At the time of writing this blog i have visited 139 City's in India and across the World barring the Antarctica and Arctic. This was partially possible through my employment in the "Mercantile Merchant Navy" for over two decades and partially through my own "Solo Backpackers tours" and through guided "Tourist package tours".
After voluntary retirement from the "Mercantile Merchant navy" got the opportunity to visit and tour the hill forts and wildlife sanctuary's of my own home state of Maharashtra, thanks to membership of the B.N.H.S(Bombay Natural History society).I feel embarrassed to admit that i still have to visit the famous common Mumbaikar hill resort of Mahabaleshwar although have seen and toured most of the World Capital city's ! "B.N.H.S" were organizing a 2 day wild-life trek to Phansad Wild-life sanctuary on Saturday/Sunday(24/25 March)and hence decided to join the trek group.The Phansad Wildlife sanctuary was a former hunting forest of the Siddhi Nawab of Janjira State and after accession to India in 1948, the forest was preserved in its entirety and later developed into a wild-life park, a habitat of the giant squirrel locally called the Shekra in Marathi language.It is located in the Murud and Roha talukas of Raigad district of Maharashtra state on the Konkan coast.Booked my seat for the trek well in advance on Friday(9-3-2012),paying Rs 2300 to Group tour official Mr Vandan.Jhaveri as at times the group tours get full.
SATURDAY(24-3-2012):- Woke up at 0500 hrs and after a brief breakfast packed my haversack and made my way to the Prabhadevi bus depot.Boarded the 27 Nos bus at 0615 hrs , ages since i traveled by public transport as i rarely move out of my residence in the Internet era and when i do , its always the motorcycle or cycle ! Reached the "B.N.H.S bus Pick-up point" at Chandu Halwai shop at Dadar T.T and as usual looked around for any familiar faces.Saw a elderly gentleman seated at the steps near Chandu Halwai and as usual realized that it was a small World once we conversed with each other.Mr Keith.Francis was a free-lance cartoonist by profession and an ardent nature lover, having toured most of the ""B.N.H.S Nature camps"" tours over the decades.As usual, total strangers seemed like age old friends and during our conversation we both realized that we both knew interconnected friends.A few other camper tourists arrived and finally at approximately 0650 hrs the "B.N.H.S Bus" arrived, a privately chartered bus named "Discovery(MH04G6807)", owned by Sai services based at Shivaji Park.Another familiar face was Mr Jonathan.D'silva,an automobile engineer and an amateur bird-watcher photographer who owns camera equipment costlier than most professional photographers and has specialized knowledge of insects, birds and flora that could be the envy of even a professional qualified naturalist. Thanks to Jonathan, i have posted beautiful moth photographs during our overnight tour of Malshej ghat having given him credit for the same in my blogs.
I hate "Intellectual robbery" or blatant plagiarism without credit or a mention of the source, something very common in the fashion and creative arts World, least of all movies.It was a house-full bus and "B.N.H.S" tour official Mr Vanhan.Jhaveri ,freshly returned from Africa after conducting the "B.N.H.S Tanzania Wild-life tour" checked the group attendance and we finally left Dadar T.T at 0705 hrs.Phansad is approximately 152 Kms from Mumbai by road on the Panvel, Pen and Alibaug land route compared to the shorter version through ferry boat from Mumbai and later road transport.
At Panvel we collected Mr Nikhil.Bhopale, the bird specialist and youngest co-author of a bird book in India, formerly a "B.N.H.S" employee and now an individual entrepreneur in conducting his own nature camp tours.He also freelances for "B.N.H.S" and hence we were lucky to have his expertise during this tour of Phansad wild-life sanctuary.Mr Nikhil.Bhopale has visited Phansad sanctuary over 70 times during his outdoors research work on wild-life study , hence a veteran of this small forest.This is one of the reasons i personally tour nature forests with "B.N.H.S Group" as they have the expertise proven staff. A person gets to meet new people and new acquaintances among co-group travelers , all sharing a common passion for nature, irrespective of personal professions , age or sex.
We reached Karnala bird sanctuary at approximately 0820 hrs and breakfast was at Kshanbar Vishranti resort.After breakfast it was a long drive to Alibaug , the route being through very narrow roads.On crossing the Revdanda bridge and the prominent Wellspun iron ore factory we finally reached Kashid at approx 1030hrs ,famous for its pristine beach.From Kashid we followed the Kashid -Murud road that was a spiraling hill ascent from the coastline, finally reaching the Phansad sanctuary holiday camp gates at approx 1145 hrs, a total drive of approx 5 hours from Dadar in Mumbai.It was a beautiful long 5 hour drive with an intermittent stop for breakfast, we city dwellers enjoying the rustic road scenes of the village life on our road journey.One aspect that caught my Anglophile observation was that all the signboards in the sanctuary were in Marathi language indicating that Phansad wildlife sanctuary was visited most by local tourists.Camp tents were erected for tourists, the first time i ever saw a camp site at a wild-life park in India, besides, there were also some small forest lodges.There was a exhibition room where a photographic description in English and Marathi with a condensed history of the park was exhibited for tourist visitors.I jotted some of the descriptive facts for this blog from some photographic descriptive displays in this exhibition room as there is very little natural history facts about this remote small wild-life sanctuary,just a few hours drive from concrete jungle Mumbai.Most descriptions have Marathi names and the same has not been documented in English language, besides, sign-posts in the park would definitely confuse a non-marathi linguist exploring the park without a guides assistance. At Phansad spotted another familiar face and a flashback made me realize that the person was Mr Sunil.Bidadar, a veteran trekker,whom i met during the Rajmachi trek in 2010.He and two other members had not got a seat on the "B.N.H.S bus" as it was "Housefull" hence they drove to Phansad in a private car owned by Mr Naval.Ahuja. Amongst our group of 25 there were few women nature tourists and they were allotted a separate camp while we men had to share two other camps.Lunch was between 1300 to 1400 hrs at the tourist mess near our residential campsite, vegetarian Maharashtrian food prepared by the local villagers.
The Phansad wild-life sanctuary was recently established as a tourist resort village and accommodates a limited number of tourists.It is a small forest comprising of approx 52 Kms in area with villages on its boundaries.
