Wilderness camp at Semadoh (Melghat Tiger Reserve)

The Melghat sun looked at its best here in this water-body

Forest is something that has captivated me since childhood. It reminds me of the golden-olden school days. Summer vacations were the times when we used to flee away to Kerala. I would pester my grandma to arrange someone to take me to the jungle nearby. The walks were long but listening to the birds, tracking signs of animals, learning about trees coupled with freaky rumors about haunted hills and animal attacks would keep me engrossed (later I realized that the forest forms a part of the Peechi-Vazhani wildlife sanctuary). Wilderness has been my first love eversince.

In a city, you may never be alone but always lonely; In a forest, you may be alone but never lonely :-)

It was early April when friends started planning for some get-away for the extended weekend at the end of month. We (Me, Ganesh and Vipul) have always wanted to go some place where there would be very little tourists tinkering around. We narrowed down to Chikaldhara and managed to convince people for a trip to the Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) instead.

12 of us sans Swarup (he's taking this pic)

Plan:

1. Stay:

Since there was ample time, I started with my research on the places and activities around MTR. The MTR starts at Semadoh where there is a Semadoh Tourist Complex, managed by the Field Director, MTR. I also got to read a lot about the Kolkas Rest House which is based 15 KM deep inside the forest. All these are forest officer’s guest houses and admission is permitted only with prior permission.

Got to know from reliable sources that it’s nearly impossible for 12 people to stay at kolkas (it’s a cottage meant only for about 4 people). There is another VIP guest house at kolkas where a larger group can stay which was apparently constructed for Indira Gandhi. But then you got to be a VIP or at least know one. We were neither so didn’t think much about kolkas.

Then we started to reach the field director. We found the number (0721-2662792) and called plenty of times. He was pretty vocal about us getting a travel agent for ourselves and even gave us the phone number of a certain Akash. Since we were almost a dozen people, we decided to shun randomness this time and book with Akash instead.

2. Getting there and getting around:

The trains were booked for 29th Aril 2009 for the 0129 CSTM-NAGPUR Special. It would drop us at Badnera by 10 AM. We arranged for two Taveras from Amravati which would be there with us for all the three days. The temperature around Amravati in May hits 47 degrees (Celsius) so we booked ones with air conditioners. Too much luxury compared to our usual chintzy trips :-). We also decided to use the vehicles for our jungle safaris too.

The cost per day was Rs 1200 (diesel charges extra). We filled up about Rs 1000 worth diesel and it lasted for the whole journey pretty easily.

3. Arrangements:

Then came the real trouble; garner all the necessary permission to visit various areas around the reserve. This is where Akash’s http://www.melghattourism.com/ helped. Though we were initially pretty apprehensive about the local guide, it turned out to be a good idea. Akash was pretty knowledgeable and so was his beau – The wild photographer (sic) Bunty. He was well versed about Melghat fauna and kept the group in good spirits with his wilderness trivia. Bunty was a good photographer and funny chap as well. I would highly recommend them for a big group.

They charged us about 20K for the whole journey. Not a bad deal considering we didn’t have to spend a penny extra in Melghat, including stay and food, except for bottled water!

Day 1:

All of us met at CST as planned. The train journey was fun. A few of us skipped sleep for gossips! I had a nice nap in train to get ready for the day ahead!

Victoria Terminus (CST) in its full splendor

We reached at Badnera by 10 AM. The place was burning.We got into our cabs soon and set off for MTR soon. After about an hour drive, took a break at Paratwada for breakfast. The food was hot as hell too. Bought “imported” sunglasses from street side hawker and started out for the journey through the Ghats.

It was then we realized why the place is aptly called so (Melghat literally means meeting of the Ghats). The intertwined Ghats cease to end. We saw a Shikra flying past but were too tired to be excited. We went through myriad topsy turvy roads for more than 2 hours to reach Semadoh. By the time we all reached, we were all feeling nauseated due to the road as well as the scorching sun and wanted some rest!

