We arrived in Thekkady with 3 kids under 12 and were disappointed that they could not take part in any activities other than a bullock cart ride. This wasn’t made clear in the original booking. But fear not... we booked onto a jeep safari to Gavi and got a three in one experience. Ok it’s an hour’s journey from Thekkady with an early start but the kids loved the off road jeep experience. Once we arrived at the reserve, they had their heads out of the root, looking at the monkeys, squirrels and birds of prey. There was a hot breakfast once we got to the forest centre. We then did the 3 hour bushwalk through the forest with a guide - the kids loved it despite the heat. Not much wildlife by then but a nice walk with stunning views. Full curry lunch included. We then had a boat trip across the lake fished by a dip in the waterfalls. We got all activities and meals included for the same price as one trip in Periyar so much better value for money. One thing we wished we had done was stay overnight in the reserve - the accommodation is basic but that way you wake up in the bush and have greater chance of seeing elephants and other wildlife.

Even if we did not spot elephants, we spent an enjoyable family day in Gavi. During rainy season it s presumably more likely to see elephants. We took morning bus from Kumily (5.30 am from Kumily bus station, 66 rupees). The journey there was not exactly comfy, the road is curvy and kids were a bit unwell. But the road seems to be new, i m not sure if it would be much better with an off-road vehicle. In gavi we bought the package : breakfast, trekking, lunch, boating and waterfall, coffee. Our guide Kumar was super sweet and tailored the programme for us - we even had a nice little swim in the lake. Bus back to Kumily was leaving at 4.30 pm, so we had some time left to just hang out near the lake, when other visitors had already left. The bus journey back was also a bit adventurous, but very scenic. Driver stopped a few times to watch animals we met ( gaur, black monkeys).

We had the trip to Gavi during a very rainy day of Spetember. The roads are fine and you can take even a small car without fear of hitting the underbody. You need to get an online pass and show it at the entrance. Since there are no hotels inside, we had booked lunch from a person at the entrance checkpost (Thulasi - 9744875970). The lunch was good, packed in banana leaf as typical kerala lunch. Make sure you get food or else it will be too hectic. The route is good with lots of greenery and waterfalls and people would enjoy the long drive through the forest with almost no other traffic. My only gripe is that once you reach the destination there is nothing much to do unless you have a package which is very expensive (rs 1650 per person)and needs to be booked beforehand. So you reach Gavi and other than a small dam, which is infact much less majestic than the Kakki dam on the way, you feel like the whole drive was for nothing but the drive itself. So Gavi is the long journey through the forest and not the end destination.