Thekkady, Anthicade Nursery - Guidetour

Posted by pritam on May 11th, 2021

Anthicade Nursery under SKIP/AVOID. This came on the heels of being charged Rs 200 (.50) to walk through what I discovered was nothing more than a driver trick. What do I mean by this? Drivers often suggest places to stop, to eat, or to visit that typically are self-serving. In the case of Anthicade Nursery, my driver pointed out this business as a nice place to get out and stretch our legs. We were 27 km from Thekkady/Kumily/Periyar, our final destination for the day. Normally I would have said Nah, let’s just get to the hotel and be done with the car for the day. However, my travel partner loves gardening and I figured she would enjoy a break walking through what appeared to be a nicely laid out nursery.

In hindsight, my mistake was not asking the driver if there was a charge. For more than 30 minutes my travel bud and I wandered around the property (me snapping pics, her touching and smelling the various plants and flowers). It wasn’t until we reached the steps to leave that we were asked to pay for the “tour”.  My blood began to boil over the fact I had fallen for a trap, a driver trick. I hand over Rs 100 per person then walk to the car while he acts as though he is thanking the owners. In reality? He is collecting his commission for bringing us, the unknowing tourists, to the bait. This “nursery” is set up exclusively for tourists. The owners make their living by maintaining the property strictly for “tours”.

Visit the nursery, stretch your legs, take pics, and heck, buy some of the seeds available for the outrageous price of Rs 50 per packet. But be warned that there is no free lunch here and your driver is looking to make some side money. You’ll notice that this entry is filed under SEE rather than SKIP/AVOID. In the end, I realized how enjoyable the scenery was, how many good pics came from it, and that I would be able to give you all a heads up for the future.