The silences of Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary

We were overjoyed to see Paresh sir back from the elephant operation to Cotigao. It’s an altogether different experience to rove in Cotigao with Paresh sir. We had visited Cotigao number of times before but never got a chance to see it with Paresh sir & this was the moment for which we were all waiting for.
After a session of informal discussion, we all settled ourselves into his jeep which marched towards Bela Lake. It was the onset of sundown and surely, best time for wildlife sighting. The jeep being open, we constantly conversed with the wind which was moving opposite to us as we went forward. Since me, Omkar & Arnold were standing; we had to dodge down to miss the branches that had descended down from the canopy surrounding the trail. The vehicle stopped at the lake, unloading the villagers whom we had given lift till the spot.
We went little further for some birdwatching. We spotted Heartspotted Woodpecker, Racket Tailed Drongo, Tree Pie, Starlings etc. We all came back to the lake. Paresh sir told us to sit quietly and wait for the black birds to show up as he wanted to photograph them. We adjusted ourselves on the plinth while Arnold and Paresh sir adjusted themselves into a nearby hide pointing their DSLR cameras to the lake. The lake looked still and so as we.
A Pond Heron landed in the lake. We were not thrilled to see this otherwise often seen bird, even in urban settlements. None of us uttered a word, not even a sheer whisper was exchanged. I was trying to resonate with the silence of jungle. It started to dominate us as we began to accept its authority over us. They say that jungle has its own laws, and so as it has its own voices.
Time passed rapidly fading the skies to darker and darker shades of black. Suddenly, two Orange Headed Thrushes showed up at the lake, joining the Pond Herons. The Black Birds were yet to show up and by this time, we were completely adjusted to the silence of the jungle. Time passed but the scene at the lake did not change.
I felt some motion to my back towards right on the road. It was Prakash, the forest guard, who was walking rapidly with a face beaming a smile of some great achievement. ‘Sir, Leopard!’ Those two words had hit me hard & my impulses took a leap like that of the mighty beast that was sitting right on the road, in a carefree manner. I had flare visions of the leopard that had crossed our car at Khandepar, a month back. We all got up and saw in the direction in which Prakash was pointing his finger & it all appeared crystal clear. A leopard right in the middle of the road on an open patch just few meters away from us. The yellow colour of the dried grass looked dull in contrast to the shades of yellow that this beast wore on his body. We were excited like hell.
Paresh sir told us to climb the watchtower. He was expecting the leopard to come straight to the lake but it proved him wrong. Instead of turning to left and walking towards us, he went straight and vanished out of the view point. Paresh sir and Arnold went in the hide again, me and Omkar settled ourselves in the open part of the jeep while everybody else waited on the watch tower with binoculars struck to their eyes.
Paresh sir signaled us to listen to the hissing sound of leaves on the other side of the lake. It was dark by now and hearing was the only vision. We waited, waited and just waited but nothing happened. We could only hear some sounds of leaves hissing which disturbed the silences. Suddenly a Lapwing gave a cry from the left side of the lake. Paresh sir suddenly got us & told us to get back in the jeep. He told Prakash to drive to the acacia plantation from where the sound had come. We drove to the spot; thinking that Lapwing had raised alarm because of leopard was roaming around that area, but it was futile enough and we decided to return back.
While returning, Arnold had switched his headgear. We were passing Bela lake when me and Arnold saw four eyes gleaming in response to the LED flash that his headgear threw around. I tapped the window glass where Paresh sir was sitting & told him that there is something waiting for us. He instructed Prakash to take the car towards left, leaving the trail and we entered the dried mouth of the lake. The headlights of the jeep flashed infront and we saw two leopards, one male and another female!
They stared at us for disturbing them. I could feel the time stood still for some seconds, allowing everybody amongst us to freeze this moment in our mind. I felt like giving a roar to celebrate this time of my life. This drama took place for few seconds after which both of them faded into the dark forests of Cotigao, making it silent as it was before.

Chaddi Pehnake Phool Khila Hai.......

As you begin a new today of your life, you never know what can take you back to sweet memories of your past and you might end up spending your day thinking about those nostalgic times of your life. I often get such nostalgic attacks in the middle of vacations when I have nothing else to do than wandering along with the reminiscences.

Your attack may be kicked as simple as this- you open a supplement that comes with your local daily newspaper to read an article about Gulzaar. While reading, you come to know that the song that accompanied the childhood of our generation, “Jungle Jungle Pata Chala Hai”, title song of famous animation series Jungle Book, was penned by this living legend and is composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, the genius Indian filmmaker. Same thing happened with me and this reason was enough to take me back to the sweet childhood days of mine and it all appeared as if it had happened just yesterday.