After lunch we wandered around the campsite premises and for the first time i saw a panther cage-trap, the same lying idle in the camp-site premises.Between 2001 and 2006 there was a plague of leopard man-eating cases in the "Sanjay Gandhi National park" village precincts, the same documented in "National geographic".Many of these leopards were trapped and released in other forests including Phansad and hence this cage must have been a trap once used in leopard relocation.Mr Nikhil.Bhopale himself was actively involved in some leopard capture and re-location schemes in the forest. we observed a white rumped vulture flying high above in the sky, the first time i saw vultures in India, the species becoming almost extinct due to the "Diclofenac" poisoning from eating contaminated cattle carcasses.At 1500 hrs we gathered together and entered the sanctuary for trekking into the forests.We also got acquainted with each other and the beauty of forest or hill-fort trekking is the total team involvement of strangers in accomplishing a common goal of discovering forest nature as well as encouraging each other during difficult treks.
Akin to competing in a marathon race, so also, trekking through forests is a tough physical sport that requires practice, skill and a eye for observing and detecting nature in the wild forests.As a young hunter with an air-gun i remember the thrill and suspense of hunting birds during holidays in ancestral villages of Mangalore during the 1970's.The same tracking skills i used during my youth as a hunter i now use for just wandering aimlessly in forests in order to spot wildlife,birds and just mingle with nature. It was a very hot and humid day and Mr Nikhil.Bhopale and Mr Vandhan.Jhaveri conducted the guided trek.Our destination was "Dharnyachi Ghaan", a marathi name which Nikhil explained to us, the ghaan meaning perennial water flow from these natural springs.The unique aspect of the "Phansad forests" is that there are a few permanent spring waterholes, a total of 27 within the park which are called "Ghaan" in Marathi..The Phansad forest vegetation is similar to Matheran forests, the most popular summer hill resort for Mumbaikars, although it is three times smaller than Matheran in altitude.The Giant squirrels also exist in the Matheran forests. The trek to Dharnyachi ghaan was torturous in the extreme blistering sun besides i had to undergo water rationing as did most other co-trekkers due to lack of portable water bottles.Some like Jonathan,D'silva,Makhdoom.Girkar and Bhavesh.Shah were carrying heavy professional photographic equipment although amateurs ,indicating their passion for sharp photographic images of birds and mammals.We didn't spot a single bird nor mammal barring a few common bird species, akin to walking in a normal park in a city.From my balcony at Old Prabhadevi road in Mumbai i could have spotted more exotic birds in our exotic building botanical garden compound then we did on this hot saturday afternoon in the Phansad forests.Just before our approach to Dharnyachi Ghaan we spotted a brief glimpse of a giant squirrel on a tree and also a giant squirrel nest, the ultimate sighting of the day and a first in my life.
We finally reached Dharnyachi ghaan at approx 1615 hrs, a small puddle from which water gushed eternally from under the rock.The water seemed clean and i decided to drink the spring water as thirst was unbearable, besides, nothing like drinking fresh pure spring water from its source in the forests.We all quenched our thirst from this gift of natural spring water and relaxed by the small pond.After a brief rest we went further downhill from the spring and discovered that this tiny puddle of spring water developed into a seeping waterfall.During the monsoon rains the same waterfall would be a gushing flow, hence understood the name "DHARNYACHI GHAAN".We spotted original Asoka trees in the forests near the spring, dense growth of evergreen vegetation.We later trekked our way back towards our camp as the forest sanctuary gates closed at 1830 hrs, night tours into the forests being banned.On our return at dusk the temperatures cooled down comfortably and again we didn't spot any wild-life,not even the common rhesus monkeys normally found in all forests.We all just enjoyed the adventure of forest trekking, a relief of being away from honking vehicles, smog, traffic and concrete buildings instead of wooden trees..We finally reached the forest camp accommodation at approx 1820 hrs, haggard and a bit disappointed due to lack of wild-life spotting.We must have trekked a total distance of approx 9 Kms but it seemed like running a marathon race .The afternoon heat and uneven forest terrain as well as a lack of drinking water made us extremely tired, legs turning wobbly ,akin to long distance running.Wild-life spotting is based on luck ,seasons and timing and in November-2011, on a private tour i can never forget the luck of spotting rare rhino's on every consecutive day during safari's in Chitwan forests in Nepal, one just a few feet away .Have read blogs where some tourists have not even spotted a monkey in the same Chitwan forests, a matter of luck and seasonal visit to the forests. Nikhil once spotted a leopard just a few metres away in this same park at night during one of his numerous forest study tours , his photograph prominently displayed in the exhibition room.
We later gathered around the dining mess hall and introduced ourselves, nature lovers from different professions, sex, and age and hence got to know each other better.Dinner was at 2030 hrs and to my amazement the Phansad forests had no mosquito's, the worst pest of any forested area, especially during monsoons.It was a pitch dark moonless night and a few of us indulged in star gazing with the help of a cell-phone with software applications for night star gazing, one such phone owned by Vandan.Honestly, i am knowledgeable on some common mammals, birds, reptiles and fish and love forests and nature, hence the outdoor treks .My specialty subject has been pets and at present cats with 'mittoo" my Alexandrine parakeet being the hot topic of discussion and blogs.
