FORSYTH LODGE, SATPURA

Accommodation: Forsyth Lodge offers 12 beautifully designed independent lodges. There are 8 cottages that are made out of mud, straw and cow dung inspired by the huts in the local villages nearby. 4 cottages are made out of rammed-earth and offer a machaan on top. This also doubles up venues for nights under the open sky. Though made of mud, the cottages offer all the comforts of modern day lifestyle including air-conditioning, ensuite bathrooms, open spaces besides being well lit and airy. Boilers are used to heat water for each cottage and usually burn on waste from the lodge itself.
Dining Experience: The team at Forsyth goes to great lengths to create a unique dining experience for their guest. A stay of 2-3 nights would most definitely include a village lunch experience where a meal is cooked at the lodge by women from the nearby village. This experience offers the guest a traditional meal cooked on clay stoves, served on a bullock cart out in the open in an area spread to look like a village. String cots are used as seating options. Different locations are also used to create unique dining experiences for the guest, such as a ‘bush dinner’ or dining by the swimming pool.
MECH Features:

• An exceptional Ethical Luxury Wildlife Experience with multiple options to explore the jungle – on canoes, elephants, on foot, jeeps and cycles.
• One of the best team of naturalists in the country. No other lodge has invested in hiring so many competent naturalists given the room inventory.
• Unique wildlife program targeted at Kids to generate interest in the field. They have a Jr Ranger Program educating kids about lesser fauna and how all life is interlinked and how the ecological system functions.
• A large focus on non-motorised safaris and actively promoting programs such as Forsyth’s Trail.
• Panchmari Program to encourage more guests to try something new.

The ‘MECH’ Review:
Forsyth Lodge is one of the most unique lodges in the country with a great emphasis on a meaningful, sustainable wildlife and wilderness experience and this is reflected in the services they offer, in the property they manage, and in their partnerships with the park administration and the local community. The lodge is spread over 44 acres of reclaimed forest. They make an incredible effort to tread as lightly as possible on the ecosystem while designing encounters with Nature as learning adventures for the visitor. This reflects not only in the lodge buildings but also in the landscaping, recycling and managing water, fencing around the lodge, variety of trees and plants on the property and in the quality of the operations on the lodge. The lodge today boasts of the best team of naturalists in the country, ensuring that each guest gets a complete wilderness experience.

Things that you should know: The lodge is open from 16th October to 30th June and remains closed during the monsoons. The park remains closed on Wednesday afternoons and safari/ wilderness options are limited to the Buffer Zone Forest. Travel Connect: The best connect to the lodge is via Bhopal (if taking a flight) which is 3 hours’ drive from the lodge. In case guests are taking a train one should take a train to Hoshangabad (1hour 15 min) or Pipariya (1 hour).