The last time we visited Mahableshwar (Trip report here -> Trip to Mahableshwar and Panchgani), we did not see the Lingmala falls as it was summer season and it was then that we decided to do a trip again in monsoons. Finally we managed to plan a quick day trip this monsoon season and started by 6:30 AM. Decent roads combined with less traffic ensured that we reached Panchgani by 9:00 AM. Another 30 minutes drive and were at the entry gate to Lingmala falls. Read more
After doing some back to back trips in the month of October, it was surely a weekend to rest or may be for a lazy drive to some place near; and that’s what we decided. Couple of friends had suggested Baneshwar so we thought we would check it out. We also planned to visit the Bhatghar dam and drive along side Bhatghar dam backwaters. Starting at around 7:30 am, we took the Mumbai Bangalore highway. Baneshwar is just around 40-50 Kms from Pune so it roughly takes an hour or so.
As soon as we entered the Baneshwar area; known as the “Baneshwar Van Udhyan”… we heard a lot of chirps. There is ample parking space with trees all around it which was completely buzzing with chirps of parakeets, tickell’s blue flycatchers, mynas and sunbirds. Read more
In our recent trip to Goa, not only we managed a whooping 16 lifers from birding perspective but also visited few places in Goa where we captured some lovely landscapes and architectures. Due to Ganesh Chaturthi at home; we were really short on time… and heavy rains did not help, but we still managed to cover places like Mangeshi and Tambdi Surla. We also managed to do a small mini trek at Siddhanath Parvat, which lead us to lovely twin waterfalls.. Majestic indeed.
Our Jorney to Goa was via the Chorla ghat, which also added some lovely landscapes. So here are the pics.. enjoy!
Way back in June we came across this place called Neelkanteshwar on some blog… It was indeed on our list since then, but we decided to do it at leisure as it is pretty close to Pune and also relatively easy. Back from our trip to Goa last week, we decided to go Neelkanteshwar as we wanted to do a relaxed short trip. We started relatively late this time, i.e. by 8:30 AM. We reached Khadakvasla backwaters area by 9:30 AM post which I drove relatively slow hoping to see some birds. Soon we reached Katawadi village, from where you need to take a left. There are huge sign-boards all along the way, which ensure that you don’t take a wrong turn. Read more
It had been raining pretty heavily for past 4-5 days and hence we opted to drive down to Pabe ghat, and further up-to Velhe village. A friend also suggested to go and visit the Madhe ghat waterfall as it was 19 Kms from Velhe village. We started at around 7:15 am and took the Sinhagad road. One can also take the NH-4 highway via Katraj but the drive via Sinhagad a surely picturesque and since we are into birding as well, it gave us that extra chance to see some birds along the way. We took our 1st break at Khadakwasla where we had tea and vada pav. As always we saw the Kingfisher and Cormorants at Khadakwasla. Read more
This was one of the weekends we had no treks or birding excursions planned, however we had to go to Thane. We had time on our hand so the thought of Old Mumbai-Pune highway came to mind. I decided to carry my camera as well hoping to capture some landscape views along the way. Read more