Binsar Forest Retreat

Retreat Kittens

They were born in July 2014, the same month we moved to Binsar. Tanno, their mother, was born and raised at the Retreat. She delivered the triplets sometime towards the end of July. We christened them Smiley, Stripey and Joey – based on their coat – more to differentiate them than anything else. But the names stuck.

Stripey has a striped coat and is the friendliest of the kittens. He has never scratched any of us and is always ready to be picked and petted. Smiley (with a smiley on his head) has moods but loves running around my feet when I walk towards Trishul cottage through the pagdandi next to Tent #2. Joey avoids us most of the time.

Since a few weeks now, a large tom, who we call Billa (tom in Hindi), has arrived at the Retreat and often gets into skirmishes with the kittens, especially Stripey. The staff believe Stripey is a tom, and Smiley and Joey are pussies. Maybe that explains the fights. I have often seen Stripey take a swipe at Billa and duck back. 🙂

Aahna loves chasing the kittens, putting them on her lap and petting them till the kittens tire of it.

Its been a week now since Stripey has disappeared. Billa has had a wound on his side since around the same time. Maybe they got into a territorial fight. Aahna got a touch emotional when she mentioned Stripey today. We hope he has taken up a new residence somewhere else and is safe. We don’t want to think otherwise.

Stripey, Smiley and Joey were our first pets (well, I could say that, though they are really feral cats) and we are glad for their company. A few of our friends and guests have also come to love the kittens, most notably Anshuman Pandey and Pranay Singh. I hope guests to come will love their company at the Retreat.

Binsar trees

The Wonderful Walnut Tree

The tree was completely bare in the beginning of March, not a single leaf,  and yet I could not help but admire the graceful way in which it held its long branches and it’s dark grey fissured trunk.  Snow softly settled, hailstorms pelted, and wind and rain swayed its branches, but this dark grey graceful tree  stood steadfast and won my heart with it’s remarkable form and resilience.

A few weeks on, and it was as if it started coming back to life. Tiny buds sprouted, and shiny new leaves started making an appearance. It is completely covered with foliage now, with a beautiful wide canopy. The new leaves are light green, velvety, pinnate, with 5-13 leaflets. The male flowers are numerous, green, hanging in clusters with catkin-like inflorescences, borne on old branches.  The female flowers are small, few, greenish, borne at the end of fresh new branches. The tree will bear green husky fruit, and in autumn these fruits shall open and fall down,  revealing the wrinkly hard nut we all know so well! 🙂

Velvety new leaves and male flowers
Velvety new leaves and male flowers
Female flower
Female flower
Binsar butterflies, Butterflies

Butterflies

A few days in Binsar, and I had started missing that most ubiquitous of all butterflies found here – the Himalayan Tortoiseshell! As the weather started warming up mid-March, I could see the small, pretty Coppers slowly make their appearance, along with the striking looking Sorrel Sapphire. But where was the Tortoiseshell I had seen just so many of last October?

The weather has kind of been fickle, with spells of rain and shine, but it definitely is a lot more warmer now than how it was a month back. And guess who has made a complete comeback??

The Himalayan Tortoiseshell is everywhere these days, flitting from flower to flower and often alighting on the ground, wings spread, basking with abandon! On sunny days, when we breakfast outdoors, it settles down on the table, sometimes on crockery too. A pure delight! Another butterfly that we have seen very commonly these days is the pretty Indian Cabbage White. Flitting around, it surely is a delight to watch.

It’s amazing how these little wonders spread so much happiness around, just by being there!

Guestspeak, Trishul

Joy and Peter Lawson

29-March to 1-April-2015, Trishul room

Binsar Forest Retreat exceeded our expectations.  The accommodation was outstanding – all beautifully decorated with comfortable beds, a warm and welcoming fireplace, big glass windows and doors opening onto a patio with “to die for views of the surrounding forest and Himalayas”.  What more could anyone ask for?

Much thought had gone into the preparation of the tasty food which we greatly appreciated.

The walks through the flowering rhododendron, oak and pine forests were spectacular.  We were delighted to see many birds there that we had not seen throughout the rest of India.  As well, with the assistance of our local village naturalist guide we saw barking deer, ghoral and wild boar.  The guide was extremely knowledgeable and we would have surely missed much without him.

We would highly recommend a stay in Binsar Forest Retreat – such a pretty, peaceful place with friendly, welcoming managers and staff.

Harmony with Nature