Trip to Karnala Bird Sanctuary - Mumbai

We were in Mumbai from May 7 to 11^th. It was a good trip … family get-together, Pooja, Snow world in Phoenix Mall. The true fun was still missing. A quick check on Google pointed that Karnala Bird sanctuary will be a good place to visit. Some of the reviews were not looking good. So it was kind of risk … many people not knowing what and where to look for, generally give bad reviews. My view … birds don’t visit you in bird Sanctuary, one has to explore and look out for birds.

We started at 6:45am from Thane. We had packed 2 bottles of water and cookies. The journey was quiet ok, with lot of truck traffic on the way. We reached the sanctuary by 8am and had to pay Rs. 130 for car park + entry for 5 people.

After couple of minutes of walk, we saw the caged peacock which was a little sad. After this, we saw a snake on the platform. It raced to the hole as it saw us approaching. That was not very comforting … but what else can one expect to see in the jungle? Immediately, we had a fly past from 2 Yellow birds (I couldn't make out the specie) and 1 from kingfisher.  It was already looking good but had nothing captured in camera.

We then started trekking towards the Karnala Fort.

As it was reasonably dense forest with greenery, it is not very easy to spot birds. Imagine this bird on a tree full of green leaves J.

Most of the birds were out there seeking nectar or fruits.

In the short trek of about 45mins, we saw atleast 4 – 5 varieties of birds … which in my view is good.  The kids had a nice time during the short terk as it was quiet different than usual. Of course we had our regular visitor … Mr. Langoor. 

I would recommend this place if you need to get away to the bustle of the city and have  a little adventure. Do pack enough water and snacks. There is hardly any thing available once you enter sanctuary (at least early in the morning).

Bheemeshwari Jungle Lodges and Resorts

A quick review of Bheemeshwari on the internet made me feel that it had all the characteristics to make our last minute trip an exciting and adventurous one. Discussing with friends, we decided to hit the road. On the way to Bheemeshwari, we took a deviation to Sangam – where Cauvery and Arakavathi rivers meet. 

Unfortunately, there was very little water and nothing much to see there.

After this we started for Bheemeshwari Jungle lodges and resorts. The Kanakpura road was good. When we took the left at Halagur, the road was narrow at some places but overall the drive was ok.

Once we reached Bheemeshwari, I set out with my camera to take some snaps – spotted two Crocodile in the river, some birds and insects.

 

Adventure 1: Curiosity got over me and I wanted to check things upstream. Found a place where the river was very narrow and started to cross. Suddenly I missed the depth J and fell in neck deep water. My camera and mobile were completely wet. I dried them for some time and lucky for me, the camera started working but not the phone. There was no network in the area anyways J. Some of the snaps made me feel that it was worth the trip.

  

The clothes quickly dried in the cool breeze. Then was time to catch take some sunset snaps.  

After this, it was barbecue time at bon-fire followed by dinner.

Next day morning I woke up at 6am and got ready for a trek in the jungle. We could see some early morning birds near the log-hut where we stayed. The trek started pretty well where we spotted an eagle, some other birds, wild boar, deers, etc.

  

Adventure 2: After about 20mins of trek, one of the guides heard an elephant and we stopped. It was lone male elephant and could be dangerous. We inched ahead and the elephant came charging!!We ran for our life and just when I thought that it could be a long chase, it stopped abruptly and went away. We recovered from the shock and took a deviation.

  

After this, I had some fun with Zip line and then it was time to head back home.

Before booking at Bheemeshwari Jungle lodges and resorts, there was confusion on log hut, mud hut, tent, etc. I have captured some snaps to clarify the air around it.

 

      Mud Hut - with A/C                         Tent house - without A/C                   Log Hut-with A/C