Sunrise at Sewri Mudflats - Photo fo the Day

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Early morning sunrise at Sewri Mudflats, taken the day I went to see the flamingoes. To read about the Flamingoes http://merwynsrucksack.blogspot.in/2014/04/flamingoes-at-sewri-jetty.html

Korigad

Monday, April 14, 2014

After having breakfast at Ram Ashraya we walked for around 15 minutes to reach Manohar’s car. It was parked a couple of blocks away as the restaurant doesn’t have valet parking.

As it was Saturday there was less traffic on the road and in a matter of 30 minutes we were off Mumbai premises. 

Mumbai Pune Expressway

I had planned to do GPS tracking of my trip. I had downloaded offline Google maps for the same.  But somehow they didn’t get saved on my phone :(

But that didn’t dampen my spirits and we continued on our journey.

Soon we were out of Mumbai, out of Navi Mumbai and on the Mumbai Pune Expressway. 

Curvy roads on the way to Peth Shahapur

It was a bright sunny day outside. Mercury was rising by the minute. Good cars come with Air Conditioners. It helped us keep cool. I can recollect when I was in the 10^th grade, by best friend Pranav, had a Premier Padmini and it had a fan on the dashboard for cooling.

As the glasses were rolled up most of the photos will have the windshield or the glass reflection in the photos.  There were hills all around, and there have to be after all the Expressway was made by demolishing some hills. The view around was scenic, it consisted of hills and valleys. As we were in the summers the hay had turned golden was it was glittering in a distance.

Trees along the way

At around 11 AM again we were greeted with traffic near Market Chowk in Lonavla. Why traffic. Because a political party was preparing for election canvasing. It took around 30 minutes of our time. A traffic cop informed us that we need to take a right here to go to Amby Valley.

The road had turned narrow now but was covered with trees all around. We located a mall in Lonavala too. The mall had McDonald’s and KFC in its food court. I guess it had just been constructed as shops were just filling in.

Don't miss this signboard, the Korigad Fort int he background

The narrow roads passed through local houses, tree farms, farms, hills and valleys and soon we were at the divide. One road goes to Amby Valley and the other goes to Peth Shahapur.

The road to Peth Shahapur was curvy. Curvy roads leading to the top. Some of the curves were sharp. It is advisable to drive slowly and to honk at the sharp curves. There was not much crowd though. But the roads had thick forestation all around.  Soon the thick forestation was replaced with hills and valleys and farms.

Manohar and Me :)

At around 12 noon we reached the base village being Peth Shahapur. Vehicles can’t go till the top of the fort. We had to park the car in an open space near the village. Manohar had got the steering wheel lock for extra protection. It is necessary to keep  these small pointers in mind, after all we were to leave the car here for like 2 to 3 hours time.

As we had just carried water with us, we shopped for biscuits and cold drinks at a local store there. We also inquired for directions; they told us that the way up is very easy. The shop and the kitchen were located next door. Lunch was being prepared, I just loved the smell of it. I didn’t; mind staying back for lunch, had they asked me.  A pai wat behind the wall leads to the top.  I saw the pai wat. Easy? I laughed in my mind.

Stairs all the way up

We started our journey. In a matter of 10 minutes we noticed sign boards on the side of the pai wat which had now turned into a muddy road. The sign boards were giving directions to the fort.

The fort is a.k.a Koraigad, Koarigad or Kumwarigad. It is located 20 Km away from Lonavla. Shivaji Maharaj reigned over this fort. But it was taken over by the British. 

Ganesh Darwaza

Soon we reached the stairs. These were not the ones built then, but were built later so that people could climb up the fort with ease.

There are tall flood light poles around. I guess they provide light in the night.

As there was a staircase the journey up was easy.  In a matter of 30 minutes we were halfway up. A Ganesh Temple and a cave are located here. . There is nothing much to see in the cave. But it offers a good view of the hills around. You will be greeted by Monkeys here.

View from the top, Amby Valley

In 30 minutes time we were near the Ganesh Darwaza. The main entrance to the fort. The journey put had trees around, which offered good shade for resting.

Beware, if you going in the summers, there is no shade atop the fort. It is barren.  The fortification is intact. We decided to walk on it to view the fort in entirety.

Barren soil with ruins

There are a few cut outs in the rock, which I guess used to be caves in those times.

The fort has a few cannons scattered all over the place and a few temples too, one of them being the Korlaidevi Temple. The temples are newly constructed. There  are temples dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva too.

Korlaidevi Temple

The walls offered a wonderful view of Amby Valley and the surrounding hills and valleys.

This is one of the few forts remaining in Maharashtra that has a 360 degree fortification all around.

Most of the land is barren; it has a few ruins on the fort. There is another entrance to the fort too, but the way up is very steep and is made of loose rocks.

The Second Entrance to the fort along with the fortification

We saw two ponds, even at this time there is water in them, note there are no trees around and they are exposed to sun.  But still it had water, a bit difficult to digest.

I took us around 1 ½ hour to cover the entire fort. The time was now 2:30 PM on my watch. We rested for a few minutes at the Main Entrance and then we headed off to the base. In 30 minutes we were at the bottom of the hill. And in 10 minutes time at the base village.

One of the ponds on the fort

We headed off to the only hotel in the village for our lunch, Veg Thali for lunch. I always love to eat food prepared by the villagers.  Our thali consisted of peas vegetable, moong vegetable, dal and curd, for starters we had salad made of onions and tomatoes and miniature papad's. There was also this dry garlic chutney which was awesome. It cost us Rs.80 each. Which is expensive as per village standards. 