And the journeyman's day has begun

At the Bihali check-post

We got freshened and headed for lunch at a local Korku house (arranged by Akash). The food wasn’t great. Too spicy and rotis were too tough for my battle worn teeth. But then you don’t go to tiger reserves expecting royal treatment and seven course meals, do you?

Post lunch, it was time for the Jungle Safari. We hit the roads again, towards the jungle this time. The Ghats never ended. After about 15 minutes into the forest, we saw another car going back which had witnessed a family of sloth-bear and a herd of Indian Bison (Gaurs) a few meters down. Now the sloth-bear or the aswal, as it is called by the village folks, is the most feared animal for its notoriety. It is known to chase human beings, attack them and in many a cases, even kill them.

We proceeded along and witnessed a huge herd of Gaurs all gazing at us. There were about 15 of them and all were busily grazing away. The leader of the group was standing somewhere in the middle and was the biggest of all. It was a great delight to watch the 1200 Kg animal planting a peaceful gaze at us and obliging by posing for photographs.

The 900 Kg beast is happy to oblige

The herd looks unperturbed

I think we missed the bears by a whisker. On the way we saw another herd of about 8 gaurs around a waterhole. It was a wonderful sight to see its calf. It looks so cute that you almost can’t believe your eyes; how can someone so cute turn into such a monster once fully grown. Well I am sure everyone who saw me as a kid thinks the same now :-)

Another herd near the water-hole

We then entered the territory where leopards are spotted frequently. Sadly, there were no signs of the magnificent panthers this time around. Akash asked the cabbies to halt the car and wait for some time. As the rumbling of the engine ceased, I poked my head out of the car window. I could then hear the usual jungle sounds; the frantic calling of the Sambhar Deer and sounds of the birds filled the air.

We waited for sometime at that spot but the leopard didn’t oblige so decided to move on. As our jeep chugged along, we saw a big flock of peahens flying away from roads towards the jungle. It was a pretty sight; there were so many of them!

We then got into the once-extinct Forest Owlet area of the park. I’d read about the forest owlets in Melghat and was excited to see them. Even the gang got excited when they heard about the rediscovery. We all poked out heads out and looked for it but couldn’t find them either. This was disappointing. As we moved on, we saw another herd of the gaurs. None of us were too excited to witness them again so we moved on.

We went back to our tents after stopping over at a check post. We all got to the top of it and witnessed the jungle in its full glory. I’d read that once of the real problems Melghat faces is wildfires. I realized the gravity of the situation when I saw fires lighting up a far away mountain. I hoped that the animals are safe.

The watch-tower

We got back to our tents to the spot of the flying squirrel. It’s the only mammal without wings that can fly. Actually it’s a glider and can glide across 80 meters. There were plenty of them around Semadoh Tourist Complex (STC). I kept on hitting the flash-light on tree tops and saw probing eyes shining back at me on almost every tree top.

There is also the bone-dry Sipna River next to the complex. When walking towards the Korku house for dinner, I hit the flashlight on the river and saw something else shining over in my direction. We went closer and saw that it was the nocturnal common nightjar. I suppose it’s a lazy bird like me. It never dared to fly even when so many of us kept on flashing torch-light at it.

Post dinner, we decided to spend the noisy people back to the tents. A few of us who were really interested decided to stay back and wait for the animals to come looking for water in a water hole at the dry Sipna. Bunty kept on warning us that it’s a very dangerous situation as this water hole was the only primary source of water for the animals for the next 200 meters and it’s not too safe to stand lurking around there.

After a few minutes, we heard a breathing sound emanating around the river. Bunty hit the torch-light in its direction and we saw two Wild Boars. We then grew restless and wanted to wait a little more but it wasn’t with much luck. Though we heard rustling of leaves nearby, we didn’t spot anything and decided to call it a day.

Day 2:

Morning of day 2 was set aside for some amateur bird watching. It was planned around the much heard Kolkas Rest House. We all set out early and were greeted by an enthusiactic gang of Rhesus Macaques.

