Pavankhind

Distance   250 km

District   Ratnagiri

Category   Resort

Overview

Pawankhind Resort is situated at Amba, on the tip of western Ghat on the highway from Kolhapur to Ratnagiri, near a little dense forest and a few lakes.
By car it takes about 4 hours from Pune or Goa, and about 7 hours from Mumbai.
The main point to note is this is a 'Group' Resort, i.e., you have to come in groups larger than 6 members minimum, and 140 maximum. Most of our visitors come in groups of 12-16 persons.
The resort has 3 bedded, 4 bedded and 6 bedded rooms, totalling up to 140 beds in 35 rooms. Each has attached toilet and bath, with 24 hours solar heater water supply.
But because of the 'only groups' policy, one room per family is not guaranteed. Rooms with total beds numbering equal to or more than your group strength are allotted exclusively to your group; internal roomwise allocation is left to you.
Each room has individual veranda, plus large sitout for each cluster of rooms; where your whole group can assemble comfortably.
There are children play areas and games rooms equipped with T.T. table, cricket set, carrom boards, badminton sets etc.
Then there is an entertainment hall with open air lawned sit-outs, a conference room of 35 chairs capacity. Many Corporate customers have used this facility to hold training programs, seminars, meetings, company picnics.
The package consists of morning bed tea/coffee, breakfast with tea/coffee, lunch, evening tea/coffee, dinner and stay for a day. Anybody observing religious fast ( Upavaasa ) can be given special menu if informed earlier.

Places of Interest

The main attraction is the one day forest picnic. It not an animal sighting safari, but nevertheless a unique and wonderful experience. (The forest does have all the standard Western Ghat animals such as Bison, Sambar, mouse deer, occasional leapord etc. But they don't come out near the tar road. So abandon an hopes of game sighting.)
The Safari ride starts after breakfast around 10:30 am and lasts till the evening. (It is recommended by the resort owners to hire a locally available open jeep modified for this type of safari, costinf about Rs.1450 for the whole group, for that day only.)
The Safari ride involves a few sightseeing points with breathtaking views, some leisurely walk in the forest, visit to the historic Pawankhind, overview of a dam backwater etc.
Then there's the barbeque lunch inside deep forest, a wonderful siesta under the canopy of trees followed by smoke flavoured tea, and optional walk/ride back to the resort.
For those interested in nature walks, there is a beautiful half day trek. It involves walking through thick forest for about 1.5 hours ending on a flat mountain top with stunning view and some geological wonders. There are some mild surprises on this trek as well. You start after bed tea, everyone carrying his/her own water bottle and nashta pack. Walk on a very gradual ascent thru dense forest and reach on the top. Have nashta, spend about an hour enjoying the scenery and the geo-wonders, and descend to base point by about lunch time.

Accommodation

Here you get a respite from the usual 'Palak Paneer' and 'Dal fry' type of 'Ghissa-pita' menu. The food here is tasty Maharashtrian style, and portions are unlimited. Apart from Maharshtrian Basundi-Puri, you can also enjoy the famous Kolhapuri ‘Mutton, Pandhra and Tambda Rassa’ combination or the ‘Zunka-Bhakar-Baingan Bharta-Mirchi Thecha’ variety.
Any one meal – normally the evening one – is nonveg - for those who want it.

How to Reach

Pune -> Satara -> Karad -> Malkapur(bypassing Kolhapur) -> Amba Ghat

For more information visit their official website : http://pawankhindtours.com/