Mar 3, 2024
Great experience - Our visit to the Lockhart tea plantation started with a jeep drive bringing us up to the gorgeous green hills in Munnar.
The Esplendent Experiences tour guide Hudson was so nice and was able to give us very valuable explanations about everything around the tea plantation like history, nature, plants, processes and today's life conditions of the workers.
Visiting the tea factory we learned about the production processes of different tea types.
I recommend the tour to everybody!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 11, 2024
Fantastic Tea Estate Trek - This was a fantastic 4 hour trek through the Lockheart Tea Estate. Our guide Seegirl was incredibly knowledgeable of both the history and nature of Munnar and the tea plantation.
The Trek is not difficult with both my wife and I enjoying the wonderful scenery. At the end of the Trek Seegirl guided us through the old but still fully working Lockheart tea producing factory, this was such a highlight to see the production of tea in such a unique factory,
A fantastic tour that will provide memories of a lifetime!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 9, 2023
Resplendent experiences were fantastic - Hadlee and his wife Seegirl who run Resplendent Experiences planned our whole 2 week India trip for us. We initially found Hadlee through his Instagram page showcasing his wildlife photography. It was a bit of a gamble to contact someone from Instagram and send them a bunch of money to organise a trip but my god did they deliver. They absolutely made the trip, far surpassing any expectations we may have had. My primary interest is in wildlife photography, specifically reptiles and amphibians but my partner also had a keen interest in seeing the real "authentic" India. We started our trip at Athirappally waterfalls for a night then headed on to Valpari where we met Hadlee and a couple of other guests and spent 3 days on a tea plantation photographing Giant hornbills and other wildlife at the edge of the surrounding Shola forest. From here we headed up to Munnar where we did some excellent Herping (Reptile and amphibian spotting) by both day and night. The highlights included the resplendent bush frog (from which they take their company name) and large scaled pit vipers to name a few. It is also worth pointing out that Hadlee is a professional photographer and was very helpful with his tips and advice during our time with them, my photography skills came on in leaps and bounds thanks to Hadlee and Seegirl. It was also my partners birthday while we were in Munnar and on her birthday Seegirl took us into town to visit the temple and markets and then to walk the tea fields (a breath-taking experience, no wonder it regularly makes a list of top sights to see globally) and visit a working tea factory. The whole time sharing a wealth of knowledge that far surpassed anything you may get from a standard tour guide. From here we had to bid farewell to Hadlee and Seegirl as we carried on with our trip to Periyar national park, followed by Kumakarkom where we stayed on a houseboat and then to Mararikulam, Alleppy and up to Fort Kochi. Hadlee and Seegirl organised all our accommodation throughout (we let them pick places for us based upon some rough guidelines for what we were looking for and it has to be said their choices were excellent, in particular the houseboat and the Windermere estate hotel at Munnar). The grounds of the Windermere estate are also excellent for nocturnal wildlife spotting for frogs and harmless shield tailed snakes. They also organised us a driver (well 2 actually) that were with us for the duration of our trip so we always had transport on hand. They organised the guides and hiking for us in areas when we weren't with them but they were always on the end of the phone to help make last minute bookings for us throughout our trip including seeing a traditional show at Fort Kochi which they booked for us with less than 24hrs notice. Their friendly and helpful demeanour cannot be overstated, truly they are some of the nicest and most helpful tour operators we have ever dealt with (and yes we are very well travelled globally so have a lot of prior experiences to compare them to). Its easy to see why everyone leaves them glowing reviews when they do such an amazing job. Thank you for making our trip so magical.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 21, 2023
Munnar on my Head! - I have been to Kerala many times but this one will be on the top of my head. The reason is Hadley Renjith. Hadley's hospitality is beyond compare. Are you planning to go to Munnar??? your address should be Hadley Renjith for trekking, herping, night trails, photography, and home-type stay. Overall, he is a gem of a person and so humble in all aspects... I wish Hadley & Fly a great time ahead and best of the health. Thank you, brother.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 25, 2022
Christmas 2022 in Munnar - We had a memorable birding & herping trip with the warm guiding duo - Hadlee and Seegirl in Munnar. They were well organised, informative and spent time helping us learn photography. We had the best time getting to know them, sharing experiences, learning from them and making friends for life. We can't wait to come back soon!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 12, 2022
Fun in Munnar - Our guide, Hadlee Renjith was a wonderfully knowledgeable source of information about the flora and fauna of Munnar. He met our group of around 30 people in Kochi and drove with us up to Munnar. He was extremely considerate of the physical abilities and attention spans of the wide range of ages (from 2 yrs old to 65+) of our group. He was a flexible, informative and fun guide!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 17, 2021
Among the best trips of my life, although one of the shortest - I went to Munnar for a couple of days only. I went on an evening walk and a morning walk for birding with Renjith Hadlee. It was an amazing experience. The bird sightings were better than expected, and we got to see a Nilgiri Marten to top it all!!
Pre-arrival experience: Given the ongoing impact of COVID, I wanted to stay in a safe, but basic accommodation. I needed to find such a place to stay, and I needed to know the requirements for entry into Kerala and the local testing centre. Hadlee gladly and swiftly helped with all the information. Before the evening walk on my first day, I headed out for shopping, again aided by the info provided by Hadlee. It was later that I got to know he was managing all this and the trip itself while dealing with a personal emergency. Kudos to his spirit and commitment!!
Birding walks experience: Hadlee knows the area and the birds quite well – identifying at ease, both visually and by calls. He was great at spotting and following birds through the dense undergrowth. He tries to do as much as possible to help one sight, photograph and learn about birds, pleasantly, along with his strong ethical code. He spotted a pair of eagles on a tall hill and then encouraged me to get closer for having a better look at the birds. Although we didn’t climb much as it was getting dark, we got a sighting of a lifetime when he spotted a Nilgiri Marten on the hill.
He has a presence that puts one at ease. He is a keen listener and actively tries to learn from his guests. One could have just sat and had a chat with him about Munnar and still not feel bad about missing a birding session.
I got to know that Resplendent Experiences conduct various types of tours, including herping tours. I am looking forward to my next trip with them.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 15, 2021
A surreal experience! - Recently went to Munnar and contacted Resplendent Experiences to plan accomodation and activities. They were extremely helpful and prompt with their communication and organised superb accomodation alonf with beautiful guided tours for birding, herping and also nature walks. Run by very friendly, passionate and professional individuals. Do not hesitate to contact them when planning a trip to Munnar, especially if iyou are looking to immerse yourself in the natural beauty of the hill station.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 22, 2020
A long Trek @Meesapulimala - We had a beautiful trekking at Meesapulimala, it was so awesome experience with most beautiful adventure. We started trekking from the base camp at 9 am and we reached the destination at 3 pm and we returned by 7 pm to the base camp, we came across most beautiful scenes with a "WOW". Most of them don't know this kind of beautiful places , you should definitely need to visit. We have to be very thankful for our guide Mr. Antony who taken us through the right spot and mostly he took care about our safety and he explained all in detail.
Review provided by Tripadvisor