A rhesus macaque in an introspecting moment

A herd of macaques

The Kolkas VIP rest house

Kolkas Rest House - Overlooking the Sipna river

It was great to see everyone so much interested in looking out for birds. For some it was like a consolation to see exotic birds, if not a tiger. We saw plenty of birds. A few notable names that we saw:

The very cute oriental magpie robin, Indian robin, pied wagtail, Common/small blue kingfisher, large blue kingfisher, white throated kingfisher, Golden back woodpecker, lesser golden back woodpecker, spotted dove, green pigeon, the babblers, golden oriole, plum headed parakeet, common parakeet, Snake/Serpent Eagle, purple sunbird, Shikra, the red wattled lapwing, White necked Stork with its chick in its nest, Common Drongo, Racket Tailed Drongo, The tree-pie, Indian roller or the blue jay and plenty of other birds. It truly was a learning experience for me from ornithological point of view.

The solitary snake eagle

A pair of Indian Roller

The white necked Stork


Jungle babblers doing what they are best at - babbling

The morning ended with us having poha at Kolkas. We moved back to our tents - scathed and got out for lunch. Akash then took us to the museum inside the NIC (national information center) of Semadoh and gave a good briefing about the place, the korkus, the tigers, sloth bear, fauna found around the place and the general geography of the area. It was another good experience.

Post-lunch, I had a power nap and then it was time for the next jungle safari. We didn’t spot many animals this time around. I vaguely thought I saw a sloth bear moving far-away in the jungle but the car didn’t stop at the right time so couldn’t verify whether it really was a bear. We saw a few gaurs again. I couldn’t believe people got so excited about the bird watching that they started spotting birds flying around instead of spotting animals!

Check-post at KuwaPati

We saw some more pea-fowls and peahens this time around and got back to our tents. We asked Akash to look for necessary permissions and take us to any machaan during the night; which he did. We were all too excited to go wait at a machaan when the night is at its darkest.

We reached at kolkas post dinner and then proceeded towards the machaan there. It was close to a waterhole.

Machaan

A group of gaurs were already posted there to welcome us. I kept on pestering people to keep pin-drop silence.

And pin-drop it was. We could even hear grunting tummies! After sometime we heard noises emanating from eth water-hole nearby. Bunty switched on his flashlight and we could see a sloth bear moving around the water-hole. On one such position, I saw its eyes shine against the torch-light. That looked scary!

We kept on hearing voices around the bushes but not strong enough to interrogate (we didn’t want to drive the animals away with our constant pestering either).

After sometime we decided to call it a day and got back to our cars. While we got out of Kolkas, we spotted a pair of Sambhar Deer gazing at us. They followed good road discipline as they crossed the road keeping a keen look on the vehicles passing. We also saw Indian Hares (Khargosh) around this place. It was then time to get back to our tents and sleep.

Day 3:

There was nothing much left to do on the third day as we had out trains at 10 AM in morning. We started the retreat and got back to Badnera just in time. It was time to bid adieu to the wilderness, Akash and the wild photographer!

If the trip was awesome, the return journey was an experience in itself. The train seemed like a oven amidst the sweltering heat. We couldn’t find tickets for 3rd AC while coming back so had to settle for sleeper. That added to our woes but everyone was sweet enough to take it on their stride, not crib and keep smiling! We survived the heat and got back to our homes just in time to catch some good sleep and get ready for office the next day!

All of us were pretty sure that we had a rocking trip. People were happy with us for organizing a near-perfect trip! :-P.

Some of the sporty gangstas would be leaving soon. A few like Ganesh, Swarup and Apeksha would quit to do their MBA and stuff and the other would get entangled in the rat-race of onsite, weekend meetings and deadlines but the pleasant memories amidst the 44 degree heat would always remain etched in my memory.

Contact details:

Get in touch with a local guide for a fruitful journey. Akash's number is (9822278864) and website is http://www.melghattourism.com/.

Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/n.rajitr/MelghatTigerReserve

Hanuman Langurs twittering

View from the inside

Nature at its best

And then the sun-sets

Odontophobic, Me!

So what do you find the most scary? People? Ghost? Places? Animals? Trees? Terrorists? Mice? Flies? Caterpillars? Stock Market Crashes? Osama? Obama? LEHMANN BROTHERS?

