Global health organization

Gavi

GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunization in poor countries.

Plan a trip to Gavi→

It is the largest organisation distributing donations of money towards vaccines; from 1990 to 2016, more than a third of donor money for immunisation was channelled through Gavi.

How locals move

Getting around Gavi the local way

Gavi sits inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve, so there is no open road and no local share transport – you either hold a KFDC booking, a forest gate pass for your own vehicle or a jeep safari seat, or you ride the one KSRTC bus that crosses the forest between Pathanamthitta and Kumily.

01
KFDC Gavi day programmetour package
Gavi, reached via Vandiperiyar and the Vallakadavu forest check post, 39 km from Thekkady
Where
Book on kfdcecotourism.com, or in person at the KFDC Gavi booking office on NH 183 in Kumily/Thekkady; the KFDC counter in Vandiperiyar also issues passes. Gavi helpdesk 99474 92399, booking 8289821306 / 8289821004.
When
Daily. Registration 08:00–09:00, tour ends 16:30. A stay programme of one night and two days is also sold, with a guided safari in a tempo traveller from 06:00 to 08:30 on day two
Fare (2026)
₹1,770 per adult and ₹885 per child, including GST, covering breakfast, lunch, tea, guided trek, plantation visit and boating
Takes
About 8h 30m for the day programme, 08:00 registration to a 16:30 finish; about 1 hour of driving each way from Thekkady
Season
Year-round; entry only in daylight hours
Booking
Online at kfdcecotourism.com or at the KFDC counter; passes are capped, so buy a day ahead and sleep in Kumily or Vandiperiyar
Sources: kfdcecotourism.com (2026-09) · kfdcecotourism.com (2026-09) · indiatravelblog.com (2026-09) · confidence high
02
KSRTC bus Pathanamthitta – Gavi – Kumily (schedule RNC 869)bus
Pathanamthitta, Vadasserikara, Perunad, Chittar, Seethathode, Angamoozhy, Moozhiyar, Kakki dam, Gavi, Vandiperiyar, Kumily
Where
Board at Pathanamthitta KSRTC bus stand or Kumily KSRTC stand and ask for the Gavi service by name; it is an ordinary bus, not a tourist bus, and it is the only scheduled vehicle allowed across the forest stretch
When
Three runs a day each way. From Pathanamthitta 05:30, 06:30 and 12:30, passing Gavi around 10:00, 11:00 and 17:00. From Kumily 05:30, 12:30 and 13:00, passing Gavi around 07:00, 14:00 and 14:30
Fare (2023)
₹204 for the full Pathanamthitta to Kumily run
Takes
About 6 hours end to end for roughly 130 km; around 4 hours Pathanamthitta to Gavi
Season
Year-round, but the forest road is narrow and monsoon damage and landslides can suspend it
Booking
None needed on the ordinary service; pay the conductor. KSRTC online booking is at onlineksrtcswift.com
Sources: tickettogetlost.com (2023-08) · tickettogetlost.com (2025-05) · keralatravelpal.com (2026-09) · confidence medium
03
Gavi jeep safari from Thekkady and Kumilyoffroad 4x4
Thekkady to Gavi and back, either the short way via Vandiperiyar and Vallakadavu or the long loop out through Angamoozhy
Where
Booked through Kumily jeep operators and almost every homestay and hotel in Kumily; drivers collect you from your door before dawn. The KFDC booking office in Kumily also sells a jeep safari
When
Daily on demand, leaving 05:30 or 06:00 because the forest gates only pass vehicles in daylight
Fare (2026)
₹7,200 for two people including meals on the direct Gavi safari, ₹2,400 per extra person up to six; ₹9,000 for up to four on the Angamoozhy loop, ₹1,200 per extra person; forest entry charged separately at ₹250 for Indians and ₹1,200 for foreigners. A KFDC-run jeep safari was quoted at ₹2,500 per vehicle for up to eight
Takes
The operator's own page gives two figures for the direct Gavi safari and they do not agree: 7 to 8 hours in the package heading, and 05:30 to 15:30 in the package details. No duration is stated for the 210 km Angamoozhy loop
Season
Year-round; heavy monsoon rain in June to August can close the forest road
Booking
A day or two ahead through the operator, your homestay or the KFDC office; the forest gate pass is arranged by the driver
Sources: discoverthekkady.com (2026-09) · wanderlog.com (2026-09) · confidence medium
04
Driving in yourself on a forest gate passpermit
Kumily or Vandiperiyar to Vallakadavu check post to Gavi, about 28 km from Vandiperiyar; or Pathanamthitta to the Angamoozhy check post and 67 km of forest road
Where
Ask at the Vandiperiyar KFDC counter for the entry pass, then hand it in and collect a second pass for yourself and the vehicle at Vallakadavu. From the Pathanamthitta side you queue at the Angamoozhy check post
When
Daylight only. Vallakadavu check post opens about 06:00 and closes about 18:00; on the Angamoozhy side you need to be at the post by 08:00 and cannot enter after about 11:00. The number of private vehicles admitted each day is capped, reported at 30
Fare (2026)
Reported entry charges of ₹25 per person and ₹50 per vehicle, plus ₹25 for a still camera and ₹100 for video
Takes
About 1 hour from Vandiperiyar, 1.5 to 2 hours from Kumily; several hours from Angamoozhy over bad road
Season
Year-round in daylight; the road is narrow, unsurfaced in places and worst during the monsoon
Booking
Passes for the Angamoozhy side are sold through the Goodrical range portal gavikakkionline.com; on the Vandiperiyar side the pass is issued at the check post
Sources: en.wikipedia.org (2026-09) · indusgo.in (2026-09) · keralatravelpal.com (2026-09) · confidence medium
05
Taxi from Vandiperiyar or Kumilyprivate hire
Vandiperiyar to Gavi, 28 km; Kumily to Gavi, about 36 to 40 km
Where
Taxis wait at Vandiperiyar bus station and at the Kumily bus stand and taxi stand; hotels in Kumily will call one. Drivers who already know the route will handle the Vallakadavu pass for you
When
On demand in daylight hours, subject to the daily cap on vehicles through the check post
Fare
Not confirmed. No reachable taxi tariff for this route was found; agree a price at the stand before you leave
Takes
About 1 hour from Vandiperiyar, 1.5 to 2 hours from Kumily
Season
Year-round in daylight
Booking
None needed, but hire the day before so you can leave at first light
Sources: keralatravelpal.com (2026-09) · confidence low
06
Row boats on Gavi and Kochupamba lakesboat
Gavi lake by the log house; Kochupamba lake in the adjoining Goodrical range
Where
Boats are at the KFDC log house jetty in Gavi; guided boating is built into both the KFDC day and stay programmes, after lunch on the day tour and 16:30 to 18:00 on the stay tour
When
Daily in daylight, run by the KFDC guides rather than on a timetable
Fare (2026)
Included in the KFDC day and stay programmes. Bought separately, Kochupamba row boating was listed at ₹600 for four people and ₹300 for two
Takes
Roughly 1 to 1.5 hours
Season
Year-round; water level drops late in the dry season
Booking
Part of the KFDC package; ask the manager at registration
Sources: kfdcecotourism.com (2026-09) · keralatourism.org (2026-09) · confidence medium

