Description
The main public areas are expansive and relaxing, offering a restaurant, bar and infinity swimming pool overlooking the lake. The food, although buffet based, meets local, Indian and western tastes and is on the whole very tasty. At the far end of the resort there is a delightful reading room overlooking the lake and an excellent spot to watch the sunset.
The hotel offers villas with either private Jacuzzis or Pools; each shielded within your own private courtyard. The villas are all very sizable offering a seating area, bedroom and a private sit out. They are tastefully decorated, blending modern tastes with local touches and design.
For children (or the young at heart), the hotel has it’s own resident elephant, Meenakshi, who you can take off for a bath in the river or ride through the local villages.
The game drives are either conducted by boat or by jeep. Even for the jeep safaris, you must cross the lake by boat and then join a communal vehicle to enter the park. Unlike the parks in Madhya Pradesh, the park is home to herds of wild elephants as well as tigers (seen about once a week), leopards, wild dogs, boar, sambar, chittal and munkjack deer, crocodile, macaque and langur monkeys, and fantastic birdlife including numerous water birds.
The real highlight of Kabini is the wonderful local tribal villages that surround the resort. When you drive into the resort, you get a sense of heading back a few hundred years and seeing bullock carts and dhoti clad farmers with ploughs in hand. Try and take a journey into the old tribal villages and see what lies beyond the resort as a way of complementing your wildlife experience. It is one of the few places in India that such a comfortable resort is located so close to being in the heart of rural India that hasn’t been tarnished by unrealistic modernisation.
To us as Scott Dunn, we think this is more than simply a wildlife resort; it is a complete adventure into one of the most remarkable parts of rural India.
Accommodation
Pool Huts and Jacuzzi Huts. Both categories provide plenty of space, including a sitting area, private pool and outside decking. The huts have great views of the Lake. Jacuzzi huts are the lower categories as they have smaller pools, which can be described more like plunge pools.
Childcare
Children are welcome and there is a Children's Activity Center featuring table tennis, board games, art materials, puzzles and films will also be shown. Children will also enjoy the game drives on offer and the resident elephant, Meenakshi, who you can take off for a bath in the river or ride through the local villages.
Facilities
Facilities at Orange County Kabini include a scenic reading lounge, a traditional Ayurvedic spa and the timeless infinity pool designed to relax and rejuvenate your body, mind and soul. Other facilities include a board room, a well stocked bar and the 'Honey Comb' restaurant, named after the honey gathering Jenu (Honey) Kuruba tribe, serving sumptuous international and regional cuisine.
Activities
The hotel offers boat and vehicle safaris with experienced Naturalists to educate you about this fascinating ecosystem. Guests can also take coracle rides along the Kabini river and go birdwatching to catch glimpses of grey-headed fish eagles, ospreys, Malabar pied hornbills, Malabarlarks, Malabar trogons and the Indian pitta. The hotel offers cultural activities including tribal village visits, to experience the life of the local Kurubas who were originally hunter gatherers.
When to travel
Isolated from much of India by the Western Ghats, the climate of Kerala & Karnataka is tropical and as a result of the mountain ranges the area isn’t as dry as much of India. The best time to visit is from April through June. While there can be the occasional light showers these are just a prelude of the wet weather to come. The weather is generally hot and humid during this early summer. The monsoon season arrives in late June and thus can wash out July and August. September is much more humid as a result of the rainy season, and the fall can be dry but with the humidity this makes it feel quite the warm. The temperatures cool down and the humidity lets up as winter comes in around December, with this season lasting until February when the dry spring returns. Winter can be a pleasant time to visit, especially if you’re looking to head off the beach and explore this Indian land of mystery.
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Location and directions
Kerala and Karnataka, India
Orange County Kabini Resort is situated in the heart land of the Kadukuruba tribe of Nagarhole forest and surrounded on three sides by the Kabini river, near Bheeramballi Village at a distance of 245 Kms from Bangalore by road, via Mysore.
How to get there
10-hour direct flight to Bangalore International Airport. Orange County is 280km from Bangalore.