Entry into the Phansad park or loitering on the main highway outside the park after 1830 hrs is banned and hence Nikhil decided to take us on a drive to the nearest spring water pond near the highway, hopeful to also spot some wild-life while traveling in the bus.We drove about 10 minutes down the highway, and alighted the bus near a water hole.After years i saw huge bull-frogs in this pond and we all went camera trigger happy ,photographing these huge giant frogs.These frogs are highly carnivorous and are known to eat small birds, snakes and lizards. The famous "FROG LEGS" cuisine was from these breed of frogs.Killing frogs for "Frog Legs" meat is now banned and frogs in India are a protected species.During our trip to Guhagar, a classic sea-side forested town in Ratnagiri district in June 2011 we got to witness a rare sight of a bull frog in the process of swallowing a water-snake in a well.This Bull frog later released the snake from its mouth as it was too big for the frog to swallow and miraculously the snake was still alive,lying motionless on the surface , a few feet away from the frog.Mr Nikhil.Bhopale and Mr Vandan.Jhaveri had conducted that trek and Nikhil gave us a demonstration of a "Snake Rescue", rapelling with a rope into the well and getting the snake on firm land. A video of the same can be viewed on "Youtube".Hence on different camps and different treks a person gets to witness and view different aspects of wild-life and nature.After spending about 15 minutes at this pond site we drove back towards our camp-lodge spotting a Gerbil on the way , the only mammal that we spotted besides the glimpse of the giant squirrel during the afternoon trek.We finally reached our camp lodge, fatigued through trekking but a bit disappointed on wild-life spotting's in the forests.A few of us shifted into the forest display guide room as there was a shortage of accommodation.The forest was absolutely quiet with no night sounds of cicada's, very common in forests.It was a sleepless night on the floor of the room , although the weather was cool and pleasant.I must have managed an hours sleep and spent the entire night awake, my usual handicap while touring or traveling to new places.Our agenda for Sunday was to awake at 0500 hrs and begin our hike to "Chikalgaon Gaan(Chikalgaon springs)" to do some serious bird-watching also hoping to spot mammals while trekking through the forests.
SUNDAY(25-3-2012):-A sleepless night passed and was happy to awake at approx 0430 hrs and stroll near the camp vicinity.Later brushed my teeth and after tea relieved my bowels.The entire tourist lodge campsite seemed very amateurish in construction and design with tap water being a luxury and the facilities of toilets although minimal was clean, a bath being a luxury due to lack of running tap water.There was a hand-pump in the centre of the tourist lodge which was the only source of perennial water from its well for campers.
Everyone was punctual and after tea at 0500 hrs we began our trek in pitch darkness with the help of torch-lights into the Phansad forests.The forest weather was extreme heat in the afternoons and very cool and pleasant evenings and nights.It was very adventurous and pleasant trekking through the forest trail paths in pitch darkness with the help of a torch.Trekking or hiking is a team sport that requires a lot of co-ordination, good leadership and trekking skills.Among us there were a few senior citizen as well as very young trekkers with Mr Nikhil.Bhopale and Mr Vandan.Jhaveri being the trek leaders.We didn't spot any wild-life in the dark early morning forests, not even deers, common in all forests that i have visited.The breaking of dawn and the first signs of daybreak is an exhilarating experience in any forests and so also in Phansad.Phansad wild-life sanctuary has 4 large plateau's within its boundaries called "Maals" in Marathi. The 4 plateaus named in marathi language are are 1)Bandwyechya Maal 2)Gadyyachya Maal 3) Ghunyachya Maal and 4)Chakyachya Maal.We finally reached the largest plateau in the forest called "Ghunyecha Maal(Ghunyecha Plateau)"at approx 0630 hrs, a vast open land in the midst of the dense and semi dense forest.There was a huge watch-tower at the edge of the plateau for wild-life spotting.On the forest treks at Ghunyechya maal there was a sand track laid on the main pathway which captured the footprints of animals that passed through this path.Mr Nikhil.Bhopale explained us a few of the footprints which were of barking deer and gerbils.Further down the forest trek we spotted leopard scat and i collected the same as a souvenir of Phansad wild-life sanctuary, besides, in city's leopard scat is not as common as dog or cat scat.Trekking further into the forests , at 0700 hrs we reached the other plateau called "Chakyachya maal" , much smaller open land than Ghunyechya maal.From here it was a downhill trek to our final destination "Chikkal Gaan" amidst dense forests. Nikhil was in front and he spotted a wild boar crossing our path, a few metres below, yelling at us to observe the same.
Luckily i was just behind and managed to see the streaking wild boar rush past us at great speed, the first time in my life of seeing a wild boar in the natural forests.We finally walked down this forest trek reaching our destination "Chikkal Gaan(Chikkal Springs)" at approx 0730 hrs, the site already filled with a few tourist bird-watchers.
"Chikkal Gaan" consisted of two large murky ponds with forest trees surrounding them, the nearby trees filled with various birds.Bird-watcher tourists could sit on the boulder rocks on one side of the spring ponds while various birds went about their daily early morning feeding itinerary, the ultimate bird-watchers locale in this forest.
Every trekker and wild-life naturalist knows the simple fact that all wild animals and birds are most active at dawn and dusk, hence the best time for photographing them in the wild.In our trek group there were a few amateur photographers with photographic equipment costlier than the average professional photographer,besides, bird photography requires high precision camera equipment for sharp images, hence expensive lenses.
Every bird-watcher was trigger happy with their camera's while i tried to learn the art of identifying a few birds also guilty that during my youth i did shoot many of these birds with my air-gun.Honestly, i could just identify a few birds amongst the numerous that inhabited this forest area, most prominent being the crow pheasant, black drongo, whiskered bulbul, and woodpecker.After almost an hour at Chikkal Gaan we finally departed on our return journey making our way towards Chakhachya Maal for our breakfast.Breakfast which consisted of "Pohwa" was brought to us by a local villager at approx 0900 hrs.
After breakfast we decided to trek to the vulture nesting site, a long trek requiring physical strength and luck.A few co-group trekkers decided including Naval,Sunil and Keith decided to avoid the "Vulture Nesting site" trek and went back to camp base by themselves.The rest of us under the guidance of Nikhil and Vandan trekked our way towards the vulture valley, a very tedious and treacherous trek, definitely not for the non-habitual trekkers or the very aged.For the first time spotted a pair of Langurs in the dense forests, jumping among the tree branches.We finally arrived at "VULTURE VALLEY" at around 1000hrs, excited at viewing these ugly and majestic sky gliders for the first time in India.
