" BNHS" Group trek to "Kothaligad Fort" in 2009 and a solo Pongal " Jallikattu tour " of Madurai in 2025..

"KOTHALIGAD FORT" visible in the rain mist. Shaped l;ike a ship's funnel.

Having "Solo toured" most parts of the globe and having quit the exciting world of "Sea-Sailing" as a "Marine Engineer" on "Ocean ships" i decided to take up the hobby of "Trekking"."Trekking" was convenient as well as a "Stress buster" for my seditary life in Mumbai,a couch potato life-style, post retirement from the hectic shipping Industry.At age 49 trekking does prove a bit difficult as it causes great physical strain and i quote my favourite boxer Muhammed Ali on his returning from  the boxing ring at the age of 40 ,considered old age in the boxing profession. Quote,"I am at an age where the mind says yes but the body says no"! On Sunday(23-8-2009)i went on my fourth consecutive track this year with "B.N.H.S(Bombay Natural History society)" group of trekkers.

Getting into "Trekking Fitness" !

                              Thought of going on my mo-bike upto Dadar T.T, parking the bike at the "Pay&Park" enclosure" and catching the "B.N.H.S Bus" near "Chandu halwai" but ironically it poured cats and dogs on my departure from home, hence quickly changed my agenda and took the humble bus to Dadar T.T along with an umbrella reachind Dadar T.T at 0610 hrs.. It was the day of "Ganesh Chaturthi" a very auspicious day for Hindus, especially Maharashtrian Hindus since on this day the elephant god Ganesh is brought into their homes and the religious ceremonies commence until the immersion of the idol.There were few trekkers due to the "Ganesh Chaturthi festival" as also some familiar faces which included a veteran trekker along with his family and the regular trekkers,Mr Jayesh Shah and Mr Sunil Bidadar, hence, the journey was intermingled with conversation and discussions. En-route, we collected a few other trekkers including some foreigners (Non-Indian citizens)belonging to some "NGO'S" on a study tour of India.We finally reached the village of Ambivli about 75 Kms from Mumbai on the "Bhimashanker hills route" east of Karjat .After alighting the bus at Ambivli village  began our long arduous trekking to "Kothaligad Hill Fort".   

Village

                                                                                                        It was a walk through lush green forests and rubbled broadened roads with a pair of village stray dogs accompanying us throughout our trek, something bizarre and strange. These trekking pathways had been recently broadened as a road is to be constructed ,connecting mainland Karjat village of Ambivli to "Peth Village" which is situated at the base of "Kothaligad Fort"."Kothaligad Fort" is historical and i am writing about the "Trekking " aspect for future trekkers since the historical significance can be read at leisure in other "Encyclopedia search engines" in the age of "Internet" or normal history books .Trekking with the "B.N.H.S Group" has the advantages of being amongst the company of esteemed hobby as well as professional "Naturalists" , qualified wild-life guides and experienced trekkers. With the "B.N.H.S Group" trekking also has the added incentive of upgrading one's nature knowledge or simply learning the rudiments of the forests and its environment through walks along the forested hills.Spotting wild-life, birds, insects, amphibians ,fish or reptiles in a forested region requires a mixture of experience as well as luck. I myself know this from sheer indulgence in "Air-gun shooting" as a teenager in the forests of suburban Mangalore during the 1970's before i converted into a total "wild-Life pacifist",pathologically against killing or poaching of our precious and ever dwindling wild-life.The trek conductor was Mr Dheeraj. Patil, more of a botanist who was assisted by a volunteer Mr Pal(MSc Entomology), a practically experienced and knowledgeable wild-life guardian who was familiar with these forests and the trek route.We passed a gushing waterfall and the sound of this flow of pure water crashing against the rocks on its journey towards the bottom was real soothing to our city dwellers hearing, accustomed to "City noises".

