Kavdi...Kalling..

How to reach Kavdi from Mumbai...

Distance is just 180kms..

Take the old NH4..

Do not take bypass at dehu road..

Instead keep going straight through dehu road.. chinchwad etc..

Keep following the directions for Solapur, which are pretty visible nearly throughout..

Once you NH9.. Keep going till you reach the first Toll booth..

Cross the toll and keep looking for a small little village name called Kavdipet (its not Kaavdipet)..

Take a left and keep going straight.. You will reach a railway crossing.. 

Keep going straight till you reach the so called river.. This is where the birds are found.. 

One can walk on the dam type structure to go on the other end too.. do explore the area..

Keep in mind.. this area is absolutely untouched.. there are no tea stalls.. no shops.. so make sure you take your own stuff :)

Happy birding..

 

300mm birding @Bhigwan...

Date : 20th  Feb 2011 ..

Bhigwan is a small town located on the Pune-Solapur (NH9) highway.. the main attraction of the town is the birdwatching sight at backwaters of the Ujni dam..

It takes atleast 2.30hours to 3 hours to reach bhigwan from Pune..

I made a halt at pune overnight.. started at 5.30am and reached Bhigwan at 8.00am..
Earlier the better.. more chances of spotting the birds..
Once you reach the highway at bhigwan take the first left which will take you to the Diksal area..backwaters of Ujni dam..ask locals for directions..
At Diksal  short boat rides are avaiable.. We paid 100 per head (expensive) for a short ride in the backwaters to spot Flamingos.. This year there are only 2 of them as per the villagers..

Also made me realise that 300mm is not at all enough for birding :(

I couldnt visit other areas coz of lack of time on hand..

here are some of the photos from the Diksal region..

Dajipur Bison Sanctuary...

did a short trip to Dajipur recently..
Dajipur is a bison sanctuary situated very close to Kolhapur..Around 80kms from kolhapur..
the only problem there is no stay is available close to the sanctuary..one has to come back to radhanagari where lodges are available or has to go ahead to phonda for stay..
radhanagari is 25 odd kms away from dajipur.. and phonda is 13kms ahead..
tank up at radhanagari or phonda as no petrol pumps in dajipur..

Cars are allowed to enter the sanctuary.. but make sure that the car has good ground clearance as the whole 21kms is kaccha rasta..

KAAS Information

How to reach KAAS :

One has to go through Satara city to visit Kaas..
On the highway.. riding towards satara.. when you see stone quarries on the right side.. slow down.. this place is called Limkhind..
there will be a board which says .. Satara City to the left..
take the left to the go downwards and take the first right.. keep asking locals for MolachaWada..
From here ask locals for Rajwada.. here on there are no problems to reach Kaas..

Distance between Mumbai and KAAS:
KAS is exactly 300kms from Matunga, Mumbai. 
Its 23kms from Satara.


How long does it take to reach Kaas :
If you are traveling in a car, it would take around 4-6 hours depending on the speed and number of breaks in between.

What to expect from KAAS :

River rafting at Kolad..Kundalika

date :  25th July 2010

This place was on the mind for quite sometime.. but dint get like minded people to do it..
finally my office team comes to the rescue and we decide a weekend to be spent at Kundalika..

Kolad is just 150kms from Mumbai on the NH17. Take a left at the board written Mulshi 78kms and you are on right track..
There are a lot of farm houses which can accommodate as well as make the arrangements for river rafting..
We had made prior booking through junglelore.net.
We had booked for a stay as well..
Accommodation was provided at Pooja Farm House which is around 8kms from the rafting site..



some clicks of the farm house..