The final few metres towards the edge of the forest was extremely difficult, a downward descent on hilly terrain towards the edge of the hill.Luck was with us and our efforts proved fruitful as we did spot a few vultures in the trees on the edge of the hill.We finally reached the edge of the hill, a deep valley gorge running below with another hill on the other side. The vultures nested in this mountain gorge on the tall trees.We spotted a single vulture nest,and one of the lady bird-watchers Gitanjali.D'sylva was extremely sharp at sighting birds, a tact that comes with enthusiasm and frequency of nature trails.Thanks to her i got to see the vultures nest, similar to a crow but huge and on a high tree at the side of this mountain hill.It was a magnificent , beautiful as well as the most dangerous trek of our entire 2 day trek in Phansad.A slight slip meant a fall to your death in the valley below and no wonder the vulture is a mystical bird that oozes with a foreboding of death and the supernatural.Remembered the "McKena's Gold" film song of "OLD TURKEY BUZZARD" while viewing this almost extinct bird flying in the air, its white back visible through binoculars, poetry in motion in the air.Ultimately for the first time in my life viewed the rump backed vulture in its natural habitat, a bird once as common as the crow at abattoir sites in India upto the 1980's.A ordinary common veterinary drug for cattle called "DICLOFENAC" spelt their doom on planet Earth as the cattle carcases consumed by vultures poisoned them, causing kidney failure and death.The "Phansad Wildlife sanctuary" in Maharashtra was one of the sites chosen for breeding the vulture in the wild through a project known as "Vulture restaurants". NOTE:- CLICK ON THIS PHOTO PUBLISHED ON "TWITTER" TO VIEW THE "VULTURE RESTAURANT VIDEO".
Close to the nesting site in this valley a rectangular pit was erected on the plateau. The pit is filled with water and carcasses of dead cattle not injected with the drug "DICLOFENAC" is kept near the pit for feeding the vultures.Its a costly scheme successfully implemented in Nepal,Pakistan, ,South Africa and recently since 2011 in India.
There were only about 4 vultures in the valley, 2 sitting on branches and another 2 that flew away on our arrival.After a few minutes the other two vultures also flew away , disturbed by our sound on approaching the valleys cliff edge.We finally departed from "Vulture Valley" and made our way back to our base-camp, a long trek of approx 8 Kms in the searing midday sun.
After a short walk , at 1100hrs we passed close to the "VULTURE RESTAURANT" and i filmed a video of the same. The entire place had the stench of death with the carcass of a bullock lying next to the water trough.The vultures normally bathe in the water after a gluttonous meal, hence the putrid flesh smell.Further away from the skeletal cattle carcass were the bones of other cattle, the water itself stinking of putrefied flesh, a ghastly scene.I was the only trekker that must have video filmed the "Vulture Restaurant" as most just avoided it due to its stench of death.The way back to base camp was a slow torturous walk with rationed water as i was carrying a 1/2 litre bottle of water, weight being the main handicap for long distance trekking.As i had wasted quite a few minutes at "Vulture restaurant" realized that i was last in the trekking order, a lone trekker in the silent forest.What if destiny got me face to face with the elusive Phansad leopard?Finally i did pick up walking speed and quickly caught up with the stragglers in our group, happy not to be alone with an elusive leopard on the prowl.Although i am an "Adrenaline Junkie" addicted to dangerous sports and danger, hence also a trekker, but, tackling a full grown leopard with bare hands is another adrenaline trip altogether.On my way met a fellow young lady trekker Maria.P and she took some tips from me on swimming and cycling , she being a recent member of "B.N.H.S" and outdoor treks.We finally reached our base camp at 1200 hrs, tired but contended at our luck on this Sunday morning trek.Today we had trekked a total distance of almost 15 Kms, but, an extremely lucrative trek emotionally as we got to view a wild boar and later rare excellent birds at Chikkal Maal. The highlight of our trek was to "VULTURE VALLEY" where we genuinely got to view the last of these elusive birds on their home turf.Only hope that todays trekking generation is not the last to view this most feared and elusive scavenger in its natural habitat and that it recovers from the brink of extinction.
On arrival at camp base i drank water like a thirsty animal at a waterhole and bizarrely didn't feel tired nor any joint pains.Seems cycling and swimming has kept me reasonably physically fit at my age and hence i preach its advantages to co-travelers and trekkers. Lunch was the usual Vegetarian thali which i relished with chappatis, the hard-core non-vegetarian becoming a vegetarian for a few days.After lunch we packed our rucksacks, luggage etc and boarded our bus.We finally departed for Mumbai at 1400hrs and initially took the "Murud Route" to Mumbai, the same diverted to Alibaug on demand by the women trekkers, most prominent being Gitanjali.D'sylva.Seems Alibaug produces the best "White Onions" and "Ice-cream soda", items not easily available in Mumbai and hence they wanted to purchase the same on our return journey.We hence took the same route as on our arrival, passing through congested Alibaug and finally reaching Pali town at 1600 hrs.Here our bus stopped at "D.Sampson" coldrink house, famous for its "Ice-Cream soda" and other locally aerated drinks sold at the cheap rate of Rs 10/bottle."D.Sampson" seemed to be a Cold drink institution of Alibaug having been in the business since 80 years and doing brisk tourist business.I had 2 ice-cream soda's , a drink with a unique taste and also took a bottle of packaged ice cream soda and masala soda home, something unique, a specialty of Alibaug drinks cuisine.We stopped for tea at Kshanbar Vishranti resort, myself and a few other co-trekkers having a lassi instead of tea.After tea we began the last leg of our journey back to Mumbai and luckily the traffic congestion was normal and not abnormal.Manny trekkers alighted the bus at various junctions and finally myself and two lady trekkers ,Janhvi.Vyas and Gitanjali.D'sylva were the last to alight at Agar Bazaar at 1900 hrs, myself walking home while the other two ladies boarded taxis to their respective homes.Thus it was the end of a fantastic, tiring and memorable two day trek to Phansad wild-life park.At home, began my blogging and documentation of the Phansad trek,making new facebook friends and also sharing photographs of the trip.As usual, Mr Bhavnesh .Shah, Mr Jonathan.D'silva and Mr Makhdoom.Girkar produced the best bird photo's with their professional and costly photograph equipment and zoom lenses.Hope readers get a brief idea of Phansad Wild-life park through my personal blog as i have gained reading other writers blogs during my private solo-tours or "B.N.H.S treks".
