A journey through the woods on a rainy day!! - July 2015 - Author - Shreya Kulkarni

It had been a month since school had begun. But my routine was becoming boring day by day. Then baba came up with a fantastic idea. He was planning a trip to Bhimashankar. I was so much excited that I had promised baba that it will be me who would write the Bhimashankar blog.
  
In English there is a saying ,'Well begun is half done!' which is exactly the proverb to describe the way we all started. Everyone boarded the bus on time and the memorable journey began!!!

We took our first halt for a cup of tea and to stretch our legs . We had a nice chit-chat to get to know each other...The weather was just awesome and we were really pleased to know that it was going to be a wet day!    

First Halt

The sun was out and everyone looked very fresh after the halt. We had a great fun playing dumb charades and enjoyed every bit of it.

Dumb charades

As we started getting near to our destination we saw huge patches of green around us. Tufts of green rice were happily swaying with the wind. It was a beautiful sight. As we got down from the bus rain started pouring. We were all covered in raincoats and ponchos.

Trek Begins

Before starting our trek some new campers also joined us!! We were going to Gupt Bhimashankar, a place which is located in the jungles of Bhimashankar. It is said to be the origin of the the river Bhima. There is a Shivling of Lord Shankar which is located behind the curtains of water. We all were very excited to explore this heritage place....

Some moments

All the foliage around us was lush green. The sun and the clouds were playing hide and seek. At some times there was bright sunlight and sometimes it was raining cats and dogs.

Trekking

The path which led us was paved by foot. We were covered by the umbrellas of leaves and branches, so, there were times when we hardly felt the heavy rain. There was no plastic and garbage to criticize and the peace in the forest was something which I bet none of us had ever experienced in the city. Maybe that was the reason why all the saints meditated in the forests, even when there were no vehicles....

Nature Trail

I was leading the kids, the brave hearts of the camp, Omkar, Soham and Tanmay. Each of them was very curious about the nature around us. While walking we saw something slithering on the ground. First we thought it a earthworm. But eventually we saw that there was something bigger which was eating the earthworm. Then after a bit of more observation we saw that it was a snake..

I was sure it was a Shieldtail after a close look at its tail. All the kids were really curious and started pointing out its different characteristics. The snake as its name suggests has a tail which looks as though it is sliced down. It had dark navy blue color and had  yellow spots on his belly. It was no longer than 20 cm. After reaching home we found out its name.It was Phipson's Shieldtail.

We all waited for the rest of the group to join us. I was very happy to spot a snake in the wild for the first time. 
 

Phipson's Shieldtail

We came across many water crossings and small waterfalls. It was really fun stamping the water all around. Some of our courageous people even walked through the cold water removing their shoes and socks!

Some water crossings

The trees around us were looking really pleased with the rain gods. They were rapped in layers of green moss and mushrooms around them. They proudly swayed along with the wind and their canopy looked like a king's crown.

Lovely Mushrooms

The trees were embroidered with green moss. It was really a beautiful sight...

Moss cover

We shot a few clicks while in the forest...We were astonished to see some very huge trees uprooted due to wind. Bhimashankar had received heavy rains.

During Trek

Fern on the Bark

  Walking through the woods on a rainy day....

Some Natural Structures

Before reaching Gupt Bhimashankar we all stopped for a little snacks. We had a variety actually.. chips, biscuits, chakllis, ladoos, cakes and lot more. Everyone recollected what they had seen and we all discussed what we enjoyed the most. I had enjoyed the Phipson's Shieldtail the most.

Our Gang

After sometime we saw the Giant squirrel, the specialty of Bhimashankar and our state animal. The animal was very restless and we had to run behind it all the time to click some good photos. It was some time before we saw 3 others. One of them was quite quiet and got some good shots. It was busy eating what looked like a big pod. Its tail looked softer than Camlin golden series brushes!! Its reddish brown color radiated behind the greens.

All the kids were exhilarated by its sight...

