The Phenomenon Called Wildlife Photography at Best resorts in Munnar

We at Blackberry Hills are seriously wild about wilderness! This becomes evident to you once you visit us, for you find wilderness all around.

Blackberry Hills is not a typical resort where you find trimmed bushes and rows of planted flowers
forcefully re-planted from foreign soil. We are a retreat that features raw nature in its original form – literally growing wild. We hope you appreciate the beauty of nature’s perfect imperfections.

All the flora you see here is indigenous to the Western Ghats and Shola forests and we are meticulously careful in ensuring that we plant only those varieties which belong to the Shola eco-system. The only exceptions are the valiant remnants of British plantation crops tried and testing on the estate during the past colonial era, now scattered around the estate in little numbers, as if to remind us of their past glory – Agave Sisal, Blackberry shrubs, tea tree etc.

May we gently remind you that while we strive to make our guests feel at home in Blackberry Hills Retreat & Spa through profound tender personalised services, we strive harder to make every creature, big and small, including rare and endangered species to live life to the fullest here. Be it bugs, worms, reptiles, birds, mammals, they play a very significant role in the ecosystem that sustains a balanced life. When you visit Blackberry estate, remember that you are actually their guest more than you are ours, for it is their home and let us try not to bother their life.

Well, this article is supposedly about wildlife photography and I have drifted off too much. Our team is too emotional about our natural surroundings that it happens quite often. Say you ask our steward a question about a local dish on the restaurant menu, it is likely the conversation ends up on the diet of a Malabar Giant Squirrel, a frequent visitor of the trees in the estate. Fascinatingly, Malabar
Giant Squirrels, driven by the intellect from maternal and paternal instincts, build five nests for their offspring and cleverly switch the babies from one nest to the other every single day just to puzzle the predators, mainly the Kestrel, always flying around Blackberry valley scavenging for food.

Look, we drifted off again. Let’s attempt staying on the topic.

Respecting wildlife, where man truly belongs, and in an effort for our guests to appreciate and marvel all creatures of the land, Blackberry Hills Retreat & Spa associated with renowned wildlife photographer N.A Naseer (https://www.facebook.com/na.naseer.1?fref=ts) who has dedicated his life for over the past 35 years towards wandering the Nilgiri forests capturing various species in their natural habitats on his camera, often bunking on trees and rocks for days at a stretch. Naseer is a passionate conservationist and has written numerous books on the subject apart from conducting various workshops and seminars. However, his sheer talent as a photographer is well acclaimed and each of his photograph speaks the volume of a hundred books and that is what we present you here at Blackberry Hills Retreat & Spa.

Here is a little something to have a faint understanding about the intensity of his work. We initially fixed one photograph each at the epicentre of every cottage, most of it featuring elephants. And guess what, guests found it difficult to relax in the cottage because they felt vulnerable. The photographs are so realistic that eventually we had to reverently remove them from cottages and shift them to our Sisal Eco Club – The activity centre, where it is on display now.

N.A Naseer is a legend, among wildlife photographs.

Come to Blackberry Hills Retreat & Spa for a glimpse at his photography portfolio.

Sanesh Karyad
– author is the Chief Executive Officer at Blackberry Hills Retreat & Spa