Soans Farm: Doctor Pineapple

---

We left Orange County in Coorg and drove over 4 hours to Soans Farm near Moodibidri where pineapple juice flows like water. I know it sounds like we are doing a fruit tour of India, but really it is just ironic that we landed at two plantations within a few days!

We had to leave our comfortable spot nestled in coffee country very early in the morning because we we had to drive through an area that was dealing with some disruptive protesting. There were people angry with the government and planned a protest that last year involved someone getting killed. So, they were being very cautious moving the tourists out of the area. We ended up being stopped at too many check points to count and witnessed a huge police presence, but other than that we avoided any issue.

Our destination for several days was Soans Farm, a farm run by two brothers and their families which was known for incredible pineapple juice. Incredible might not be a strong enough word to describe the pineapple juice they produce and sell at Soans. It is fresh, contains no water or sugar and is served very cold. Delicious!

The brothers who run the farm are two interesting and engaging men who welcomed us onto their farm and into their home, educated us on the plants grown on the farm and provided very engaging conversation when they included us in high tea each afternoon.

Dr. Soans is a practicing doctor who studied at the University of Montana and worked summers at a sheep farm in Colorado. When he was not tending to his patients who stop by the farm to meet with him, he had time to chat with us. During one conversation with him he said, "That is cornier than Kansas in August!" Needless to say, we have been chuckling about that ever since.

Soans Farm is a farmstay where visitors stay with the family, eat on the farm and can learn more about the biodiversity. They had one cottage located in the middle of the pineapple fields where Kyle, dad and I stayed. We were the only visitors staying there and we stayed for several days.

We had our own kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and verandas. Each meal time, Dr. Soans' son rode a mo-ped up the long drive leading to our cottage and brought us a traditional Indian meal.

We spent our days doing nothing but walking the fields, talking, relaxing, enjoying high tea and washing it all down with pineapple juice. At night, we listened to the call to prayer from the nearby mosques, the call of the many wild peacocks that scurried around the farm and the call of the jackals who came out at night.

---

Comments

[Julia Westhoff]

Looks like heaven
I think you guys need to enter into a vacation planning service - how do you find these incredible spots?