Ever wished that you never get to have a date with your favorite creeps? Well I did too. The scariest thing I can vaguely remember having encountered are the packs of centipede you find in the jungles in monsoon. Given them a chance and they would crawl over everything. Your feet, your hands, face and when you think you’ve seen the worst, you'd find a big group partying on your back. Their crimson shade and a curly, curvy, glossy appearance ensure you want to faint the moment you see one on you. My feelings for a dentist hovers somewhere around there.

The phobia for dentists dates back to schooldays when I got my first real tooth pain. I remember the day when a shrill went down my spine as I chewed something with my decayed tooth. That was the worst pain I've ever had in my life.

The same week, I went to meet a dentist. I vaguely remember the day. She didn’t talk much; just asked me to sit on a reclining chair. I thought, why not? She inspected my mouth for a few seconds.

What happened next is something that is etched on my memory ever since. She switched ON a light and pulled it on my face. I'd only seen these in Mithunda movies when the bad-cop would question Mithunda, pour water on his face and do excruciating things to him.

So the spotlight was on me and I am no Mithunda. I am more of a terrified little wimp. The next thing I saw is the doctor trying out her drilling machine. Now I'd never seen a doctor with a drilling machine before. And I thought, if at all, it would be used on the very serious and complicated cases like mining for diamonds hidden underneath your medulla oblongata! I thought she'd devote some of her attention to me and cure me of this excruciating pain in my....teeth.

The next thing I remember, I saw the spot light, the drilling machine, the dentist...all closing in on me. But recline of the chair would take me lower and lower. I remember I was falling....weightless, clueless...the drills were badly trying to get me and they did. It hit a corner of my tooth and I could take it no longer: I simply fainted.

Normalcy was restored when I was given some water and the recline restored in such a manner that blood would run into my brain. I opened my eyes and saw the dentist giving me a condescending look.

I never visited a dentist again for the next few years till things turned out pretty bad. It was about 3-4 years later and the same tooth when mom took me to another dentist who promised a magic cure called RCT (Root Canal Treatment). They would remove all the damaged nerves of my teeth and replace it with synthetic ones. And with it would vanish the pain and the agony. I was ever so happy!

But this again was a painful exercise for me. I would be summoned every week and every time I'd go there hoping it’s the last. Since it never ceased, I decided that enough is enough and lived on with a hollow on my tooth. I avoided dentists ever since. I suspected I am odontophobic.

So 10 long years later, when I discovered a part of my teeth broken and coming off with a slice of sandwich, I was petrified about meeting Ms Frankenstein again. It was a different tooth and having past experience, I knew that RCT is the only way out. I made umpteen enquiries about good doctors around the park. Around the same time I started getting nightmares of the drilling machine.

On Isha's recommendation, I went to see her dentist. I was petrified to say the least. So I did all kinds of research online. I read a discussion on forum that if LA doesn't work the way it’s supposed to, the doctor would prick the nerve out and inject the anesthetic straight into it. This was supposedly the worst kind of pain mentioned and which everyone had invariably suffered once. I kicked myself for reading.

The day of appointment arrived and she said that I can start the process that very day and it would get over in a day or two. It was a catch-22 for me. Neither was I prepared for the game nor could I withstand the agony of the painful tooth. When she asked me whether I’ve had breakfast, I found a leeway and ran out of the clinic citing I am there with an empty stomach.

I took an appointment due 2 days hence and decided to call in Isha this time to give me some 'moral support' :P.

She was only interested in freaking me out even more. The doc gave me LA and asked me to wait for some time and then later, started drilling and cutting inroads. I felt a twinge and I screamed. I thought it would prompt her to go a bit slowly.

But it didn’t. I could see her reaching for the syringe again from the right corner of my eye. And then I thought of the forum discussion. I was scared. I dreaded that the most discussed process of injecting anesthetic into my nerve was about to begin. I waited with my fingers, hands, legs, shoulders; and everything crossed.

