Sahyadrica

My feet are happy. Scaling the tallest peak of Thane was no easy feat, but it was the most adventurous trek I’ve been on this month, and surprisingly my feet did not ache. Armed with only water that we weren’t sure will last till the end, but well equipped to document anything that we may stumble upon, we began our journey on one fine bright sunny morning, with the peaks hiding in the clouds. The Rocky cliffs of Mahuli A fine, bright sunny morning lasts for a very few minutes in the northern Western Ghats, however. Very soon it began to grow hotter and humid on the ground below the tall peaks – where lay a temple – the first and the last stopover for anyone who trudges Mahuli. Over here, a few yards from the temple, runs a small stream teeming with life. With Guppy fishes swimming in the cool shades of Cattails and dragonflies occupying the tallest summit amongst these reeds, there were very many tiny damselflies along the banks that caught my attention. One of the cutest was t...

Like every conqueror, we’ve had our share of defeats. As we walked thwarted, beaten down and embarrassed; and looked back at Manikgad, and at the grimace it bore over its rocky terrain, we swore to return again. You may now have realized that we could not conquer, well, step at the top of Manikgad. And as disappointed as we were, I came home with not sadness, but sheer joy – all thanks to what Manikgad’s amazingly diverse flora and fauna revealed to us. The elusive Manikgad This fort, for its lack of publicity, receives least attention from tourists, and its paths are rarely used except by villagers. In fact, the residents of the closest town of Chowk have no idea that there exists a fort hardly ten minutes from their homes. Due to the lack of awareness, this fort is only enthusiastically approached by those who’re keen on trekking in lush green as well as least known terrains. Manikgad offers both, including a variety of habitats from moist deciduous forests to beautiful stre...

On the eve of Independence Day, we set on a long road trip to a really unique destination in the northern Western Ghats called Naneghat. Naneghat literally means Coin-passage. It has an interesting history behind the name. It was used as a trading route centuries ago between Kalyan and Junnar. In those times, coins were collected as toll to cross via the pass, and hence the name. An aerial view of Naneghat gives a fantastic look at its geography. It is a fascinating landmark in the northern Western Ghats well known throughout the history. But that’s not it. Naneghat was a passage not only for our ancestors, but many, many other creatures small and large that could not tread the sheer drop from the plateau. As we went on to explore this historically significant landmark, we enthusiastically scoured the biodiversity of this region, which is rather pristine, and came to a point of exhaustion where all that mattered was reaching the end. Let’s take a look as we lost our way amidst the ...