, wild boar, jungle fowl and plenty of the giant Malabar squirrel.
Besides this we spotted a number of birds. Some are the golden-backed woodpecker, warblers, drongos, sunbird, spotted doves, robins, red-vented bulbuls, parakeets, kingfishers, quail. We spotted signs of bear but didn’t sight any.You don’t need to go on safari to see deer. They are more often than not in the resort, coming through the fence. So while sipping team you can watch them graze, see males fighting and hear the clash of their antlers.We were also taken to a stream where the kids could swim or laze in the water. This was fun especially on a warm day.
There are at least 3 campfire sites which are very well setup. Lot of chairs are available and campfires are organized in the evening by the staff, bang on time that you request. They also play music if required. There is a very modern dance floor with UV and disco lights, and a very good music system.For those who miss their traditional games, you have badminton and cricket with the equipment provided by the resort. The badminton court also has a floodlight.
There is a swimming pool planned, so in future this is an added attraction for us and kids too.The place is surrounded by fencing which also seems to be electrified. Hence it is quite safe at night too.One word of caution is to avoid wandering towards the front right corner of the premises as there is a big open well in that part. It is anyway away from the residential part of the resort, but if you do get the urge to wander off, look out for that.The resort folks should fence it off for safety.