Me sitting infront of TV enjoying the adventures of Mowgli with Sher Khan, Bagheera etc. & sipping the Sunday morning tea with chapattis rolled and dipped inside it, both done simultaneously to get better taste of both the activities. These images are crystal clear in my mind and have not vanished though the childhood has eroded around to make me an adult.

I get up and connect my computer to internet in and download the title song of jungle book. Finding it was not very difficult since only one keyword “Chaddi” was enough to get me the desired results, and wow! 

“Jungle Jungle Pata Chala Hai, baat chali hai

Chaddi Pehnake Phool Khila Hai Phool Khila Hai”

I set this song as ringtone for my cell phone and listen to it the whole day. This song does not only bring the sweet memories of past to life, but also some attributes within our personality that get lost in the due course of time like innocence, the no-worry attitude, serenity, inquisitiveness etc.

On the same evening, I stood at the gallery at my aunt’s place watching the Santa Clause vehicle passing by the road. The adult in me could just smile looking the children on the road running madly behind him to get that one gift packet but the child in me had an etch to run behind the Santa Clause just like I used to do back in my childhood. We as an adult are too rigid and are often scared of breaking rules set by the society unlike the child mentality. I would prefer anytime being a innocent child rather than being responsible adult, would you?

Untitled

Well…sorry for not uploading any thing about a month but couldn’t find some free time to sit back and write down the trek description in a lucid way. I tried writing about the my last trek to a village in Sattari with Parag Sir, Pankaj, Nitin and Omkar but the write ups were not somehow upto the mark. Frankly speaking, there was not much to write about this trek because neither did we walk much distance nor did we spotted something different than some dragonflies. So I thought of just uploading some photos of the trek. Sorry again but enjoy the photographic journey.

Trekking along the track-epilogue

The birds cooed the morning alarm and I was awake from last nights sleep disturbed from time to time by the passing trains which we could here in the temple. Also the flies and other insects had equally contributed in causing disturbance to our sleep. One of them bit my lower lip and it was swollen from one side which I kept chewing throughout the journey.

We were ready now to move to the final destination but rains which abruptly came stopped us from moving out of the temple. But finally we started walking in the rain so that we could reach early. We were back on the tracks now and we got used to walking in the cement beams stepping hard and harder on them.

Along with the trek, also we were busy in photographing the beauty surrounding us. It was about 8:45 when we halted for a cup of tea. All along our journey, we had been watching Dudh Sagar in different angles and now we came to the “Dudh sagar view point” where we stood face to face with it. Adjacent to the view point, there was a small hut for the Railway guards to take rest. We halted there and started preparing the tea. Everything was in powdered form, even milk. You have to be minimized on such travels. Everybody was hungry since we had not done the breakfast. While Nitesh sir prepared the tea, I passed the cakes to everybody around. The tea tested fresh and the rains which showed up while we were having tea made it tastier.

Now it was matter of few meters to reach to Dudhsagar. We passed many people who had come there as tourists. They were shouting, howling and yeah, even drinking. Most of them had come down from Maharashtra. We quietly walked further as these sighting were common in every eco-tourist spot.

Following Parag sir, we took a right diversion from the track and jumped into small streams which lead to another mini waterfall. The nature was at its best colorful display. There was so much to photograph but all my excitement came down when Rohan passed me the camera saying that it ran out of charge. But just watching this sight was nirvana for us. We saw nest of Malabar Whistling Thrush in which young ones were awaiting their mother with some food. This sight was just amazing. After having finished roaming around that place, we marched forward to waterfall. And here it was at last, a mighty waterfall with a gushing sound of water flowing with huge speed and force. The sight was something to be marveled at but the tourists who had come there spoiled the whole scene. Shouting, howling, smoking and whatever! We couldn’t stand there any more so we moved further to wait for the train which would take us back to Collem. I won’t describe the waiting part now because it was three hours long. Waiting for a transport medium is fun when you are out in such treks. I have done it many times; the longest one was of four hours at Karanzol. I can blog about it separately.

The train which came was not a passenger train but it was a goods carrier. We adjusted ourselves into the narrow space on the left engine bogie and it was fun returning back, especially our ears blasted when the train blew the whistle.
This trek was in a sense a teaching experience since this was my first night out camp. It taught me exactly how trekker should be equipped and with what he should be equipped when going out for such treks. All thanks to Parag sir! After we reached Collem, we were off to our busy schedules once again. But if you have such refreshing weekends, it’s worth living those hectic time tables.

Trekking along the track-the prologue!

