The "Bombay Natural History society (B.N.H.S)" had arranged a 2 -day(27/6/09 Saturday to 28-6-09 Sunday) trekking and bird-watching trip to "Kolvan Village" a picturesque valley near Lonavala in Maharashtra. Kolvan is approx about 2 1/2 hrs drive from Mumbai city and a totally different World compared to the third most populated city on planet Earth, Mumbai. In Kolvan village, we stayed in a rustic bungalow called "Mulshi Bhushan" and got a first hand experience of the local culture, food and life-style.The importance of touring with "B.N.H.S" unlike various other "weekend local monsoon tour operators" is that some of the most authoritative naturalists accompany the nature tourists and explain the importance or rarity of various plants, birds ,mammals ,reptiles, fish and insects .Besides, manny of the ordinary "B.N.H.S members" in the tour are themselves knowledgeable on various "wild-Life subjects" as well as professional photographers . Our nature tour group consisted of different age-groups, generations, professions and sex ,hence an exchange of nature ideas , knowledge and debates.
I, personally prefer traveling alone being a "bachelor", the "Model Back-packer" on a "Budget Tour", experiencing cultures without "Sightseeing time restrictions" imposed by most "Tour Group operators".Mingling with various different nationalities and exploring new locales and city's at ones own pace and leisure depending on one's individual budget is part of a solo touring adventure. On some occasions i have traveled in "Group Tours" , most notably with the "B.N.H.S(Bombay Natural History Society)" in Mumbai for most of my trekking in Maharashtra and with "Mosiac Tours(2008) Mumbai " on my visit to the "Holy Land(Egypt,Israel,Jordan)".Having been a "Mariner" for 25 years and touring the World during my routine duty has made me well versed in conducting my own individual tours except when it includes secluded or restricted country's and wild-life nature tours.
During this 2- day tour of Kolvan we were accompanied by B.N.H.S Staff Mr Isaac Kehimkar , an authority on "Butterflies" who has also written a critically acclaimed book on the subject and his assistant Mr Nikhil Bhopale a budding nature youngster , a practical encyclopedia on identifying various birds just on sound or distant binocular sighting.
I am not advertising "B.N.H.S" since i belong to it, but, just showing the importance of traveling with the right knowledgeable people to the right places of ones interest, although ,"Butterflies" and "Bird Specialization" are not my own favourite topics of wild-life interest."Trekking" , "Nature walks" and "wild-life spotting" are the main reasons i accompany "Nature tours".
A view of Kolvan valley and Tikona fort situated at an altitude of 3580 feet on a rainy day.(Sunday 28-6-2009) in the morning was exhilarating to the eyes and soothing to the nerves.. We members of the "B.N.H.S(Bombay Natural History Society)" had resided at the "Mulshi Bhushan" resort in Kolvan, a ancient bungalow made into a tourist lodge for the 2 days(Saturday 27-6-2009 to Sunday 28-6-2009) of our "Nature and trekking tour". The rustic dormitary style Bungalow "Mulshi Bhushan" at Kolvan near Lonavala. amidst pure unpolluted natural air and lush folliage makes one wonder whether densely populated and highly polluted Mumbai is only a mere 2 1/2 hrs drive by road from here? The beauty and fascination of India is its cultural, religious and linguistic diversity and at "Mulshi Bhushan" ,a tourist ,could experience authentic rustic Maharashtrian culture and cuisine, a specialty of Kolvan region.
The adjoining countryside and its vegetation are excellent during the monsoon season with a cool climate and small puddles of water.This year has been the one of the worst drought conditions in Maharashtra and hence the rainfall was not continuous as is experienced in this time of the year.It had rained partially on Saturday evening and hence we experienced a "Crab Catching" tour in the night ,something normal to the local adivasis during this season but a source of novelty to most "City-Dwellers" unused to village living.
Four of us which included 2 local adivasis and 2 "B.N.H.S tourists" made our way into the pitch black night of the forests into the loamy sinking soil and streams, netting a good catch of crabs.Me and my co -B.N.H.S traveler , a adventurous lady Arundhati.Mhatre learnt the art of catching crabs from our local adivasi guides. Akin to snakes, care should be taken when catching crabs, for if bitten, the result would not be death as in snakes but a severely fractured finger as some of the land crabs we caught were real big specimens .It was one of the most memorable experiences and reminded me of my own "air-gun hunting" and fish catching with my relatives and local villagers during the 1970's at my parents ancestral village in Mangalore. Times and era's have changed,and the rapid depletion of forests, wild-life and birds during my own life-time have made me a staunch conservationist since the last few decades and my idle air-gun is now used for "Target-Practice" and not hunting birds.
Experiencing a typical village life makes a city-dweller understand the everyday working conditions of a typical villager, hence, the latest vogue has been of management schools sending their students to villages to understand "Village economics and living".
