Description:
Cool, beautiful-with lovely walks, wonderful views of the sea, and old buildings such as a historic fort and a palace- the small hill station of Madikeri, 125 km west of Mysore at an elevation of 1,525 metres, is set in the heart of the exotic coffee-growing country. Also known as Mercara, this little hill township is considered as the capital of the Coorg region. The town, which is perched on a series of ridges that command breathtaking views, was a miniscule state in its own right till a fe w decades ago. Around Madikeri roll the coffee estates. Karnataka leads in coffee production and Coorg accounts for almost half of the total coffee production in the state. The estates attract a large variety of birds, wild elephants and an occasional boar. The elephants search around for tender coconut shoots, jackfruits and papayas and it is not uncommon to come across them while motoring around in Coorg.