As co founder of Outpost 12 a new sustainable luxury wildlife retreat in Kanha, Durgesh Singh has been a naturalist for over two decades.
“And we know the impact any hospitality project has in an area, so we wanted to minimize that. I can’t say that we can completely negate it, but we can always do the minimum best that we can. And for us, it was like we are a 100% solar lodge, so during the daytime we run completely on solar and the extra power we also export it to the grid. Water management was something that we really incorporated, like having the groundwater recharged because we had to draw water from the boats. So we also ensure there’s a big water body in the property which recharges the groundwater. Less than 10% of the area in the lodge is constructed, so less than 90% helps in groundwater regeneration. And our sewage and all are bio resistor STP based, so that also is extra filtered and then it goes back to the ground. So those are the minimum that we started with and there are quite a few other things like less plastic, maintain the native tree variety so that the local wildlife is encouraged in the landscape. We also have energy efficient structures which require less air conditioning and less light during the day.”
“I would not say that it was wildlife that triggered my movement from being a software engineer into a naturalist. It was more to do with travel. So when I came to know that the profile involves a lot of breaks because you are 24-7 in the lodge. So you are not going on leave on the weekends like other jobs. So you get extended leave and that’s when you can travel. For me of course wildlife was an interest area and then I love to explore food. So I go to some of the best places to have food in terms of like street food and local foods. And you know something that always nicely blends with wildlife travel,” says Singh.
He in fact advices people to travel to the jungles in the monsoon. “So monsoon season, people are more interested to do family getaways. Because for us in Kanha, the parks are closed, most of the people think there is nothing to do. But we encourage them to visit the parks because the buffer zone is still open, so drives are still on. If the weather is good then they still can do drives. This is the best time to look all shades of green basically in the jungle. And you can do lot of walks. You can look at things like wildflowers and insect activities and also frogs, snakes, all those things if somebody is interested. Reptiles and amphibians because that’s the best time of the year to look for these things if somebody is interested in nature photography. And know more about nature, interested in doing nature walks. Like I would say that just a 200 meter stretch can take more than an hour because so much things are happening around. And people are looking for short getaways especially during this year because they expect cheaper rate,” he explaons.
So they like to have a good deal and as they know that there is nothing to be planned because the parks are closed. So they can do things at their own pace. And they of course look to do a lot of wellness experiences and concentrate a lot on the food experiences.
And take it a very slow travel kind of thing when they come into the jungles. And sometimes people just watch the rains and this is the time also when the water bodies and the nalas and the streams and the river are flowing. So this is something that you generally don’t get to see during the peak time because most of the riverbeds and all are dry during that time. Or they get dry increasingly but this is the time that you can see them all full. So that’s a nice experience to have. And of course people are increasingly planning to visit this time of the year. Because everybody has seen these parks in almost all the seasons except for the time of the season that nobody has. So now they are increasingly interested to see what it looks like during the monsoons.
Read the full story that first appeared in The Global Indian here:
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