At about 4:30 we started walking towards Dudhsagar waterfalls from Collem Railway stop. 5 of us along with a Russell’s viper which was to be rescued in the forest began our journey by walking on the railway tracks. I was too excited about this trek because it was an overnight camping which I had not done before. Bypassing railways disturbed the silence of the environment which was otherwise filled with bird songs.

Rain had just whispered through the forest which was the right time to spot Odonates. We spotted Pantala, a migratory specie and Malabar Torrent Dart which is found near the streams. Even the butterflies were in good number and we enjoyed watching them too along with Parag Rangnekar, author of “Butterflies of Goa.” While Omkar and Nitesh sir were busy photographing Forest Glory, Odonate specie, it started raining. So we all had to hide the cameras from getting wet. While it’s raining, nature is at it’s height of beauty, but the bad part of it is we can’t photograph it.

Dudhsagar is approx 12 kms from Collem. It was already 5:30 and was difficult, rather impossible for us to reach there before it’s dark. While stopping to take some rest, we decided to release the viper into the forest. One thing I liked about him is that he never turned aggressive, which is it’s common tendency when disturbed. Rohan and Omkar handled him for a while so that I could manage to get some photographs. The evening was turning dark and the clouds in the sky had made the light condition still poorer for a quality snap so I decided to use the flash. He finally disappeared into the greens without even hissing. A true noble guy!

The bird sightings were also satisfying as a pair of Imperial Pigeon showed up and later entertained us with their song. We also spotted Bronze Drongo perched on a tree; a bit far than 12x optical zoom. Now it was total dark and rains were moderate and the actual fun started. The height of it was walking along the tunnel in the dark with our torches lit. We were yet to reach Sonavale, a village on the way to Dudhsagar which was our destination for a halt at the night.

The signal light perfectly lit the railway track with a combination of red and blue and I was wise enough to capture this scene in the camera. We reached Sonavale and followed the mud slope which ended to the village temple of God Dudhsagar. Parag sir and Nitesh sir went down to a house to ask for the permission to sleep in the temple. The village people were very kind and they even let us to use their Choolah to cook our dinner. We had Maggi Noodles for the dinner, one of the things I hated to eat but had to eat because there was no other choice. Nature trails even teach you life adjustments you see!
Somehow I finished a bowl full of maggi noodles and switched over to bread and jam. The stomach wasn’t full yet, but the mind was overfilled with a sense of joy because this was something new for a city teen like me. The night went long and dark and we were off to sleep. Though the legs were aching, joy of mind didn’t let me feel the pain. All of us were excited over the next day’s plan and the trek was supposed to be more fruitful than what it had been till now. The lights went of and eyes got closed for a new morning.

Timepass blog!

Well it's already 12:15 a.m. and I am still postponig my Linux work session to prepare myself to write some programs on Monday practicals at College Lab. I donno why I more like writing C programs in VI Editor on Unix rather than doing it on Linux terminal. Telnetting is fun.
The "Birds and More" exhibition was put up at Chowgule College. Response was not that good but well. Umaji Chowgule visited it and was very impressed. Also, Mr.Vishram Gupte, the co-ordinator of Sangat, NGO working in te field of psychological counselling who won an international award for their work too visited the exhibition. Well, that's all for tonigh(midnight) and finally I have decided to cncel my Linux session and now I shall go to sleep as tommorow I will be visiting Payatalee again.

Whatever……

Ever since my days at Chowgule College have started, I have rarely blogged. There was lot stuff pending to be updated right from my day 2 at Karanzol camp to our latest (2 weeks back!) visit to Payatalee with Parag Rangnekar. Well, you can read the Payatalee thing on Rohan’s blog. He has written in detail, practically! Well, some more ideas I held up in my mind for blogging but kept postponing it further. The deadline has stretched and the backlog is still counting.
Well, you can blame Chowgule time-table for that matter for keeping us a tedious schedule from 8 to 5. Except Physics practical and the schedule, everything is good here. The campus environment is like that of some foreign university. It’s great to be a Chowgule TIGER, but sometimes I miss being an ENGICO!
Well no regrets!
OK, let me reveal my reason of this lazy blogging! I have joined Computer Science and that would be my major at third year. Most of the software people are lazy in their free time and don’t feel like doing anything which makes sense either to them or others. I can’t be an exception to such an attribute of Geekism. Other reason might be that I haven’t still adjusted to college life, that to in Chowgule College, which is miles different than what it as for us at GVM’s.
So reader, henceforth, along with my trek blogs, I would keep you updated with the news on the campus and some geek funda!
Sorry for not making it up, and hahh! The Karanzol Camp blog series is discontinued.
Note:-As I had mentioned earlier in my “Green Blogging” post, one of the laziest lad in our group, Rohan, has started a blog. Well, he is no more laziest now, I am leading the wagon!-)