A Homestay in Powalgarh: Eco Harryman’s

An annual meeting was planned at Powalgarh and the great incentive was the location! Powalgarh, (Uttarakhand) was made famous by Jim Corbett for having hunted the largest ever tiger in these forests. Titled, “The Bachelor of Powalgarh”, Corbett recounted his tale of tracking and killing this tiger that took him over a decade in his famous book, “The Maneaters of Kumaon”. There were two more things that attracted me to this place. The first was the homestay where we were booked called ‘Eco Harryman’s and the second being that this was close to the Powalgarh Conservation Reserve.

We drove from Delhi and about six hours later, finally arrive at Eco Harryman’s, an old house tucked away, hidden from the main road. We are greeted by Manralji who runs this homestay and I was looking forward to chatting with him. Manralji belongs to a family where several members were part of the Indian Army. He too wanted to join the Army, but his family wanted him to look at other options. He got a diploma in electronics from Delhi and was exploring employment opportunities when a chain of events brought him back to Uttarakhand. This was the time when Uttarkhand was struggling for independent statehood. He wanted to be part of the movement and also in some ways promote the natural beauty of the state. He decided to then start a tourism initiative from his family house in Powalgarh. In the year 2000, the state Forest Department started looking at ecotourism in earnestness and Manralji’s place was best suited for this. In 2012, the nearby forest was declared a Conservation Reserve, thanks to the efforts of a group of dedicated young locals   who called themselves the Pawalgarh Prakriti Prahari (PPP). Manralji supported this group and it is his place that has now become the hub for all the PPP activities. PPP is focussed on promoting ecotourism and conservation in the Conservation Reserve. I was curious about the name of the resort and Manralji explained Eco Harryman’s is actually an acronym based on all the people who were part of the formation of the first coordinating committee.

Manralji and his colleage

Eco Harryman's Homestay

The Rooms

This resort has three rooms on the ground floor and three on the first floor with varying number of beds. The rooms themselves are comfortable and clean. There is a common set of toilets and bathrooms at the back. Across from this is another building that has on the first floor an outdoor venue for meetings. The room has also lots of books and other interesting reading material on the natural history of the region. A look at the vast collection books and the wildlife related artwork on the walls indicates that we are in the company of a true naturalist. One walks across a beautiful fruit orchard to get to the dining hall that can also accommodate quite a few people to sleep in, if required. An ideal venue for school/college camps. Manralji’s wife looks after the kitchen and serves delicious organic local cuisine.

Activities offered at the Homestay

This resort is now run in collaboration with the PPP, members of which also facilitate birding trips and nature walks for the guests. Manralji has dedicated his life to conservation of this area and it is indeed a pleasure to stay in this delightful place and be exposed to some of the natural wonders of Powalgarh. Eco Harryman’s is indeed a homestay with personal care and attention given by the hosts. The main gate of Corbett Tiger Reserve is 18 kms from here, in case one wants to venture beyond the conservation reserve.