December 1, 2014

Vasota Jungle Trek with TREK'Di Adventures and Tours



It was a nice morning in the village of Bamnoli in satara district to which we reached at 3.30am. I was there on Vasota trek with TREKDI Adventures and Tours. A dynamic trekkers group from Pune. When I walked down the steps of the Bhairav Mandir in which we rested for around 3 hours ,I saw three white ducks walking in a queue .It reminded me of my childhood when we used to play train train. It was such a nice sight.

Later after I freshened up I took a cup of tea and then walked towards the coast of the back waters just alone By then I was also accompanied by two other persons. We captured few awesome movements of the ducks swimming in the waters and then coming out and walking in again. The way they took plunges into the water was a graceful act. Technically their movements set their bodies to make them navigate easily in the waters. Wow!!!

After the duck show I returned to the temple where trek leaders served us breakfast and tea. Since it was a chilly morning I found that tea as a heaven. Waah.

At around 8.45am we were asked to gather around the temple porch to listen to the instructions and to self introduce . Over there I realised that I was going to have trek with people from varied professions....class! I met Veerta the great in the trek...taai atishay dhanya ahet ..madam na pratyek muddyawar apla mat mandaychach asta...haha

At 9.20am we were grouped into 12 and we departed towards Vasota fort coast. The ferry boat was a diesel engine boat with a nylon roof to cover and practically no safety jackets to don. Well! It was 1.5 hrs journey . I never had such a long journey on a boat ever before. The waters were green or sometimes blue...all because of the sunlight that had its reflection onto our eyes. The waters were surrounded by the scenic beauty of the green pastures spread on the tiny hills and mini hillocks. The skies were quite clear and blue and the waters cold although the atmosphere was humid. In the ferry all the trekkers were offered a pouch of Kokam sherbet which tasyed reasonably good. All of us began capturing the pictures from our cameras of varying strengths and capacities. Bhagyashree took a nice photo of mine in which I dipped my hand into the tides thay rose as the ferry swam ahead.

Atlast at 10.45am our ferry reached the coast of the fort . We jumped out and walked towards the gate where the tiger reserve began. It took much time ahead for other ferries to reach the gate. It was a waste of time in the scorching sun ...

Later we began with the trek after our leader Amit distributed the bread loves amongst the trek group.

Initially I was going quite well, took no stops and nothing ....but as the time came to climb uphill and we took height ,my endurance was hampering. This situation was a consequence of my laziness . Laziness in the sense that I took up this physical task suddenly after two months sitting at home for my IPCC group2 studies. I was having palpitations. Haahoo haahooo!! I was breathing heavy. I walked and climbed carrying my fatigue. THe forests were green and lush inside although it was winter. Obviously winter in India is far different from the Tundra region and also this forest reserve was situated along the Koyna dam,so,it was quite obvious that the forest ought be green. There were also few rock benches made by the forest department governing the reserve. There were few patches where there were wild flower blossoms and moths and butterflies buzzing around. In the small cottage like building that I visited just before the trek begun after the ferry , I saw a poster depicting an insect which had a similar body like a twig that can be seen on a tree or a herb. What a camouflage!!! There were also banyans and peepul trees, apart there could be numerous more trees herbs shrubs that I might not come across atleast in this life. Although it was 12 in the noon the air was cool and not hot.

I was taking many stops and sat anywhere with all unknown trekkers and chatted with them on any possible topic. I was able to revive my skills of talking with strangers. The best talk was with Veerta . Madam must have an opinion on every other topic we might converse on.




We walked and walked and finally before the final lap I met Veerta with her best friend (sarcastically) Roshni. She irritated Veerta throughout the climb asking when we will reach when we will reach...atishay ff..

ATLAST I and Veerta together reached the destination .....finally... AND all the anxiousness dissolved. It was like , climbing the HIMALAYA is an interesting activity and amusing whereas when you reach the Everest all the eagerness...anxiety and all that wow feeling dwindles in no time.

We walked to flat land and over there all of us had tasty PavBhaji with shrikhand....

Then I took a short walk to other end of the fort. The view from there was fascinating...it shown me the might of Sahyadris...wollaa..The curvature that the valleys had were all because of the wind pressure. But the bad part was that that the sunlight disturbed all the view when captured in my simple nikon camera. Albeit I was awestrucked. Then I returned to base and from there Amit sir took us too BABU gad . The panoramic view of the hills surrounding the cliff was a nature's creation. Again the curvatures caught my awe. Over there Amit sir in his dense voice payed respect to Raja Chatrapati Shivaji maharaj and the voice echoed back in around 6 to 7 echoes or times. Wow ....speechless.. felt proud.

And then there was return journey to Pune again by walking and hopping down the fort and by ferry towards the bus. 4I reached home at a strike of 1am sharp after enjoying a simple veg thali at a dhabaa and an antakshari in the bus.

Yo!!!

Rushikesh sambare