I screamed before she got the syringe into my mouth. She then asked me to be patient. And so I did; all patient, eyes shut - waiting for the needle to poke my nerve. When it did, I could feel a twinge. By Jove it was painful! My heart was racing. I could do nothing but persist and several agonizing seconds later, I sat there not feeling anything, heaving a sigh of relief.

I then lay there with my mouth wide open, needles of various kinds poking the teeth in contention. Broken pieces of teeth flying around like saw-dust. And an hour later, the ordeal was over. She said the RCT itself was over. Now I was scared again; how someone can wrap a month long process in a single sitting!

I asked her whether it’s going to pain anymore and she said that RCT is a surgical procedure and there would be traumatic pain. PAIN!!!! I suffered all this to get rid of my pain and here she was telling me that the pain has just started! I was furious and left for home feeling dejected, waiting for the pain to start all over again!
Thankfully, it didn’t ;)

She summoned me the next day; an appointment that I skipped just to test how my fractured tooth is keeping. It’s been a week since and I am yet to pay her a visit. The thought of going back to the drills still scares me and now I get that strange scary feeling again.

The next appointment is for the morrow. The drilling machine nightmares have made a comeback too. Wish me luck. Hope I make it ;)

Trek to Kothligad

Kothligad Fort

It was in late March that Vipul informed about this promising little adventure group called nature knights (www.natureknights.com). So after spending the week rumbling over where-to next, we went through their website and read about their plans of a night trek to Kothligad.

Kothligad Fort (2)

As usual, I was ready to chug along anywhere. Vipul was ready and Ganesh said he would come for sure. So the three of us planned of going along with this gang:

1. Of unknown people (The nature knights?)
2. To an unknown place (Kothligad, Peth?).
3. For an unknown activity (night trek???).

This is what I wanted to escape

The D-day arrived and Ganesh backed out. He was in full throttle celebrations for getting into IMT so I wouldnt blame him :-). It left me and Vipul going together.

Now I’ll be honest. We never bothered as to where we heading to as long as we were going somewhere. We boarded their bus which leaves from Andheri at Sion (Opp. Sion Lunch home). The bus got a bit delayed from the promised time of 9.20 PM. It reached the Sion Lunch Home at about 10 PM. Since we knew that it’s the knight’s bus, we got in and took our seats.

We realised that there were basically a few disparate groups of people busily gossiping amongst themselves. A few of them gave us sideways glances and we felt weird of being neophytes, in the company of seasoned trekkers, all looking well prepared for the ordeal.

For starters, I am not a trek and fitness sort of a guy. Given a choice, I would prefer a hike over a trek any given day.

The bus then slowly chugged in to the McDonalds drive-in at Panvel. We met a few of the folks. People we met were all friendly people and we realised it’s not going to be as boring as we had started to believe. Hehe.

On the way ahead, the knights (led by Asif, Dnyanesh and Nimesh) gave us a briefing on the task ahead. Now it was great to see that the group had its principles too.

They had a set of rules that everyone was supposed to follow. It felt even nice when Dnyanesh warned us not to litter around the place, consume alcohol during treks or smoke carelessly around the place (summers are also a time of wild fires). Now that would definitely curtail any rogue behaviour and people would just mean business (trek, that is).

Nimesh pitched in with his – Every one is supposed to carry minimum 3 liters of water with him/herself (Now this is funny since I called him up later asking for tips about the Shilonda trail and he said the same thing then - minimum 3 lits. I wonder why always three? nevermind! haha). Now this ensured that people got down at the next stop and fetch water to complete their quota of 3 liters).

And so we finally reached this obscure village called Ambivili (about 15 kms from Karjat). The place just had a tiny little shop/dhaba. We parked the bus next to it and got moving. There were rules here too. Dnyanesh would lead the trek and Asif would trail. People were not supposed to lead the leader or trail behind the trailer.

I don’t think it would have been possible to trail Asif anyway. He looked like he’s come there to get permanently settled. His gigantic bag was like a camel’s hump. It contained every bit of stationery you might consider taking with yourselves for a weeklong vacation. Btw, I still don’t know where Nimesh disappeared that night.