Not yet confirmed: No share jeeps, share autos or share taxis run to Gavi. The whole approach is inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve and every vehicle needs a pass, so informal shared transport does not exist on this road – ask at the Kumily jeep stand if you want to split a private jeep.; Hitching is not realistic between the Vallakadavu and Angamoozhy check posts: private vehicles are counted and logged, and two-wheelers are barred outright.; A local Vandiperiyar to Gavi bus at 06:45 and 14:45 appears in search summaries but could not be matched to any KSRTC or operator listing. Only the Pathanamthitta to Kumily service (RNC 869) is confirmed.; Whether the KSRTC bus will set you down at Gavi and let you spend the day there without a KFDC booking is unclear. Ask the Vandiperiyar KFDC counter or Vallakadavu range office on 04869 252515.; The ₹25 per person and ₹50 per vehicle entry charges come from an undated Wikipedia entry. The daily cap of 30 private vehicles comes from the Goodrical range portal gavikakkionline.com, which does not connect at all – DNS resolves but no HTTP session completes over either HTTP/2 or HTTP/1.1, so the page was dropped as a citation. Confirm both at the check post.; munnartaxiservice.com/thekkady-taxi.html, previously cited here for a ₹2,500 eight-hour 80 km Kumily taxi hire, now returns HTTP 404. The figure has been dropped; ask at the Kumily or Vandiperiyar taxi stand for a current quote.; The KFDC's own brochure and the Thekkady jeep operator's page disagree with themselves on hours: the operator lists the Gavi safari as both 7 to 8 hours and 05:30 to 15:30 on the same page. Ask what time you will be back before you pay.; No 12Go, Bookaway or other online route pages sell anything into Gavi..

The field note on Gavi reads this entry in full, one option at a time, with every source beside it.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Kjetil Ree (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.