The Sambhar Lake, spread over 220 sq. kms of area close to Jaipur and India’s largest inland saltwater lake, has many noteworthy features. As well as an interesting connection with the Savista Retreat. That it was the scene of mass bird deaths (over 20,000 migratory birds that perished after landing and feeding at the Lake […]
Food Philosophy And Practices: Offerings From Savista Retreat
The term food evokes, at once, reactions ranging from the most basic requirement of sustaining bodily energy, to meeting nuanced nutritional needs, to refined ways of satisfying the palate. Among various enriching life experiences, travel has emerged as a significant one in recent times; and currently, one catchword in the travel lexicon is experiential travel. […]
The Pink City: Jaipur
Given that Rajasthan is the size of a large European country, where does one begin to explore it? Jaipur is the acknowledged gateway to the region. Historically, by virtue to its proximity to Delhi – the capital of the Mughal Empire and later of British India – the Kacchawa Rajput kingdom of Jaipur was the […]
Exploring The Real Rajasthan
Rajasthan – the land of royal trappings, chivalry and romance – is a feast for the senses. It has the largest concentration of monuments of historical and architectural interest in India. Amber Fort (Jaipur), the Golden Fort (Jaisalmer) and Mehrangarh Fort (Jodhpur) are among the most magnificent royal forts in the world, perched on high […]
Jaipur Travel Diary: “Rest for the Restless Traveller” – Jessie Bolin on Finding Moments of Relaxation in the Midst of Exciting Travels
“I do not know how to relax. I’ve never been good at it — always working multiple jobs as a kid, taking too many classes at school, planning adventures before the current one is through, tackling aggressive home renovation projects, and just generally overextending myself. There’s just so much I want to see and do […]
More Signs of Climate Change – The On/Off of Seasons
Following our last post announcing the onset of a premature summer, we went through one week of unbelievably extreme heat, which sent us cowering into the shade feeling sorry for ourselves ( even though our grounds were full of exhuberantly blooming flowers and we ought to have taken them as examples to emulate ). All […]
Climate Change Must Definitely Be Happening: A Prematurely Early Summer Has Set In
Just late last week we were still enjoying spring weather. And one of the things we were celebrating was the flowering for the first time ever – something that happens only in late spring – of our Red Silk Cotton Trees (see previous post). Every time we passed under these trees in the eastern court, […]
Treewatch: We Are Celebrating! Our Red Silk Cotton Trees Are Finally Blooming!
For the last eight years we have patiently watched our four Red Silk Cotton trees grow from saplinghood to adulthood. And every winter, when they shed their leaves, we have waited with excitement for the red flowers to emerge. But year after year, the signature red blooms have failed us. Everywhere else Red Silk Cotton […]
Guest Stories: “My Other Trip of a Lifetime”. Robin Tama on her long-cherished dream trip to India.
Robin is among those trusting and excited travellers that Savista has had the pleasure to host. She made her booking a good year before her trip to India, and right from her very first enquiry regarding availability upto the letter she wrote us saying she was about to board her flight, she drew us into […]
Birdwatch at Savista: The Spangled Drongo
Rarely sighted on the Indian subcontinent, we are lucky that this Spangled Drongo – also called the Blue Drongo – decided to appear fleetingly on the Savista lawns one September evening, where it was fortuitously captured in this photo by Hedda, our resident intern at the time. The Spangled Drongo has a glossy sheen […]