So thereby we went. The leader Dnyanesh first, followed by gang of novices and then the trailing Asif. The walk was one hell of an experience. I was entirely drenched in sweat. Lack of proper sleep the night before invited its own set of woes. But it felt great to release all the sweat and toxins from the body. If there was a shower atop, there would’ve been nothing like it!

Alas! There was nothing there except a hall which the knights booked in a place owned by a Patil (thats the name Dnyanesh kept on calling). The floor was wiped clean with - yes, Cow dung. I kicked my luck for not bringing enough change of clothes or even a bedsheet.

And it is then I understood Asif rationale behind bringing a sleeping mat. At about 2.30 AM, every one decided to call it a day. I was helped by the Patil who threw a big banner to us. It could accommodate 4 of us. We spread it out and I made my mind to sleep as if there were no tomorrow.

But that was all I would do. The people next to me kept on murmuring something throughout the night. I realized that I was awake even when it was 4 AM. To top it all, a rooster started sending its wake-up calls at 3 in the night.

I could get some sleep after it was 4. We all woke up by 6 in the morning looking for some place to wash our faces and attend to nature’s call. Again, there wasn’t any. Mr Patil gave us some water which we used to brush teeth and wash our faces clean. It was in the light of the morning sun that I realized that my feet were all drenched in red dust. And I realized how desperately I needed a shower now!!

But it was time for the next trek. We had to gather all our strengths and reach the inverted funnel atop. So be it!

Early morning at Peth. The fort is in the background

We all started slowly and after bucketfuls of sweat, we managed to reach atop! It was a great feeling to stand there amidst the clouds. Yes – there was a white cloud cover on the mountains amidst the mid-April heat and humidity. It was then we realized the sanity behind Nimesh’s rationale. Without ample water supply, things would’ve been extremely difficult. 

Clouds and the photographer :-D

Sun is shining

Lost in thoughts

Now that we were on top, I thought we’d wait there and soak in the fun. But that wasn’t the case. Asif ordered and we got ready for descend. It ascend was though, descend was even painful. My knees got twanged as I took each of the steps down. But we got back to Peth after all.

We had Kanda-Poha and tea for breakfast. The laziness in me wished this was the time when maybe the knights would sit and talk about the events and I’d sit lazily or maybe catch some sleep. But it was not to be. They asked us to get ready for the walk back to the village where our buses were parked.

Antlers'ish:-)

Asif and I had roughly calculated the distance to be about 7 Kms and I felt proud the night before; of being able to cover all the distance with a steep gradient. But all that was in the silence of the night. Now, just the very thought of going the distance in mid-afternoon sun made me give up.

It was about 11 and we all started walking on our way back. If people weren’t ready to, no one had the energy to complain. We started walking in the mid-April scorching heat of the sun along the dusty road. A few of us started suffering from sun-strokes; a few stumbled and fell but I kept my heads down and walked… and walked.... and walked….

The ordeal was over in about 2-2.5 hour’s time and we reached where it all started. It was then time to get back to our senses. We had loads of Kokam juice and mango juice. This was the most relaxing part of the journey for me. We assembled under the shade of the dhaba nearby and had lunch there. The food felt great.

We caught up with the other folks around and on hindsight; it felt great to meet a bunch of like-minded people. I would recommend a date with the knights for anyone keen on roughing it out on a weekend.

We then took the bus home. The bus was sizzling amidst the mid-afternoon heat. And when I got back home; I felt as I did throughout the journey - All drained but happy! 

The Gang (pic courtesy Asif )

Best companions for a hard day

At the fort

Never knew we got this far!

To be kids again!!

More pictures here: Kothligad

Shilonda Trail

Thereby concluded another week. After the skin burning, dusty, nature-knight assisted trek to Kothligad last week(blog for it WIP), I was sure I did not want another trek again in the near future.

The nature knights were having another lip smacking back-packing trip to Alibaug-Murud-Janjira this time around but since this one was a little highly priced (at 950 bucks), I decided to look for places by my own :-D

So then I went to IM (http://www.indiamike.com/) and specifically mailed asking for weekend "hikes" this time around :-). The response wasn't tremendous in volume, but as you can expect with IM, there was a detailed mail next day from a guru about various places in and around Mumbai. And I realized I can spend the entire summer weekends going somewhere and still the places wouldn’t end!