Veg Thali

We had our full and then headed off to Mumbai.

It is advisable to travel by personal mode of transport. Not many options are available to Peth Shahapur village from Lonavala.  ST buses ply just twice a day and then we have the rickshaws, who will charge a bomb.

Our expenses inclusive of morning breakfast, fuel charges, toll charges, lunch and other miscellaneous charges summed up to Rs.1160. So it is Rs.580 per head. This is good and economical.

We travelled the same way back, there was no traffic and at 6:10 PM I was back at Chembur.

Fortification

Learning. It is good to travel by a personal vehicle, because it saves on time and energy too. After a hard days trek we can sit in a car and be back home. Also if we have full occupancy in the car then the trip becomes economical. BTW the car was powered by Petrol and CNG. 

Flamingoes at Sewri Jetty

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

It was Thursday and I was still deciding what I should be doing this weekend primarily on Saturday.

I inquired with Manohar regarding his plan. He informed me that he was going to Sewri jetty to see the Flamingos on Saturday morning post that he would be free.

Flamingoes? I have never seen them in reality. Have always seen them in photos or on television. I didn't want to miss the chance. Don't know when I will get a chance next.

Sunrise at Sewri Jetty. 

I had Korigad fort on my mind. I was planning to start the trek, first thing in the morning. We conversed as to when to do the trek and later decided that we would first see the Flamingoes and then head off to Korigad.  

Manohar introduced me to an online community named www.meetup.com. They had organized the event. So I quickly registered with them.

Sewri is located on the Central Habour Railway Line. The Fort and Jetty are around 10 minutes away from each other and are on the eastern side of the Railway Station. They are around 20 minutes away from the Sewri Railway Station. I had been to the Sewri Fort in the past. To read my exploration on it, please click on this link. http://merwynsrucksack.blogspot.in/2011/12/sewree-fort.html

Manohar informed me that there is a 50-50 chance of seeing them the first thing in the morning. We were to meet at Sewri rail crossing at 6:15 AM and from there head out to the Sewri Jetty. As the tide was low there was a chance of spotting them. I had my fingers crossed as I didn't to miss them.

So as decided we meet at 6:15 AM the next morning at the Sewri rail crossing. The rail crossing is next to the station. Point to note, you might have to spend a lot of time at this crossing as the trains are given priority over road transport. Manohar had bought his car along; we were stuck there for almost 15 minutes.  Car because, we were to travel to Korigad post the Flamingo session.

Flamingoes in the mudflats

At the rail crossing we meet other photographers too who were heading to the Jetty. Manohar immediately gave them a lift in his car.

In a matter of ten minutes we were at Sewri Jetty. The sun was just rising then.

We passed along the untarred and mucky roads infested with trucks. Trucks are parked on either side of the road. This is a port are i.e. Large portions of land here belong to Bombay Port Trust.  

Manohar informed me that the migratory flamingoes come here to feed. They feed on the mudflats from the months of September to May every year. 

What a beautiful sight to see at the start of the day. I immediately reached for my camera and started my photo sessions.

Another photo of Flamingoes in the Mudflats

Manohar had bought his binoculars also and he spotted the Flamingoes. He told me that they were in the water.

I finally got a glimpse of them. My prayers were answered and I finally got to see them in the flesh. But they were far away.

Got a few good photos of them and then we headed off to the other side of the jetty. The flamingos were closer in distance at this side of the jetty.  

I saw a couple of them who were white but most of them were pink. To this Manohar replied that when they are young, they are white in color. It’s only when they feed on algae year in and year out that they turn pink. The algae contains compounds called cartenoids. These compounds get deposited in the bodies and feathers of these birds because of which they appear to be pink. These are migratory birds and they migrate to Africa. This happens every year. Now the population is less but they are here in large number. He also told me then when they spread their wings , we get to see orange color.  Which I did see, sadly my camera is not as fast as the birds so couldn't capture an image of it.

The mudflats are a unique ecosystem which is made up of mud, silt and fish. So when the water from the tides recede, these remain behind. The birds feed on them. So apart from Flamingoes, Sea gulls there were other birds too. I am not aware of their names though. 

A Crane with fish in its beak

The jetty had ships docked. Some scrap and others on the verge of being scrapped. Manohar told me that one of the ships was being repaired. There were plenty of gas cylinders meant for the repair work.

We stepped on one of the scrap boats to get a better view of the flamingos. They were very close to this boat.

There were making some kind of a sound. As if they were humming some tune. But as the crowd gathered on the ship, we started talking and soon we realized that they were moving away from us, towards the sea.

As it was low tide the birds could be seen at this close a distance, else we would require the help of a binocular or a telescopic zoom lense to capture their images. Something like this.

DSLR using the services of a binocular to get a closeup shot of the Flamingoes

Along with the Flamingos there were cranes too waiting to be photographed.

We spent almost an hour here, photographing the birds. This was the first time I photographed birds and I was loving it. A big Thank You to Manohar for letting me know about this event and also to the Flamingoes for letting me photograph them.

The early morning rays of the sun looked so beautiful on the sea. It was low tide so the water was miles away. Had it been high tide then the waters would have reached the jetty. The sun effect made everything around glitter. The weather was also good. As in it was not hot at all.

We then headed off to have some traditional breakfast to Matunga.