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| Arrival "PHANSAD SANCTUARY". |
After voluntary retirement from the "Mercantile Merchant navy" got the opportunity to visit and tour the hill forts and wildlife sanctuary's of my own home state of Maharashtra, thanks to membership of the B.N.H.S(Bombay Natural History society).I feel embarrassed to admit that i still have to visit the famous common Mumbaikar hill resort of Mahabaleshwar although have seen and toured most of the World Capital city's ! "B.N.H.S" were organizing a 2 day wild-life trek to Phansad Wild-life sanctuary on Saturday/Sunday(24/25 March)and hence decided to join the trek group.The Phansad Wildlife sanctuary was a former hunting forest of the Siddhi Nawab of Janjira State and after accession to India in 1948, the forest was preserved in its entirety and later developed into a wild-life park, a habitat of the giant squirrel locally called the Shekra in Marathi language.It is located in the Murud and Roha talukas of Raigad district of Maharashtra state on the Konkan coast.Booked my seat for the trek well in advance on Friday(9-3-2012),paying Rs 2300 to Group tour official Mr Vandan.Jhaveri as at times the group tours get full.
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| The nomad traveller/adventurer |
SATURDAY(24-3-2012):- Woke up at 0500 hrs and after a brief breakfast packed my haversack and made my way to the Prabhadevi bus depot.Boarded the 27 Nos bus at 0615 hrs , ages since i traveled by public transport as i rarely move out of my residence in the Internet era and when i do , its always the motorcycle or cycle ! Reached the "B.N.H.S bus Pick-up point" at Chandu Halwai shop at Dadar T.T and as usual looked around for any familiar faces.Saw a elderly gentleman seated at the steps near Chandu Halwai and as usual realized that it was a small World once we conversed with each other.Mr Keith.Francis was a free-lance cartoonist by profession and an ardent nature lover, having toured most of the ""B.N.H.S Nature camps"" tours over the decades.As usual, total strangers seemed like age old friends and during our conversation we both realized that we both knew interconnected friends.A few other camper tourists arrived and finally at approximately 0650 hrs the "B.N.H.S Bus" arrived, a privately chartered bus named "Discovery(MH04G6807)", owned by Sai services based at Shivaji Park.Another familiar face was Mr Jonathan.D'silva,an automobile engineer and an amateur bird-watcher photographer who owns camera equipment costlier than most professional photographers and has specialized knowledge of insects, birds and flora that could be the envy of even a professional qualified naturalist. Thanks to Jonathan, i have posted beautiful moth photographs during our overnight tour of Malshej ghat having given him credit for the same in my blogs.
I hate "Intellectual robbery" or blatant plagiarism without credit or a mention of the source, something very common in the fashion and creative arts World, least of all movies.It was a house-full bus and "B.N.H.S" tour official Mr Vanhan.Jhaveri ,freshly returned from Africa after conducting the "B.N.H.S Tanzania Wild-life tour" checked the group attendance and we finally left Dadar T.T at 0705 hrs.Phansad is approximately 152 Kms from Mumbai by road on the Panvel, Pen and Alibaug land route compared to the shorter version through ferry boat from Mumbai and later road transport.
At Panvel we collected Mr Nikhil.Bhopale, the bird specialist and youngest co-author of a bird book in India, formerly a "B.N.H.S" employee and now an individual entrepreneur in conducting his own nature camp tours.He also freelances for "B.N.H.S" and hence we were lucky to have his expertise during this tour of Phansad wild-life sanctuary.Mr Nikhil.Bhopale has visited Phansad sanctuary over 70 times during his outdoors research work on wild-life study , hence a veteran of this small forest.This is one of the reasons i personally tour nature forests with "B.N.H.S Group" as they have the expertise proven staff. A person gets to meet new people and new acquaintances among co-group travelers , all sharing a common passion for nature, irrespective of personal professions , age or sex.
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| "B.N.H.S Tour Group" with expert birder/author Mr Nikhil. Bhopale leading the tour. |
We reached Karnala bird sanctuary at approximately 0820 hrs and breakfast was at Kshanbar Vishranti resort.After breakfast it was a long drive to Alibaug , the route being through very narrow roads.On crossing the Revdanda bridge and the prominent Wellspun iron ore factory we finally reached Kashid at approx 1030hrs ,famous for its pristine beach.From Kashid we followed the Kashid -Murud road that was a spiraling hill ascent from the coastline, finally reaching the Phansad sanctuary holiday camp gates at approx 1145 hrs, a total drive of approx 5 hours from Dadar in Mumbai.It was a beautiful long 5 hour drive with an intermittent stop for breakfast, we city dwellers enjoying the rustic road scenes of the village life on our road journey.One aspect that caught my Anglophile observation was that all the signboards in the sanctuary were in Marathi language indicating that Phansad wildlife sanctuary was visited most by local tourists.Camp tents were erected for tourists, the first time i ever saw a camp site at a wild-life park in India, besides, there were also some small forest lodges.There was a exhibition room where a photographic description in English and Marathi with a condensed history of the park was exhibited for tourist visitors.I jotted some of the descriptive facts for this blog from some photographic descriptive displays in this exhibition room as there is very little natural history facts about this remote small wild-life sanctuary,just a few hours drive from concrete jungle Mumbai.Most descriptions have Marathi names and the same has not been documented in English language, besides, sign-posts in the park would definitely confuse a non-marathi linguist exploring the park without a guides assistance. At Phansad spotted another familiar face and a flashback made me realize that the person was Mr Sunil.Bidadar, a veteran trekker,whom i met during the Rajmachi trek in 2010.He and two other members had not got a seat on the "B.N.H.S bus" as it was "Housefull" hence they drove to Phansad in a private car owned by Mr Naval.Ahuja. Amongst our group of 25 there were few women nature tourists and they were allotted a separate camp while we men had to share two other camps.Lunch was between 1300 to 1400 hrs at the tourist mess near our residential campsite, vegetarian Maharashtrian food prepared by the local villagers.
The Phansad wild-life sanctuary was recently established as a tourist resort village and accommodates a limited number of tourists.It is a small forest comprising of approx 52 Kms in area with villages on its boundaries.
