About 33 kilometers (km) north of the Uttarakhand town of Almora, the Sanctuary is located on top of the Jhandi Dhar hills in the Himalayas. The area of the sanctuary is 45.59 km2. Its average height is 2412 meters, and its altitude ranges from 900 to 2500 meters. About 20 °C is the temperature in this location. The Himalayan peaks Kedarnath Peak, Shivling, Trisul, and Nanda Devi can be seen from a location known as Zero Point.
An hour’s drive from the former British cantonment of Almora is this colonial-style house, which is situated in the centre of the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary and has views of the Jhandi Dhar Hills in Kumaon. The mountain refuge is spread out over five acres of undulating terrain and appears to be stuck in time thanks to its flat fern, rhododendron, and old oak trees.
The mansion, which was purchased by a British missionary named Mary Budden in 1899 and funded by General McGregor, was turned into a school for neighborhood orphans. Up until Budden’s passing a decade later, the school was successful. When Serena Chopra, a photographer, and writer living in New Delhi, bought the property and transformed it into her mountain home, it would take almost a century for the abandoned house to be restored to its former splendor. The main Mary Budden cottage and four lodges at the far end of the estate, each with a double room, have been a beautiful boutique hotel for the past several years.
The Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, which provides a habitat for endangered animals, bird species, and plant species, surrounds this little hill hamlet. The area is completely covered in foliage, making it without a doubt the ideal location for adventurous trekking, camping, and nature hikes.