Later in the morning we trekked to the peak of "Tikona Fort" also know as Vitandgad Fort, not a very torturous trek amongst the treks i have done but beautiful in the pleasant and cool "Monsoon Climate". The thick "Monsoon Mist clouds" that engulfs you when you reach the summit is something to be experienced as also the beautiful surrounding lush forested area and lake scenery.
The danger of this scenic "Village Life" and forests disappearing in the near future is real as "agricultural land" gives way to posh "Vacation Cottages", ultimately ,totally commercializing these locales ,as has happened to numerous hill-stations in India including nearby Lonavala.
I, personally prefer traveling alone being a "bachelor", the "Model Back-packer" on a "Budget Tour", experiencing cultures without "Sightseeing time restrictions" imposed by most "Tour Group operators".Mingling with various different nationalities and exploring new locales and city's at ones own pace and leisure depending on one's individual budget is part of a solo touring adventure. On some occasions i have traveled in "Group Tours" , most notably with the "B.N.H.S(Bombay Natural History Society)" in Mumbai for most of my trekking in Maharashtra and with "Mosiac Tours(2008) Mumbai " on my visit to the "Holy Land(Egypt,Israel,Jordan)".Having been a "Mariner" for 25 years and touring the World during my routine duty has made me well versed in conducting my own individual tours except when it includes secluded or restricted country's and wild-life nature tours.
During this 2- day tour of Kolvan we were accompanied by B.N.H.S Staff Mr Isaac Kehimkar , an authority on "Butterflies" who has also written a critically acclaimed book on the subject and his assistant Mr Nikhil Bhopale a budding nature youngster , a practical encyclopedia on identifying various birds just on sound or distant binocular sighting.
I am not advertising "B.N.H.S" since i belong to it, but, just showing the importance of traveling with the right knowledgeable people to the right places of ones interest, although ,"Butterflies" and "Bird Specialization" are not my own favourite topics of wild-life interest."Trekking" , "Nature walks" and "wild-life spotting" are the main reasons i accompany "Nature tours".
A view of Kolvan valley and Tikona fort situated at an altitude of 3580 feet on a rainy day.(Sunday 28-6-2009) in the morning was exhilarating to the eyes and soothing to the nerves.. We members of the "B.N.H.S(Bombay Natural History Society)" had resided at the "Mulshi Bhushan" resort in Kolvan, a ancient bungalow made into a tourist lodge for the 2 days(Saturday 27-6-2009 to Sunday 28-6-2009) of our "Nature and trekking tour". The rustic dormitary style Bungalow "Mulshi Bhushan" at Kolvan near Lonavala. amidst pure unpolluted natural air and lush folliage makes one wonder whether densely populated and highly polluted Mumbai is only a mere 2 1/2 hrs drive by road from here? The beauty and fascination of India is its cultural, religious and linguistic diversity and at "Mulshi Bhushan" ,a tourist ,could experience authentic rustic Maharashtrian culture and cuisine, a specialty of Kolvan region.
The adjoining countryside and its vegetation are excellent during the monsoon season with a cool climate and small puddles of water.This year has been the one of the worst drought conditions in Maharashtra and hence the rainfall was not continuous as is experienced in this time of the year.It had rained partially on Saturday evening and hence we experienced a "Crab Catching" tour in the night ,something normal to the local adivasis during this season but a source of novelty to most "City-Dwellers" unused to village living.
Four of us which included 2 local adivasis and 2 "B.N.H.S tourists" made our way into the pitch black night of the forests into the loamy sinking soil and streams, netting a good catch of crabs.Me and my co -B.N.H.S traveler , a adventurous lady Arundhati.Mhatre learnt the art of catching crabs from our local adivasi guides. Akin to snakes, care should be taken when catching crabs, for if bitten, the result would not be death as in snakes but a severely fractured finger as some of the land crabs we caught were real big specimens .It was one of the most memorable experiences and reminded me of my own "air-gun hunting" and fish catching with my relatives and local villagers during the 1970's at my parents ancestral village in Mangalore. Times and era's have changed,and the rapid depletion of forests, wild-life and birds during my own life-time have made me a staunch conservationist since the last few decades and my idle air-gun is now used for "Target-Practice" and not hunting birds.
Experiencing a typical village life makes a city-dweller understand the everyday working conditions of a typical villager, hence, the latest vogue has been of management schools sending their students to villages to understand "Village economics and living".
Later in the morning we trekked to the peak of "Tikona Fort" also know as Vitandgad Fort, not a very torturous trek amongst the treks i have done but beautiful in the pleasant and cool "Monsoon Climate". The thick "Monsoon Mist clouds" that engulfs you when you reach the summit is something to be experienced as also the beautiful surrounding lush forested area and lake scenery.
The danger of this scenic "Village Life" and forests disappearing in the near future is real as "agricultural land" gives way to posh "Vacation Cottages", ultimately ,totally commercializing these locales ,as has happened to numerous hill-stations in India including nearby Lonavala.