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| Cage trap for leopards. |
After lunch we wandered around the campsite premises and for the first time i saw a panther cage-trap, the same lying idle in the camp-site premises.Between 2001 and 2006 there was a plague of leopard man-eating cases in the "Sanjay Gandhi National park" village precincts, the same documented in "National geographic".Many of these leopards were trapped and released in other forests including Phansad and hence this cage must have been a trap once used in leopard relocation.Mr Nikhil.Bhopale himself was actively involved in some leopard capture and re-location schemes in the forest. we observed a white rumped vulture flying high above in the sky, the first time i saw vultures in India, the species becoming almost extinct due to the "Diclofenac" poisoning from eating contaminated cattle carcasses.At 1500 hrs we gathered together and entered the sanctuary for trekking into the forests.We also got acquainted with each other and the beauty of forest or hill-fort trekking is the total team involvement of strangers in accomplishing a common goal of discovering forest nature as well as encouraging each other during difficult treks.
Akin to competing in a marathon race, so also, trekking through forests is a tough physical sport that requires practice, skill and a eye for observing and detecting nature in the wild forests.As a young hunter with an air-gun i remember the thrill and suspense of hunting birds during holidays in ancestral villages of Mangalore during the 1970's.The same tracking skills i used during my youth as a hunter i now use for just wandering aimlessly in forests in order to spot wildlife,birds and just mingle with nature. It was a very hot and humid day and Mr Nikhil.Bhopale and Mr Vandhan.Jhaveri conducted the guided trek.Our destination was "Dharnyachi Ghaan", a marathi name which Nikhil explained to us, the ghaan meaning perennial water flow from these natural springs.The unique aspect of the "Phansad forests" is that there are a few permanent spring waterholes, a total of 27 within the park which are called "Ghaan" in Marathi..The Phansad forest vegetation is similar to Matheran forests, the most popular summer hill resort for Mumbaikars, although it is three times smaller than Matheran in altitude.The Giant squirrels also exist in the Matheran forests. The trek to Dharnyachi ghaan was torturous in the extreme blistering sun besides i had to undergo water rationing as did most other co-trekkers due to lack of portable water bottles.Some like Jonathan,D'silva,Makhdoom.Girkar and Bhavesh.Shah were carrying heavy professional photographic equipment although amateurs ,indicating their passion for sharp photographic images of birds and mammals.We didn't spot a single bird nor mammal barring a few common bird species, akin to walking in a normal park in a city.From my balcony at Old Prabhadevi road in Mumbai i could have spotted more exotic birds in our exotic building botanical garden compound then we did on this hot saturday afternoon in the Phansad forests.Just before our approach to Dharnyachi Ghaan we spotted a brief glimpse of a giant squirrel on a tree and also a giant squirrel nest, the ultimate sighting of the day and a first in my life.
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| Nest of a Giant Malabar)Squirrel locally called "Shekra". |
We finally reached Dharnyachi ghaan at approx 1615 hrs, a small puddle from which water gushed eternally from under the rock.The water seemed clean and i decided to drink the spring water as thirst was unbearable, besides, nothing like drinking fresh pure spring water from its source in the forests.We all quenched our thirst from this gift of natural spring water and relaxed by the small pond.After a brief rest we went further downhill from the spring and discovered that this tiny puddle of spring water developed into a seeping waterfall.During the monsoon rains the same waterfall would be a gushing flow, hence understood the name "DHARNYACHI GHAAN".We spotted original Asoka trees in the forests near the spring, dense growth of evergreen vegetation.We later trekked our way back towards our camp as the forest sanctuary gates closed at 1830 hrs, night tours into the forests being banned.On our return at dusk the temperatures cooled down comfortably and again we didn't spot any wild-life,not even the common rhesus monkeys normally found in all forests.We all just enjoyed the adventure of forest trekking, a relief of being away from honking vehicles, smog, traffic and concrete buildings instead of wooden trees..We finally reached the forest camp accommodation at approx 1820 hrs, haggard and a bit disappointed due to lack of wild-life spotting.We must have trekked a total distance of approx 9 Kms but it seemed like running a marathon race .The afternoon heat and uneven forest terrain as well as a lack of drinking water made us extremely tired, legs turning wobbly ,akin to long distance running.Wild-life spotting is based on luck ,seasons and timing and in November-2011, on a private tour i can never forget the luck of spotting rare rhino's on every consecutive day during safari's in Chitwan forests in Nepal, one just a few feet away .Have read blogs where some tourists have not even spotted a monkey in the same Chitwan forests, a matter of luck and seasonal visit to the forests. Nikhil once spotted a leopard just a few metres away in this same park at night during one of his numerous forest study tours , his photograph prominently displayed in the exhibition room.
We later gathered around the dining mess hall and introduced ourselves, nature lovers from different professions, sex, and age and hence got to know each other better.Dinner was at 2030 hrs and to my amazement the Phansad forests had no mosquito's, the worst pest of any forested area, especially during monsoons.It was a pitch dark moonless night and a few of us indulged in star gazing with the help of a cell-phone with software applications for night star gazing, one such phone owned by Vandan.Honestly, i am knowledgeable on some common mammals, birds, reptiles and fish and love forests and nature, hence the outdoor treks .My specialty subject has been pets and at present cats with 'mittoo" my Alexandrine parakeet being the hot topic of discussion and blogs.
