Tea Tour

The tour starts with a leisure walk into the tea plantation roads, of a private estate. The routes are carefully chosen to give you a unique experience to savor the beauty of Valparai, with scenic view-points and breathtaking landscapes en-route.

During the walk, you’ll get to interact and photograph the work force (typically women) dressed in vivid saris, skilfully plucking the rows of bushes, with deft use of the fingers and thumbs.

The walk around the tea estates will also allow you to experience local culture by interacting with the planters. You will then be driven to a fully operational Tea factory to understand the processing of tea.

Here, the machinery and different processes involved in producing the finished leaf of both Orthodox and CTC (Crush, Tear and Curl) manufactured tea is explained. We will then visit the Tea tasting room where you will learn about the range of flavours of the different grades of tea produced by one of the most exquisite single-estate Tea manufacturers in the world. During the tour, a Naturalist will also accompany you and will assist in looking out for birds and other wildlife.

Tea connoisseurs or not, this trail will help you understand the nuances of tea cultivation and witness first-hand, how tea is grown, nurtured and meticulously prepared.

Image – Srinivasan Kasinathan

After lunch, you’ll visit a Nature and wildlife interpretation center featuring the ecological diversity of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, curated by Nature Conservation Foundation, a non-profit organization conducting field research in the Anamalais.

Later in the evening, you will go on a jeep safari off the beaten tracks in Puthuthottam, in search of birds and wild animals that come out from the adjacent forest patches, as the light fades and darkness descends.

During the drive, you will arrive at a pretty picnic spot overlooking a sublime waterfall where you can cherish a cup of hot tea and munch on some biscuits.