Giant Malabar Squirrel

Our Gang

At last we reached Gupt Bhimashankar. We clicked some group photos there....It was very beautiful. There was a big waterfall. The Shivling was across the falls. We did some river-crossing and reached some more thickets.     

Near Gupt Bhimashankar

After some more up and downs we reached the Shivling. It was behind the curtains of pure water.

Stars of the gang

Some of our enthusiastic group members enjoyed getting soaked in the chill water..

Icing on the Cake

Some Bravehearts

Every one of us were utterly refreshed by this what we may call icing on the cake!!!!
Before we all started for the return trek clicked the beautiful sceneries, clear, running water, green grass and the other bio-diversity... Apart from the joyful and unforgettable memories we neither left anything behind nor picked up anything from there..

At Water Crossings

After we reached back in our bus, some of us were a bit exhausted and hungry. So, we went to a restaurant for lunch. We all had hot and delicious food in there. Some of us who were wet changed into dry and warm clothes. Then we left for some sight-seeing in Bhimashankar. While on our way we saw the greens, waterfalls and also a Sambhar deer! We paid a visit to the Bhorgiri village and fort.

Full gang..

Our Gang -
Kulkarni's - Kedar, Chitra, Omkar, Shreya
Deuskar's - Girish, Surekhar, Rhishikesh, Soham
Gokhale's - Amol, Shilpa, Anuja
Kekre's - Anoop, Suhani, Tanmay
Pratibha Nerlekar, Sayali Ashar, Apurva Lakhmani
We all had hot tea before leaving Bhimashankar. It was a very memorable journey which I bet none of us will ever forget. 'Some journies are more enjoyable than our final destinations!' This picnic would explain it all!!!

Picnic approved by..

Thanks all for reading my first ever blog!! Please let me know your feedback through the comments!!

Shreya Kulkarni,
SPM English School, Std-8  
       

Tadoba - June 2015 - Road Trip - Author - Pushkar Shirolkar (Camp -17)

My phone buzzed as it keeps buzzing for all of us all the time, but being in a meeting, I had no choice but to ignore it for some time. Later on my WhatsApp showed 152 conversations from 4 groups !!?? Yeah, I know we’re all used to such crazy numbers being part of so many social groups. As I browsed through, one was a direct message "Road trip to Tadoba" from my friend Kedar. Being in a different frame of mind I gave it a pass.

Next day it struck me all of a sudden that I haven't really been on such a long drive and had been longing for it for years. My hectic work schedule and at times some or the other things kept me away from such an adventure. Coincidentally, the timing was apt at work and home front and I said to myself 'the stars seems to be aligned' and if not now then never ! :)

The day was nearing and my colleague Amit was also joining me on this trip. Six boys, One car and a wonderful destination – the 2 weeks count down happened to whiz by and the day arrived when we started off at 4:30 am. Early morning start was presumed to be right choice to cover an approx. distance of 800 kms.

After breakfast, we hit the road – fantastic weather, nice songs to accompany us, all worries left behind and chatting on a variety of topics ranging from politics to office banter and some utter nonsense jokes. What more could we ask for. Just then a bunch of cyclists – all in perfect gear crossed us. The rhythm and discipline they followed were just amazing to watch. A thought crossing my mind, I wish I could join !!

As we were nearing half the distance, a decision to take a detour to Lonar Sarovar was taken. A saline lake created by a meteor impact thousands of year’s back - exact no. of years still being debated by experts though. As we wikipedia’d (new word invented probably !) through the details of the lake, it was really amazing to know many facts about it. Technology coming handy is such a boon today !! I would surely recommend visiting once for sure.

Sunbird @ Lonar

Temple @ Lonar

Lonar Sarovar

Heavy rains welcomed us as we sped off towards our destination after our roadside lunch at a very hygienic dhaba ;) ! Most of us were dozing off, however, Girish, who had been driving us since morning stood awake throughout. Our GPS had been quite helpful throughout, however, heavy rains, no/less lights/traffic on the road, we finally reached our hotel in Tadoba around 10:30pm.