Entry into the Phansad park or loitering on the main highway outside the park after 1830 hrs is banned and hence Nikhil decided to take us on a drive to the nearest spring water pond near the highway, hopeful to also spot some wild-life while traveling in the bus.We drove about 10 minutes down the highway, and alighted the bus near a water hole.After years i saw huge bull-frogs in this pond and we all went camera trigger happy ,photographing these huge giant frogs.These frogs are highly carnivorous and are known to eat small birds, snakes and lizards. The famous "FROG LEGS" cuisine was from these breed of frogs.Killing frogs for "Frog Legs" meat is now banned and frogs in India are a protected species.During our trip to Guhagar, a classic sea-side forested town in Ratnagiri district in June 2011 we got to witness a rare sight of a bull frog in the process of swallowing a water-snake in a well.This Bull frog later released the snake from its mouth as it was too big for the frog to swallow and miraculously the snake was still alive,lying motionless on the surface , a few feet away from the frog.Mr Nikhil.Bhopale and Mr Vandan.Jhaveri had conducted that trek and Nikhil gave us a demonstration of a "Snake Rescue", rapelling with a rope into the well and getting the snake on firm land. A video of the same can be viewed on "Youtube".Hence on different camps and different treks a person gets to witness and view different aspects of wild-life and nature.After spending about 15 minutes at this pond site we drove back towards our camp-lodge spotting a Gerbil on the way , the only mammal that we spotted besides the glimpse of the giant squirrel during the afternoon trek.We finally reached our camp lodge, fatigued through trekking but a bit disappointed on wild-life spotting's in the forests.A few of us shifted into the forest display guide room as there was a shortage of accommodation.The forest was absolutely quiet with no night sounds of cicada's, very common in forests.It was a sleepless night on the floor of the room , although the weather was cool and pleasant.I must have managed an hours sleep and spent the entire night awake, my usual handicap while touring or traveling to new places.Our agenda for Sunday was to awake at 0500 hrs and begin our hike to "Chikalgaon Gaan(Chikalgaon springs)" to do some serious bird-watching also hoping to spot mammals while trekking through the forests.
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| "Observation Tower Machhan" |
SUNDAY(25-3-2012):-A sleepless night passed and was happy to awake at approx 0430 hrs and stroll near the camp vicinity.Later brushed my teeth and after tea relieved my bowels.The entire tourist lodge campsite seemed very amateurish in construction and design with tap water being a luxury and the facilities of toilets although minimal was clean, a bath being a luxury due to lack of running tap water.There was a hand-pump in the centre of the tourist lodge which was the only source of perennial water from its well for campers.
Everyone was punctual and after tea at 0500 hrs we began our trek in pitch darkness with the help of torch-lights into the Phansad forests.The forest weather was extreme heat in the afternoons and very cool and pleasant evenings and nights.It was very adventurous and pleasant trekking through the forest trail paths in pitch darkness with the help of a torch.Trekking or hiking is a team sport that requires a lot of co-ordination, good leadership and trekking skills.Among us there were a few senior citizen as well as very young trekkers with Mr Nikhil.Bhopale and Mr Vandan.Jhaveri being the trek leaders.We didn't spot any wild-life in the dark early morning forests, not even deers, common in all forests that i have visited.The breaking of dawn and the first signs of daybreak is an exhilarating experience in any forests and so also in Phansad.Phansad wild-life sanctuary has 4 large plateau's within its boundaries called "Maals" in Marathi. The 4 plateaus named in marathi language are are 1)Bandwyechya Maal 2)Gadyyachya Maal 3) Ghunyachya Maal and 4)Chakyachya Maal.We finally reached the largest plateau in the forest called "Ghunyecha Maal(Ghunyecha Plateau)"at approx 0630 hrs, a vast open land in the midst of the dense and semi dense forest.There was a huge watch-tower at the edge of the plateau for wild-life spotting.On the forest treks at Ghunyechya maal there was a sand track laid on the main pathway which captured the footprints of animals that passed through this path.Mr Nikhil.Bhopale explained us a few of the footprints which were of barking deer and gerbils.Further down the forest trek we spotted leopard scat and i collected the same as a souvenir of Phansad wild-life sanctuary, besides, in city's leopard scat is not as common as dog or cat scat.Trekking further into the forests , at 0700 hrs we reached the other plateau called "Chakyachya maal" , much smaller open land than Ghunyechya maal.From here it was a downhill trek to our final destination "Chikkal Gaan" amidst dense forests. Nikhil was in front and he spotted a wild boar crossing our path, a few metres below, yelling at us to observe the same.
Luckily i was just behind and managed to see the streaking wild boar rush past us at great speed, the first time in my life of seeing a wild boar in the natural forests.We finally walked down this forest trek reaching our destination "Chikkal Gaan(Chikkal Springs)" at approx 0730 hrs, the site already filled with a few tourist bird-watchers.
"Chikkal Gaan" consisted of two large murky ponds with forest trees surrounding them, the nearby trees filled with various birds.Bird-watcher tourists could sit on the boulder rocks on one side of the spring ponds while various birds went about their daily early morning feeding itinerary, the ultimate bird-watchers locale in this forest.
Every trekker and wild-life naturalist knows the simple fact that all wild animals and birds are most active at dawn and dusk, hence the best time for photographing them in the wild.In our trek group there were a few amateur photographers with photographic equipment costlier than the average professional photographer,besides, bird photography requires high precision camera equipment for sharp images, hence expensive lenses.
Every bird-watcher was trigger happy with their camera's while i tried to learn the art of identifying a few birds also guilty that during my youth i did shoot many of these birds with my air-gun.Honestly, i could just identify a few birds amongst the numerous that inhabited this forest area, most prominent being the crow pheasant, black drongo, whiskered bulbul, and woodpecker.After almost an hour at Chikkal Gaan we finally departed on our return journey making our way towards Chakhachya Maal for our breakfast.Breakfast which consisted of "Pohwa" was brought to us by a local villager at approx 0900 hrs.
After breakfast we decided to trek to the vulture nesting site, a long trek requiring physical strength and luck.A few co-group trekkers decided including Naval,Sunil and Keith decided to avoid the "Vulture Nesting site" trek and went back to camp base by themselves.The rest of us under the guidance of Nikhil and Vandan trekked our way towards the vulture valley, a very tedious and treacherous trek, definitely not for the non-habitual trekkers or the very aged.For the first time spotted a pair of Langurs in the dense forests, jumping among the tree branches.We finally arrived at "VULTURE VALLEY" at around 1000hrs, excited at viewing these ugly and majestic sky gliders for the first time in India.
