Yesterday was fun.
It all began in the early morning, when 9 bleary-eyed souls set out (
after a mandatory stoppage for refuelling at Maddu mess of course!) Hmm, 9 people on a bird-watching expedition. The Fellowship of the Wing, anyone?
An hour enjoying the hospitality of the Bombay suburban trains saw us hit Panvel, from where headed due south into the unknown. The particular unknown in this case being Karnala
(a bird sanctuary place, best time to visit being from July to March or so.....yes, we are a bunch of geniuses)
Upon entering (at the princely sum of Rs 20 per head) we wended our way along the pristine trails
(yeah, right - somebody had been setting fires all along the trailside - even the media coverage of her wedding didn't expose us to so much Ash!). Our primary destination was the old ruined fort atop the pinnacle, and we managed to get a good way towards it before the sun came out in all her glory. The view from the top was pretty much worth it though
(alas, the only member of the group who had binoculars remembered them when we were back at the foot of the hill. So it goes.....) An uneventful trip down followed, with much banter and the occasional attempt at murdering a song.
During the entire journey, we encountered several species of monkeys, lizards, spiders and crocodiles
(or at least scummy mustard-coloured water which probably contained crocs. We didn't check too closely!). Even a very scary dragonfly. But - and this is the crucial bit - no birds. I guess they also know when it is supposed to be off-season. And I begin to suspect that the literal translation of ornitho-logical should be "bird-brained"....
The company was fantastic though, so I enjoyed immensely anyway! And lo! when we finally reached down, taking a slightly different route, we finally did encounter some birds. In cages. Peafowl and geese and the like
(there was this one attention-seeking peacock who happily fluffed up his tail whenever anyone went near!)On the way back, we stopped off at Vashi and descended upon the home of one of the "Fellowship". Poor chap's parents must have been scandalised; we got hastily introduced around, retired to two large and comfortable bedrooms, ate massive quanitities of pizza, and slept shamelessly for two hours before decamping for home.
(Sorry Karthik - we hope you still love us! ;)A mango milkshake and a sunset walk completed the day. And ended an enjoyable ten-day vacation - today I started work again. Ah, well.....all good things must come to an end.
Or must they?
~lakesidey
