A drive with S.O.U.L to Dudhsagar

Tata Motors have come up with an initiative called S.O.U.L which stands for Safari Owners United League, this group is formed by the company to show that its commitment towards its customers after sale . Firstly, Tata motors can understand the after sale needs of the customer, the company can also know from the customers the additional equipments required by them in the up coming vehicle, they can know the problems being faced by customer, etc. This is mostly a two way street where the drivers and the company is also benefited. The better part of these drive are that here the company is not only inviting its customers but their family members also.

This is the second ride that is taken up by S.O.U.L, the first drive was towards Rasta on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The Dudhsagar ride was made from 24^th Jan to 26^th Jan of 2015, this was chosen on this long Republic Day weekend so that the customers do not affected by their daily routine. The agenda for day 1 was to ride from respective cities and reach Dudhsagar spa resort for the day with some fun activities like zip lining, yoga, etc within the resort and a temple visit outside the resort. Day 2 was a jam packed with drives, falls, water sports and beach. Day 3 was the day to drive back to the respective cities.

Day 1:

I was accompanied Rumana and Sree Nindi who are the fellow bloggers and the driver Balu in a Black Tata Safari Dicor. We left Bengaluru at 6 am in the morning and our car was accompanied by Mr and Mrs Raghu in a White Tata Safari Dicor, who is also a member of SUG which stand for Safari Users Group. We met on Tumkur road and started our destination to Dudhsagar Spa Resort. The average that was maintained on the roads was somewhere between 90 to 140 kilometers per hour. Somewhere around 10 am Sree Nindi took the wheel to feel the performance of the vehicle. Our first pit stop was at Kamat hotel for our breakfast around 11 am, we all mostly had light breakfast and we hit the road with in a span on half and hour of stopping there. Around 12.30 we stopped for tender coconut to cool us from the raging heat, we not only cooled ourselves but also posed a lot of pictures. The drive continued non stop to the Dudhsagar Spa resort and reached our destination around 3 pm, just in time for lunch. We were welcomed Daniel and allotted respective rooms for ourselves. We all freshened up and had lunch followed by some rest. I had non veg for lunch due to which I skipped the drive to the temple and went to take up zip lining, had fun time doing the zip lining after a long time. Then I hit the pool to have a relaxing swim. We gathered on the lawn around 7 pm for some barbeque and music played by Arambola. Arambola is a Goan band that played wonderful and relaxing music that had a different touch by its members due to the combination of musical instruments that they use. After a wonderful dinner we all hit the bed early so that we get up early for the next day.

Day 2:

We got up around early and had a healthy breakfast. Then we drove up close dudhsagar falls, where we were give life jackets and then we took the local taxi for about 8 kms inside the forest with a couple of on the water moments and the rugged mud road  to reach the parking lots, then we had a 10 mins hike that took us to the base of falls. This is a picture perfect place with beautiful site of nature with clear water. I can understand why this destination was taken by Rohit Shetty for his movie Chennai Express. The cold water did send shivers drown my body when I got inside but the clear water was just what the doctor ordered for the morning to refresh me and wake me up. The falls was on an average force but the current was still strong, it took me some efforts to reach the base of the falls but it took me more efforts just to stay there for a picture to be taken by my friends on the banks. Here I got to meet some Bengaluru members and interact with them for a short while. The place was still not that crowded as we reached early, so we a peaceful dip in the water for about more than half an hour. Do note that the place is filled with fishes, slippers rocks, wonderful place to take picture and a lifeguard incase something goes wrong during all times. After the dip we took loads of photos and we headed back to our respective cars and then drove back to the resort. We had our lunch and then rested for a few mins and headed to the beach.

We went to Serabatim Beach in a safari convoy of 16 cars and it turned heads on every road that we till we reached the beach, that was not that crowed compared to the other beaches. Here I had ride on the Jet Ski, whereas others also tried the banana ride, para sailing, etc but I had a peaceful dip in the sea waiting for the sun to set, as it is a sight to witness the sun going drown the horizon. Here I got to meet and interact with the S.O.U.L members for a longer time.

A couple people like me chose to stay back to enjoy the beach. I had good banana pancakes, Goan prawn curry, fried rice and seafood salad at a shack called AM’s Multi Cuisine. The dinner was complimented by the shadow of the moon in the sea with the sound of the waves and then we headed back to the resort.

Day 3:

The Bengaluru S.O.U.L member wanted to go in a convoy at 6 am in the morning. We also agreed and went along with them. I chose to come in Perez’s Safari Storme to know the difference between a Safari Dicor and Safari Storme. The convoy was lead by Srihari and swept by Perez or Mahesh and this convoy also turned head on the highway. We stopped our convoy to take a wonderful picture of nature and our convoy. Then we stop at Hotel Brindavan in Sangli for wonderful Dosa accompanied by a few more yummy dishes. After a five minutes break the drived continued till we reached Kamat near Sira. Here we had our lunch and then took a group photo along with the cars and members. Here I shifted back to our car and bid bye to others and we drove back to Bengaluru and we reached back around 6 pm. It was worth the extra time taken so that we stay in a convoy and enjoy the drive as one.

Tata Safari has been a favorite to a lot of people I know for its performance, feel, etc but when we travel as one you realize the true aspect of a drive and this was made possible by the Tata Safari members and members of 70 EMG that planned and executed the drive to an era of new beginning for more drives to come a head.

SOUL owners with their families

I did learn that S.O.U.L has been taken up in the northern regions of India also and that was also a success, I wish to see the S.O.U.L of the north and south drive together as one, I think that will also happen soon. In these three days I learnt more about cars and the meet a lot of new people from Bengaluru, Hyderabad, etc. I thank tata motors and blogadda for giving me this opportunity for being a part of this drive and I hope to be given more such opportunity in the future.

Bloggers