Extremely lucky to spot and study this "CHAMELEON"

                                                                          On the way Mr Pal spotted a frog and close to it was a chameleon, a rare lizard to be spotted in the wild forests, even among professional trekkers and naturalists. We all went crazy with camera's clicking and Mr Pal explaining the characteristics of this unique reptile with me video-taping the entire proceedings.Finally, we left the chameleon in its original location from where we picked it, a very important aspect of "Wild-life specimen collection", either for photography and study or "Venom milking" as in captured snakes.B.N.H.S guide Mr D.Patil showed us a rare "Karvy plant" which had not yet flowered and was just in the process of flowering, a process which is repeated after 8 years.I had missed the special "B.N.H.S" karvy flower trek which was conducted in the "Sanjay Gandhi National Park" in September 2008 due to personal commitments and hence was really lucky to view this freak plant blooming late in the season, while, all or most of its species had already flowered and died out, ready to bloom again in 2017! The last time this plant species bloomed was in 2000! Half-way to "Peth Village" we came across a plateau which offered a scenic view of "Kothaligad Fort"and the dense forested ravines below the hill fort.Having lived in Mumbai City for 41 years i was surprised to see such abundant forested land within a 3 hrs road journey from Mumbai, something to be seen and experienced to be believed. Filmed this scenic location on "Video camera" for posterity and "Blogs" for other trekkers, since life itself is composed of memories, ambitions and experiences. The route to "Peth Village" took us about 2 hrs as we walked at a leisurely pace, besides there were a few laggards in our group including myself,something that utterly surprised me, a sports and outdoors fanatic since childhood.The last kilometer towards "Peth Village" was through green paddy field plantations with the entire village nestling scenically at the base of "Kothaligad Fort"."Peth Village" defines the typical Maharashtrian Adivasi village with the house walls built of a mixture of bamboo and Karvy tree wood bark cemented with cattle dung and roofed with tiles, something i observed for the first time in my life, thanks to explanation by our guide on our previous trek to "Sagargad Fort" which also had a similar, but smaller village.

"Karvy Flowering plant.

                                                                                                         The final trek to the summit of the fort began from the base of "Peth Village", a steep climb which took us approximately an hour with myself cursing my stupidity of trekking hills at an advanced age of 49 , a age when i have the mind of a youthful teenager but the body of a retired race-horse! Finally made it to the "Pinnacle base" and rested for a while, examining the caves and the temple finally climbing up the "pinnacle steps" to reach the "Pinnacle plateau summit" at approximately 1300hrs.The dogs that accompanied us rested near the caves awaiting the return journey, a very strange behaviour since we didn't offer them any food, besides, they were absolutely docile, akin to pet dogs. The view as usual was splendid as it is from the top of every hill-fort and having done three hill fort climbs in a span of 2 months it was not a novelty surprise anymore.We rested for about an hour at the summit, had our packaged lunch, removed photographs and videos, finally starting our descent at approximately 1400 hrs.Call it "Psychology" of relief on reaching the summit or sheer energy relief after a quick snack of oranges at the summit ,since, i felt totally fresh akin to a spring chicken on my descent towards "Peth Village".Took numerous photo's of the "Adivasi village houses" at Peth village as these are unique and hope the student "NGO Foreigners" noticed the difference between these village houses and the "Slum" houses of Mumbai city.Ultimately, India's conservation effort and preservation of forests is dependent on villagers living in the forests, as they are the ultimate humans who are in direct contact with nature and its environment unlike most "armchair nature conservationists" who preach from the confines of luxurious city living.Conservation of the tiger and other rapidly dwindling wild-life is totally dependent on these forest dwellers living on the periphery of jungles all over India.We didn't experience any rainfall throughout the trek although it did get very cloudy at times and the view of "Kothaligad" was hidden by clouds on our return journey to the mid-way plateau ravine gorge.We finally reached our bus at the village at approx 1700 hrs with one of the dogs even entering the bus to make the journey to Mumbai.We shooed the dog out of our bus and finally departed towards Mumbai, encountering a massive traffic jam near Everad Nagar Sion/Chembur highway, a regular blockage of traffic in this area since we experienced the same on our previous return trips from treks.We finally reached Dadar TT at approx 1945 hrs and as usual Mr Jayesh Shah was kind enough to give me a lift up to Century bazaar.This would be my last trek of the month and unless something exciting crops up in the next schedule of trekking itinerary on the "B.N.H.S Menu" i intend taking a "BREAK" from the "Trekking World".Planning for a "Solo Back-packers tour" and hope i discover a exciting city or country.Having done "SOLO CITY backpacker TOURING" and "GROUP HILL TREKKING" i feel there is a World of difference between the two, akin to a 100 metres sprinter and a marathon runner, both requiring different modes and physical fitness levels.