I'd almost made up my mind to go hiking around rainy Igatpuri belt but then I thought I’ll check out the good ole forest around our backyard instead - The Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Next step was to scout for people who wouldn't mind joining in. But as everyone had other plans, I made up my mind to go alone till Kunal announced his willingness to join in. Now with a partner in tow, I was sure that am going somewhere this time as I couldn't back track, act lazy and carry on with my early morning slumber :-)

About SGNP:
Being a jungle so close to human inhabitation, the SGNP had always amazed me. More so after Anish’s talk. It truly is a haven amidst the hell. Some people have even called it the lungs of Mumbai – by the virtue of it taking in all the pollution and giving fresh air back, breathing life to the city. Getting into the park itself was a metaphor for me. I got down at the extremely busy Borivali bus stand kept walking northwards for about a minute when the board at SGNP greeted me. I couldn’t believe the city co-exists with the amazing jungle at such a close proximity.
The place is home to tons of different species of birds, butter flies, insects and animals.

City seen from one of the dense mountains of SGNP

It was in news recently for the innumerable cases of man-animal conflict but we all know it’s a small price we pay for intruding into poor animals’ territory.
After getting in, we kept walking – looking and asking directions for the Shilonda trail.

Shilonda Trail:
The trail is about 2 Kms deep into the forest. Finding your way is simple. Keep walking towards the Lion-Tiger safari but instead of taking diversion to the left, keep walking straight till you leave the chaos and sea of people behind to come across the villages situated within. 200 meters down, you would come across a dilapidated gate beyond which you wouldn’t find a single soul moving. I guess the trail is flocked about only by nature lovers. Further in, you would come across a board announcing the Shilonda Trail.

Dilapidated gate

Shilonda Trail

We got there by 9.15 AM when the others were on their way back :-). I was saddening to see stray water bottles and gutkha pouches lying discarded all around. After walking for about 30 minutes, we came across what in the monsoons would’ve been a very good river bed. We decided to sit there for a while when we noticed a movement around the shrubs. A closer look and it was a herd of spotted deer.

Stone age cricket bat discovered ;)

After a while, we got walking again and heard ghostly cries of some animal repeated about 3 times. We thought we’d pause and wait for something to emanate from the bushes but sadly the ghostly cried ended where it started :-)
After walking a few more, we came across a man made water body, which had no hint of water anywhere. Green vegetation suggested that water may’ve disappeared only some time back. There were innumerable butterflies lurking around in there. We thought a leopard might drop in there hoping for water but sadly, no one bothered to turn up.

Venturing further, the trail ended about a bone-dry river bed at the foothill of a mountain.

After much contemplation, we finally decided to get to the top of the mountain. Thereby also ended the littering and we realized that not much people venture into that corner of the jungle. On the way Kunal saw a big bird with bald scalp. My guess is that it was a grey jungle fowl or maybe a peahen – am not sure.
Reaching atop the mountain there was the best part of the journey. We could hear the peaceful sound of the forest along with the chirping of birds and blabbering of the langurs. We could also see human habitation far across on one side while dense forest on the other.

Colors

After sitting there for a while, we decided to descend when there was a movement behind the bushes and a hare-like animal ran away deep into the forest. Then we also saw birds like the Racket Drongo, magpie robin etc.

Trees atop the mountain

Slowly we were on our way back and the rays of the sun got even more scorching. We sat on the river bed where we saw deer for even longer this time ;) but there was no sign of life this time around there.
With our water reserve dwindling we decided to move back quickly. We reached the SGNP gates around 2 and then took the next bus home.

And then the trail ends

It was another good, peaceful, cheap way to spend the weekend for sure ;)

Cost: Less than 200 Rs.
Caution: Do take minimum of 4 liters of water per person especially if you plan to go there during summer. Please ensure you don’t litter around the place. Bring back every bit of you junk you've carried.

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/n.rajitr/SGNPApr1109#