Travel With a Couple

One of our early treks was to Karnala. Karnala, with its thump-shaped pinnacle on its top cant be missed when you take the Mumbai-Goa highway. An easy climb. Till the pinnacle. Conquering the pinnacle calls for technical rock climbing.

The trek is more interesting as it is through the Karnala Bird Sanctuary. If you can combine early morning, keen eyes, and luck, you will spot many winged creatures. In our first trip we spotted a crested serpent eagle and an owl.

This time, on May 1, we decided to celebrate Maharashtra Day by taking an early morning hike through the sanctuary looking for some birds. Karnala itself has changed a bit. The forest department had put up a board depicting the birding trails, which was very helpful for us. We explored the longest trail.

The leafless trees against the backdrop of blue sky offered some frames for the camera. En-route we got two knowledgeable and avid bird watchers – a father & daughter – for our company.

Birds, we spotted. But also an unfair share of plastic waste strewn across the forest. Soon we started picking up the bottles, cups, carry bags, the works.

Maybe, as a token of appreciation, nature let us spot a rare-to-see bird – Shama.

Half-a-day well spent.

Karnala bird sanctuary is about 61 kms from Mumbai, on the Mumbai-Goa highway. See more photos here

Among the few books (other than a whole bunch of maps and road atlas) that we use as travel guides, there is one called ‘Offbeat tracks in Maharashtra’. Written by Milind Gunaji, a Marathi actor and photographer, this is an interesting and handy book when one wants to do the ‘non-touristy’ travel. We take tips and pointers from it and mix our own ‘de-tours’ to get some interesting variants every time.

Nandur–Madhyameshwar was one such find. Being somewhere closer to Nasik, we put this in our Nasik itinerary. Nandur–Madhyameshwar is popular only among avid birders and is known was Maharashtra’s own Bharatpur. Rightly so!

The sanctuary is named after the ancient Madhyameshwar temple. There is a dam built on the confluence of the Godavari and the Kadva rivers, and the backwaters of the reservoir forms a perfect playground for migratory birds. Storks, sandpipers, egrets & brahmani ducks we could identify. And a host of other birds, which we couldn’t name but watch and appreciate.

The main road runs parallel to the river for a few kilometres. At a few places, one could take detour to the river bank at about 500 metres through paddy fields. Forest department has erected watch towers at these points, which offer breathtaking views and more birds.

Nandur is about 50 km from Nasik. The irrigation department has a guest house near the dam, where one can stay with prior permission. Own conveyance is the best option to reach Nandur since the state transport bus service is restricted to just two trips a day.