Everyone was very skeptical for our jungle ride the next morning as the rains had been quite a spoil sport for us. However, we were able to navigate through mucky roads in the jungle and spot bison, jungle fowl, hoopoe, spotted deer and many more birds. But, no sign of the tiger, which we were early waiting for.

L to R: Pushkar, Girish, Nitin, Kedar, Saurabh, Amit

Indian Gaur (Bison)

Brahminy Starling

Spotted Deer

Hoopoe

Monitor Lizard

Lime Butterfly

Our afternoon jungle ride started off with bright sunshine. Yes, this was surely good news especially with the overcast weather all along, not good for photography as well. Spotting one my favorite bird – Asian paradise flycatcher was very exciting, more so because it was guarding its nest. Photographing this bird is quite a task as it’s never still. Sitting in a nest provided us an opportunity to click snaps as many as we wanted.

Asian paradise flycatcher

White eyed buzzard

Jungle Bush Quail

Birding was quite a treat during this ride. We were quite content with what the jungle had offered and were heading back towards the gates. Just then our guide stopped the driver and asked him to back up – he’d seen a tiger hidden in the bushes. That was an amazing moment as we had given up hope as in the morning ride. But here we were staring at the tiger and he staring back at us. It was a Madkasur cub. Seeing a tiger so near to the entrance gates was quite a surprise. We waited to get a good glance at the great animal as it went back into the forest.

Madkasur Tiger

That night, we all experienced the most number of lightening’s in a single night. It went for over 30 mins continuous – and we had dared to walk out of the hotel towards the jungle gates on a pitch dark night. That was surely something unwarranted for especially when we had spotted a tiger pretty close to the gates in the jungle earlier in the evening.

Lightening [Photo Credit: Nitin]

The next day morning ride again started with an overcast weather. The previous night surely had left its mark on the weather, so weren’t expecting anything different. But this was not what we were here for – we wanted to experience the Tadoba fauna to the maximum. However, we were treated with black headed ibis, black ibis & whistling ducks. The Asian paradise flycatcher was still protecting its nest and kept enthralling everyone who stopped by.

Black headed Ibis

Black Ibis

Whistling ducks

Serene forest

Blackbuck

Our last ride in the afternoon was booked from a different gate for which we had to drive for 40 odd minutes to reach the gates. None of us (who had been to Tadoba before) had entered the jungle through this NaveGaon gate. Everyone was excited as this gate offers its entrance a longer duration in the jungle. And true to its word – we were able to spend more time this evening. Welcomed by the pied kingfisher, all had a gut feeling or were pretty optimistic that this ride is going to be special.

Pied Kingfisher

The chausingha and lesser adjutant stork surprised us making it a worthwhile ride. The flame back woodpecker knocking on the trees and white breasted kingfishers also elevated everyone’s moods.

 Chaursingha

Lesser Adjutant Stork

Flame back woodpecker

As we were roaming around, we got news from another vehicle that there is a possibility of spotting a tiger. We waited patiently, which paid off. P3 the tigress appeared from the jungle. This majestic animal never stops to awe the bystanders. We got an opportunity to see P3 for quite some time. In a very short time there was a traffic jam of all the vehicles roaming around in that area to get a glimpse of this animal.

P3

Kedar had been desperate to photograph the Indian pitta. Being a very agile and shy bird, it was very difficult to take any good snaps even though we had seen it in all our rides. Finally, we were able to photograph this beautiful bird.

Indian Pitta

Taking full advantage of staying back in the forest for long, most of the vehicles had left to ensure they reach the gates on time. While we wandered around a bit more, we were in for another surprise. The most viewed tigress P2 a.k.a Maya came out of nowhere. We followed her quite a distance clicking as many snaps as possible. I was able to even take a video of her walking in her territory. I’d seen Maya last year as well, but it’s never sufficient. The elegant stripes, the walk and fearless eyes always amaze you.

Maya (P2)

That marked the end of all our jungle rides and the next day we started off early again saying our goodbye’s to the wonderful forests and fauna of Tadoba. The mesmerizing sunrise ensured a safe journey back home ...

Thank you for taking time to read this ...