Places worth the walk in
Small guided trips across the Western Ghats and the Konkan coast, on routes we walk ourselves before every season opens.
Where we go
Five kinds of trip. The difficulty is stated on each one rather than implied.
This season’s trips
Prices are per person, twin sharing, and include everything named on the card.
Chorla Ghat ridge
Two nights, moderate
- ✓Two nights in a hill lodge
- ✓All meals
- ✓Two guided walks, 5–6 hours each
- ✓Transfers from Panaji
- ✓Ascent 620 m across the two days
Konkan coast walk
Three nights, easy
- ✓Three nights, two properties
- ✓All meals except one lunch
- ✓Three coastal walks, 3–4 hours each
- ✓Boat crossing at Terekhol
- ✓Minimal ascent, sand and headland
Cotigao forest
Two nights, demanding
- ✓Two nights in forest huts, shared bathroom
- ✓All meals
- ✓Two walks, 7 hours and 5 hours
- ✓Naturalist throughout
- ✓Ascent 480 m, sustained humidity
How we actually run
The four figures that decide whether a trip is any good.
The guides
Everyone leading a walk has done that route in the season you are booking.
Rohit Naik
Eleven seasons on the Chorla and Mhadei routes.
Ayesha Pinto
Boatman’s daughter; runs the Terekhol crossing.
Sunil Gaonkar
Cotigao naturalist, fourteen years in the reserve.
Meher Dias
Answers the phone and builds the itineraries.
Before you book
Three things worth reading, one of which argues against a trip.
What “moderate” actually means
We grade in hours walked and metres ascended rather than in words, because moderate means something different to everyone who has ever used it. Here is how each grade maps to a day.
Why we cancel monsoon dates
Four dates came off the calendar last year. The ghat routes are genuinely dangerous in heavy rain and a refund is cheaper than the alternative — for us and for you.
Before you book
Including the ones that end with us suggesting a different trip.
How fit do I need to be?
For an easy trip, able to walk four hours on flat ground with breaks. For moderate, six hours with 600 m of ascent carrying a day pack. For demanding, seven hours in humidity on uneven forest floor. If the middle one sounds like a stretch, book the easy one — people who overreach have a bad week and so does the group.
What happens if you cancel?
Full refund within five working days, or a transfer to any other date in the same season at the same price. We cancelled four dates last monsoon and refunded every one; we will not run a ghat route in heavy rain because somebody has flights booked.
Is this suitable for children?
The coastal trip, yes, from about ten years old. The forest and ridge trips, no — the days are long and there is no short way back from the middle of one. We would rather say so now than have a family halfway up.
Do you run private trips?
Yes, for six or more, on any route in the season it is safe. The price is roughly fifteen per cent above the shared rate and the group cap still applies, because it is about the trail rather than about the booking.