The final few metres towards the edge of the forest was extremely difficult, a downward descent on hilly terrain towards the edge of the hill.Luck was with us and our efforts proved fruitful as we did spot a few vultures in the trees on the edge of the hill.We finally reached the edge of the hill, a deep valley gorge running below with another hill on the other side. The vultures nested in this mountain gorge on the tall trees.We spotted a single vulture nest,and one of the lady bird-watchers Gitanjali.D'sylva was extremely sharp at sighting birds, a tact that comes with enthusiasm and frequency of nature trails.Thanks to her i got to see the vultures nest, similar to a crow but huge and on a high tree at the side of this mountain hill.It was a magnificent , beautiful as well as the most dangerous trek of our entire 2 day trek in Phansad.A slight slip meant a fall to your death in the valley below and no wonder the vulture is a mystical bird that oozes with a foreboding of death and the supernatural.Remembered the "McKena's Gold" film song of "OLD TURKEY BUZZARD" while viewing this almost extinct bird flying in the air, its white back visible through binoculars, poetry in motion in the air.Ultimately for the first time in my life viewed the rump backed vulture in its natural habitat, a bird once as common as the crow at abattoir sites in India upto the 1980's.A ordinary common veterinary drug for cattle called "DICLOFENAC" spelt their doom on planet Earth as the cattle carcases consumed by vultures poisoned them, causing kidney failure and death.The "Phansad Wildlife sanctuary" in Maharashtra was one of the sites chosen for breeding the vulture in the wild through a project known as "Vulture restaurants". NOTE:- CLICK ON THIS PHOTO PUBLISHED ON "TWITTER" TO VIEW THE "VULTURE RESTAURANT VIDEO".
Close to the nesting site in this valley a rectangular pit was erected on the plateau. The pit is filled with water and carcasses of dead cattle not injected with the drug "DICLOFENAC" is kept near the pit for feeding the vultures.Its a costly scheme successfully implemented in Nepal,Pakistan, ,South Africa and recently since 2011 in India. |
| VULTURE IN FLIGHT AT "VULTURE VALLEY" IN PHANSAD:- Photo by Mr Makhdoom.Girkar. |
There were only about 4 vultures in the valley, 2 sitting on branches and another 2 that flew away on our arrival.After a few minutes the other two vultures also flew away , disturbed by our sound on approaching the valleys cliff edge.We finally departed from "Vulture Valley" and made our way back to our base-camp, a long trek of approx 8 Kms in the searing midday sun.
After a short walk , at 1100hrs we passed close to the "VULTURE RESTAURANT" and i filmed a video of the same. The entire place had the stench of death with the carcass of a bullock lying next to the water trough.The vultures normally bathe in the water after a gluttonous meal, hence the putrid flesh smell.Further away from the skeletal cattle carcass were the bones of other cattle, the water itself stinking of putrefied flesh, a ghastly scene.I was the only trekker that must have video filmed the "Vulture Restaurant" as most just avoided it due to its stench of death.The way back to base camp was a slow torturous walk with rationed water as i was carrying a 1/2 litre bottle of water, weight being the main handicap for long distance trekking.As i had wasted quite a few minutes at "Vulture restaurant" realized that i was last in the trekking order, a lone trekker in the silent forest.What if destiny got me face to face with the elusive Phansad leopard?Finally i did pick up walking speed and quickly caught up with the stragglers in our group, happy not to be alone with an elusive leopard on the prowl.Although i am an "Adrenaline Junkie" addicted to dangerous sports and danger, hence also a trekker, but, tackling a full grown leopard with bare hands is another adrenaline trip altogether.On my way met a fellow young lady trekker Maria.P and she took some tips from me on swimming and cycling , she being a recent member of "B.N.H.S" and outdoor treks.We finally reached our base camp at 1200 hrs, tired but contended at our luck on this Sunday morning trek.Today we had trekked a total distance of almost 15 Kms, but, an extremely lucrative trek emotionally as we got to view a wild boar and later rare excellent birds at Chikkal Maal. The highlight of our trek was to "VULTURE VALLEY" where we genuinely got to view the last of these elusive birds on their home turf.Only hope that todays trekking generation is not the last to view this most feared and elusive scavenger in its natural habitat and that it recovers from the brink of extinction.
On arrival at camp base i drank water like a thirsty animal at a waterhole and bizarrely didn't feel tired nor any joint pains.Seems cycling and swimming has kept me reasonably physically fit at my age and hence i preach its advantages to co-travelers and trekkers. Lunch was the usual Vegetarian thali which i relished with chappatis, the hard-core non-vegetarian becoming a vegetarian for a few days.After lunch we packed our rucksacks, luggage etc and boarded our bus.We finally departed for Mumbai at 1400hrs and initially took the "Murud Route" to Mumbai, the same diverted to Alibaug on demand by the women trekkers, most prominent being Gitanjali.D'sylva.Seems Alibaug produces the best "White Onions" and "Ice-cream soda", items not easily available in Mumbai and hence they wanted to purchase the same on our return journey.We hence took the same route as on our arrival, passing through congested Alibaug and finally reaching Pali town at 1600 hrs.Here our bus stopped at "D.Sampson" coldrink house, famous for its "Ice-Cream soda" and other locally aerated drinks sold at the cheap rate of Rs 10/bottle."D.Sampson" seemed to be a Cold drink institution of Alibaug having been in the business since 80 years and doing brisk tourist business.I had 2 ice-cream soda's , a drink with a unique taste and also took a bottle of packaged ice cream soda and masala soda home, something unique, a specialty of Alibaug drinks cuisine.We stopped for tea at Kshanbar Vishranti resort, myself and a few other co-trekkers having a lassi instead of tea.After tea we began the last leg of our journey back to Mumbai and luckily the traffic congestion was normal and not abnormal.Manny trekkers alighted the bus at various junctions and finally myself and two lady trekkers ,Janhvi.Vyas and Gitanjali.D'sylva were the last to alight at Agar Bazaar at 1900 hrs, myself walking home while the other two ladies boarded taxis to their respective homes.Thus it was the end of a fantastic, tiring and memorable two day trek to Phansad wild-life park.At home, began my blogging and documentation of the Phansad trek,making new facebook friends and also sharing photographs of the trip.As usual, Mr Bhavnesh .Shah, Mr Jonathan.D'silva and Mr Makhdoom.Girkar produced the best bird photo's with their professional and costly photograph equipment and zoom lenses.Hope readers get a brief idea of Phansad Wild-life park through my personal blog as i have gained reading other writers blogs during my private solo-tours or "B.N.H.S treks".
