The stroll through the fields!

The evening was fresh and the zephyr was silently making its way through the huge trees nearby the camp sites. Everybody was set out for a evening stroll through the fields of Karanzol nearby from the camp site. We had just finished with Pankaj Lad’s lecture on the bio-diversity of Mhadei. I was still in the hangover of the lecture delivered by Rajendra Kerkar (Bhai) on the cultural aspects and ancient traditions that our ancestors followed towards conservation of the environment. Bhai, while delivering the lectures on Goan culture, travels from Pernem to Canacona and adds references from the surrounding villages of Maharashtra and Karnataka which have a similar culture.
The three groups namely Sahyadri, Srishti and Devrai guided by the volunteers of VEAB, set out for the trail. Our group, Sahyadri, leaded by Arnold and Sangam of VEAB, parted from the rest two groups to go in another direction. The trail began with identifying the trees, which I was not much interested initially. As Arnold and Sangam started adding importance of each sighted tree, I became keen to know more.We stopped to see a pair of Ashy Wood Swallow sitting on the electric wire above the fields. Soon the Bee-eaters appeared from behind performing beautiful aerobics. I have always enjoyed watching Bee-eaters, especially their beak which looks sharp and gives him a powerful appearance. There was so much to photograph but I was carrying a small Nikon Coolpix borrowed from uncle since Rohan had taken the nature club’s camera to Pune. I cursed Rohan for taking the camera.
Leaving the tar road behind, we entered the fields. Far from the world of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, farmers here had put lumps of cow dung in the field at regular intervals. This is an ancient method for fertilizing the soil. During the rains, these lumps of cow dung get mixed with the soil thereby making it fertile and ready for farming. Sun was slowly setting down turning the blue skies to orange. We stopped near a huge “Devil’s tree” or “Devcharanchey Zaad” or “Saatveen”. Orchid flowers hung from the which had just bloomed to life.
We decided to return back to camp site as the evening was already turning dark. Before calling it a day, every group had to present a report of the trail which was followed by a dinner and than a long sleep till 5 a.m. in the next morning. Was it really a long one?