Travelers:
D Joshi and Shivani
Date: 30 July to 02 August 2015
Images:
Nikon P 600.
Every time a city dweller has an interaction with Nature, he has no option but to reluctantly come
back and get into his routine, though the memories of the experience tend to linger. He would want the clock
of Nature to continue to control him rather than the one which hangs in the
Office….
This
trip was unique for us in the sense that we discovered yet another layer of the
cosmos which envelopes us, but which we used to simply walk past.
I
am talking of the world of the so called “Lesser fauna” and the wildflowers.
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| Fungus on bamboo |
The
best season to observe lesser fauna is the monsoon. The wetter the better it is
said. And what wetter place than Amboli for this purpose which is a small
village at the southwestern tip of Maharashtra in the western ghats.
The
altitude being about 2000 feet, there is always a mist/fog with cool weather in
the monsoons, beckoning humans and amphibians alike to put on spectacular
mating displays. We spotted several honeymooning couples in our MTDCs Green
valley resort.
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| Green valley resort, Amboli |
Just
short of the enroute town of Ajra we came across a meadow which is famous for
hosting a very interesting species of orchid called Habernaria longicorniculata. The unique feature being a 15 cm long
spur which can be pollinated only by a unique Hawk moth which has an equally
long sucker!!
 |
| Habernaria longicorniculata |
The
trails around the resort abound with green vine snakes, which look exactly like
green vines.
The
static water bodies had hanging spawns of the Malabar gliding frogs with the
parents standing guard nearby, neatly stuck to the leaves and merging in the
background with the perfect camouflage.
The
trail to Parikshit point was especially tough due the thick growth and the
massive amount of leaf litter attracting leeches.
Though we had managed to
protect the feet with leech socks, a lot of blood donation took place. The
plateau at the end of the trail was very rewarding in terms of the Celians, Ichthyopis, Scorpions, Pie
bellied shieldtail and the Tiger centipedes.
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| Tiger centipede |
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| Cup and saucer plant |
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| Stick insect |
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| Shaunaks class |
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| Orange land crab |
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| Bronze frog |
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| Ichthyopis |
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| Dedicated photographers |
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| Scorpion |
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| Pie bellied Shieldtail |
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| Malabar pit viper |
The
topli karvi (Pleocaulus ritchiei) bushes which look like upside down baskets
growing into the laterite rock are a bizarre sight. The flowering is said to
occur every seven years and may occur in 2016.
 |
| Karvi Topli. Its not tea gardens!! |
Every
time you lift a stone an entire microcosm is laid bare which seems to be
completely oblivious of the one existing under the next stone.
A large moss
covered tree seems to support an entire ecosystem of fungi, epiphytes, insects,
amphibians, reptiles, birds and the occasional langur.
 |
| Palace in ruins |
The
night trail was along the route to the palace of the Sawantwadi royal fimily
which is now in ruins. Our expert naturalist Shaunak Pal was in his element
when he would reel of the name of the frog (one of the 26 specis found here)
upon hearing the call. He jumped into the stream nearby on hearing the musical
call of the wrinkled frog which prefers running water for spawning.
We
got excellent views of the Malabar pit viper (the blue and orange morphs).
 |
| Green stick insect |
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| Fungus |
 |
| Blue mormon |
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| Two tailed spider |
On
the last day the weather had cleared up briefly and we got a full bouquet of
butterflies and wildflowers at some trails near Ajra village.
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| Skank |
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| Bubble gum fungus |
Finally
at the end of the trip there was a fundamental change in the way we reacted to
creepy crawlies. The moment someone shouted snake, instead of running away, we started rushing in to have a better look.
Factfile:
Tour
organizers: Nature India
Expert
resource person: Mr Shaunak Pal
Amboli
is about 120 Km from Kolhapur and 90 Km from Belgaum
We
stayed at the MTDC resort (Green Valley) which is actually quite nice. Maybe it
has something to do with the fact that the management is outsourced.
The
trick to getting a cup of morning tea is to reach the front desk at 7 AM
whereupon you will get a wonderful heartwarming/handwarming cup of Wagh Bakri
Chai that can be enjoyed sitting behing the large glass windows while the
clouds and drizzle enact their symphony outside. The other trick to be known is
that if you want hot water bath after a hard days trek, you need to step out of
your cottage and go to the backside and switch on the geysers!!
We
preferred to take lunch and dinner at the nearby Satpurush restaurant.
The
breakfasts at Whistling woods were excellent.
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